Career Change - how and why?

RustyPrincess

RustyPrincess

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Have you ever changed careers? i.e. you were once a teacher and now you are a lawyer

What were you doing and what did you change to? How did you go about it?

Are you happy with your decision?
 
Electrical engineering / Process engineer to IT - loved the studies, hated it as soon as I went into the workplace.
Started from the bottom again but moved up quickly, overall Im happy, neither is really what I wanted to do though
 
I was once a student and then I became a software developer. I enjoy software development but yearn for those student days; the job was easier, even if it didn't pay well :D
 
I'm a teacher... but most likely will change profession in the future. Hopefully I will remember this post and then write it one day....
 
Somewhat - at core I've always done a lot of software development, computer science and maths, however, I was first an academic, writing papers, lectures, etc., then I was contacted by a big US tech company, and moved overseas and worked as an engineer and engineering manager for quite a few years. Then I made another career shift into finance (head hunted) - still doing maths and software, but learning a ton of specialized finance knowledge too. I'm happy with my choices - I do very interesting hands on work 80% of the time, and get paid very well to do it (although it was a long time coming!).
 
Used to be a project coordinator for a UK based NGO, which is what brought me to SA in the first place. The travelling became a bit too much, especially after I got married and had kids, so I decided to turn a hobby, photography, into a career.
 
I loved my job, the actual work and my boss was amazing. I even moved to across the road from where I worked and so for three years my daily commute consisted of a 100m walk to my office.

but the work was going into a blackhole, and every year felt like groundhog day and when I was pushed into leaving I left.

4 years on I haven't got any real direction yet, no other career but I have absolutely no regrets about leaving that environment, which in hindsight became really toxic after I left- even my boss retired a few months after.
 
I'm currently struggling to change into a more soft skilled role like Architecture because my background shows that I am technically strong, even if I feel that I have outgrown it and want growth in architecture.
 
cguy said:
Somewhat - at core I've always done a lot of software development, computer science and maths, however, I was first an academic, writing papers, lectures, etc., then I was contacted by a big US tech company, and moved overseas and worked as an engineer and engineering manager for quite a few years. Then I made another career shift into finance (head hunted) - still doing maths and software, but learning a ton of specialized finance knowledge too. I'm happy with my choices - I do very interesting hands on work 80% of the time, and get paid very well to do it (although it was a long time coming!).
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I think its always easier to change tracks if someone reaches out to you. It's a bit harder if you are stuck doing one thing, and want to do something else, but the idea of starting at the bottom end of the payscale sounds revolting.
 
CamiKaze said:
I'm currently struggling to change into a more soft skilled role like Architecture because my background shows that I am technically strong, even if I feel that I have outgrown it and want growth in architecture.
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Have you considered doing a course like TOGAF? Would be a nice addition to the old CV
 
jman said:
Have you considered doing a course like TOGAF? Would be a nice addition to the old CV
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Already approved for training this year . Hope I complete it soon as I need to leave asap.
 
Moved from Molecular Biology work in a lab to software development.

I furthered my studies by doing a post grad degree that straddled both disciplines giving me the opportunity to pick up the basic skills I needed for IT. I already knew how to code going into the degree because I found software interesting before even getting to that point. The rest of the skills I needed to move into more senior positions I just picked up myself as I went along. I'm a quick study I suppose. :p

I'm glad I did it. The lab work didn't pay well and involved horrid hours with dangerous working conditions.
 
RustyPrincess said:
I think its always easier to change tracks if someone reaches out to you. It's a bit harder if you are stuck doing one thing, and want to do something else, but the idea of starting at the bottom end of the payscale sounds revolting.
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For sure. It always makes sense to put yourself out there to encourage others to reach out: fully filled in LinkedIn, work+education on public Facebook, personal webpage with resume, Google+ (lol, j/k). Having public work out there helps too - I had one or two popular open source projects, and of course a few international academic publication. The important bit is that I didn't even know the opportunities that came to me even really existed before they came my way, and that a big part of this was due to mind share.
 
I'm busy upskilling to make a bit of a career shift. I'm tired of not being mentally stimulated in my management position. The non-people part is easy, and the people part I find monotonous - I don't want to have to care about people's emotions and personal issues. But I have to, in my position. And it's exhausting.
I've cracked open my old statistics handbooks from university and I've been looking at data science stuff, as and when time allows. Unfortunately I work fairly ridiculous hours, so free time is limited, and thus it's going pretty slow.
 
Messugga said:
I'm busy upskilling to make a bit of a career shift. I'm tired of not being mentally stimulated in my management position. The non-people part is easy, and the people part I find monotonous - I don't want to have to care about people's emotions and personal issues. But I have to, in my position. And it's exhausting.
I've cracked open my old statistics handbooks from university and I've been looking at data science stuff, as and when time allows. Unfortunately I work fairly ridiculous hours, so free time is limited, and thus it's going pretty slow.
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Agreed. About 10 years ago I came to the conclusion that I would need at least 2x the compensation to do management again. :). I was able to move companies and move from management back to hands on, for a good increase to boot!.
 
I used to work in software quality assurance as a test analyst and later as team lead. Got retrenched in 2016 and used that as an exit, and an opportunity to pursue my dream career - used some of my severance to pay for a personal training course.

Honestly, it's a lot less money than working for a salary but much more rewarding, and challenging - think , working at your dream job and being able to determine your own income.
 
jman said:
Get training paid for, leave asap once done lol. So you don't have any work back period/contract?
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None. It's TOGAF and another SAP Architecture course that I'll be doing, but I've just been contacted for what might be an interview.
 
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