Career Changes/Switching?

[Suet Seung]

Has anyone here gone through a career change or finished a degree in something and decided to do something totally different? Or went back to school to study for a different career?

I have heard and know some people who changed their career and went off from the career path they originally planned.

Anyone here care to share their experience of career switching?

[mi do ri]

Are you considering switching career in the near future? I'm still working on my first degree right now, but I think I will want a different degree/career in the future. I think some people just happened to naturally fall into a career path where they didn't have to get educated or formal training for it.

[dictionary]

Has anyone here gone through a career change or finished a degree in something and decided to do something totally different?

This guy I know. He got a Master's in Business Administration and upon graduation decided to work as a dry cleaner.

[wkeej]

My initial career plan was to work in the big consulting companies like Boston, McKinsey, Towers Perrin. With a degree and no working experience, I started in a small private consulting firm, planning to join the big ones later. But I realized that I enjoy working in the small firm so there is very little office politics and much freedom to manage our work. I resigned after 12 years to take a break, planning to go back to consulting again later.

During the break, I help out in two friends' businesses as sleeping partners (zero investment from me) - newspaper distribution and ice cream shop. So I become sort of businessman. Newspaper distribution is a tough job - wake up 3-4 am, drive to printing houses, help in delivery, ... Ice cream business was good. Left both in the end after 2 years. For newspaper, I told my friend (partner) that I cannot stand the early hours. For ice-cream, the main partner decided to sell away the business.

Now. I have more or less go back to my first job - consulting but on a freelance basis. I also do some volunteer work helping old people quite regularly.

I hope that I should do more social enterprise work in the future. E.g. helping people who cannot work full-time due to various reasons like need to take care of family members to get part-time jobs.

My advice is simple:
(a) save as you work, even if it is very little.
(b) do what you can do

[HuangYushi]

I have always wanted to be a teacher, and I am one now, but the route I took was quite circuitous. It included one college, two universities, two accountancy qualifications, three countries as well as working through a whole gamut of industries like electronics manufacturing (the in-thing in Asia in the 1990s), writing/editing/publishing (people thought I was crazy), accounting (people said that was the original field that I was given a scholarship for, so I should have stuck with it for the rest of my life) and small-business consulting (had a company that specialised in helping start-ups, mom-n-pops, one-man shows, etc, do better). Then, I finally did a post-grad in education and got my teaching licence!

No one really believes me when I tell them that all the things I did before becoming a teacher actually helped me become a better teacher today.

[kidd]

Now. I have more or less go back to my first job - consulting but on a freelance basis. I also do some volunteer work helping old people quite regularly.

Would freelance be very unstable income? I heard a radio show that interview a freelance photographer. Although he got the freedom, he also work more and longer hours before, work stop, money stop and he need to keep up the reputation so that people find to work in the future.

[wkeej]

Would freelance be very unstable income? I heard a radio show that interview a freelance photographer. Although he got the freedom, he also work more and longer hours before, work stop, money stop and he need to keep up the reputation so that people find to work in the future.

Yes, the income is very unstable. But, I am currently doing three consultancy projects from my first company. The first company did ask me to go back to work full time. But I have told them that I will consider. And sometimes I have to reject projects because I am too busy. Then why a few weeks ago, I was looking for a more permanent job, more towards social enterprise, less profit-driven work.

[sniffles]

I'm contemplating a career change. It won't be an immediate one, though. I have a lot of planning to do. I'm trying to figure out how to pursue a career around my love of the Mandarin language. I'm not quite sure how to develop this into a career, but I'm really hoping I can find a way.

Right now I'm a system administrator/programmer, and I don't think this is the kind of job I'm really suited for. I just have to stick it out until I can find a way to make my interest in Chinese pay off for me in the employment area of my life.

I hope I'll be able to follow Huang Yushi's example and change careers successfully to get into something I really love.

[Suet Seung]

I'm contemplating a career change. It won't be an immediate one, though. I have a lot of planning to do. I'm trying to figure out how to pursue a career around my love of the Mandarin language. I'm not quite sure how to develop this into a career, but I'm really hoping I can find a way.

Right now I'm a system administrator/programmer, and I don't think this is the kind of job I'm really suited for. I just have to stick it out until I can find a way to make my interest in Chinese pay off for me in the employment area of my life.

I hope I'll be able to follow Huang Yushi's example and change careers successfully to get into something I really love.

How about teaching English in China and you can study more Mandarin too? Or maybe you want to stay in the U.S. then that would not work out. A Chinese/English translator for business people or government officials?

[sniffles]

How about teaching English in China and you can study more Mandarin too? Or maybe you want to stay in the U.S. then that would not work out. A Chinese/English translator for business people or government officials?

I'd like to get into translating web pages, or better yet, subtitling Chinese movies for the US market. I'd like even more to translate novels. I don't think I"d want to be an interpreter, though. That seems like it would be very stressful.

[junny]

I'd like to get into translating web pages, or better yet, subtitling Chinese movies for the US market. I'd like even more to translate novels. I don't think I"d want to be an interpreter, though. That seems like it would be very stressful.

Take a general translation or specific subtitling course, perhaps?

[Ren Ying Ying]

I'd like to get into translating web pages, or better yet, subtitling Chinese movies for the US market. I'd like even more to translate novels. I don't think I"d want to be an interpreter, though. That seems like it would be very stressful.

If you want to do translating, maybe do a trial with novel translation or a fansub group to see how much you'd enjoy it.

If you want to stay in the US, you can still try to teach english to chinese immigrants. Depending on where you live, it could be in pretty high demand. Sometimes, such classes are offered in local community colleges.

Just out of curiosity, what department of Administration/Programming do you do? Maybe if you company has a section aimed at international relations (particularly with Chinese speaking areas), you can start working from there.

[PJ]

No one really believes me when I tell them that all the things I did before becoming a teacher actually helped me become a better teacher today.

How interesting! I had no idea you did those things before teacherhood.

How did all those things help you become a better teacher?

[remember_Cedric]

How interesting! I had no idea you did those things before teacherhood.

How did all those things help you become a better teacher?

I think all that experiences contributed to his exposure hence make him a better teacher so that he could relate/share with his students.

Anyone could share their thoughts/experience in jobs on Marketing (hmmm..... not the grocery-shopping type)? How do you find this sector of profession?

[sniffles]

If you want to do translating, maybe do a trial with novel translation or a fansub group to see how much you'd enjoy it.

If you want to stay in the US, you can still try to teach english to chinese immigrants. Depending on where you live, it could be in pretty high demand. Sometimes, such classes are offered in local community colleges.

Just out of curiosity, what department of Administration/Programming do you do? Maybe if you company has a section aimed at international relations (particularly with Chinese speaking areas), you can start working from there.

I'm entertaining thoughts about trying a translation, though it's difficult to find the time. But maybe my Chinese teacher can help me out with it a little bit. She doesn't understand why I like wuxia fiction so much, but she encourages anything that involves learning more Chinese.

As far as my job, I"m an administrator for an Oracle database that was developed at my company, and a programmer for a proprietary document generation system that is only used by a very small number of businesses. My company doesn't have any international business. It's US only. We have a business partnership with IBM's Global Delivery Centers, which have a section in China, but unfortunately we're not working with the Chinese section.

[Grundle]

I got an Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science and have worked in the field for the last 8 years. About 4 years ago I decided I hate it and wanted to go to medical school to become a doctor. The last 4 years have been working while taking night classes to get the prerequisite classes I need to be accepted into a Medical school. Hopefully by this time next year I will be in Medical School

[dictionary]

The last 4 years have been working while taking night classes to get the prerequisite classes I need to be accepted into a Medical school. Hopefully by this time next year I will be in Medical School

How are you coming along? I am contemplating going back to school but am conflicted between mba and nursing degree. My friends with mba are unemployed so that's not very encouraging. Nursing school scares me because science has always been my weak subject. Is chemistry challenging (I've never taken chem)? Looking at job postings, seems like medical field is the way to go. However, I don't know if I should get into it simply for the job opportunities and pay since nursing is hard work.

[wkeej]

How are you coming along? I am contemplating going back to school but am conflicted between mba and nursing degree. My friends with mba are unemployed so that's not very encouraging. Nursing school scares me because science has always been my weak subject. Is chemistry challenging (I've never taken chem)? Looking at job postings, seems like medical field is the way to go. However, I don't know if I should get into it simply for the job opportunities and pay since nursing is hard work.

Based on my observations and one/two friends who are nurse, I think one needs some passion/interest to be a nurse. If one becomes a nurse for job/pay, I think the person is likely to hate the job pretty soon.

[LuNaR]

registered nurses get paid a lot, like $40-60/hr

[remember_Cedric]

I got an Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science and have worked in the field for the last 8 years. About 4 years ago I decided I hate it and wanted to go to medical school to become a doctor. The last 4 years have been working while taking night classes to get the prerequisite classes I need to be accepted into a Medical school. Hopefully by this time next year I will be in Medical School

I feel hopeful for a career switch when I read your post, although I don't hate what I do right now... kinda enjoying it due to the rather unpredictable challenges every now and then.

I thought it takes many years to become a doctor? All the best in the career switch and remember that it's more important that you have tried no matter the outcome.