Ok, so I’ve been really disgusted with pretty much my whole life lately. Its been hard to find anything good going on in it. So I had a talk with some good friends about what I was feeling. Most of my anxiety and stress seems to come from the fact that my career/job is insufficient for anyone to live on and it leads nowhere. In 5 years I would be where I am now. So I need a plan to extricate myself from the current situation, and have room to go from there.
I haven’t thought about jobs and life goals in long time. I have been doing the “I’m getting by” thing for so long it became easier to coast than to make a change. I need to make that change. I just don’t know where to start, I figured the savy STers could hand out some advice and off color commentary and give some idea of what to look for and expect.
Did a little of this with my friend and he pointed out some good points about me.
*I can relocate virtually anywhere. I am single with no real strong ties holding me to the area I now live in.
*I am one of the best “people, people” he knows. My friend is also my boss and as a former politician/sales rep, he knows this subject.
He said a bunch of other stuff too, I think most of it was “keep Jims head up bs”.
Anyway what does a swm with no attachments, good people skills, a willingness to travel, and a minium of college, do for a living? I have waited tables and worked everywhere in the food industry for 15 years. I have been a martial arts instructor for the last 8.5 years. I have over 10 years acccumulated military service. I don’t even know what else I need to put in here. I already browsed the sites of the companies doing contract work in Iraq (seriously) but that doesn’t seem to be a long term answer.
Well Jim, why not join us all in Cincinnati? Lots of the tri scene and relatively good cost of living. I like San Diego, but the dirt is pretty expensive …
Jim, how old are you? What exactly does “a minimum of college” mean? Is going back to school an option? Do you have any idea what you WANT to do? Are you really interested in making a lot of money, or just living comfortably? Are you really good at something unrelated to your current job(s)?
Um, dude, you can’t leave now. We are going to be in MI this fall and will be at the Bavarian Inn for dinner for sure! You will/would probably be the first STr that I meet.
Good luck in whatever you do though.
The SW is booming if you like 110 temps and dry climate. Plenty of training days, that is for sure. And if you stayed in the same field, you could make a killing down here. LOTS of upscale and swanky eateries.
Jim, how old are you? What exactly does “a minimum of college” mean? Is going back to school an option? Do you have any idea what you WANT to do? Are you really interested in making a lot of money, or just living comfortably? Are you really good at something unrelated to your current job(s)?
I am 40. I am a few credits short of an associate degree in english, which is useless. I can’t go back to school in my current circumstances, I need to fix this first then maybe I could go back to school. I am not interested in making large amounts of money, but am currently making low 20’s, so almost anything would be better. I don’t have any exceptional skills that are current, I have spent way too long in this rut. I do have quite a bit of wilderness expirience. Which is funny because someone pmed that I should check being a guide for one of these adventure trip companies. I am going to look into that.
What I would like to do is something that will allow me to be active, continue to work with people, and not be food service. Working for a sporting/gear/activeclothing type company would be great. I enjoy teaching fitness to kids and adults, but personal trainer would be too much like my present yo-yo income.
ever thought about being a cop? from your background, it seems like you would be a good match for law enforcement. assuming no felony convictions.
lots of pd’s are hiring, nationwide. i know the las vegas metro pd is recruiting fairly heavily.
“What I would like to do is something that will allow me to be active, continue to work with people, and not be food service.” LE is all that, and more. and you get to take the bad guys to jail. there’s a certain amount of personal satisfaction in that.
So it sounds like what you have now, and what you have had for many years, are various jobs, and what you need is a CAREER. Big difference in my mind.
When you talked about outdoors stuff and fitness, my immediate thought was a company such as REI. Aside from their great retail stuff, they have a HUGE adventure travel outfit. I don’t know if you could work in the store part of the time and help out on tours the rest of the time. That would be cool. But I don’t know how much something like that would pay.
The above post makes a good point about law enforcement. But you’d have to carry a gun and risk getting shot, which would kill the deal for me.
Another option is finding a solid company that has lots of employees (steady ones). I’m thinking along the lines of something like UPS. They are big enough that I’m sure they have solid insurance, vacation, benefits, etc. And they are also big enough that they employ a variety of people in a variety of jobs that you don’t need a lot of training for, so you could probably get going pretty quickly.
You’re right, the associates degree in english it’s going to do much for you. I don’t know what school are around you, but I’m sure there are some pretty good ones that offer career counciling and courses. You might look into that, it could be a very good starting point.
A tough one there Jim. i get this question from my graduates all the time. The only advice i could ever give was ‘to do a variety of things and you’ll probably work out what you don’t want to do before you know what you do want to do…’
Recognise the things about life you enjoy and the skills you have - not the jobs relating to them. You may discover an occupation that you hadn’t considered becuase you liked the qualities required. I’m one of the lucky few because I always knew where I was going but some of the most interesting 50 year olds I know are still searching.
In two years you can get a nursing degree and land a job, probably after only a year in school, starting in the mid $30’s. Once you graduate you are in the low $40’s, can be in a union in some areas, and travel anywhere to work. Hours are flexible contingent on where you work too. It isn’t 9-5.
As you add education and specialities- while you are earning a good salary- your pay rate goes up. Nurse Anethetist are six figures and in hgh demand, but a lot more school than the 2 year deal. In general, it is the least amount of school for the most amount of money. 5 years from now your life would look 100% different if that is the desired effect.
Tom, I work with a lot of nursing students. Most of them are waiting to get into clinicals. The current wait in my area is two years. The demand and money is good, but it would take a bit longer. It’s worth looking at though. Problem is I can’t go to school and support myself on what I do now. Not enough hours in the day and I am barely making ends meet as it is.
How are you with computers? A friend of mine keeps the computer labs and other machines running in a school and makes a pretty damn good living. She gets the summer off as well which is very tri-friendly. Might be an option. There are tons of jobs like this available for small and medium companies that pay between 25 and 50 a year.
Tom, I work with a lot of nursing students. Most of them are waiting to get into clinicals. The current wait in my area is two years. The demand and money is good, but it would take a bit longer. It’s worth looking at though. Problem is I can’t go to school and support myself on what I do now. Not enough hours in the day and I am barely making ends meet as it is.
If you go the education route, taking out student loans for something you’ll follow through with is a sound strategy.
I actually hold certification as a trainer. But I have little experience, and the certification I hold is not one of the ones requested on most job descriptions. I also have not seen much income potential in this. Of course my current area is very economically depressed. It is a great thought though, keep em coming folks.
Good point… Another thing to consider with the loans for healthcare career route is that if you are willing to work in an underserved area for a couple of years, in many cases they will forgive your loans.
How’s this for an example! I know two doctors that finished their residency and now are working in an underserved area. I believe they are getting their loans paid off for working in Hawaii!
I actually hold certification as a trainer. But I have little experience, and the certification I hold is not one of the ones requested on most job descriptions. I also have not seen much income potential in this. Of course my current area is very economically depressed. It is a great thought though, keep em coming folks.
Go to monster.com, look up “personal trainer”. There are openings all over the country. Find an area you think you’d like to go to, and which has an upscale population. Make calls. Emphasize your martial arts/triathlon/military background and your people skills. Think “Tai Bo”. WIth your self-professed limitations (education, etc.), you are going to have to sell yourself.