Switching Careers, how to?

So, I'm getting tired or fed up or burnt out with my current line of work (computer related), and am thinking about switching to something totally unrelated.

I would love nothing more than to do something actually automotive related, as I'm sure would most of this board. Issue is, I have zero professional experience in the field and while I'm competent with a wrench, I know I'm not nearly good enough to work as a mechanic, nor do I have any desire to. On top of that, I'm addicted to my current level of income (mid 5-digits), and being in California, can't really afford to lose much of that. Staying in-state would be preferable (best climate in the world, insofar as I'm concerned), though I'd be willing to move for the right job. I am papered (Bachelor's CIS), though in the current economic climate that can be as much a hindrance instead of a help.

Ideally I'd like to do something that still uses at least some of my current skill set and experience, so I'm thinking that working fuel injection tuning might be a path. I'm aware of the fuel injection class, but is there really any money to be made in that field? What about other ECU tuning or interfacing? I can code pretty well when I have the motivation, just haven't had the reason to since graduating.

Unfortunately for making any sort of drastic change, I'm not single, have several animals, and have a kid on the way. I can't afford to just drop out of my current life, it'll have to be a fairly seemless transition.

Thoughts on how to make this happen? Is it remotely likely? I am appreciative of my current job, but it's not my passion, and it's less and less becoming an interest. I'd like to not get stuck in some hell-hole of a workplace that I slave away at just to provide for my family, though I certainly will if that's what's required.

Figured if there was anyone to ask, it'd be this crowd. A preemptive thanks for any responses.

In this economy, you're lucky to have a job. Any job. Think about that. Maybe try to do some side jobs first and see if it pays and you like it.

I'm lucky, in that even though I don't have a degree in my chosen field (radio/TV), I started back when local stations still had local staff, rather than being repeater beacons for a regional hub. If I had a dollar for every college graduate that I've taught how to do our job, I could buy a $1K Miata.

As far as working in the automotive field, I'd recommend against it if you're just thinking about just working on them. It's fun when it's a hobby..it's rough when it's the daily grind. Yeah, I'd love to have a job writing about cars, or painting cars, or documenting histories for museums...but as far as turning wrenches or bending sheetmetal goes, the guys that are really making money at it have been doing it their entire lives. The best tuners I know may be newcomers to electronic mixture controls, but they've known the theory behind the science long before these new tools came along. Read David's last column in the magazine last month..Ed Senf isn't a guru because he knows the software/hardware interface. He's a guru because he can see the air and fuel molecules mixing in his head.

I'm in a similar situation myself. I hate what the new Corporate Overlords have done to my workplace in the last five years (we call it "Turner Middle School" now). I found myself looking to jump, even at a substantial reduction in pay. Then, I met a wonderful woman (with a 5yr old son, and a couple of years of techinical school to complete), I realized my daughter had to get through college, and that I also enjoy having three of my cars licenced, insured, and ready to go at a moment's notice.

One day at work, it hit me. I still enjoy what I actually do, I just have problems with the people I work for. I just focus upon the work, and upon the home life.

I'll admit, I still have hope that a better place will send recruiters looking for someone like me (I'd walk for equal benefits, and pay within 90% of what I'm making now), but until that happens, I'm just going to remember that I have responsibilities, that life other than in the workplace is very good, and that as much as I now hate my employer..their paychecks don't bounce.

If you don't really enjoy what you do, YMMV. Personally, I don't think of myself as "slaving away", but just waiting it out. And I'll be the first to admit that such a feeling comes from the fact that I still really enjoy what I do.

Good luck.

In reply to ReverendDexter:

What is it you actually do? Not being nosey but I've been working as a programmer, manager and occasional sysadmin for a good 20 years now so maybe I've got an idea what you could look at.

Twice now I've felt completely burned out and have left the tech industry to try something else, and twice I've eventually come back. Once was while I was single and the other time I was married, but did not yet have kids. With the mortgage, car payment, tuition and family obligations I have now, the risk of starting over just isn't worth it to me to try it again.

I am working towards a career change. I have been going to night school for the past 3 years because I realized I didn't want to stay in my current job/industry forever. It has been a lot of work juggling school and family (class 2-3 nights a week and a 1 year old at home), but when I'm finished school in a year and can hopefully get the new job it will have been worth it. I don't think there are many situations where you can just switch fields without education or related experience and keep the same level of income, benefits, etc.

Appleseed wrote: In this economy, you're lucky to have a job. Any job. Think about that. Maybe try to do some side jobs first and see if it pays and you like it.

+1000

That's the best advice you are going to get. A decade ago - during the last downturn - I left a stable tech job for an exciting one in a startup.....which folded. Tech jobs were scarce, and I had to go through a career change.

I'm happy with my current low stress, highly entertaining job, but I'm making tens of thousands of dollars less than I did. That's not uncommon in a career switch because you usually have very little experience in your new field. This means competing with people for entry level jobs in the new field, and leaving middle or top level jobs in the old field. If you're not willing/able to do that, you need to think long and hard about jumping ship.

Be cautious and test the waters.

FWIW, nderwater's situation is not abnormal....One of my friends is a VERY experienced DBA who is VERY well paid, but who positively hates computers.....he says he continues to do it because supporting his wife and kids in the manner in which they are accustomed has made him "addicted to the money".

You're not going to be able to just pick up and step into a different field with no turbulence.

My suggestion would be to focus on the tuning aspect. It's not just a matter of programming, it's knowing what needs to be programmed - but it might be the closest to your comfort range. Learn how to do it well on a standalone, which will involve not only a lot of dyno time but also time figuring out how to do the hard stuff like idle and cold start. Then start tuning as a side gig and build your reputation. If you can figure how to tune a stock ECU, that's where the real money is going to lie in the future. The fact that you're in California is going to be a problem, as CARB is not fond of this sort of thing.

I left high tech to work at Flyin' Miata. Nearly a decade later, I'm making a little more than half of what I did then. Sometimes you have to trade off some salary for job satisfaction.

ReverendDexter wrote: Ideally I'd like to do something that still uses at least some of my current skill set and experience, so I'm thinking that working fuel injection tuning might be a path. I'm aware of the fuel injection class, but is there really any money to be made in that field? What about other ECU tuning or interfacing? I can code pretty well when I have the motivation, just haven't had the reason to since graduating.

I'll speak to this part, since it is what I do for a living.

From what I can tell, your skill set would end you up as a programmer- one that writes the code as specified by someone else. As you get better understanding of mechanics, electronics, chemistry, systems engineering, etc- then you could move toward specifying the strategy or calibrating the software.

There's SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more to ECU's than fuel injection, it's not even funny. You really need to know everything you can about fuel, spark and air, torque, throttle, basic controls theory, EGR, purge control, catalyst and how they work- I could go on- but it's a lot of stuff. You CAN learn that- no question. But don't look at it as something simple like just fuel injection- that's the easy part.

Now, I'm sure you are thinking that you can do aftermarket calibration- and I'm sure you can. But the money in aftermarket stuff isn't nearly what's in the OEM world. Not even close. You can equal or better your current job with an OEM pretty easy.

That being said, your choices are pretty limited on location. There's south east Michigan- where Ford, GM, and Chrysler are obviously at, as well as Toyota, Hyundai, Daewoo, Bosch, and a few other tech centers are located. Compared to California, yuk (but I do like it here). OEM choices in California are a little harder to come by- but there are some- I think Saleen is there, and I'm not sure what Shelby is doing these days. Or an alternative choice is to go to the Air Resources Board- I bet they do research things like the EPA does to determine what is possible.

Hope that doesn't burst your bubble.

but this will- working at all OEM's isn't a good fit for enthusiests. I know plenty here, and for the most part, it's a very good job, and that's it. There are days where it's pretty cool, but for the most part, it's lab work.

Eric

I wouldnt listen to me if i were you, but with all that computer you've got going on, why not teach yourself how to update, recode, re flash engine management systems? Learn in your spare time, and at some point if all works well and figure out the niche, go pro... if that's not a challenge, i don't know what is...

i did a job change thing back after 9/11. wasn't a complete field change, but a side step into a specialty area i hadn't worked in before. I ended up making more money and with more responsibility, though i started low and it took a year or so to start moving up. after the first promotion though, things really took off until they came to a rather spectacular end. But it was fun while it lasted.

I'm now considering another side step into another related field, but I'm not sure i want to move, which would be required, to a place that gets allot of the cold white stuff....

Walking into the automotive field right now is the worst idea anyone could ever have.

EVAR.

Pay over the last ten years has continually gotten lower across the board. 20 years ago a service writer/parts specialist/parts or service manager would make mid to high 30's base to 60-70k for a real ass kicker.

Today you may make 25k base plus a stupid bonus plan that is not performance related but rather related to JD Power results. I know of two million plus dollar service writers that didn't break 40k last year. on barely broke 30k because the JD Power results are skewed toward irrelevant questions.

And I have already stated the murder for hire business has gone to hell since we figured out you could hire gypsies to do the job for the meat.

mw wrote: I am working towards a career change. I have been going to night school for the past 3 years because I realized I didn't want to stay in my current job/industry forever. It has been a lot of work juggling school and family (class 2-3 nights a week and a 1 year old at home), but when I'm finished school in a year and can hopefully get the new job it will have been worth it. I don't think there are many situations where you can just switch fields without education or related experience and keep the same level of income, benefits, etc.

This..../thread

+1 on the "lucky to have a job." Now may not be the time to jumping out of your boring but safe ship into rough waters to swim to another ship.

Also, be wary of making (what sounds like) a hobby into a job. It's totally different rebuilding an engine in your garage at your leasure, versus having someone telling you it Has to be done by the end of the day or you're fired.

Depending on your age, you're jumping into a field where people your age are already making a lot more. In essence, you're no different than a kid right out of technical school. What do they make, $20K a year.

Yeah it's boring, but think long and hard about this. If nothing else, waiting a couple years, while at the same time going to night school, is probably the best advice I can give.

Whats been said above. Be happy to have the job. Any job. I know at least 15 people who have graduated with honors from respectable university's with solid degrees in the past three years who are [still] working at McDonalds, Sears, Jewel Grocery, Walgreens, or caddying. I'll tell you that just from my small perspective.

If it were me: Start going to night classes. See what happens.

Can you do anything else within the company you work for now?

I've gotten completely burned out on what i do at least 3 times in the last 5 years.

I worked at RCI, got burned out, got BURNED by their HR, and didn't bother trying to do anything about it.

I then started working for my current company making about.... 40% of what i used to at RCI. Got burned out, and this time instead of jumping ship, asked around, informed the higher-ups what my REAL skills were, and then there i was doing something else within the same company, for slightly more pay.

Got burned out on doing the same boring thing every day, so i simply asked for a challenge. Boy, did i ever get it. An entire year of 50-60 hour weeks later, and now looking at 3 months without a single day off, averaging 65 hours a week, i got that challenge. Without giving too many details, i'm spearheading a major change in how one of the biggest insurance companies communicates with outside vendors for rx, mental health, and rehab. Also due to the overtime and the increase that came with the responsibility, i'll gross about $70k this year. I won't see most of that, because overtime is taxed to hell and back, but i can't complain. I have a High School diploma, and i'm 24.

Unfortunately, i'm getting burned out again. But because of the high-profile project i'm spearheading right now, once this is completely wrapped up (end of 2010) i'll be in the best position possible to use this as leverage to move into something else, and this time, a DRASTIC pay increase.

What i do now, is rewarding to the point that this project is "My baby." The work itself sucks. Ends justify the means.

2.5 years into working for this company, and i'm "famous" throughout National Division, and my name gets thrown around in Corporate. I'm sticking it out.

If you're good at your job, but feel like you're getting burned out or backed into a corner, ask for more work. Seems backwards... but ask for work on some special project that nobody else really wants to do.

Become the "office garbage disposal," and you will be rewarded much quicker.

Keith wrote: You're not going to be able to just pick up and step into a different field with no turbulence.

My transition went much more smoothly than I expected. Faith and effort are powerful tools.

Keith wrote: I left high tech to work at Flyin' Miata. Nearly a decade later, I'm making a little more than half of what I did then. Sometimes you have to trade off some salary for job satisfaction.

^^^^ Quoted for truthiness. I'm about 40% of what I made in Detroit, but about 90% happier on a day-to-day basis. It's affected my wife more than me, because we were fortunate enough that she didn't have to work then. She's enjoying her career as a Pastry Chef, but it's still a net loss financially. Totally worth it.

Tom Heath wrote: I'm about 40% of what I made in Detroit, but about 90% happier on a day-to-day basis.

And that's the measure that really counts.

BoxheadTim wrote:

Tom Heath wrote: I'm about 40% of what I made in Detroit, but about 90% happier on a day-to-day basis.

And that's the measure that really counts.

I wonder how it would go over if I told my wife I'm quitting my job to become a race car driver. I'd be much happier... who cares if I win or not.

A buddy changed careers years ago, leaving a good paying job and started his own business. He's infinitely happier - and still is. Yet, if it wasn't for his wife's income, he'd be homeless. People who say happiness is most important conveniently assume it pays the bills, too.

I agree about the comment above on looking inside your present company. Many times you can get the new job you want, keep your vacation days, and get a raise.

alfadriver wrote: I'm not sure what Shelby is doing these days.

Shelby is in Las Vegas, and IIRC they are using you :)

mw wrote: I am working towards a career change. I have been going to night school for the past 3 years because I realized I didn't want to stay in my current job/industry forever. It has been a lot of work juggling school and family (class 2-3 nights a week and a 1 year old at home), but when I'm finished school in a year and can hopefully get the new job it will have been worth it. I don't think there are many situations where you can just switch fields without education or related experience and keep the same level of income, benefits, etc.

+2 I had always planned on retiring after 30 years of teaching at age 52. I also knew I would want to get some other job. So at age 45 I started back to school part-time to get a CIS degree.

Shortly after I finished the degree I noticed an add in the paper for a Programmer/Analyst for a local company. I applied for and got the job so I ended up retiring from teaching with 28 years and going to a job that paid 20% more than I was getting plus I was now getting my teachers retirement.

In some ways I was lucky but it also took some advance planning and a lot of extra work teaching full time and going to school 2-3 nights a week for 4 years.

I really appreciate all of you working, my unemployment goes so much smoother with all of you paying into it each week. Seriously though, stick with the job you have, and wait for the economy to recover, keep your goal in mind and over the next 5 years keep going towards that goal. By taking night classes, books, whatever, and at the same time, get rid of your debt so you can do it in the future and not worry about losing the house or car. Then again an extra $10k cash in the bank helps as well.

My fiancee hated her job and has since moved twice within the same company, so no likes more of what she does but is by no means happy.

Andrew

Find your local recruiting station, and tell them I sent you

I'm retiring from the building trades this year. I've lined up a job at the local vocational school teaching my trade(which I happen to still enjoy). While I normally won't like teaching, this is an opportunity to share what I've learned in 35 years of the trades to kids that actually have an interest in learning a marketable skill. Between my pension(too young for SS) and what little bit I'll earn, the lifestyle won't take a hit at all.Only nine months of work, with all the holidays and vacation time off, is very appealing!

If you hate it, by all means change. I spent four years hating my job. Four years of not wanting to get up in the morning. Finally I had enough and quit. Found a job in retail at a hobby shop for much less money. All the sudden I loved getting up in the morning and going to work. Money isn't everything.

After 12 years of that I finally had to earn more money and changed jobs again.(4 kids) It was a great job but the company I worked for was one of those monsters where everyone is a number. Management sent all their time figuring out how to make their bonuses bigger by screwing us. I left them and started doing the same thing for myself. A lot more stress, but well worth it as I tripled my income and still like doing my job most of the time. I wouldn't stay in a job you hate. It not only makes you miserable, but everyone around you as well.

You might look into doing the same thing you do now, but for yourself. Do it on a contract basis for smaller companies. I am a firm believer in self employment.

Thanks for all the advice, guys.

When I posted this originally, I was admittedly depressed (man that sucks to type out loud ), and I think my job was taking most of the blame. Whether that's the actual case or not remains to be seen.

I've started in on the self-education stuff, I'll start looking into what night classes are around here. For all I know, it's the lack of learning that's got me in the slump, not that the company may or may not be here this time next year.