I know a ton of people in that field either looking for a new job or haven’t been able to find a job in months. Seems like most are way overworked and companies aren’t doing much to add staff. The pay seems decent if you make it to the higher levels, but the work/life balance seems to suck for those people
Changing Careers
- Thread starter Ohio1nole
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I know a ton of people in that field either looking for a new job or haven’t been able to find a job in months. Seems like most are way overworked and companies aren’t doing much to add staff. The pay seems decent if you make it to the higher levels, but the work/life balance seems to suck for those people
We are in very similar situations, except I just dropped a boatload of my savings into remodeling me house.
Do you have kids?
No kids. So that also helped with the decision because we do want to start having them in the next couple of years.
I have no idea what you should change careers to; but there are tests you can take that will give you an indication of what you would like and/or be good at. It sounds like if this were something you are serious about now is the time. Once you get to the kids phase changing careers is darn near impossible. I would also look at something that gives you schedule flexibility; while being in love with what you do is nice, being able to go to your kids show at 1pm on Tuesday or take your kids lunch in the middle of the week is pretty nice too. Good luck
This is good advice. I took a Myers-Briggs assessment once in HS and again a few months ago. It's amazing how accurate it is and I've found it to be helpful.
Peter Gibbons: Our high school guidance counselor used to ask us what you'd do if you had a million dollars and you didn't have to work. And invariably what you'd say was supposed to be your career. So, if you wanted to fix old cars then you're supposed to be an auto mechanic.
Samir: So what did you say?
Peter Gibbons: I never had an answer. I guess that's why I'm working at Initech.
Michael Bolton: No, you're working at Initech because that question is crap to begin with. If everyone listened to her, there'd be no janitors, because no one would clean anything up if they had a million dollars.
Samir: You know what I would do if I had a million dollars? I would invest half of it in low risk mutual funds and then take the other half over to my friend Asadulah who works in securities...
Michael Bolton: Samir, you're missing the point. The point of the exercise is that you're supposed to figure out what you would want to do if...
Samir: So what did you say?
Peter Gibbons: I never had an answer. I guess that's why I'm working at Initech.
Michael Bolton: No, you're working at Initech because that question is crap to begin with. If everyone listened to her, there'd be no janitors, because no one would clean anything up if they had a million dollars.
Samir: You know what I would do if I had a million dollars? I would invest half of it in low risk mutual funds and then take the other half over to my friend Asadulah who works in securities...
Michael Bolton: Samir, you're missing the point. The point of the exercise is that you're supposed to figure out what you would want to do if...
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Not to side track this but another big thing you need to factor in to your decision is where you want to live. People often talk about how there are two different America's in terms of the two coasts and the flyover, but what people dont talk about a lot is the huge difference between living in or around a huge metropolitan area versus living in a more rural area. Not talking small town but say the panhandle of Florida where Tallahassee is the biggest town. This is true of all of the country for those that dont live outside a huge town.
The reason I say this is that if you want to say live where you grew up and that is a smaller town your job opportunities could be dramatically different than if you want to live near a big city. Another thing is that if you are pretty specific about where you want to live look and see if there is a need for some type of services and then maybe tailor your next job towards that.
There are a lot of small business opportunities that would never come up in a career test that could be viable where you live. Examples here in the panhandle along the coast is the need for reliable cleaning services for all the condos. Same for yard services. Especially in growing communities there are a lot of niche markets that someone could take advantage of. If you are in a big city and want to stay there then you have more corporate opportunities that do not exist in half the country.
The reason I say this is that if you want to say live where you grew up and that is a smaller town your job opportunities could be dramatically different than if you want to live near a big city. Another thing is that if you are pretty specific about where you want to live look and see if there is a need for some type of services and then maybe tailor your next job towards that.
There are a lot of small business opportunities that would never come up in a career test that could be viable where you live. Examples here in the panhandle along the coast is the need for reliable cleaning services for all the condos. Same for yard services. Especially in growing communities there are a lot of niche markets that someone could take advantage of. If you are in a big city and want to stay there then you have more corporate opportunities that do not exist in half the country.
And the number of golfers is shrinking. Country Club communities are still popular places to live, but the membership numbers are not in a growth pattern. Boomers' kids grew up watching Dad or Grandpa play and have decided they don't want to give up four hours on Saturday at a course, which is why the business model for Top Golf is proving successful.
Lots of considerations here:
Your age
Your current skill set/experience
Current location?
Opportunities tied to relocation
Willingness to acquire new skills
Spouse to be' career and her flexibility
Shrinkage is not something a guy likes to hear...
Interesting. In Northeast Florida, accounting and finance jobs are booming.
I've worked in corporate finance for years and the pay/hours can suck at the lower levels and the hours at the executive level blows. If you're Director level and above, you're going to make six figures but won't get that high without an MBA. Nowadays most companies want someone with an Accounting degree and/or a CPA designation, which is a head scratcher to most of us who have been in the field for a while, especially on the FP&A side of the house where I come from. Accountants are usually the worst people to put in FP&A roles.
Recently, I did a "career change" if you can call it that. After years of being in the private sector, I accepted an offer with UF Health. I get paid extremely well, have incredible benefits and it's not an organization that expects you to come in the office on weekends or stay until 1 AM working on the budget. I'm still in my field but in a different area with more operations activities added on. It's been a refreshing change of pace and I'm getting home to have dinner with my family every night. Although I have to go to Hogtown 3 days a week and endure seeing Orange and Blue everywhere, the people are extremely friendly. It's a great organization and I'm actually enjoying what I do, which hasn't happened in a long time.
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Insisting on doing something you love is total BS. The percentage of people that get to do that is so small that it's a horrible approach. If most people could do what they love, they wouldn't have to pay people. That's why it's a job. Hell, even if you find your dream occupation, all the things that come with a job like location, commute, office politics, dick boss, low pay etc..those things can easily make your dream job into a slog anyway.
What is important however, is to not do something you HATE. You have to be able to go in there, put in your hours, and not walk away from it at the end of the day hating your job, yourself, and having it ruining the rest of your life.
The thing is, a lot of people who pursue the former end up in the latter. If you decide the thing you love is designing the statues that go on wedding cakes, and that's what you dedicate your whole mindset to, and it doesn't workout, are you ending up a customer service rep to pay the bills?
Choose a career you can tolerate, and can achieve, so you are in control of your future. And one that pays enough to pursue what you love outside of work.
More to the actual point...my wife is 45. She majored in film. She spent all of ages 24 to about 39 working part time jobs, everything from working for NBC news to Cracker Barrel to Michael's Crafts. Toward the end of her part time days, she decided she would try to get into marketing and sales, starting by taking crappy freelance assignments of the internet. She parlayed that into her first full time job back as a marketing assistant. That company used Salesforce crm, and working with that software quickly became the thing she liked most about that job. She started training herself enough with that to get another job as a low level Salesforce support person. While doing that, she independently studied for Salesforce certification, and passed the test. Today she was just offered a job as a Salesforce administrator at what I would consider a fairly astounding salary.
For a 45 year old who's basically been full time for about six years, with no education or long term history in databases and being basically self-taught from online training, she just got an offer of nearly what I make 20+ years into my career. It's frankly shocking. It makes me want to tell my kids to drop what they're studying in college and learn a damn software.
I don't know if that helps, but it is an example of someone making something out of nothing in middle age, and it's a job I'd never have even guessed existed. I have no idea what other kind of software that is out there to learn, but she can't even figure out how to use the GPS on her phone, but she was able to learn this and be good enough at it to be in demand. There must be dozens of similar softwares out there that not enough people really know how to use.
What is important however, is to not do something you HATE. You have to be able to go in there, put in your hours, and not walk away from it at the end of the day hating your job, yourself, and having it ruining the rest of your life.
The thing is, a lot of people who pursue the former end up in the latter. If you decide the thing you love is designing the statues that go on wedding cakes, and that's what you dedicate your whole mindset to, and it doesn't workout, are you ending up a customer service rep to pay the bills?
Choose a career you can tolerate, and can achieve, so you are in control of your future. And one that pays enough to pursue what you love outside of work.
More to the actual point...my wife is 45. She majored in film. She spent all of ages 24 to about 39 working part time jobs, everything from working for NBC news to Cracker Barrel to Michael's Crafts. Toward the end of her part time days, she decided she would try to get into marketing and sales, starting by taking crappy freelance assignments of the internet. She parlayed that into her first full time job back as a marketing assistant. That company used Salesforce crm, and working with that software quickly became the thing she liked most about that job. She started training herself enough with that to get another job as a low level Salesforce support person. While doing that, she independently studied for Salesforce certification, and passed the test. Today she was just offered a job as a Salesforce administrator at what I would consider a fairly astounding salary.
For a 45 year old who's basically been full time for about six years, with no education or long term history in databases and being basically self-taught from online training, she just got an offer of nearly what I make 20+ years into my career. It's frankly shocking. It makes me want to tell my kids to drop what they're studying in college and learn a damn software.
I don't know if that helps, but it is an example of someone making something out of nothing in middle age, and it's a job I'd never have even guessed existed. I have no idea what other kind of software that is out there to learn, but she can't even figure out how to use the GPS on her phone, but she was able to learn this and be good enough at it to be in demand. There must be dozens of similar softwares out there that not enough people really know how to use.
I would go for accounting. My brother was laid off from his finance job in his late 30s. He hated that job for a huge company. He went back to school and got a masters in Accounting and got his CPA. Rather than going to one of the meat grinder Big 4 firms, he went with a smaller company that works with Atlanta individuals and corporations. He loves it, except for four months a year before tax time when he is chained to his computer 12 hours per day. In the summers they have half days on Friday. Three weeks vacation plus Christmas to New Years off. No vacation during tax season prior to 15-Apr and 15-Oct.
He took a drop in salary, but he stands to do much better long term. Everybody needs accountants.
He went to George State for his Masters in Accounting, graduated at the top or near the top of his class, and he immediately had multiple offers. His firm paid for his CPA and gave him time to study. When he was laid off due to a RIF, he had multiple offers with a couple of days. This is in Atlanta, so a good job market.
Oh...and if you are good at sales, you can quickly make partner which is nothing more than "Accounting Sales" like bringing in clients, and you will be killing it. The "minions" will do the grunt (actual) work. You will be playing golf and going out for fancy dinners. ;^)
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Yes. True if you can get good at it and are willing to relocate. It won't be doctor money though.
If you want to do what you love, become an ER doctor or something similar. Make a lot of money and work 7 days on and 7 days off. Work anywhere in the world you want. You have lots of money for travel. I met one guy who did this and who took an international surf trip every month. He would work two weeks on and then take two weeks off. He was single and would bring his girlfriend du juor on the surf trips.
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Sounds familiar, I went to work one day, had a bunch of demands dropped on me that didn't make sense and quit on the spot. Haven't looked back although there have been some tough times since I left that job.
