If you had to start over career-wise ... what would you do?

[dud]

I have a friend who finds themselves at a literal crossroad of their life. My friend went to school and received a degree in a field that (at the time they started) seemed to have promise of leading to a long-term career. Unfortunately, things are tough and are getting tougher by the day. Not everyone can be a network architect, software engineer, a lawyer or doctor. Most do not have the time nor means to invest years towards another educational endeavor ... even if it might offer a brighter future.

I am interested in others feedback to the question ... what would you do if you found yourself having to start over? Would you go the educational/training route (vocational training, 2 year degree, 4 year degree, etc.) or would you start a business? If you went the educational route ... what would you focus on or major in?

Thanks ...

 

[TallBill]

Would have joined the infantry instead of the military police corps.

 

[eldorado99]

Pharmacist.

 

[Brian Stirling]

Lesbian porn star!

I'd gladly learn the game from Sophie Moone!!!


Brian

 

[shortylickens]

Financial counseling. Banking. Perhaps accounting.

Boring jobs, but you learn about money and have opportunity to make your own.

 

[shortylickens]

Lesbian porn star!

I'd gladly learn the game from Sophie Moone!!!


Brian

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1555627/

 

[xanis]

I'd probably start over by learning a trade. I've always liked working with my hands and I don't mind manual labor.

 

[sdifox]

Electrician

 

[Wet Squirrel]

would have gone into the oil and gas industry

 

[Corporate Thug]

I would have gone into either exploratory geology or actuarial sciences

 

[OlafSicky]

A trade or something in oil and gas like wet squirrel said.

 

[etrigan420]

"Plastics"

 

[Via]

Something that allows me to be outside most of the day without breaking my body down with heavy labor.

Maybe surveyor? I have no clue what exactly they do, but I envy them every time I drive past a crew on a nice day.

 

[dbk]

I should've played golf and become Anthony Kim before Anthony Kim

 

[lxskllr]

Maybe surveyor? I have no clue what exactly they do, but I envy them every time I drive past a crew on a nice day.

You have to really love the work cause the pay sucks. You might also change your mind if you drove past them while they were hacking greenbriers up a 2:1 slope for a thousand feet or so :^D

I don't know what I want to do. I like computers, but the horror stories around here make low end jobs sound not so fun. Maybe a technician of some kind, where I can do my work, do a little thinking, and avoid people for the most part.

 

[DrPizza]

With what I enjoy doing, I'd probably go the route of electrician or linesman. I wouldn't go back into education, if I had to start over *today*. If I had to do it over again, at least 6 or 7 years ago, I'd still head into teaching. But, presently, I think that for the next 3 or 4 years, I'd tell someone to beware of heading into teaching. There are a LOT of teachers who have been layed off in recent years who are still looking for jobs, even in what were formerly areas desperately seeking teachers. Our last math position - how the hell is a new grad going to compete with someone coming to the table with 15 years of experience?

 

[Humpy]

After 20 years in the construction industry I have started over and I chose accounting. I am now working on a master's in information assurance. I hope to work as some type of fraud investigator where I no longer have to hide the fact that I am a complete asshole.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'd probably go into electrical or start a business having to do with IT, maybe managed services or something. Not enough jobs with computer science unless you run your own business, and even then getting customers is not that easy. Though I'm lucky that I do have a good job, but if I lost this one, there is not much else that pays as much and has all the benefits I have.

The best job is one where you don't have to directly deal with customers, though. Electrician would not be such a job, but it would be easy to find work compared to IT.

 

[Via]

You have to really love the work cause the pay sucks. You might also change your mind if you drove past them while they were hacking greenbriers up a 2:1 slope for a thousand feet or so :^D

I don't know what I want to do. I like computers, but the horror stories around here make low end jobs sound not so fun. Maybe a technician of some kind, where I can do my work, do a little thinking, and avoid people for the most part.

The pay sucks? I thought that job required a college degree.

I guess maybe I'm not very well informed.

 

[lxskllr]

The pay sucks? I thought that job required a college degree.

I guess maybe I'm not very well informed.

No, you don't need a degree, and I don't think one would be valued much if you brought it to the table. That's assuming you want to do field work. If you're on track to be a professional, a degree might get you somewhere, but you still have to put time in the field. A professional is a civil engineer lite. It's a fair amount of work, and unless you open your own small company, you'd be inside most of the time. Business prospects can turn in a heartbeat, and while money can be made owning a company, it's a cut throat business, and you're at the mercy of the economy. Again, you have to love the work. It's hard, and the pay isn't terrific, so your love of the work has to take you through the lean times.

On the plus side, it's a nice blend of manual labor and thinking. Jobs can take you just about anywhere, and you can see a lot cool things many people don't see.

 

[boomhower]

Tough call. I love what I do and right now wouldn't change it. I can't say I would change how I got here. The way it went if any major event would have changed I wouldn't be doing what I am. I never envisioned the career I am in. My degree has absolutely nothing to do with what I am doing. Only way to change it is to go back in time and put the thought in my head that this is what I want to do for a living.

Ideally I would go back and go to nursing school from the start and this never enter my mind. I'd make more money and live longer never knowing what I truly love. Actually not sure that's a good thing.

 

[Imp]

Community college for a trade or an English degree to give me more confidence in my writing ability then onto writing. On the other hand, I'm writing now with two engineering degrees. Maybe geologist -- I don't like the remote fly-in locations, but the prospect of being in the middle of nowhere is fascinating.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Physics/astronomy. Even if I didn't get a related job, I think learning it would leave me more fulfilled.

 

[mistercrabby]

What does your friend want to do?

What did (s)he study?

Is the job situation more to do with location?

 

[mrrman]

anaesthesiologist