I've had a drastic career change about 15 years ago: from IT to gardening. I could have been very rich by now, and I could have had my second heart attack, had I stayed in IT. These days, the number of job opportunities for CAD/CAM, PLC and other programmers are fast increasing again, but I'm not gonna go programming for a living again.
This same thing happened to me, turned my interests into work and then just ended up hating my former-interests. I'm having a hard time choosing a path so I'm just trying to explore options but I do think following one's passions when looking for work generally kills the passions.Probably why I have so few of them left.
My brother returned to school older than usual, he had worked as a welder, CNC operator and so on, and he graduated as an engineer in a field where that history had value as on the job experience. I think that was a smart move of him.
Quote from: JamesJ on January 06, 2017, 10:21:59 PMThis same thing happened to me, turned my interests into work and then just ended up hating my former-interests. I'm having a hard time choosing a path so I'm just trying to explore options but I do think following one's passions when looking for work generally kills the passions.Probably why I have so few of them left. My jobs didn't spoil my interests or passions, better yet they spawned additional ones. I still love computer programming, just won't do it for a living.
Quote from: Ronald Schröder on January 06, 2017, 10:28:48 PMQuote from: JamesJ on January 06, 2017, 10:21:59 PMThis same thing happened to me, turned my interests into work and then just ended up hating my former-interests. I'm having a hard time choosing a path so I'm just trying to explore options but I do think following one's passions when looking for work generally kills the passions.Probably why I have so few of them left. My jobs didn't spoil my interests or passions, better yet they spawned additional ones. I still love computer programming, just won't do it for a living.I started computer programming since I was 10 years old and for many years it was the only think I cared about. When I was not at school I was programming. A real nerd so to speak. When I finished high school it seemed the logical step to go to university for a computer science related study. So I did and at that point I was busy with programming every entire day. Just before the end of the first year came the turning point. I realised I hated what my life had become, despite the fact I was good at it and could probably make a great and succesful career out of programming. So I quit the computer science study and since that day I never programmed a single line of code anymore. Cold turkey. I was completely done with it. It's crazy how those things can go, huh?
What about SALES. I cannot remember the lady from Leatherman who is a spokesperson. With the amount of knowledge here on MTO alone one can easily become an "expert". Every company needs a vibrant sales force. What about design? Take what those here on MTO have discussed about these tools and design "better" tools. With exception to Victorinox I'm sure the others would love to see new designs.
Over the past couple months I've been planning a career change. Each evening I've looked into educational requirements, salaries and growth rates for a variety of jobs.I'm always reading blogs and articles about navigating this daunting move. One thing they all seem to mention is to pick something you're passionate about or you'll end up feeling stuck in your career once again.I realise this forum is mainly for enthusiasts and collectors, but I'm wondering what opportunities exist out there. I'd also appreciate any other advice on the topic of mid-life career changes, but I don't want to get too off-topic and keep this mainly about SAKs and MTs and how to make money with them.