Dropping IT - What would you do? 3

[Dollie]

What would you do if you woke up one morning and decided that after years of school and work, doing what you thought you should be doing, you absolutely hate what you are doing in IT? What if you find that you want to move in a completely different direction?

(Disclaimer: I took a Myers-Briggs test in a class two weeks ago and have been thinking WAY too much about the results.)

 

[lornab64]

Dollie, I took a break from IT as well for my family. I just knew it was something more for me than to be in IT Help Support Industry. However, after teaching for six years I have to get back in IT and try to use what I've learned in the last few years to make my life better in IT. You have to choose something that will make you happy and understand there are problems everywhere you go and sometimes it is worst in some arenas.

I prayed for guidance and I believe God sent to teaching and he is sending me back to IT but with a different outlook on life.

 

[acewarlock]

The term IT is a small word, but IT is a very large area, is not just a Help Desk or building PC's look around, there's more to it than that.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[mudsucker]

If it wasn't for girlfriend, kids, mortgage, car payments, and student loans I would do something else besides IT, but nothing else pays that well.

Unless I want to go back to medical school or law school and rack up more student loans. Then spend years becoming a partner in a law firm to make six figures and 80-hour work weeks. Or longer hours as an intern in medicine and more stress over being sued for malpractice.

 

[MasterRacker]

Mufasa,

Sounds like you're pursuing what would be for me a dream career path. I'd ask for more details, (but then there'd be a hundred of us crowding your market! ;-) )

_____
Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[SantaMufasa]

Actually, Jeff, intelligent/wise real estate investment is a market/profession that will probably never be over-saturated.

If anyone wants to know how my sister and I are doing what we are doing, you may contact me via my signature for more details. (I just don't want to hijack this thread. )

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[traingamer]

The only use I've ever found for Myers-Briggs was interactions with those I knew to have other results. I will add that a large group of us engineering and IT types at a Fortune 500 company took the test at the same time about 15 years ago. While very very very few had 'F'eeling as opposed to 'T'hinking, the rest of the results really were all over the board.

It may just be your particular job that you dislike. IT is a very wide field. We include everything from Unix weenies to web designers in IT (and there are few indeed who can fill both of those roles well).

I've had a number of very similar jobs (on paper) over the last 10 years, and I've experienced the full gamut from I love this job and company! to the polar opposite. (I respectfully decline to offer a comment on my current employ.)

What do you want to do?


Greg
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. Kierkegaard

 

[PatrickIRL]

Professional thumb wrestler
Butterfly tamer

Anything but IT !!!!

Patrick

 

[acewarlock]

Anybody that lets a test determine what they should be doing in life, needs more help then that test can give them. In my 66 years of living, I think I have only meet about 20 people that where truly happy in there chosen field. The rest did it for the money or weren't smart enough to do anything else.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[LNBruno]

I don't remember who said it, but it's true.

Do you know why adults ask children what they want to be when they grow up? The adults are looking for ideas...

< M!ke >
[small]Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?[/small]

 

[PHettinger]

I don't know - I've always wanted a job delivering mail. Or working at Trader Joe's would be fun too - I like the Hawaiian shirts.

In case you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, it's this really great grocery chain with several stores in the midwest and elsewhere. Everyone seems so cheerful. Even if it's drugs, I'll take it!

 

[Foamcow]

I'd drive the ferry boat between Padstow and Rock in Cornwall.
Rounding each day off with a swift pint in the pub at the end of the harbour.

--
Tek-Tips Forums is Member Supported. Click Here to donate

<honk>*:O)</honk>

Tyres: Mine's a pint of the black stuff.
Mike: You can't drink a pint of Bovril.

 

[sha76]

I wanted to be a vet - then realised that good vets are not grumpy & uncommunicative when woken in the middle of the night! (& thank goodness I changed my mind, since developed allergies to cats & rabbits!)
A friend's mum was apparently quite disappointed when he expressed his desire to become a bin-man, until discovering his reason was because they only worked on Tuesdays!

Redsmooth -want a partner for your butterfly tamery? We could expand into synchronised bumble-bee flights.


"Your rock is eroding wrong." -Dogbert

 

[genomon]

As soon as I get my instrument rating I am thinking full-time flying.

"Teamwork means never having to take all the blame yourself."

 

[Dollie]

Anybody that lets a test determine what they should be doing in life, needs more help then that test can give them. In my 66 years of living, I think I have only meet about 20 people that where truly happy in there chosen field. The rest did it for the money or weren't smart enough to do anything else.

Sometimes there are things that get the brain thinking about things other than the position in life that you're stuck in. Being miserable in my job is absolutely the last thing that I want, and after taking the "test", it got me thinking about what I do want. I'm thinking that if you took the same test, you would probably be in the "judgmental" category, instead of the more emotional "feeling" category...not sure why I think that...

I'm not that much younger than you, although you're just barely old enough to be a parent instead of a peer. I'd like to believe that there are enough jobs in the world that I can find one that will make me happy as well as give me a livable income. And believe me, as a former girl scout in IT, I'm not too stupid to do anything else.

And to the rest: I've decided that once I finish up college, I'm going to start teaching part time. I've always wanted to retire in a noble career, as a teacher. Now I might get my chance

 

[acewarlock]

Sorry you took it personal, I was speaking in general. My job in my hobby and my hobby is my job, best of both worlds.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[KornGeek]

Seek out successful practitioners who are willing to give back to their profession via mentoring sincere and motivated neophytes.

And this is precisely what Tek-Tips is all about. I love this site.

I personally love programming and database design. In fact, I sometimes do it in my spare time (which is a rare commodity these days).

I was without stable employment for most of the last three years. I recently took a job at a substantially lower pay rate than what I used to earn. In addition to the stability it offers, I also like the group of people here, enjoy the work, and I'm learning new (and marketable) skills. Although I'm hurting for money, it's a wonderful feeling going to bed on Sunday night thinking "I get to go to work tomorrow."

However, this whole thread reminds me of the movie Office Space. (Paraphrasing from memory...)

Peter: "What would you do if you had a million dollars and didn't have to work?"
Lawrence: "I'll tell you what I'd do, man. Two..."

oops, wrong part of the conversation...
fast-forwarding a bit...

Lawrence: "What would you do, man?"
Peter: "Nothing."
Lawrence: "Nothing?"
Peter: "Nothing."

 

[shoalcreek]

Disclaimer: I took a Myers-Briggs test in a class two weeks ago and have been thinking WAY too much about the results.

Yes, you definitely are. I certainly would not hire someone who said: "Myers-Briggs said should I do this career."

 

[Dollie]

OK, just so people kinda understand what I've been thinking about...

I'm in IT. I'm a sysadmin/mail admin/network admin/everything-else admin. I never went to college when I should have, and chose instead to take a rather long break after high school. What I know about IT was learned at the School of Hard Knocks. I've been back taking night classes since 2005. I've always had an artsy-fartsy streak in me, and since I was little I have wanted to be a teacher. However, something about IT clicked in me a long time ago and I chose to try and pursue a career in it. I have reached my peak in my position, however. Last semester one of my teachers asked the class to take the test so we could see how we all compared to each other, and to help us learn how to deal with other personality types.

I was the only one in the class with any type of emotional/feeling result instead of judgmental, and I was deemed to be the most "thenthitive" person in the class. I had to laugh at the list of famous people in my category because it included both Britney Spears and Mother Theresa. The list of 'suggested career paths' wasn't as funny as it listed things like receptionist, daycare teacher, and artist. It did surprise me that no one else in my class was remotely close to my MB 'type'.

Maybe I did take a mis-step when choosing my path in life. What I chose to do is put a thread here pondering it, but I haven't done things like tell my boss I'm in the wrong line of work, quit my job spontaneously, or altered my resume to show my Myers-Brigs personality type.

Maybe I'll combine everything and be an IT teacher with a pottery wheel and easel at home. I still have several years of night classes before I'm looking at a degree, so I'm going to keep plodding along as I am for now.

 

[SantaMufasa]

I've always had an artsy-fartsy streak in me, and since I was little I have wanted to be a teacher. However, something about IT clicked in me a long time ago and I chose to try and pursue a career in it.

You sound like a perfect candidate for:<drum roll, please> College-level Computer-Aided Design/Graphics Design/Animation/Video Production Instructor.


Good luck on your quest. Keep us informed of your next occupational/professional adventure.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]
“Beware of those that seek to protect you from harm. The cost will be your freedoms and your liberty.”

 

[jsisley]

Dollie - I don't want to hijack the thread, but I am going through the same kind of thing, I think. I too, didn't go to college when I should have and am paying dearly for that now - it's much harder to go to school when working full time.

Right now, I'm kind of feeling that the job I have (while I enjoy for the most part) is one that I can merely do, rather than one that entertains any real personal interest of mine (i.e., music, photography, etc...). Not sure what to do about that - if I can do anything. I figure I'll be working for a while yet and I'd like to have my job figure into my personal interests if possible.

I've been a member of TT for a while, but haven't really posted a lot. I'm not a spammer, nor a headhunter. Just someone who is struggling with this issue right now. Is there a way we can communicate offline from this forum to compare stories/ideas to help deal with it? LMK.

Thanks!
jsisley