Changing Careers at 32 any advice?

[2canSAM]

I have a very successful career now as an IT Project Manager. I enjoy my job alot, pay is great, company is cool, blah blah blah, but I am so bored with it right now, I am not really doing what I want. I want to work outside or at least change locations, pace, etc on a fairly regular basis. I have looked into several different positions as I have alot of interest. I have looked into firefighting, police work (mostly looking at the Forensic Scientist side of it), Construction Project Manager. I know that I will taking a huge paycut but that does not concern me. I want to build things and love to solve problems. I also would like to make peoples lives a little better when I can. I have had some recommend engineering in some form. I would have to go back to school for most anything I pursue as I have never attended college. How many of you have changed careers and what was the most difficult part of the transition?

 

[NoShangriLa]

I was a network security/data base admin, and I'm now a 3rd year plumber apprentice. I was bored to tears with the IT job & now I'm a happy mechanical plumber/HVAC worker. Most of the work is manual labour but a good portion of the time is quite enjoyable because it require problem solving, project managment, and customer relationship. And, the best part of all, is physically see the beautiful project finish on time with customers thanking you for the work.

Go for it, because 32 is not too old to change.

 

[skyking]

I think you could leverage your current experience into a roving troubleshooting position in the same field. Each day, a different problem. Would that do?

 

[I Saw OJ]

I'm in a similar boat, however not as far along into my career as you. Got into IT thinking I wanted to make a life out of it, but after working in the field for almost 3 years I realized that I enjoyed it much more as a hobby, and don?t want to be doing it for the next 10-15 years.

I signed up for my states Police Academy and will be attending that in February. I want something that?s outdoorsy, a challenge, and where I can actually make a difference. I can?t wait to start up in February...

 

[SSSnail]

Do what I do, ask your company to move you to another country. I'm more or less in the same prospective boat, I think another country will do me good. Perhaps open doors to other opportunities as well.

 

[Howard]

Engineering consultation would be one, although you'd have to have a lot of experience to be any good.

 

[woodie1]

At 32 I wouldn't hesitate to change careers. In fact, I did change careers several times during my working years. Some of them were for the better and all were interesting to say the least. Go do whatever appeals to you and good luck.

 

[ktehmok]

Originally posted by: 2canSAM
I have a very successful career now as an IT Project Manager. I enjoy my job alot, pay is great, company is cool, blah blah blah, but I am so bored with it right now, I am not really doing what I want. I want to work outside or at least change locations, pace, etc on a fairly regular basis. I have looked into several different positions as I have alot of interest. I have looked into firefighting, police work (mostly looking at the Forensic Scientist side of it), Construction Project Manager. I know that I will taking a huge paycut but that does not concern me. I want to build things and love to solve problems. I also would like to make peoples lives a little better when I can. I have had some recommend engineering in some form. I would have to go back to school for most anything I pursue as I have never attended college. How many of you have changed careers and what was the most difficult part of the transition?

If you're very successful, then you have little to no debt. If you're single, cut all of your expenses & "overhead" for the next 6-12 months. Then take the extra money & travel. Find out what you want to do before you jump into it. You might find something completely off the wall that you were meant for.

Or just hire a cute assistant & bang her. Then post about it here & let the hilarity ensue while she ruins your life...

 

[TheCanuck]

That's funny. I got out of engineering at 32 to work in IT! My degree was in Chemical Engineering and at the time I had just finished an MBA in Information Systems. I've done process engineering, project management and consulting -- they all bored me to tears! I was so depressed I considered taking meds!

Took a huge paycut to work in IT but so far it's much more interesting -- as long as I'm working with newer technologies (SAN, clusters, UNIX) and not a pencil pusher. I hated the consulting side of things the most. In consulting you mostly write stupid reports that no one cares about and never really get your hands dirty in the field. I think it's really the troubleshooting side of things that keeps it interesting...if I didn't have something to fix / tweak all the time then I'd be bored out of my mind!

Now I just need to get my salary back up to where it was....

 

[RKS]

Just buy a Corvette.

I worked as an Oracle Developer/Analyst before I realized I sucked at/hated programming. I decided to go to law school at 29.