Creative career from a technical skill set?

[warawara]

New poster here,

Thought this forum might be a good place to pose a question and pseudo-poll.

I've been working as a Windows and UNIX (AIX) Systems engineer for about 8 years. I've worked for small hosting centers and large corporations. I've worked in manufacturing, health care, and security. Each day I find myself struggling to make it through another day. I don't believe I'm alone in stating that IT burns you out. I'm not here to whine, I'm asking for people in the community to possibly give me some direction on/or insight in finding something a bit more "left-brained". I realize the questions is a bit off the wall, and maybe I'd be better to reeducate myself in another field. I guess I'm just hoping someone out there has been where I am now.


Thanks~

Wara

 

[Corran007]

Have you thought about branching out into other areas of IT. I know i am keeping fresh by constantly going to new areas. Im doing similiar things to when i started 7 years ago, but now im doing them on a broader scale.

 

[kHz]

warawara, if you find an answer, please! let me know!! I have been in your position for the past (almost) 2 years. I left my last position to accept another job in IT doing something a little different, but still find myself dreading going to work. I do not find enjoyment in the day-to-day hands-on IT work that I once possessed.

If I could find employment in another field that wouldn't drastically obliterate me salary-wise, I would jump. For example, I wouldn't want to go from $80,000 to $30,000, but I would take a drop to $60,000.

Good Luck!

 

[benlinkknilneb]

warawara,

This is nit-picking, but you're looking for something "right-brained", not "left-brained". Left is the logical side, and right is the creative. ANYway...

One of my personal dreams is to run a LAN Party business. I think it would be awesome to get some hardware and start a business hosting LAN Parties. Once you set up the structure, then you can manage the network side of things (don't even need servers right off the bat!) and rent your building out either by the seat or by the event.

This probably won't pay the rent by itself right off the bat... but what if you took a lower-stress job alongside it until business picked up?

At least in my area (smaller city, ~50k people) this seems to be a relatively untapped market. Think of all the people who play video/computer games... I know I'd pay $5 - $10 an hour to play on a LAN managed by someone else... and I guarantee I could convince 10 of my friends to pay $25 each to play together for a Saturday afternoon.

Ben
The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't. - Douglas Adams

 

[aarenot]

Convergance is a developing area in the voice/data area, investigate that area. One good thing about it is this. Many know the network side, many know the voice side, few know both, and the pay and advancement reflect this.
From my experience you can be mediocre on the data end( I am a bit below that level here), mediocre on the voice end( I am way above that here), and you are a commodity in convergance anyway. It lets you work in new and different ways in what are really two different arenas, both having seperate areas in many cases to pursue advancements.