I'm in the process right now... it is kind of a comforting feeling knowing that you are learning something new, and for me, a challenge is motivating. The old was getting old and the new is more interesting right now.
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I'm in the process right now... it is kind of a comforting feeling knowing that you are learning something new, and for me, a challenge is motivating. The old was getting old and the new is more interesting right now.
Rural high school math/middle school science teacher > database programmer in Boston > dental school/climbing/skiing bum in Boulder > dental hygienist in rural CO.
I am so not better off in many ways ($$$, mental health), but my "quality of living" has slightly improved, and I drive a lot less. I'm still chronically fucked up the ass in one way or another, no matter what, but that is more based upon my own tendencies.
I think the only factors here is if you think you are going to like the job and like having to travel. I don't see money as being a huge motivational factor here unless its in that 30K range. You will see quite a bit more on your check. 10K isnt going to change that much. You're already making plenty of money. Thats just a little more in savings. I'm a little suprised to hear you are a programmer and don't work from home. Why do they have you come in the office? Its not like you need to physically fix anything. I'd entertain the offer, use that leverage and work yourself into a work from home gig at your current job. If you are looking to travel and want a new challenge, by all means jump on it. I have the luxery of living in the bay area and not having to commute to the city. I could probably grab a big salary jump, but i dont see it as being worth it. I have a 6 year old and would like to spend as much time as possible with her. Your kids are a little older, so tough call.
You don't say...Quote:
Originally Posted by MakersTeleMark
Has anybody quit a job paying 100K range, for, say, half the salary, and getting into ski related field like opening your own shop or buying a lodge/pension, and now skiing and mtn biking whenever you want? If you're married, what was the wife's opinion/reaction? Were kids a factor? Or did you realize you can live on so much less and be that much happier?
Sorry to jump in on OP, and I dont have any advice, but I am working on quitting teaching and getting into a completely non-related field, too. I wanna live in the mountains up in Nagano, and would damn near sell my soul to the devil to do it.
I've done several complete changes: Army officer > civil engineer > telecom manager > slimy lawyer. As you note, it can be stressful not to know what you are doing for a while, but frankly that's also pretty fun - a test of how smart and adaptable you really are.
If I were you and was feeling content but topped-out in the current position, I'd make the jump. (Full Disclosure: I am a complete hypocrite - I just turned down a great gig with a good company that would have been a big promotion because my current position is relatively easy, pays well and allows me to ski whenever I want.)
Can't answer the questions you're really asking, but I did totally change careers and am glad I did it.
Went from a cubicle jockey in software IT and QA to commercial electrician. Best thing I ever did.
Even though I haven't been able to find work in construction in over a year the fact I have a commercial electrician's license AND a software/IT background helped me land my current job as a facilities technician at a data center.
My current job is solving complex problems with other people who know other parts of a huge system. Face to face meetings are the norm. Hashing out 3 different solutions for hours... etc. The programming side of programming is easy. Create, Read, Update, Delete. That's the basis to most programming... different syntax to do that.Quote:
Originally Posted by cramer
I've known only one guy who really made a go of this. He took his wife and kids up to a small town, got a piece of land and little house and then did enough work to pay the bills. Seemed happy to me - but personally I have a hard time with adding kids to that equation. Yeah, they get a better childhood - more outdoors, more fun stuff - but their education is going to lag behind and they won't be able to financially help their kids go to college. If that wasn't a big deal or you didn't have kids - then if the wife is on board, absolutely go for it.Quote:
Originally Posted by satori
I know you already responded to this but IMO you DO need the money. It's much easier in the long run to start aggressively funding your kids' education funds now than later.Quote:
Originally Posted by Poop~Ghost
Also, while $10-30k may not seem like a large addition to your income think what percent increase it is to your discretionary income. I suspect like most people you spend most of your income on overhead, essentials and it sounds like you're prudently saving, so the extra could also be fun money. $30k can buy a lot of fun. Its not a dress rehearsal.
Change is the only thing that is constant in this world. Maybe you're job is ok now, but then maybe in 5 yrs management will blow it all up. That's what happened to me.
That experienced taught me two things. 1. There needs to be growth in your company or field of work for you to advance personally. 2. Who you work for is everything. Bad leadership will ruin the best of opportunities.
If you think this company and their work is getting bigger and better, and you like the man/woman who is calling the shots, take it.
Cheers PG for the reply. Soooo many factors to consider, but it's something we're both really talking about making a move and doing. Cheers!
June 7th is the 20 yr anniversary of my big job change, i was right sized/ canned/ given the boot AKA losing the lifetime job when a couple of managers wander in at 8am to hand me a package & ask for the office keys/ LT passwords and just like that i was jobless after > 30 yrs.
The first thing i did was book lunch with my lawyer/ ski buddy/ paddling buddy who read the argreement and told me they made a pretty good iron clad deal as one would expect from the mother corp
I had been a corporate animal (kind of) since age 18 so how to become a ski bum was not at first apparent, I MAY have been too serious, you would think it would be easy but becoming a ski bum was not really apparent so it really took 4 yrs to hit my stride just smoking dope/ skiing chasing a woman/ drinking beer
So it was like a 4 yr program eh
Sucking ones own dick is a career change?
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Originally Posted by satori
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Are you like 75 years old?</p>
golf clapQuote:
Originally Posted by Vt-Freeheel
I hear it’s good work if you can get itQuote:
Originally Posted by Vt-Freeheel;[emoji[emoji6[emoji640
What does the potential growth path look like at the potential new job? At this stage of my life/career, I would not leave my current job that I like for an extra 10-30k if it meant traveling one week a month (and possibly not being able to easily ski/bike on work days). I have a 9 year old. I want to be around as much as possible. My wife and I both have decent jobs at the moment and I'd of course love an extra 10-30k, but it wouldn't really have a major effect on our everyday life (though obviously it's always good to put more in retirement). Since we've passed into a comfortable income, I really prioritize quality of life things over much else.
Now, if this was 10 years down the road - when my son is in college - maybe I'd feel differently. But for now, it would be hard to get me to move unless I really wanted the job (or saw a much better advancemeth path over the next 5 years).
Been through 3 complete career changes in my life, heading for the final on in 2026 when I fully retire. Most real jobs suck, all jobs are a trade-off of time for money and everyone has to decide what their time is worth. No one ever said, damn I wish I had put in more hours at work.
I've changed careers a bunch of times. Finally decided to invest in a business and become my own boss. It is blue collar AF but makes 2-3 times what I was making before. I work less, take more vacations and am overall happier, the first few years were stressful though. For the right person, I'd recommend it.
yikes big time loser energy there broQuote:
Originally Posted by Vt-Freeheel
What kind of biz? Did you buy it or start up from scratch?Quote:
Originally Posted by Name Redacted
wondering the same thing.
Same. And there can be a lot of satisfaction when depositing the payments.Quote:
I've changed careers a bunch of times. Finally decided to invest in a business and become my own boss. It is blue collar AF but makes 2-3 times what I was making before. I work less, take more vacations and am overall happier, the first few years were stressful though. For the right person, I'd recommend it.
I bought an operating automotive windshield replacement business about 4 years ago. It is small, one bay shop, I have two employees, one works from home as the office manager. I do the work, and inspect every job. So it is work, and it was a very steep learning curve but we focus on doing high quality work, and we charge for it. Someday maybe I'll have my tech take over, but to be honest, I kinda like the work, and enjoy doing it. I don't get to ski every day anymore, but winter is my slow season so I get out enough to keep me happy. Summers are busy AF for a few months. I'd like to expand it to other locations but it is tough finding quality employees these days. That's the biggest challenge, but at least I can do the work by myself if I have to. Being a business owner is not for everyone, but I just got sick of being an employee, I was a brewmaster for a few different breweries for about 13 years. Fun job, decent benefits, lots of perks, but not a lot of pay. I get asked all the time if I miss it, and yeah, I miss the social nature of the job, but I don't miss a lot of other things about it. I was pretty burned out and over it when I got out. I pretty much only drink pilsners now, haha. Before that, I was a helicopter pilot. I got chewed up and spit out during the recession. It was fun, but there's a lot of challenges to doing that for a living. Thought about and tried to get back in a few times over the years but at my age now it just doesn't make sense. If anything, I should have gone the fixed wing route. It provides a lot more options for employment, better QOL, and pay/benefits.
Wow, thanks for the detail. Always interested in the paths people take and yours is about as diverse as any. Congrats
I was a stock broker right out of college.
32nd floor of the mailbox building cash register wells fargo whatever building you see on the Denver skyline. My office overlooked the Warwick Hotel pool by 10 floors, it was the playboy club in the 1970s. It was dry the whole time I was there though.
It was 2000 and the dot com bubble had burst and market tanked. One guy left before me. We were the home office of 17 locations but Boiler Room had come out and I thought the whole thing was going to tank. It did about 4 months later.
I went and started up on my own at 24 as an electrician passing my test while doing my first job. Going from white collar to blue sounded pretty dumb at the time but my co workers checks bounced.
Who really knows what the other road looks like.
"" I was a brewmaster for a few different breweries for about 13 years. Fun job, decent benefits, lots of perks, but not a lot of pay. I get asked all the time if I miss it, and yeah, I miss the social nature of the job, but I don't miss a lot of other things about it ""
They seem to drink alot of beer I think maybe too much for me, more than I think I would want to be drinking
I always joke with the local brewmasters that really sexy part where he buddy hold up a glass to the light and smiles at the bubbles is a small part of the job mostly its washing vats
When I was working as a Ski Patrol Director my position was FT/YR. During to off months I did a lot of different things, drove a haul truck, ran equipment, built ski area related infrastructure.
The Director of Development had me get certified as a SWPPP Administrator (Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan) as the company had about 8 Stormwater for Construction permits active and I inspected them and pushed the paperwork. I did that as a part of my duties for about 7 years.
When our company was taken over I saw the opportunity to try and make that a business. The DOD stayed on with the new company and agreed to back my play as an independent contractor doing the same work.
I established an LLC (Sole Proprietorship) and leveraging other connections I gradually built the client list. After 10 years I was invoicing > $ 200K a year but it was a lot of work doing it solo.
I encouraged another ex-patroller to do the same and sent her a lot of clients, I am in the process of getting another ex-patroller buddy set up doing the same things.
Total niche business, needs to be in an area where building and development are balls to the wall. Now I am lurching towards retirement, that will probably look like writing Stormwater permits and having them handle the administration for one more year and then me getting out entirely.
I am still astounded that it worked out as well as it has.
This thread promoted my semi annual return to TGR. I went from paralegal to snowboard bum (check post history) to grad school in DC and just recently to Denver. Some luck, some hard work and I’ve got a job I enjoy and a business that makes it possible for me to do something I care about. It’s doable, but it takes a lot of work to go from one career to another. It helps if you can either stay in one industry and change functions or stay in a function and change industries. Doing both in one go is hard.
Nobody seems to realize that xxx bumped a 13 year old thread, but it's an interesting topic nonetheless.
No career change for me until I completely hang em up, then maybe I'll become a Walmart greeter
What makes you think no one noticed?
I went from Teacher (10 years) to IT - system administration, Engineering Apps/servers management(6 years now). I've only worked a buts in seats job in IT and it's not my favorite. I wish I was remote. I dabbled in some field service at my old job and I really enjoyed that, but no way i'd want to be full time travel. I got to goto some pretty remote spots (Mountain top in alaska, oil rigs in the gulf, California deserts) and that was fun. Wouldn't mind some part time level job like that with big pay.
wow 10 yrs later it is almost like even more people no longer have the same lifetime job anymore SO anybody ever been given the job counseling as part of the package to help them get another job ?
I think it was Warren-Shepell back then the mother corp had them give courses learn to write a CV and talk to a counselor by phone who helps you get re-employed
I told counselor yeah the retirement deposits started right I donot think I need I need to work anymore so I never completed her counseling
I could tell from her voice she was not sure what to think
I’d like to hear what Satori is up to nowQuote:
Originally Posted by Danno;[emoji[emoji6[emoji640
It’s been about 13 years since I was a regular poster and here I am.
Recently laid off at sixty, not sure I’ve got the jam for another ‘career’ job. Going to shove my info in Chat GPT and get me a new resume, send it and and see what happens with that. Also surveying options for income soup, aka multiple streams of income. May add a CDL to my list of skills, could dust off my LMT shingle too.
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Originally Posted by Bunion 2020
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I had kind of pieced together that you did something like that, but thats interesting to hear the details. </p>
Round here bus drivers make $30+ an hr with great benefits and they'll pay for your CDL. Same goes for CDOT plow drivers, which would be even better w/o having to deal with people. Always thought that would be a good semi-retirement job. Especailly if you could do it part-time.Quote:
Originally Posted by ticketchecker
I was pretty done after 30 yrs so instead of finding another real job I found short term gigs with no responsibility that had nothing to do with computers. Fixing dry suits, Carpentry, hot shot, field research assistant, cut ski run for passes, finding something that gets me a deal on something I would pay for anyway was ideal, especialy if they were under the table. A guy payed me for a hot shot with a gas credit card I used for a year which was good for both of us cuz he could hide the $$$$ and I was gona buy gas anyway, at one point I was doing about 6 little jobs a year , some jobs would drop off and i find some new little jobs , I had been used to structure but 80% of things didnt happen so what I learned is the best strategy seemed to be say yes to everything and worry if I could do it later cuz most of it didnt happen
There are always other options are out there !
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