Where to Go After a Lifetime in IT? 902
Pikoro asks: "I have been working in the IT field for the past 20 years or so, and after getting hired by the largest financial company in the world, I thought I might have finally found a place to retire from. However, after working here for almost a year, I find myself, not exactly burnt out, but longing for a complete career field change. It's not that doing IT related tasks aren't fun anymore, but they have become more 'work' than 'play' over the last few years. Since all of my experience has been IT related, I'm not sure where I could go from here. What would you consider doing for a living, after being in a single field for so long?"
Where to go after a lifetime ? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Where to go after a lifetime in IT? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
No, the voices told me I'm fine.
lumberjack (Score:5, Funny)
Re:lumberjack (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Where to go after a lifetime ? (Score:4, Insightful)
I know that feeling when its not enough "play" anymore, you're taking the blackboxing/exploration/creativity out of the equation and rely solely on allready aquired skills.
what do you do?
you aquire NEW skills in the field, wich has the potential to gap over to your current work
Hows your AI doing? Datamining? It takes a long time for AI to become "boring"
hundreds of possibilities im sure.
Doesn't have to be 'hell' (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Doesn't have to be 'hell' (Score:4, Interesting)
So my list reads like
. Clean house really clean - ongoing task
. Learn Latin
. Learn Greek
. Review Math - learn ins and outs of slide rules - working on a little article/book here.
. Find my old friends and learn what they like. I now have new hobbies from this.
. Eat healthy, lots of antioxidants
. Assemble electronic kits and build it myself over buying on basic electronic items.
Currently I am on a Grand Jury. This is very interesting. Three month term for three days a week. Reviews District Attorney felony cases and evaluates if sufficient cause exists to go to trial. A great chance once in a while to practice your persuasion skills. Unlike a trial, we jurors can question the witnesses and detective presenter. We are treated quite well. Our break room refrigerator has a whole shelf of chocolate milk, another of white milk, finally one of apple juice. I can recommend this, contact your local District Attorney office. In Texas they are happy to take your name and put you on a voi dire list.
Thanks,
Jim
Re:Doesn't have to be 'hell' (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't think it needs to be that complete, even. I made an incomplete switch, personally.
There are a lot of areas where you can take your massive IT experience, knowledge and skills, combine them with personal interests, and be extremely valuable to an organization. 3 years ago next week, I bailed out of hardcore IT after 15 years, including several in the dot-com world. Took my skill set and resumé and got involved in government-funded academic stuff dealing with natural sciences and science policy.
I don't do it full-time, so overall it pays significantly less than the low 6 figures I peaked at during my dot-com days. But I travel all over the world (I'm +12h from home right now), meet tons of interesting people (astronauts, Nobel laureates, cabinet-level people, etc.), and spend fairly little time doing onerous stuff like the "laying on of hands" when a colleague's Windows laptop is ill. My cumulative IT experience is now something I "keep handy, just in case it's needed."
When people ask what I do now, I just tell 'em that I make sure some small portion of their taxes is spent on worthwhile things, instead of hookers for beltway types.
Maybe the OP should consider doing something similar - being a "soft IT" type in a non-IT organization.
Re:Doesn't have to be 'hell' (Score:5, Interesting)
If the company you are at would pay for higher education, you could invest in getting a degree in business or management (or something related, but fun). Given your experience, you could easily get into being a market consultant or analyst at one of the top firms. Or you could get into strategy consulting, which also pays very well. A few years in strategy consulting and you could easily get on the board at one of the smaller companies.
And if neither of these appeals to you, a startup is the way to go. It's fun, it's interesting and you can do some very interesting things. Besides, you get to work your hours and get to do it *your* way - the freedom is awesome (speaking from personal experience, yes).
Finally, you could always go back to school and do a PhD in something you like - and go into academia and research.
And oh, remember that if you are in technology, there are only a couple of options - you either go into research or academia, or you go with your own startup (otherwise, sooner or later, you either get tired of the job or run the risk of being replaced by younger people). If those do not appeal to you, business or management is the way to go.
Re:Doesn't have to be 'hell' (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Doesn't have to be 'hell' (Score:5, Interesting)
If they're a completely ethical company, confining themselves to ethical investments, with top-level consideration for their staff's welfare, completely honest and up-front in their marketing and treatment of clients/customers, then I'd be less inclined to screw them. But if they're the average fscktard employer and corporation run by a pack of MBAs with broomsticks up their back passages, constantly getting more value from their staff than they pay for, and screwing their client base as far as they can get away with, then IMHO they're Fair Game (TM)
Re:Doesn't have to be 'hell' (Score:5, Insightful)
Granted, they won't harvest your organs, but I've been cheated out of overtime pay, and no one looks to have lost sleep over having done it. They did what was profitable for the company, because that's where their loyalties lie. Well, my loyalties lie where? With me. My self-interest. My bottom line. My quality of life. Why would I, why should I, have a morality, a conscience, a system of ethics that puts me at such a stark disadvantage with my employer?
We're told that corporate managers not only can do the legal but ethically questionable, but they have a moral imperative to do as much as they legally can to maximize profit for the sharholders, even if some hippies may blanch at making money off of totalitarian regimes, human rights violators, and so on.
Well, the main shareholder in my life is me, and I think I'm justified in maximizing my investment of time, effort, education, frustration, and so on. It would be wrong to be less that zealous in looking out for my investments, and though I believe in the benefits of morality, human decency, and integrity, I feel justified in having at least as much flexibility as my employer does when defining those terms for operational use within the context of my working life.
Re:Tenerife (Score:5, Funny)
Jeoparody (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Jeoparody (Score:5, Interesting)
100k is plenty of money if you know how to spend it.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You're apparently unaware of just how insane property values in New York (and Southern California, and Singapore, and a few other places where human congregations exceed 300 people per square kilometer) really are. Try "move to another state where property values are 30% less", because it isn't just 2 miles down the road, it's 200 miles down the road. Where concentrations of pe
Re:Jeoparody (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
In a small urban or rural area, you'll get a nice 3-4BR house that's probably 30% larger than the LI one for $100-150k, and pay $2,500 in taxes. My aunt sold a shitty
Re:Jeoparody (Score:5, Insightful)
If you live on 80% of your income in NYC, you have $20k left over every year.
This is a HUGE difference--it's the difference between being able to retire at age 45 and being able to retire at age 70.
And, only an incredibly poor or incredibly stupid person spends 100% of his income in the local economy.
Not to mention, $100k in NYC is more like $70k in urban Kansas.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
On the other hand, if you make $100k in NY and save 15% you'll have $225k after 15 years, or about 80% of a really nice house in a ritzy Manhattan (Kansas) suburb.
Re:Jeoparody (Score:4, Insightful)
If you don't get shot first living where you would have to live to save $15k a year in NY.
Re:Jeoparody (Score:4, Funny)
Homes in Manhattan, KS [google.com]
Re:Jeoparody (Score:5, Insightful)
It actually pays to take the higher-paying jobs in more expensive areas (up to a certain point), as long as 1) you're frugal, invest wisely, and save money, and 2) have an exit strategy. This is because you'll have some leftover at either place, but you'll have more leftover cash in the high COL place. Plus, there's more economic opportunities (such as the recent real estate boom) to take advantage of. The idea is, you make the most of the high-COL area while you're there, and save up as much money as possible, then you get the hell out and move to a lower COL area and retire/relax/take a lower-paying job etc., while enjoying a big pile of cash, paid-off nice house, etc.
You have to be careful, though, because you have to look at the pay versus the COL, and determine how much leftover money you'll have for saving and investment. Especially take into account home ownership, because buying a home in a moderately-high COL place which will appreciate greatly is a much better deal than renting an apartment in an insanely-high COL place (Silicon Valley, NYC) and having nothing when you move out. As long as the realty market is stable, home ownership can make a huge difference in your life, as many California refugees have shown recently. If you own a home in a high-COL place and stay there a while, even if you don't pay off much principle, the value will go up so much that you can take the profit and buy a whole house in a low-COL place.
If your plan is to stay in one place your whole life, then the high-COL place may not make much sense. But anyone should know by now that it doesn't pay to not be mobile. You want to earn a good living, you have to go where the money is. It's not going to come to you out in the sticks.
Re:Jeoparody (Score:5, Interesting)
Not long ago, before I decided to be all civic minded and work for the government, I was making $70K managing a 4 person programming shop.
$100K/year is not that hard to find either. So, basically, you don't know what you're talking about wrt wages in flyover country.
Re:Jeoparody (Score:5, Funny)
Tornado clean-up?
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Re:Jeoparody (Score:5, Funny)
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Limited options (Score:5, Funny)
Otherwise, get a job flipping burgers at your local McDonalds, and work your way up.
Re:Limited options (Score:5, Insightful)
Otherwise, get a job flipping burgers at your local McDonalds, and work your way up.
He got modded down as a troll, but he's exactly right. It was just about the best advice offered here.
The worst thing you can do with a mid-life crisis is follow your impulse.
Do not change careers.
Do not buy an expensive sports car.
Do not leave your wife for a 20-year old bimbo.
They might all seem like VERY good ideas right now, but your rich, comfortable 60-year old self will thank you if you stick it out right now as you go through this "trapped in a life you hate" phase and keep cranking away.
Re:Limited options (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Limited options (Score:5, Insightful)
More specifically, it means "doing whatever the hell you want."
Re:Limited options (Score:5, Insightful)
I disagree. Whether you're rich and comfortable or not, when you're lying on your deathbed, are you going to think back on your life and say "if only I had tried this" or "I may not have done everything I wanted, but I gave it my best shot?"
The only people who should ignore their dreams and stick with the lives they hate are people who believe in reincarnation. They believe they have another shot at it, they can try it again. The rest of us have to believe that we have to make it in this life or not at all. And while you may not make it if you try, you definitely won't make it if you just rest on your laurels and live in complacency.
Live your life, it's likely the only one you get.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
It's not about "following your dreams". One presumed that's what you did to get where you are. What you are doing now is pining for the chance to see if there's more to life than what you've already accomplished.
There is. And you already have it. Learn to appreciate
Re:Limited options (Score:5, Insightful)
There is. And you already have it."
Bullshit. that is a contradiction. What kind of a superhero is so awsome that they can accomplish all there is to do in life and be simultaneously such a retard that they dont know it.
If you already have it, then kill yourself. why the hell would you want to just hold on and slowly watch the world crumble around you while you sit uselessly and smug in your knowledge that you HAVE it? explain the meaning of that? yes.. it would be great for your boss if you just kept on cranking away.. afterall.. thats what its all about right?
life is not about stagnation. Its not about HAVING. its about growing. Its about seeing, learning and teaching.. and in the end its about dying. And it doesn't matter if you die broke because in the end. YOU DIE. You may as well die right now if you've done all you are ever going to do.
Don't be a chicken shit. success is measured by challenges overcome, deeds accomplished, inventions and creations, not by dollars. I look at people 10 to 20 years older than me who have basically decided 'ohh.. my time to live is over' and it is beyond pathetic. It is the very definition of OLD. And the same time some people that age dont have that attitude.. and they dont seem old in any way. you can lose everything you have at ANY time. and in the end you WILL.
Perhaps you'll have an interesting tale to tell when you are 70 so you wont be completely useless.
if every man experiences a longing to find something MORE as they get older perhaps that is a clue. There *IS* something more.. and whoever tells you that you should just take it easy is killing you. They aren't a friend. They are a parasite holding you back.
lets say someone works their ass off then hits 65 and is staring down a whole wad of cash.. then what? go and pay people to shuttle you around like an idiot for the rest of your days? Why did you live at all if that was all you ever thought to accomplish? sit around and uselessly accumulate for your entire life, and not only are you destroying your own life.. but you are destroying the lives of everyone around you by being a horrible role model. you and all your loved ones are being diminished.. with that philosophy you may as well all be oxen, pulling the plow. nothing more.
Go live.. be human.
Re:Limited options (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Limited options (Score:5, Interesting)
Bingo! I actually have a name for this: the Deathbed Rule. When faced with a choice in life, choose the path that will lead to good deathbed memories and no regrets.
By following this rule, I've done things that many might consider foolish - quit jobs to go travelling, spending months in other countries, and so forth. These days, I'm a contractor and I make it a rule to keep several months a year aside for fun stuff, even if that consists of just lazing around, spending time with my girlfriend and reading books, as I've done these past few weeks.
By not following the Deathbed Rule, I'd probably have more money saved, but an absolute dearth of worthy life experiences - I'd have lived a "normal" life until now. What a terrible thought.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm also guessing that it will be a relatively short interval in my very long life, and an experience which I will not spend any time remembering.
I'm far more concerned about being as happy as possible for as much of my life as possible.
Re:Limited options (Score:5, Interesting)
You obviously don't know any old people. I've heard the "you never wish you spend more time at work" when laying on your deathbed, but I've heard many, many (nearly all) dying people mutter something to that effect. They all wished they had just a little more money. Whether it was to leave to their loved ones, provide a more comfortable end for themselves, or what, I've never heard anyone say "I would be happy to be homeless now in exchange for the chance to go back and take that one trip between high school and college." After all, a $2000 summer before college (and another $2000 of lost wages at a crap job) would turn into almost $500,000 by the time that person died, if they invested it rather than spending it. Was that one $2000 trip worth $500,000? For some yes, for most, no. But then, few are the people that would toss that into an investment and just let it sit there for that many years.
So, when you are laying on your deathbed in a state hospital you didn't select getting care from underpaid attendants at a horrible patient to worker ratio and you can't even afford to get an occasional candy bar from the vending machine, just think what two trips long ago for a $1,000,000 difference in resources is a regret or cherished memories well worth the $1,000,000 they cost you.
Re:Limited options (Score:5, Interesting)
When I travel, I purchase travel insurance, which normally costs around a dollar a day. My provincial insurance covers me in the US to some degree, so when I go down there, I don't bother purchasing extra.
Here are some other hints to having the well-paid, yet lots of free time lifestyle:
1. Have someone else arrange your contracts for you. In other words, contract out to a contracting company, and have them subcontract you. I have a one year contract with a place that does just that. The advantages: you don't have to arrange the business stuff, pound the pavement to find contracts, etc., and you aren't legally liable if the relationship goes sour. The downside is you'll earn somewhat less.
2. Work at home. I collaborate with the other contractors on a given project online. I've never even met any of the clients. We do everything via Skype, pretty much. Skype is absolutely essential for this lifestyle, as it's ubiquitous and everyone seems to use it. The Linux client sort of sucks, unfortunately, so I switched to OS X.
By working at home, I free up a huge amount of time for fun stuff. I typically get up around 6:45 and shuffle over to the computer. By 1:00-2:00 or so, I'm finishing up for the day.
3. Learn Java and the current "hot" frameworks and libraries. I'm pretty lukewarm towards Java as it's not a terribly exciting language. However, it is the unofficial server-side standard. Learn it well, and you'll be turning away work on a regular basis. Because it's got a low barrier to entry, there are a ton of terrible Java programmers out there. If you can distinguish yourself with clean designs and implementations, and deliver in a reasonable fashion, then you'll be worth your weight in gold.
4. Communicate well and often. If you can write well, and lay out progress, designs, docs, etc. in a clean and concise fashion, clients will love you. Good communication skills are beyond crucial.
Re:Limited options (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Keep your job - stability is fleeting and you will be glad you stayed with it when you are finally outsourced or laid off
2. Start paying yourself from the nice salary you are making -
a. if you are in debt, pay it down asap
b. if you are not in debt, save money as much as you can
1. set up a fund to go around the world and fund it decently - 15K or so should do the trick
2. put everything in your 401K that you can
3. pay down your house so you can save even more
c. whenever you start feeling that everything is pointless, look at the progress you've made and congratulate yourself
3. Learn something new, maybe even pay for your own certs / classes -- once you have certs note how much better you are treated when they realize you are secure in your skills and knowlege and marketability
4. Focus on your family and spend quality time with them. They are really the reason you are working anyway. enjoy them - they are your reward for putting up with the crap
5. Remeber to look around and appreciate at least one thing each day. Whatever it is, it didn't have to happen and if you count your blessings you will find you have more than if you grump around expecting the world to conform to your perspective du jour.
New Horizons (Score:5, Insightful)
After 15 years in IT, I quit (actually, not by choice. The dot-com meltdown of 2000 left me unemployed.) So, I started a toy company. You can see some of it at http://www.rlt.com/ [rlt.com]
Now that the waves of destruction from the internet big boom have subsided, would I go back to IT? No way! I'm a toymaker now and loving it. So do my kids...
As I've said before, programmers and sysadmins have some incredible advantages over most MBAs. You have LOGIC. You are CREATIVE. You have a propensity for
PROBLEM SOLVING. You can think through and visualize a plan of action from beginning to end. You can change course and re-program the system
when requirements change. You know that very few, if any, projects are ever really finished. You're a hacker who knows how to shoot from the
hip to get a job done on deadline, even if it isn't "elegant". You know that "Done" usually only means "it works at the moment and when
it breaks, we'll fix it". Guess what, these qualities plus a willingness to try and fail then try again (kind of like compiling) are what make entrepreneurs
successful. Another advantage you have is that you won't have to hire some expensive tech guy to do your programming/sysadmin/DBA stuff for
you.
You can do it. Just remember- there are a million reasons why you'll fail, and everyone will be happy to remind you of them constantly. But there's only one reason why you will succede- because you make it happen. So, ignore the naysayers and the critics, trust your instincts and go start a business.
Have fun!
Re:New Horizons (Score:5, Funny)
hip to get a job done on deadline, even if it isn't "elegant". You know that "Done" usually only means "it works at the moment and when
it breaks, we'll fix it".
And you say you're a toy-maker?
Remind me not to buy my niece's next swing-set from you.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, my father (who has been retired for a while) worked 30 straight years since his 20's till he retired. He's currently well off and owns 3 houses, but he's always told me that if he had to do it over again he would have gotten a career change or stopped working when he was younger
Me? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Me? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Me? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Me? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Me? (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, they deal with fewer fires.
Careers (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Careers (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Careers (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
In all fairness, I feel Pikoro is to blame: protocol on Ask Slashdot is to ask for legal advice so that responses can follow one of two possible formats:
And don't open a comic/games/collectibles store! (Score:5, Insightful)
When people tell you to "follow your dreams" what they mean is "follow your dreams--as long as your dreams are reasonable and you have the qualifications and skills needed to pursue them."
Re:And don't open a comic/games/collectibles store (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally, what I mean is go out and do it. If that means you need to obtain skills to do it, then do that first. I say follow your dreams, not get ahead of yourself.
I also believe that there is nothing that you can imagine yourself doing (within certain realities of physics, of course) that you cannot conceivably do. Have you seen Ong Bak or The Protector? This guy Tony Jaa grew up watching pissed-off Kung Fu movies and no one ever told him that people needed wires to do these badass stunts where they run up the side of things and so on, and as a consequence he learned to do those things without wires. I don't mean the anime/kung-fu leap that sends you thirty feet up into the sky or anything here - again, reminders about physics apply.
But the point is, how many things could we have done if no one told us we couldn't? If we weren't constantly discouraged from our "fool dreams" by parents, teachers, society...
Re:Careers (Score:5, Insightful)
That's good advice, as long as what you meant by "go from there" was "then stay in your current job that pays well, and have fun with your hobbies on evenings and weekends."
Do you want to live like a 22-year old again? In a tiny apartment with a roommate or two and an old beat-up car in the parking garage? Having to borrow from family to buy any big-ticket items? With no health insurance? Being on the bottom rung of pretty much everything? Only without as much energy, naive optimism, or potential for growth?
If so, then changing careers or starting a new business is a fantastic idea.
Otherwise, find the fun in what you are doing now. Being poor when you're fresh out of college is normal. Being poor as a middle-aged man is depressing.
Cars oddly enough (Score:5, Interesting)
The nice part is it's a useful skill in every day life, and if nothing else you might know when someone is going to rip you off at the local auto shop.
Re:Cars oddly enough (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Cars oddly enough (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, you still have to deal with complex problems, trial-and-error fixing, and customer
Re:Cars oddly enough (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Cars oddly enough (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Cars oddly enough (Score:4, Insightful)
Dude, I'm pretty much in the middle of the pack when it comes to programmer salaries in my region at my level of experience, and I've yet to meet an auto mechanic of any kind who makes half as much as I do.
These days, when a component of an electrical system in a car fails, they don't bring in an engineer to rebuild it. A shop monkey reads the diagnostic computer that tells him which part to replace, he replaces it, and the car is back on the road a few hours later.
Huh? (Score:4, Interesting)
The thing is, for some mechanics, they don't get paid by the hour. Well, they do, but not the number of hours they work -- the number of hours the estimator gave. So, it's not uncommon for my brother to get paid for 80hrs in a week. He's good at diagnosing, and getting cars fixed and back out the door. He typically works 2 stalls at once, so as he's waiting for parts for one or for fluids to drain, he can work on the other. Yes, he has to work on Saturdays once a month -- but he's never gotten paged at 2am for a downed mail server, and there's no chance of him getting outsourced as they need people near where the cars break, not 1/2 way across the globe.
The problem is, he's come to realize that there aren't too many old mechanics -- their backs go out after a while. I'm guessing that someone who's been in IT for 20 years might not be in the best shape for bending over an engine block all day.
Personally, if I were to look at the automotive side of things, I'd look at getting certified on Hybrids -- I don't know what it'd take, but it's my understanding that there aren't that many folks who are rated to work on 'em, so it might be a useful opening.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Which IT? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you have a great deal of experience with risk managemnt - there may be an opportunity for you in the stock market.
It's all about which areas you have experience in, and how comfortably you are at adapting your skills to a new environment.
Re:Which IT? (Score:5, Insightful)
For instance: it would only take about a week of Windows desktop support to burn me out, but I'm pretty certain I'll be doing network/application architecture and hacking on UN*X and OSS apps until I'm permanently retired (and probably for fun thereafter). After all, this is what I was doing for fun before I figured out I could get paid for it
You might also look at getting out of the "world's largest" anything
In summary: find something you like to do (might even be in tech), and find a company to do it for that's small enough to be flexible, fun and still concerned about the individual. Maybe easier said than done, but there are certainly a lot of places hiring sysadmins and programmers lately
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Which IT? (Score:4, Interesting)
You may actually want to stick with it (Score:5, Interesting)
Move to Paradise (Score:5, Insightful)
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Bike messenger (Score:5, Interesting)
I read this story on kuro5hin about someone on IT who went on to become a bike messenger. I'm not sure it would fit you, but it is a physical job and it is clearly not stressful. I am not sure how much someone like you earns, but I guess you probably have a lot of savings, so you could try anything you like. Other lame possibilities include "writing" a book, becoming a critic for some obscure thing that you always loved (say, a cheese specialist). For what it's worth, I like cooking, but I've heard it's stressful.
If you're looking for a complete change, try a physical job (not necessarily manual labor as in "construction worker"), one that requires you to use your body.
P.Drive a Truck (Score:5, Funny)
You get to see the country and sit on your ass all day. I couldn't think of a much better job.
Re:Drive a Truck (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
So, if you're still looking to reproduce, get a cool (engine) cab if you can, or maybe get a dish drying rack and sit on it. Wait, you're from IT, so get a dish rack to sit on and then use a laptop cooler and let it remove the heat between you and the seat.
Bingo. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Bingo. (Score:4, Insightful)
You don't need to learn to seperate your hobbies from your skills. I would venture to say that that is the worst thing you can do. A hobby is work that you don't get paid to do. If you enjoy your hobby and you are passionate about it, why can't you make a living at it too and then be passionate about your job? Employers want employees that enjoy coming to work. That's why they offer so many incentives like day-care, flexible schedules, cafeterias, company transportation, discount programs, recreational activities and so on and so forth. They WANT you to LIKE to come to work. They don't want it to be difficult for you to come to work. Why do they want all that? Because a happy employee is a productive employee that contributes to the good of the compnay which benefits everyone, including the employee.
If you chose to seperate your hobbies from your skills, that's up to you. However, if you have developed skills then it's obvious that maybe, at one point, enjoyed those skills enough to focus on them. So if you are artificailly limiting yourself by confining your skills to work, you must find your hobbies just as dreadful. Mainly because you aren't as skilled at your hobbies as you are at your work which is based on skills you likely enjoy more.
IT is a hobby and a job for me. I didn't get into it because it was something that I could stand doing for decades. I got into it because I really enjoyed working with the computers. I also saw a good deal of earning potential that could support my other expensive hobbies and the skill sets I could pick up were also transferrable to my other hobbies. Also, no matter how much I know, no matter how much experience I have, there is ALWAYS something new around the corner to discover and learn about.
There is a tremendous potential for growth in any profession as long as you are willing to look past your nose that you are seemingly keeping on the grind stone. You should take it off every once in a while. You might see things for what they really are. Afterall, if you keep your head down and grinding away, how are you ever going to take a look and see all the opportunities around you? Don't go through life with such large, self-induced blinders on. You are missing way too much!
I'd go teach (Score:3, Insightful)
Logical. (Score:4, Funny)
That depends (Score:4, Insightful)
Hate Job? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I didn't want to be an IT drone... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I didn't want to be an IT drone... (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
MBA? (Score:5, Interesting)
Electrician or librarian (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, electricians are paid well. There's a lot of apprenticeship required, but as it's a hands-on kind of job it likely has much higher satisfaction than IT. It also pays well. You could pick up some other handyman skills and work at home improvement, or even get on Monster House at the Discovery Channel. Who knows!
But seriously, those are two I like. It doesn't mean you will. If what you're asking is if your years in IT pre-dispose you to a different field, I'd say it depends on what part of IT you were in and what you were doing.
maybe "financial" is the problem (Score:3, Insightful)
Go for it! (Score:3, Interesting)
Five years ago I left technology for good to become a professional nature photographer. [joedecker.net] There are catches--the pay is terrible (but I made a lot of money in tech.) When I'm out in the field, particularly the far north in summer, the hours can truly suck (but I love every single minute of it, even if I don't... can't get enough sleep.) Some of the people in the art business are difficult to work with. (True anywhere, likely.)
On the other hand, I love my boss (myself), even when he's a hard taskmaster. My overall level of happiness and sanity has gone up--way up. Despite oft-long hours, a lot of flexibility in when that work gets done allows me an incredibly varied and rich social life, as well as to serve on the board of directors of a non-profit. People who don't pay me who appreciate my work often write me in appreciation of what I do.
There is an obsessiveness to the tech culture, a "60 hours a week or you suck", a cluelessness apparent in the constant dicksizing about how much one suffers at work. For many, this gets in the way of having a happy and grounded life. Don't get me wrong, I love technology and gadgets, I miss writing code (and still do now and then), but not for a moment in the last five years have I missed being pulled into the obsessiveness of the Silicon Valley tech work culture.
I'm not suggesting that you go become a nature photographer, that was my dream, not yours. And, as many other folks here suggest, don't rush into something. Make sure you take care of your future, don't leave yourself worried about how you're going to eat. Don't leave yourself to be asking "You want fries with that, sonny?" when you're 88.
BUT....
Do go out and find something you love. Something that lets you have whatever kind of life you'd like to have, while working. Life is too short to waste.
I just decided to travel.... (Score:3, Informative)
Life is short and no one on their death bed ever says "Oh boy I sure wish I could have worked more!!!!"
The answer is simple: (Score:3, Insightful)
What I chose was film and video production. My IT experience had some relevance. In fact it has increasing relevance. Still, after 7 years this pays only a fraction of what I made in IT. Part of that is my fault, because I am taking it "easier" than I should be.
I am MUCH happier however.
The point is to put some serious thought into what you like to do, and try and do that professionally. Some people like fixing cars. Other folks like hockey. (I did that too, but never full time despite trying to become full time.) Whatever.
Before you make any changes, study your new area. Gain some expertise. Do it as a hobby for a bit to make sure you like it enough to try it as a profession.
This may sound familiar to you, because its how I, and probably a lot of folk here, got into computers.
I recommend poker (Score:5, Interesting)
1. You're your own boss.
2. No physical or athletic requirements.
3. Lots of probability math to wrap your head around.
4. You can work from home if you like, or from a variety of physical locations.
5. No retirement age.
6. If you're either very good or very lucky, you can be on TV.
I bet I get moderated "funny," but I'm perfectly serious.
Re:Teach (Score:5, Insightful)
Because he doesn't want to start out at the bottom of the pay scale?
Teaching pay scales are not based on merit, but on time served. He would be making the same as the aforementioned dipshit but with much larger bills to pay, regardless of much the kids might benefit.
Private school is not that much more competitive, either.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Consultant? (Score:5, Interesting)
What to do next is a huge question for me. I make > $100k/year, and have no college education. Unfortunately, I have become accustomed to the lifestyle that I lead, and my bills won't go away just because I take a job that pays less. While consulting was a quick 'fix', I find that no matter where I go, it's the same over and over again. *shrug* Just my
Been there, done that, not worth it. (Score:5, Insightful)
And as you progress past a certain level, it takes cubic dollars to advance - and the people with access to that sort of money suffer from a reality distortion field strength that has to be experienced to be believed.
I had a lot of fun racing, and I met a lot of cool people and got to do a lot of cool stuff, but I also spent a metric assload of money with little to show for it save a website, a bunch of trophies, a Speed TV clip, and a bruised credit card.
I'd've done better to stay in the Army.
DG
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
"I'm going to farm"
and next year?
"I'm going to farm"
so you are just going to farm?
"Yep. Until the money runs out"
This used to be a joke with a bit of a hard edge to it, but now it isn't that much of a joke in Australia.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
You won't get very far if you don't first discover that you need to be raising cows, sheep and chickens to get the beef, lamb and eggs you're looking for.