Has anyone changed careers later in life?

[Stephanie]

Were you happier? What did you do before and end up doing afterwards? How did you get started with your new career?

I have no idea what I want to do but I can't stand what I do anymore. I've done well by it, but it's a career (accounting) that runs your life, there are many that their careers are their life and it seems like we are always the ones to "put the fire out". I am tired, stressed out, it's the same poop every day and nothing is ever enough. I know part of my problem is that I started with a company that had just opened, so there was a lot of work that needed to be done and still does but I don't even have the heart to look for another job in accounting.

[dizzyfish]

I haven't - but hubby did - two years ago in July. He used to be a design engineer (mechanical) the field was huge here and it dried up to nothing. He went back to school and is now a medical assistant. BIG change. I know he was burned out in engineering but was sticking it out because the pay was good - got laid off and no work to be found was the motivator into the new career.

Me? High school accountant. I feel your pain sister - talk about having to do more with less! Geeze! Oh yeah, I have my own business too. I am burning candles at a rapid pace. LOL

[Stephanie]

I haven't - but hubby did - two years ago in July. He used to be a design engineer (mechanical) the field was huge here and it dried up to nothing. He went back to school and is now a medical assistant. BIG change. I know he was burned out in engineering but was sticking it out because the pay was good - got laid off and no work to be found was the motivator into the new career.

Me? High school accountant. I feel your pain sister - talk about having to do more with less! Geeze! Oh yeah, I have my own business too. I am burning candles at a rapid pace. LOL

At least with your own business, you're creating your own hours, though you're tied to it 24/7. It's your baby, not someone else's. Boy does it suck sometimes!

[angelwing]

Steph, back in Oct 2002 I was laid off from a job that I had for 18 years, I was a senior claims examiner for a major insurance company and I did multiple roles there (paid claims, customer service, fraud, dealt with lawyers, audited hospital charges, IT, etc) I was devastated! I was lost, put out resumes and in a week I got a call to do "medical coding" for a major Philadelphia hospital. They laid me off in April 2003 (I was hired for backlog)but during my employment there they paid for me to be certified and I did pass the test. I did do coding prior to that for the insurance company, but in reality it was auditing what came in.

I am still doing auditing and coding...I audited and train physicians during the day at a MTF and at night I work at a cancer hospital coding both in & out patient facility and physician charges and I love it! I wish I was strictly a coder from day 1, but learning what I did (I was a medical assistant originally before the insurance company)helped me for both careers.

All I can say is research what is out there and see what the most job openings are, with the way the economy is you don't want to waste time learning something that might dry up when you get out of school!

FYI-back in the 70's my brother went to college and he went for 4 years of accounting, got a job, got laid off after 6 months and never went for another accounting job, then he worked in retail at numerous places and you know how retail is.

I wish you all the best!

[gigabite]

I am working on it. It is not a major shift. I do land measurements, locate houses, and fill out Elevation Certificates for FEMA. Much of the work I do is direct labor in the field. There is a lot of freedom as far as daily time management, but some times the weather conditions are harsh, and the probability of snake bite increases with age.

I am trying to get my foot in the door of Geographic Information Services. I am going back to college to get certified. I am looking at the jobs available, writing resumes, and going on informal interviews. I have been indecisive about in what particular direction to extend my degree. I have decided to pursue a data management certification.

The question now is what programming language? I learned fortran on an IBM 360 back in the day. I have used basic and visual basic. ESRI is promoting Python, but the school only offers C++ or JAVA. I don’t need both.

[Stephanie]

Good luck gigabyte. Thanks angelwing for your thoughts as well. I'm just not sure of the direction I want to take. Maybe just baby steps like a different industry and smaller company. As long as I keep myself open to new ideas and opportunities, something will strike me.

I have always been fortunate in the 2 times I was laid off (or going to be laid of) from my job. The first time I was out of work for about 6 weeks, but I worked temp jobs and had severance. The second time I got a job before I was going to be laid off so I didn't get any severance. I didn't care about that, I just wanted/needed a job.

I think I'm at my mid-life crisis career wise and I would really like to do something where I feel like I'm doing good for the next 15 - 20 years of my career.

[gigabite]

try and interest inventory

http://www.learnmoreindiana.org/careers ... ories.aspx