OT: Career advice

[SnowblindNYR]

I know this is none of the fancy jobs you guys are talking about, but some nice apprenticeships have opened up. NYC and LI local IBEW are taking apprentices as well as the Heat and Frost Insulators union. They make bread.

My job sounds more fancy but I guarantee you make more money.

 

[TheTimTamSlammerMan]

My job sounds more fancy but I guarantee you make more money.

No doubt, but is it worth the toll it takes on your body? There’s a reason they get paid so much.

 

[Zibanejbread]

Sorry to jump in the middle of a conversation, but seeing this thread pop up made my feel like it was fate to ask others out there... has anyone here done a complete career change? Or made a noticeable shift in the type of work they were doing? If so, did you go back to school to make the switch? Starting to think about what I might need to do to find something I enjoy more. Appreciate any insight.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Sorry to jump in the middle of a conversation, but seeing this thread pop up made my feel like it was fate to ask others out there... has anyone here done a complete career change? Or made a noticeable shift in the type of work they were doing? If so, did you go back to school to make the switch? Starting to think about what I might need to do to find something I enjoy more. Appreciate any insight.

I wanted to go from marketing to finance and got my MBA for it. I didn't really smoothly get into finance from it. Though now I am in finance. MBA programs have mostly career switchers. Don't know about other degrees. You can PM me if you have any more questions.

 

[Fongule]

Sorry to jump in the middle of a conversation, but seeing this thread pop up made my feel like it was fate to ask others out there... has anyone here done a complete career change? Or made a noticeable shift in the type of work they were doing? If so, did you go back to school to make the switch? Starting to think about what I might need to do to find something I enjoy more. Appreciate any insight.

Went from Hospitality management to working for a political campaign to doing operations and location related work at Facebook, which is my first post-college job. I’m 24 and college took me about an extra year and half since I kept changing majors and taking off semesters. I would say if you see a job you like just go for it, go in it with absolutely no expectations and be honest if you get an interview. I’m not that smart, and that’s what I did interviewing for FB, I said to myself there’s no way I get this job so I’ll be 1000% honest and use the interview for practice, ended up getting very lucky. I have a finance degree and a marketing/management degree and I’m doing something totally unrelated, for the most part

 

[sbjnyc]

I guess I should state what I said that was called rude by my friends. I told her that I have to other things to do and when I get her requests I have to do them on a first come first serve basis. So I said asking me about it won't make me do it faster. I didn't try to be flippant. I just meant that there's a protocol I have to follow that I can't change. I can't go out of order for her because she follows up and it's unfair to the other sales people. I also can't get to the requests if the CFO is asking me to do an important project. But I get how it could have come off.

My first job out of school was with a team that would calculate the cost of employee benefit programs sold to employers. We would get cases provided to us by underwriters and we provided a price after we went through the numbers. There was one person who marked every single case as urgent regardless the size of the case. We knew what the top priority cases were (or at least I was told what they were). She one time called to complain and I was about to (diplomatically) tell her essentially what you did but she sounded like my grandmother so I apologized profusely and told her I'd do the best I could.

 

[Zibanejbread]

I wanted to go from marketing to finance and got my MBA for it. I didn't really smoothly get into finance from it. Though now I am in finance. MBA programs have mostly career switchers. Don't know about other degrees. You can PM me if you have any more questions.

Thanks... I have Finance/Marketing degrees and have been doing strategy analytics at a big bank for 10 years now. Just kinda feels like 45+ hours a week sitting a desk is very draining. At the same time, I feel like working with numbers is what I'm best at, so I don't know where I could turn to when my skill set includes SAS/SQL/Excel for 90% of my days.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Sorry to jump in the middle of a conversation, but seeing this thread pop up made my feel like it was fate to ask others out there... has anyone here done a complete career change? Or made a noticeable shift in the type of work they were doing? If so, did you go back to school to make the switch? Starting to think about what I might need to do to find something I enjoy more. Appreciate any insight.

That is what it is here for.

I did (sort of). I started out as a recruiter. Was promoted to Account Executive for Therapy and Rehab services (same company). From there, became VP of the Home Health division (same company). Got burned out on travel and ended up going to work for a different company in Human Resources, specializing in Employee Relations (eventually taking over all recruiting and staffing).

I didn't go back to school. To be fair, that is because my new role in HR somewhat overlapped with my previous role in Home Health but a lot of it was new to me. I had to do a heck of a sales job in that interview to explain why they should hire me over other dedicated HR professionals that were also in the running. I have a friend that did fraud investigations and then made a complete change to work as a Business Analyst (for the same company). He asked his employer if he could have a mentor, he worked with that mentor for roughly a year, and when a BA position came open he applied and got the job.

I think going back to school is an option if you want to make a career change but it isn't a prerequisite. I don't know what kind of company you work for, but if you can find away to change your role while with the same company you're more likely to not take such a big step back. Whether you go back to school or not, if you decide to go elsewhere you will likely be starting at the bottom + adding on new debt from the recent tuition costs.

I don't know your situation completely but I would caution against making a change just to find something you enjoy more. I think it happens too often where people make a change to be more fulfilled at the work place but now have a the stress of being less financially secure, thus leading to a whole new set of problems outside of the office. Or, they realize they don't enjoy their new career as much as they thought they were going to. There needs to be a happy medium and you also need to look at your future. Where do you want to be in 5, 10, 15 years? Are you married? If not, and you want to be, can you afford a wedding/ring? If you don't have kids, do you want kids? Will this career change make it financially unrealistic to have children? Do you want to travel? Will you be able to save enough to go anywhere? Can you afford your current lifestyle if you took a pay cut?

If the answers are no, the question becomes is it worth giving up some of those things to have a *potentially* more enjoyable job? I say potentially because the grass is not always greener.

Those are my thoughts.

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

Richmond is a dump, cheap real estate, but it’s gradually getting worse. I’d live in a suburb outside the city for sure. West Richmond, Henrico, Glen Allen, and colonial heights are nice areas. Williamsburg is less then an hour away and very nice, definitely worth the commute.

Oh yeah not looking in the city. Short Pump/Glen allen. May be midlothian to get a little more bang for our buck. My office is in West Creek.

 

[Emptyvoid]

Thanks... I have Finance/Marketing degrees and have been doing strategy analytics at a big bank for 10 years now. Just kinda feels like 45+ hours a week sitting a desk is very draining. At the same time, I feel like working with numbers is what I'm best at, so I don't know where I could turn to when my skill set includes SAS/SQL/Excel for 90% of my days.

I used to be in Research, was going for my PhD. Left with my masters instead and changed careers into software engineering.

With that skill set, maybe see if data analyst/data scientist roles interest you? Massive need for them across many industries.

 

[Zibanejbread]

That is what it is here for.
trimmed
Those are my thoughts.

Appreciate the long, thought-out response. I don't want to rush any decisions, which is why I wanted to hear about other's experiences. Thank you.

 

[Zibanejbread]

I used to be in Research, was going for my PhD. Left with my masters instead and changed careers into software engineering.

With that skill set, maybe see if data analyst/data scientist roles interest you? Massive need for them across many industries.

Thanks - that's an avenue I haven't really considered, but would be a measurable change in my day to day work, but also still be in my wheelhouse. I'll have to look more into that. Appreciate it.

 

[Emptyvoid]

Thanks - that's an avenue I haven't really considered, but would be a measurable change in my day to day work, but also still be in my wheelhouse. I'll have to look more into that. Appreciate it.

Feel free to PM if you want some help with programming, programming resources, etc

 

[Emptyvoid]

Sorry to jump in the middle of a conversation, but seeing this thread pop up made my feel like it was fate to ask others out there... has anyone here done a complete career change? Or made a noticeable shift in the type of work they were doing? If so, did you go back to school to make the switch? Starting to think about what I might need to do to find something I enjoy more. Appreciate any insight.

That is what it is here for.

I did (sort of). I started out as a recruiter. Was promoted to Account Executive for Therapy and Rehab services (same company). From there, became VP of the Home Health division (same company). Got burned out on travel and ended up going to work for a different company in Human Resources, specializing in Employee Relations (eventually taking over all recruiting and staffing).

I didn't go back to school. To be fair, that is because my new role in HR somewhat overlapped with my previous role in Home Health but a lot of it was new to me. I had to do a heck of a sales job in that interview to explain why they should hire me over other dedicated HR professionals that were also in the running. I have a friend that did fraud investigations and then made a complete change to work as a Business Analyst (for the same company). He asked his employer if he could have a mentor, he worked with that mentor for roughly a year, and when a BA position came open he applied and got the job.

I think going back to school is an option if you want to make a career change but it isn't a prerequisite. I don't know what kind of company you work for, but if you can find away to change your role while with the same company you're more likely to not take such a big step back. Whether you go back to school or not, if you decide to go elsewhere you will likely be starting at the bottom + adding on new debt from the recent tuition costs.

I don't know your situation completely but I would caution against making a change just to find something you enjoy more. I think it happens too often where people make a change to be more fulfilled at the work place but now have a the stress of being less financially secure, thus leading to a whole new set of problems outside of the office. Or, they realize they don't enjoy their new career as much as they thought they were going to. There needs to be a happy medium and you also need to look at your future. Where do you want to be in 5, 10, 15 years? Are you married? If not, and you want to be, can you afford a wedding/ring? If you don't have kids, do you want kids? Will this career change make it financially unrealistic to have children? Do you want to travel? Will you be able to save enough to go anywhere? Can you afford your current lifestyle if you took a pay cut?

If the answers are no, the question becomes is it worth giving up some of those things to have a *potentially* more enjoyable job? I say potentially because the grass is not always greener.

Those are my thoughts.

I just wanted to highlight these points, because they're actually really vital to enjoying your work and career.

@Shattenhurts I'd do your best to identify what is that you're lacking from your current job/career. And what is it that you'd want from a different one/lifestyle you want.

For me, personally, Research/PhD was too theoretical, too slow paced and rife with favoritism and posturing. I wanted a career that was more based on merit, where I could see the result of my work faster and have a feeling of demonstrable growth more often. That led to me to trying coding/programming, and I really enjoyed how it made my brain work. The career prospects were nice too .

Don't do a change just for the sake of a change, you need to be able to identify why do you want the change at some core level. It's like sometimes when people move across the country just "for a change", but still end up in a similar situation they started in. They haven't identified how they got there, what they wanted to be different and how to achieve that.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Appreciate the long, thought-out response. I don't want to rush any decisions, which is why I wanted to hear about other's experiences. Thank you.

You're very welcome. At only 30, I have been through some downright crazy shit. Therefore when it comes to career/work, I almost always have input

Don't be afraid to ask any more questions. Life can be scary. It can be amazing, but still scary. Not everyone feels comfortable asking friends/colleagues. I don't know how much a bunch of random folks on a message board can offer (maybe a lot, maybe a little) but we will at least give you sincere, well though responses

 

[Zibanejbread]

I just wanted to highlight these points, because they're actually really vital to enjoying your work and career.

@Shattenhurts I'd do your best to identify what is that you're lacking from your current job/career. And what is it that you'd want from a different one/lifestyle you want.

For me, personally, Research/PhD was too theoretical, too slow paced and rife with favoritism and posturing. I wanted a career that was more based on merit, where I could see the result of my work faster and have a feeling of demonstrable growth more often. That led to me to trying coding/programming, and I really enjoyed how it made my brain work. The career prospects were nice too .

Don't do a change just for the sake of a change, you need to be able to identify why do you want the change at some core level. It's like sometimes when people move across the country just "for a change", but still end up in a similar situation they started in. They haven't identified how they got there, what they wanted to be different and how to achieve that.

Thanks for stressing this... I'm not the type of person who just moves across the country "for a change", but I get the premise. I definitely need to pinpoint what it is exactly that would make a difference.

 

[Zibanejbread]

You're very welcome. At only 30, I have been through some downright crazy ****. Therefore when it comes to career/work, I almost always have input

Don't be afraid to ask any more questions. Life can be scary. It can be amazing, but still scary. Not everyone feels comfortable asking friends/colleagues. I don't know how much a bunch of random folks on a message board can offer (maybe a lot, maybe a little) but we will at least give you sincere, well though responses

Haha, I'm only 32, so I've still got 30 more years left of this! Just don't wanna be burned out too early in my "career"... at the same time, I don't have a family/kids/expenses to worry about at this point in time (maybe not ever), so I think this would be a time where I could afford to change my financial situation if I felt it would make me not dread every work day. Just a lot to consider because it does have such a big impact.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Haha, I'm only 32, so I've still got 30 more years left of this! Just don't wanna be burned out too early in my "career"... at the same time, I don't have a family/kids/expenses to worry about at this point in time (maybe not ever), so I think this would be a time where I could afford to change my financial situation if I felt it would make me not dread every work day. Just a lot to consider because it does have such a big impact.

The most important question you could ask yourself right now is... what do you want out of life and will this change help you get there?

 

[Fongule]

Oh yeah not looking in the city. Short Pump/Glen allen. May be midlothian to get a little more bang for our buck. My office is in West Creek.

All good areas. Short pump area is very nice and has a nice amount of shopping/good food. Good thing about Richmond is that you aren’t that far from the nice beaches in Newport News area

 

[Matt4776]

Any lawyers in the house?

Gonna be a rising 3L next year. Have my Biglaw summer approaching in a month. Both excited/nervous.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Any lawyers in the house?

Gonna be a rising 3L next year. Have my Biglaw summer approaching in a month. Both excited/nervous.

I think @Hunter Gathers is, if I am not mistaken.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Oh yeah not looking in the city. Short Pump/Glen allen. May be midlothian to get a little more bang for our buck. My office is in West Creek.

All good areas. Short pump area is very nice and has a nice amount of shopping/good food. Good thing about Richmond is that you aren’t that far from the nice beaches in Newport News area

Heh. Richmond. My hatred for that city knows no bounds. For a good bit of 2014 and all of 2015, I spent at least 2 weeks per month at the Hilton Double Tree off Midlothian.

I don't know if it was because I was absolutely shit housed, but Can Can over in Cary Town served me one of the best meals I have ever had.

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

All good areas. Short pump area is very nice and has a nice amount of shopping/good food. Good thing about Richmond is that you aren’t that far from the nice beaches in Newport News area

Agreed, and I have young kids so like you said Williamsburg isntt too far

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

Heh. Richmond. My hatred for that city knows no bounds. For a good bit of 2014 and all of 2015, I spent at least 2 weeks per month at the Hilton Double Tree off Midlothian.

I don't know if it was because I was absolutely **** housed, but Can Can over in Cary Town served me one of the best meals I have ever had.

Should have stayed at the Hilton in short pump. Place is amazing.

 

[Fongule]

Heh. Richmond. My hatred for that city knows no bounds. For a good bit of 2014 and all of 2015, I spent at least 2 weeks per month at the Hilton Double Tree off Midlothian.

I don't know if it was because I was absolutely **** housed, but Can Can over in Cary Town served me one of the best meals I have ever had.

Besides for Italian/pizza they have decent food. They have a lot of chains I love that we don’t really have a ton of in NYC like CAVA, Tropical Smoothie, MOD, and Raising Canes