Career change

drkelly

drkelly

Dipstick who put two vehicles on jack stands
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Oak Ridge/Stokesdale, NC
I've been in the same field of work for 14 years. I've been with the same company doing the same job for twelve years. I'm thinking of making a change and doing something different. I would love to hear anyone's story who has changed careers after many years if you care to share.

Thanks
Danny
 
I ran 16 years as a electrician. In 08 I got laid off and for the first time ever I had to look for a job. I was at a point of going into business for myself but the county I lived in would be a hard row to hoe. I got a chance to get into what I do know which is no way even close to electrical work and I love it. Sometimes things happen for a reason . It has changed my life for the better and has made me the fat bastard I am now ,42 semi retired or semi retarded all depends how you look at it.
 
Willc said:
I ran 16 years as a electrician. In 08 I got laid off and for the first time ever I had to look for a job. I was at a point of going into business for myself but the county I lived in would be a hard row to hoe. I got a chance to get into what I do know which is no way even close to electrical work and I love it. Sometimes things happen for a reason . It has changed my life for the better and has made me the fat bastard I am now ,42 semi retired or semi retarded all depends how you look at it.
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Wait... what?!?! What do you do now? You mean to tell me I'm on my own for the rest of the electrical work in my house?!?!?! :) The addition is awesome now that it's done. I'm so glad I took your advice on so many things.

I changed careers by force. I was laid off from Ecolab in 2010. I am now a stay-at-home dad and build websites and graphic design on the side. Living in the lap of poverty.
 
I worked for circuit city for 8 years. Started in sales made it into management and hated the same old grind. I got burned out. Swaped and was a pipe fitter helper for a while then my snapon route came up and i jumped on it and never looked back. I enjoy my job and look forward to going in every day.
 
I got paid off from Ingersol Rand about 12 years ago. I've picked up some side work doing hardwood floors, but am still looking for a real job.
 
I help locally with career counseling, and my number 1 tid bit is, change for the sake of change isn't always a good thing. If you want to change and have a target/end goal in mind...great, set the path to get you there. If you want to change because the grass may seem greener, it's because the other side uses better bull $#!T.
 
My primary reason for thinking about a career change is neck pain from sitting at a desk all day staring at a computer. I injured my neck back in 1999, and it is getting worse as I get older.
 
I didn't have as many years in the job as a lot of you that have changed, however when I graduated college I worked for an IT staffing firm. About 3 years in I got bored and finally got off my ass to start looking (wound up working there for just over 3.5 years). I finally got sick of the thought that all of my coworkers have sat at the same desk at the same job for 7-10 years, and that is where I was going to be if I stayed there (and the people that still work there today still do the same job at the same desk today). Found a position at a Healthcare IT company doing sales operations, and now work for another IT company that I manage the operations and data analysis of a section of their business.
 
I graduated with a BFA in Graphic Desisgn and illustration and went into the printing industry doing prepress and design work. I was in it for about 5 years and changed over to 3D modeling adn designing Retail displays. I had never worked in 3D and had to teach myself in about 2 weeks did that for another 5 years before jumping ship for Cartography, which was short lived, which at that point I went back to Graphic Design. Me and some buddies tried our hand at building a Design Agency only to have the economy bomb out and the first thing to go for our clients was outside marketing contract. that left me 6 months without work before landing a job back in Retail Display Design. After 2 years designing displays again, the Production Manager position came available.

Talk about a change in careers, however for the same company in the same industry. It was a big pay jump, and a I went from artsy fartsy stuff to spreadsheets, and managing people. I've been at this for about 4 years and love it. I have no plans on changing it anytime soon.

It took me a while to get to this point, but I'm happy where I am now. and the guys I work for are good to me.
 
I agree in change for change sake isn't a good idea, but if there is an end goal then go for it. It may work, it may not but you'll learn something hopefully and put that toward your career in the future.

I worked in retail in various roles for around 12 years. I started out at a mountain in NH as a bike tech, trail builder and ran events for them. Moved to Boone for school and ended up at the same ski shop for 6 years as an asst. manager and moonlighted as a sales and tech rep for a few ski and snowboard companies over the years. I went to work for Lowes because I got tired of the seasonal work grind and it was a great move, but they wanted to fast track me into store management right as I was planning to go back to school. That was a tough decision because the immediate $$$ was attractive to a twentysomething living in a college town. Went back to school, finished degree (Commercial Recreation and Tourism Management), interned in Charlotte at the USNWC and ended up a dept. manager at an outdoor sports retail store in Charlotte and ran most mtn biking events for them. Same deal as Lowes, they wanted to fast track me to store management. I knew I did not want to be in retail management. I know I could have done well and probably made a good living for myself, but I seemed to stay burned out. Only way I could have stayed was if I had gotten into store planning or becoming a buyer for the company, actually putting my knowledge of product placement and merchandising to work. April 2013 I got a call from an older fraternity brother of mine about an opportunity with their growing company building trade show exhibits and managing companies trade show programs. In his words, "nobody wakes up one morning and says hey, I want to work in the trade show industry" lol. A month later I was living in Durham. End result is I am here and don't see myself going anywhere anytime soon. We are a small company of 6, but tight knit and we all carry multiple responsibilities so my title doesn't necessarily reflect the job I am doing most days. I enjoy my job, get to travel, make an acceptable living for doing what I do and work for/with great people.
 
ManglerYJ said:
As in map-making? Do we even still DO that?!?!?! Or are you taking photographs of shopping carts?
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:lol:

Did I put Cartography? I meant Cartmanography. Drawing pictures of Cartman.

Ya, Map making. and yes, it's still being done surprisingly. Next time you're in the gas station, look for maps branded Map Supply. It's a small outfit out of Welcome, NC. Chances are I updated/created the map.
 
mbalbritton said:
:lol:

Did I put Cartography? I meant Cartmanography. Drawing pictures of Cartman.

Ya, Map making. and yes, it's still being done surprisingly. Next time you're in the gas station, look for maps branded Map Supply. It's a small outfit out of Welcome, NC. Chances are I updated/created the map.
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No kidding?!?!?!? I drive by that place all the time and wonder about it. I don't remember the last time I looked at a map - much less bought one, though.


I'm envisioning a Geico commercial - as happy as Lewis & Clark with a GPS...
 
I think it should be a requirement for anyone with 20+ years doing the same thing to have to change direction. It just makes a new person out of you. But do keep in mind if you have a boss of any kind, even the guy serving coconut mix drinks in the Bahamas hates his job because he works for an asshole.

My wife served food at Cracker Barrel for 11 years. She developed a neck muscle condition from handling the heavy food trays and was off work for 2 years while going through therapy. We tried getting money from CB but they cover their selves well when they hire and it's a requirement to carry out all the food at the same time. Since she couldn't pick up more than 10 pounds over her head after that, she got the notion to be a bartender. I sent her through Raleigh Bartending School and now she bartends at the Holliday Inn Express near the RDU airport, makes 3 times more than she did at CB and absolutely loves her job.

Me being in the "New Land Development" side of work, during the recession I found myself picking up every type of job I could get my hands on and investing in equipment when I was laid off. Managed to do very well for 4 1/2 years until things picked back up again and I got hired back. I enjoyed it for the most part until I had up to 6 helpers, then it became a marriage. But being insecure of not having income, now days I have a 40 hour job plus most the shit I got started working weekends and some evenings especially during the summer.:shaking:
 
mbalbritton said:
:lol:

Did I put Cartography? I meant Cartmanography. Drawing pictures of Cartman.

Ya, Map making. and yes, it's still being done surprisingly. Next time you're in the gas station, look for maps branded Map Supply. It's a small outfit out of Welcome, NC. Chances are I updated/created the map.
Click to expand...


Seems GPS will eventually make paper maps obsolete if not hurt already???
 
6BangBronk said:
Seems GPS will eventually make paper maps obsolete if not hurt already???
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Getting O/T here... but at work one day we were talking about how technically advanced things seem like the way of the future, but there's always a need for old school. Keep in mind I work for the Army so our "user conditions" can be a little extreme...
One old guy said, "A GPS with a hole in it is a paperweight. A paper map w/ a hole in it is a map."
That has always stuck w/ me...
 
drkelly said:
My primary reason for thinking about a career change is neck pain from sitting at a desk all day staring at a computer. I injured my neck back in 1999, and it is getting worse as I get older.
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To which I'd have to ask, what would your intended change be? Change a desk job for a desk job? How would that be any better? Is there any option for any sort of relief? If not, and you're looking for more manual labor, would your neck be a problem there as well...or as long as it's moving, it's ok?
 
Thoughts of this are going through my mind now. I have been with the same company for almost 4.5 years and am thinking about getting out....just dont know what I want to do. I just want a job where I can get up in the morning and be happy that Im going to work...I want to enjoy it at least a little bit and I want to get satisfaction out of my job...I don't get that now. I want to feel like I am important and tha tmy job matters....Just have no idea what I want to do.....

But I think a career change should be done to make you happy and get you out of a rut if your in one.
 
UTfball68 said:
To which I'd have to ask, what would your intended change be? Change a desk job for a desk job? How would that be any better? Is there any option for any sort of relief? If not, and you're looking for more manual labor, would your neck be a problem there as well...or as long as it's moving, it's ok?
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If I make a change, it will be to a non-desk job, or one that at least has me up and down from my desk frequently and sitting there less than 50% of the time. My neck situation is such that I can do strenuous physical activity all day (such as cutting down trees and lifting logs) and feel fine, but if I sit at a desk for a few hours, or even drive in a car for a few hours, my neck will start to hurt. The pain will continue to increase the longer I sit there. For instance, I can’t even drive to the beach (5 hrs) without getting bad neck pain, so now my wife drives on long trips. The pain happens due to sitting stationary for long periods of time. Even going to a movie for 2 hrs will set it off. I’ve had an X-ray and an MRI and the spine looks good. The doctors say it is muscular. I had about 2 months of physical therapy approximately 4-5 years ago, and have tried different chairs and ergonomic situations at my work with my desk/key board etc but there has been no improvement. The injury was from a fall while snowboarding. I landed on my head pushing my chin down into my chest. The muscles on the back of my neck were damaged. That is probably more than anyone cares to know, but that is my situation.
 
Danny why not see if they have an opening in r and d? Seems they are hiring from the word around town. Then you can keep tge eng back ground and the same company...
 
I worked as a dealership mechanic for 25yrs. I made good money at but the last few years I was just tired of whining customers and management so I knew it was time for a change. Started working with disabled adults and really liked it but the pay sucked. So I started a cab company which combines both of my skills. People at closing time are pretty similar to disabled adults.
 
id never listen to accountant on a decision like this.....

if being at that desk is making your health worst , then there is no desicion to make other then where your goin with the next 5 years.

take the next 6 months and start on your path to happiness.

quit when the path is paved.
 
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