Remaking yourself
#1
Posted 14 May 2011 - 08:07 AM
Most of you know I'm in education and work as a school librarian. Thankfully this year I still have my job in spite of the horrendous cuts in my school district. Next year, though, may be a different situation, and in preparation for a possible job loss or reduction, I'm thinking about my career options.
I'm sure many of you have been in a similar situation.
SO...my question is, how have you or would you remake yourself when you either must make a new career move or choose to make a career move? (Beyond what we all would LOVE to do, which is remake ourselves and dive into some niche in the diving industry....)
Any takers?
#2
Posted 14 May 2011 - 11:01 AM
I'm in a better position than most, as my mandatory expenses are small. I could (and would) work any job to keep the utilities on and food in the pantry. But to find another job that a) paid this well; b) gave me this much paid vacation; c) provided the company-paid benefits I currently get; and d) was work that I actually enjoy doing....not an easy thing to do. And, I'm too young to take early retirement.
I would find whatever work I could, and take classes to re-train if necessary. With the health care industry booming due to an aging population and the government mandates on the insurance industry, there will be great need for qualified employees in the future.
#3
Posted 14 May 2011 - 11:59 AM
#4
Posted 14 May 2011 - 02:02 PM
American society in general creates alot of unnecessary stress. There is a rush, rush, rush, and be better than the next guy kind of attitude here that just takes away from making life livable. With the economy the way it is, things just seem to be getting more stressful. I know the defense industry is almost unbearably bad now. There used to be a measure of comfort in knowing that you probably were safe in your defense job. Now, nobody is safe and its just produce or get out of the way. Sometimes you don't even have that much control over it. The oversight and funding issues have reached a critical mass and unless you have significant financial obligations it just isn't worth it.
The practical answer for me is freelance software/web work but then there is the medical insurance issue to contend with. I think I would be successful and insurance is about the only thing that keeps me from going there. Since I have no debts or responsibilities I thought about being a DM/instructor but I think that Peter is right on that one. I am in my early forties so that is a long time to try to fight that battle and I think it will ultimately end poorly. Diving is best kept as a hobby and not turned into a career unless you can somehow swing a research diver job but that is usually just one aspect of a bigger job.
Short answer is that I empathize but I don't have a really good answer yet. Wish I did Maybe we can figure out one in Barbados.
#5
Posted 14 May 2011 - 04:49 PM
Overall, the experience has changed my perspective. Sharp, creative, hard-working people are still in demand. You might have to dig a little harder to find a situation that fits you well, but opportunities are out there. Obviously, not everyone has the desire to go back to graduate school, but there are other opportunities as well. I found it to be a pretty introspective process that was both terrifying and rewarding. When I get done, I will have a few questions that I ask myself:
1) What do I want to do when I grow up? Hopefully I already know the answer to this, but it's changed a couple times before!
2) Where do I want to do it? I'm somewhat partial to the great plains, but I GUESS someone could convince me to live on a beach somewhere there is diving available.
3) What concessions do I need to make to get there, and are they worth it to me? This includes family, friends, and the non-income benefits that I prefer (time off in the summer and at Christmas, etc when teaching).
Once I've got that stuff figured out, go get the job! I'm not too afraid of the process now that it's been started.
I hope that helped?
...
"Not all those who wander are lost."
~JRR Tolkien
#6
Posted 15 May 2011 - 12:32 AM
I loved being a horse trainer, I loved having my own business. Working for yourself in this country is very very difficult. So now I am back in the corporate grind. I get paid well, I can go diving. I have a very nice big house. Two nice cars, owe no money other than my mortgage which the payment is less than rent. I also hate getting up in the morning and going to work.
I do not know what I would do from here. At my age I am to young to retire and to old to start a new career. I would advise anyone that is in the position of a life change to look at the long term results. Where are you going to be in ten or twenty years? As they say hindsight is 20/20. If I had known anything close to what I know now I would have lived my life very differently. When you are in your 50's life looks a whole lot different than it did when you were twenty.
Don't get caught up in the whole American dream.. I can have anything bullshit. Be happy in the moment. Do what you want to do now. You could be dead tomorrow. I would much rather die thinking "wow, that trip to Papua New Guinea was a dream come true" than thinking.. why did'nt I go on that dive trip.
Jim
#7
Posted 15 May 2011 - 10:30 AM
#8
Posted 15 May 2011 - 11:15 AM
#9
Posted 15 May 2011 - 11:49 AM
Maybe we should have a non-diving thread on the American health care "system". To me it absolutely stinks and I am wholly in principle behind the reforms currently being discussed, though perhaps not the detail. IMO something has to be done, as the present arrangements are totally disfunctional.
Sounds like a job for the Forum King. So how about it your highness, wanna whip us up a new thread so we don't hijack Heidi's issue.
#10
Posted 15 May 2011 - 12:14 PM
As a few people around here know, I took that plunge last fall. I'd been teaching at the collegiate level for a while, but had moved from one school to a second for a location closer to family and friends. I could see the writing on the wall though: with only a Master's degree, my potential and movement upward were very limited. I needed to have a terminal degree in order to really survive and thrive long-term at that level, so I finally dug in and got started. It was a scarey decision, leaving a great job with good co-workers, terrific benefits and a pretty good income. Come to find out, I'm actually doing ok in school financially. Most Universities will bend over backwards to hire graduate students for various things (research assistants, teaching assistants, etc). We work cheap, are highly motivated, and try to do a good job (that's more than I can say about some of my professors!). Along with that comes very inexpensive health insurance. I just finished up the first year, and although it had its own stresses and pains, I'm really glad I did it. Who knows for sure what will happen in a couple of years. The school I left would like me to come back, but with all of the budget issues, nobody can make promises.
Overall, the experience has changed my perspective. Sharp, creative, hard-working people are still in demand. You might have to dig a little harder to find a situation that fits you well, but opportunities are out there. Obviously, not everyone has the desire to go back to graduate school, but there are other opportunities as well. I found it to be a pretty introspective process that was both terrifying and rewarding. When I get done, I will have a few questions that I ask myself:
1) What do I want to do when I grow up? Hopefully I already know the answer to this, but it's changed a couple times before!
2) Where do I want to do it? I'm somewhat partial to the great plains, but I GUESS someone could convince me to live on a beach somewhere there is diving available.
3) What concessions do I need to make to get there, and are they worth it to me? This includes family, friends, and the non-income benefits that I prefer (time off in the summer and at Christmas, etc when teaching).
Once I've got that stuff figured out, go get the job! I'm not too afraid of the process now that it's been started.
I hope that helped?
Yes, this is one that I have been toying with for a long time. There is a PhD program at UT Arlington that would be perfect for me, is what I have always wanted to do, and is within driving distance. Plus I would not have to move and since the house is paid for so that works out great. Professors pretty much eat what they kill so that is like working for yourself but with healthcare covered. Seems like a match made in heaven.
Here is the kicker... I am a really sucky student, I don't test well at all, and I don't enjoy one second of it. I have failed many tests where I was the one that taught it to the rest of the class in study sessions. I am good at solving problems relatively efficiently but the whole academic aspect of giving a teacher exactly what they are looking for out of 800 possible solutions to a problem never clicked with me. I am a B student at best and sometimes worse than that. Grad school was no fun the first time so I don't really want to do that again for several years. After the class part is over it would be fine, until then I would be miserable.
This is the only workable solution I can come up with though. Practical factors (healthcare being primary) exclude just about everything else. I'm new to this job now so I will see if it settles down before taking this plunge. Thanks for the encouragement.
#11
Posted 15 May 2011 - 12:28 PM
Maybe we should have a non-diving thread on the American health care "system". To me it absolutely stinks and I am wholly in principle behind the reforms currently being discussed, though perhaps not the detail. IMO something has to be done, as the present arrangements are totally disfunctional.
Sounds like a job for the Forum King. So how about it your highness, wanna whip us up a new thread so we don't hijack Heidi's issue.
You guys just need to start the topic yourselves in the Diet & Health area of the forum, and refrain from getting political with it. Good luck with that!
#12
Posted 15 May 2011 - 01:33 PM
First time was when I was turning 30. I had 8 years in my current job in New York, working for a company in a dying industry. When I started there, we had over 50,000 employees in my hometown, now its well under 10,000. When I watched entire divisions fold as technology crushed them, I figured the odds of me making it retirement with this company as my grandfather and uncles did was very small.
So I decided to start over in the northwest. Received a contract to hire job out there and had a cousin who helped get me started. Unfortunately that manager who made me the original offer left shortly after I started, and the 'hire' portion of that deal never occurred and after 3 years as a contractor, I wasn't renewed.
So I moved down the coast to San Francisco for a small oil and gas company. For once the timing was right and the industry exploded. We get bought out and I get relocated to Colorado. Been here through 3 more buyouts over time.
At every stop, I went through at least one period of layoffs. Its become a way of life. The key to staying employed has been to keep myself marketable. Not easy in the Information Technology fields where new technology is constantly changing and its easy to become obsolete. I did a career switch into a financial planning role when the IT function was moved to Houston. So even with this change, keeping up with the changes to my industry and working on networking is critical.
As I get closer to retirement, some other things come into play. Have kept a solid annual investment in IRAs and 401ks so I have a nest egg not dependent on the job.
As far as diving careers go, I think they are still there, as long as you don't expect to make money at them. But it looks to me you can just make enough to support the diving habit, which for me as a 2nd career in retirement would be good enough.
#13
Posted 15 May 2011 - 01:50 PM
I'm getting ready to start a new adventure next month and I'll have to see how that turns out. It's going to be a big risk for me, but hey why not, it may turn out to be great. I did investigate health care careers but the training can be very expensive so if you go that route make sure the training cost is justifiable. I love technology but looks like for now I'm going to have to find a different path to success. I do know that I don't want to end up in another situation where I hate every day that I have to go to work. Life is way to short for that.
Good luck Heidi, I hope you can find something that you love and enjoy. I'm still waiting for that day I can afford to be that professional ski bum
#14
Posted 15 May 2011 - 02:39 PM
Maybe we should have a non-diving thread on the American health care "system". To me it absolutely stinks and I am wholly in principle behind the reforms currently being discussed, though perhaps not the detail. IMO something has to be done, as the present arrangements are totally disfunctional.
Peter this is a very controversial subject with no good solutions all of which are rooted in politics and therefore not appropriate subject matter for this site.
Contact me directly at Kamala@SingleDivers.com for your private or group travel needs or 864-557-6079 AND don't miss SD's 2018-2021 Trips! ....here! Most are once in a lifetime opportunities...don't miss the chance to go!!
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formerly...
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864-557-6079 tel/celfone/office or tollfree fax 888-480-0906
#15
Posted 15 May 2011 - 02:58 PM
There are many tools online that test your likes and dislikes, your strengths and weaknesses and how you would handle one situation vs another. These results then are combined to give you an idea of what type of jobs would fit your skill set, talents, and likes.
If I had more time I'd dig around for you but I know they are very prevalent and have been around for many years. I know I've taken a couple of them myself.
Along these lines...I spent quite a bit of time in a former life helping people reinvent themselves and then write up suitable resumes to help land new jobs. Rather than using a chronological format you'll use a functional format (at least they used to call it that). You will list out accomplishments and skills sets by area vs by job capacity.
For example...
You'll lump all your Organizational Skills and Accomplishments together
All your sales skills and accomplishments
All your Analytical Skills and accomplishments
etc.
If you do not do this you are assuming the hiring manager can extract from your previous jobs the applicable skills that are needed for the job you are hiring into. This is unwise on your part when job demand exceeds supply and you are competing against people who not only have the skills but have also been in the field you are entering into.
Contact me directly at Kamala@SingleDivers.com for your private or group travel needs or 864-557-6079 AND don't miss SD's 2018-2021 Trips! ....here! Most are once in a lifetime opportunities...don't miss the chance to go!!
SD LEGACY/OLD/MANUAL Forms & Documents.... here !
Click here TO PAY for Merchandise, Membership, or Travel
"Imitation is the sincerest flattery." - Gandhi
"Imitation is proof that originality is rare." - ScubaHawk
SingleDivers.com...often imitated...never duplicated!
Kamala Shadduck c/o SingleDivers.com LLC
2234 North Federal Hwy, #1010 Boca Raton, FL 33431
formerly...
710 Dive Buddy Lane; Salem, SC 29676
864-557-6079 tel/celfone/office or tollfree fax 888-480-0906
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