Late Bloomers
The ClubHouse: Archives: Late Bloomers
Oregonfire | Friday, January 18, 2002 - 03:18 pm   Here I am yet again seeking advice from the friendly folks at TVCH. My question is this: Have any of you out there been through an early to mid-life career change? Did you have to go back to college to do so? Are you glad to have made the switch? How did it affect your 401k/health insurance capabilities? If I have to spend one more day crying in the car because I hate my job so much, I don't know what I'll do. I don't get health insurance, a 401K, any job security, or any respect. A side note: I've had trouble in the past sticking to one job, so I'm afraid if I spend the time and the money going back to school, I'll have the same problems as before. But I'm 31, and think of the next 30 working years at my current job with absolute dread. Any advice would be appreciated. |
Schoolmarm | Friday, January 18, 2002 - 04:19 pm   Oregon... Life as an adjunct is pure H E L L. You are right...no benefits so to speak, cruddy benefits, very little respect. Are you reading the chronicle? (Go to www.chronicle.com) There have been lots of articles about life as an adjunct/part timer. That situation is even worse than those of use who are untenured but running the tenure track. If you are in English, there is no way that you can get a tenure track job (much better benefits, respect and pay...maybe) unless you have a PhD. The MLA conference is full of hopefuls who don't get jobs. This year is REALLY bad as most colleges have budget cuts. We are short three math profs for next year. No freshman can take one class unless they are a science or math major. This is a real mess. I quit teaching public school in 1994, went back for my PhD, and am just now finishing it. Economically it is rough to take 4 years off of benefits and retirement plan. I have 9 years vested in one state and have started my second plan. I don't think that I've accumulated enough to retire before I'm 70! (And I'm going to be 41 very soon!) I'm looking for a bigger college job, and my current retirement is supposed to be portable, but the two places that I want to go don't use it, they use a state system. SIGH. Lot's of people make career changes. I think now, we are supposed all have seven CAREERS, not just seven jobs during our working life. Do some soul searching, and career planning. By the way, is this the end of your first week back? That week is ALWAYS horrible. I HATE the first week back. The students always think that they can sit in the back and hide and not participate! And they whine! They will get over it. Oh, and then there is the revolving door of drop/add! Next week will be better! |
Car54 | Friday, January 18, 2002 - 05:12 pm   I am on about my third or fourth such decision. My first career was as a costume designer in Theater- did that for about 9 yrs in 3 jobs. Got kind of burnt out. Loved the work, but very high pace, very high pressure, and if you are not union, not that lucrative. A young person's job. Took a retail job as fill-in til I decided what to do. Stayed 14 yrs. Went from Christmas gift wrapper, to buying for 4 stores, did store design, managed the warehouse and computer inventory.... finally hit a wall, felt like I had done it all. Took a Sr management job at the second largest college bookstore in the US. Moved- left the place I lived, friends, etc. In 9 months the university leased the store to a large chain. All senior management were unnecessary. Moved again- took a job buying for the second largest independent bookstore in the country- in 9 months they sold the store to ANOTHER major chain. (The same year the company I started in retail with was ALSO sold to a chain). At this point I decided to take a break and change directions. Currently I manage the IS for a chain of retail stores. I have job security- someone ALWAYS need to be trained, someone ALWAYS breaks equipment.... been doing this 5 yrs. Not sure if it will be for always. Nice company, very kind to me. Anyway- made a couple of bad steps, some things worked out. I found out I am pretty good at what I do, and I gained a wealth of very diverse experience that has made me very marketable in my area. I now know I have an ability to get a job when I need it. I don't regret any of it. For me the finanacial deal is- every time I leap, I make sure they start health insurance when I leave my last job, if that isn't possible I get them to pay for Cobra til their insurance kicks in. On the two jobs where the store was sold (on the second buy-out, the chain offered me a job, I didn't take it) I got very nice severance. Any 401 benefits rolled over (I have a personal IRA). I also made the move expenses part of the deal as well. Each job I have traded to has been a learning experience, none have ended in a way that was negative. I have positive recommendations from each place. I have 2 priorities- I want to work hard and like what I spend my time doing, and I want to be able to support myself and feel somewhat secure. |
Oregonfire | Friday, January 18, 2002 - 06:26 pm   Thanks for your responses--it's good to know that I'm not the only one who's thinking about these things. I've been doing the English thing for so long, and I'm tired of it, and I just don't have the personality of a teacher (whatever that means). I'm thinking about taking some graphic design courses. One of the colleges where I teach has a good two-year graphic design degree. This may compliment the English degrees, I think. Lots of companies are looking for someone who can do both Quark and Photoshop and the verbal bit too. I think what I'd really like is a job where I can come in, do my work, and be left alone. I like people, but in small groups or one on one, not as that weird teacher-leader person speaking to the masses. I'm not that wise or confident. I actually had a student tell me the other day that I don't walk like a teacher should, but run like a silly freshman girl in high school. Sheesh, I didn't know I was being monitored! I suddenly felt like a butterfly pinned to a corkboard. All of this expected conformity really harshes my mellow. |
Whoami | Saturday, January 19, 2002 - 12:38 pm   "If I have to spend one more day crying in the car because I hate my job so much, I don't know what I'll do." More than reason enough to change. It's only too late when you're dead! My mom went back to school in her 30's (maybe early 40's) and pursued her dream. She just recently retired after 18 years on that dream job. One word of advice. Even the dream job will leave you emotionally weary. Her dream job had managment that was full of politics, and unfortunatly it got pretty ugly in the end (they forced her out cause she didn't fit their "mold"). |
Lancecrossfire | Saturday, January 19, 2002 - 12:49 pm   Oregon, what are the jobs that you feel you would enjoy doing? What are your priorities? (pay, benefits, politics (or lack of), enjoyment of the job, home vs job site, employee, self employed). It's correct to feel that you will never get rid of all problems--thaht's why they call them jobs. You can pick the problems though. What are the things you absolutely want in your job, and what are the things you will not allow? Do the jobs you want have the potential to meet your needs?? About you having a touch time sticking to a job; do you know why that is? That could have a big impact on how you might want to proceed. Just some things to ponder as food for thought. |
Oregonfire | Saturday, January 19, 2002 - 01:30 pm   Today I filled out an application for the local university and financial aid, respectively. Although Monday is a holiday, I figure I might as well do that stuff while I have a three day weekend. What I worry about with my current degree is marketability. I did enjoy my year in the publishing world, even with the politics of that situation. But in order to progress in publishing or a similiar field, I need the graphic arts aspect of the job, especially in the statewide job market. I'm too specialized, and that's hurting my chances at getting jobs I'd like to have. I also enjoy creative endeavors, and would like to engage in more right-brained activities, because my overworked left brain is about to have an anueryism. As to the problem of leaving jobs abruptly--well, that is a problem, and a bad habit that I'm not particularily proud of. I don't work well with others, it's been very true in the past. I've been terrible at team effort type things, and have walked off quite a few jobs in the past. I don't know what's wrong with me. But I did manage to have 12 editors as bosses at the publishing job, and not one of them got mad at me--some minor tiffs here and there, but that's it. And I never got anywhere near the scary level of anger that I get to these days. My current job is very "people intensive," giving me lots of opportunites to make a royal mess of things. I need a job where I can pretty much be left alone to do creative endeavors--it is in managing people that I often run into trouble. |
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