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Career Conundrum
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I'm a 42 year old male. Undergraduate degrees in History and Chemical Engineering, masters degree in Mechanical Engineering (thermal-fluids). I am in my 19th year of employment (have never been out of work since I left college), I have always worked in the nuclear power industry.

About 6 or 7 years ago I was looking to get out of the nuclear business. This was based on what I considered poor future prospects for the industry and geographical considerations. Most operating power plants are in what I consider undesirable locations and the limited suppliers in the US were again in what I considered undesirable locations (Lynchburg, VA is a "major" nuclear hub). I had decided to become an actuary because I considered the work interesting, the pay would be good, I would have more geographic freedom and because I would not need to go back to school. I self studied and passed the first two actuarial exams.

Shortly after passing my second exam, when I was in the process of getting ready to try to sell my house and really look for a job, I was contacted by a "startup" nuclear company that I considered was in a location I liked (June 2012). I decided to take the job based on getting a turnkey new start, and a nice raise. Although I am very pessimistic about the prospects for nuclear (especially in the US), I felt some obligation to not waste all my skills and knowledge. I also avoided starting back at the entry level if I became an actuary. I wasn't sure how things would work out, I figured worse case I could fall back on trying to become an actuary.

Fast forward almost and five and a half years. The company is still going, I've been generally happy with my experience. I like my coworkers, work is generally interesting. Financially I have done very well and I make more money than I really even expected to (my earning are about 80% higher than they were before I took this job). However, if anything, things are looking worse for the nuclear business. In the past 5 years I have been able to really get a picture on the major structural issues affecting nuclear power in the US and I feel more than ever they are intractable. As people may know, Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy this spring. This was after they had spend 10 years getting the NRC to approve their AP1000 design and there were 4 AP1000 plants under construction in the US. Two of those units (VC Summer) were cancelled this summer. This was after $8-9 billion was already spent and the plants were several years behind schedule. Nothing short of a complete debacle. The problems are based on regulatory issues, bad management and structural issues, mostly related to the ongoing low cost of natural gas. I also question how good the talent pool is, anyone in the business can see this, are the people that stay in just not the smartest, are they in-denial, are they just true believers. I want to believe, but I cannot ignore the reality.

Although my job is going okay, I need a change of location. The smaller town I am living is no longer an option for me for social reasons. I am almost in my mid 40s, if I am going to completely change careers, I can't wait much longer (is it already too late, should I just stay in nuclear). The prospects for nuclear do not look great. I am convinced if I stay in nuclear I can keep myself employed for the next 20 years, but it may involve work that I am not very interested in, in locations I don't want. I have been working on an online data science certificate and taking some python programming courses. I was planning to go into some kind of data science or even potentially actuarial work. My current plan was to finish the coursework this spring, quit my job around July 4, take about 3 months off and travel and then look at getting into a new gig in the Fall. I have no debt besides my mortgage (12 years left on a 15 year at 3%) and I have about $200K in liquid non-retirement assets so not really concerned about this financially. My only dependent is a three legged cat.

The curveball. A new nuclear startup has contacted me about a possible position, in high cost of living (but socially desirable) location. Probably going there for an interview in the next couple of weeks. Pros of this job are I would keep all of the salary I am making now and I could get a change of location immediately. Cons are that this job would be technically difficult; it is not so much that it is difficult, it is the difficulty coupled with fighting the uphill battle that nuclear is engaged in. Part of me thinks trying to continue to work in nuclear is a fools errand. Also, if I were to be offered and take this job and then it goes tits up in 2-3 years I am well into my mid 40s looking to change careers (in a technical field). 2-3 years of continued really good earnings and I will feel like I am in a pretty solid financial situation, not like I could retire or anything, but would give me more flexibility about work (go teach HS chemistry and physics, be a bartended). This would be the financial reason to stay in, no disruption to my lifestyle (I live below my means, but I feel like I live pretty comfortable).

Any thoughts?
Last edited by: tri_yoda: Jan 7, 18 12:00
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Re: Career Conundrum [tri_yoda] [ In reply to ]
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Take the interview and see what it's all about.

But I work essentially in Sales, so life/work is one great big Job Interview! :)

I started working for myself in my early 50's - that was a really big change. It's never too late.


Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
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Re: Career Conundrum [tri_yoda] [ In reply to ]
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I would go for the interview. However, there seems to be a pattern in your thread where you seem ready to move on only to stay because of some 'carrot'. It is hard but not impossible to change careers and you're not too old to do that. The analytics and data science field is yuge right now so if that is truly what interests you then I encourage you to explore that in depth. Big companies are all into data science so geographically that may get you into a location more to your liking.
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Re: Career Conundrum [tri_yoda] [ In reply to ]
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tri_yoda wrote:
2-3 years of continued really good earnings and I will feel like I am in a pretty solid financial situation, not like I could retire or anything, but would give me more flexibility about work (go teach HS chemistry and physics, be a bartended). This would be the financial reason to stay in, no disruption to my lifestyle (I live below my means, but I feel like I live pretty comfortable).

Any thoughts?

The above should tell you all you need to know. Take the interview.

Seems like you have at least 5-10 year left in the industry if it implodes like you predict, so you have your 2 to 3 year "guaranteed" and then a few more to become really secure.
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Re: Career Conundrum [tri_yoda] [ In reply to ]
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I am confused. You say nuclear is on its way out yet you have been recruited to two highly paid jobs by startups in nuclear industry in the last 5 years. Do you know something these people with deep pockets do not?

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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Re: Career Conundrum [tri_yoda] [ In reply to ]
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why don't you become the big data person within your current field of nuclear engineering. I.e. Develop the skill you want on your current job then if decide to got that way you already have it on your resume.
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Re: Career Conundrum [tri_yoda] [ In reply to ]
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Go interview and take the job if it's interesting and you get to work with cool people.
At the same time, train yourself in machine learning, data analysis, add some deep learning (although fundamentally, it's just ML rebranded) too.
Learn a bit of programming if you don't know any (if you don't, learn python and R. That'll take you a couple of weekends tops). Get familiar with
platforms like TensorFlow. And start consulting work in data analysis while you are at your work. Transition smoothly out.
Happy to discuss offline if you'd like more pointers (this is not a C++ joke. Although...)
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Re: Career Conundrum [len] [ In reply to ]
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len wrote:
I am confused. You say nuclear is on its way out yet you have been recruited to two highly paid jobs by startups in nuclear industry in the last 5 years. Do you know something these people with deep pockets do not?

Good question, I ask myself this a lot.

As I mentioned, there were two active new nuclear builds going on in the US, now only one. Both were $ billions over budget and several years late (and still not finished). This is all public information, not secret.

When the only two projects in the whole industry go this badly off the rails, it is hard for me to understand why others would want to put substantial investment into such a business. Only if you believe you understand all of the problems and believe you have a solution for all of them. I believe I understand most of the problems.....
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Re: Career Conundrum [tri_yoda] [ In reply to ]
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Isn't there a ton of work to be done over the next 50+ years in decommissioning existing power plants? I know nothing about the industry but it seems like it could be a real career growth opportunity. That expertise has to come from somewhere.
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Re: Career Conundrum [tri_yoda] [ In reply to ]
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I would take the interview and probably the new job if it helps in your desire to improve locations. Sounds like you can continue to earn a good living from your skills for another decade at least, and thereafter possibly get some consulting work that could give you more flexibility. Starting a new career from the bottom in work you may not enjoy seems to be a risk that may not be worth taking.
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