<p>I am with you there, Thedad. Would love to be able to write full time; getting anything substantial done around work hours is exhausting, and elusive.</p>
<p>In answer to the reasons for change–I went from adjuncting to a full-time administrative position for better pay and benefits. (actually I did both for eight years, but just gave up the teaching to try to carve out time for writing.) This also gave us a safety net (benefits including tuition for his classes), so that H could jump from doctoring to teaching. He changed because the stress of inner-city pediatrics including social-economic horror stories plus insurance nightmares plus just the nonstop worry about the kids he saw, was going to kill him. He loves teaching, we don’t mind the drop in income, and everyone’s happier.</p>
<p>First career was petroleum geologist.
Second career was financial services financial planner then marketing and product development of investment products.
Third career was SAHM.
Next is ?</p>
<p>Switched from engineering to Computer Programming. I am very happy with this. Hated first, absolutely love second. It got to be a match between personality and profession imo.</p>
<p>Federal employee -14 years (claims authorizer, supervisor, management analyst)
At home Mom- 7 years
120 hour cert in accounting, part time jobs after cert - 5 years
Admin systems specialist - almost 10 years</p>
<p>I took a few years to get the accounting cert (one course a semester), thinking I could start a part-time accounting career. (No way did I want to return to a government job.) I learned that I could start from scratch full-time, or return to a career part-time, but couldn’t actually enter accounting part-time. So I tried various temp and part-time jobs until the last with a top company ended up full-time - and I have been telecommuting for 9 of the 10 years.</p>
<p>I enjoyed studying accounting but wasn’t prepared to turn my life around at that time to make it a new career. I liked the analyst job the best; some of what I do involves analysis now.</p>
<p>DH retired after 30 years with the same company (well, it merged with another so two different names) and is now consulting in the same industry with a renewable contract.</p>
<p>I worked in IS for a few years, then started a company with a friend to do IS consulting, went into industry and then transferred to an engineering group doing corporate support and then was offered a job in the hallway to project lead a product with about $400 million in annual revenue. Got burned out after a few years and family responsibilities increased and am just an individual contributor now. I spent a lot of time doing open source work as a hobby and that could be parlayed into a job if desired.</p>
<p>“I’m trying to figure out my next career. Just not sure how to go about doing so.”</p>
<p>This has never been a problem for me … circumstances changed and I simply changed with them. I’ve had six completely distinct types of work. The current one is managing finances for my extended family … long story.</p>
<p>Liberal arts student >>Graduate Student in Inorganic Chemistry>>Corporate research chemist >> Stay at home mom >> Homeschooling mom. I have one more child/student just starting high school. Don’t know where I’m going in four years, but wouldn’t change this progression at all.</p>
<p>This is only my experience, but maybe you can take away something useful:</p>
<p>It took me about 3 years to figure out my next move (realtor). During those three years, when I found something that interested me, I started a business plan. Creating a business (including doing the research on start up costs!) let me get a good taste of what that career would entail. Often, I lost interest or found that I just wasn’t as interested in that career as I initially thought. </p>
<p>I will add that you should explore each and every career that grabs your attention. Read books about it, talk to others in that field, and even start a business plan. You just never know which career will capture and keep your attention/enthusiasm. Hope that helps get you started.</p>
<p>Medical Technologist (high fives, fallgirl!)
Stay-at-Home mom
Homeschooling mom (high fives, plantmom!) and college guidance counselor to my kids, which required much time on cc.
Now: Co-proprietor of Christmas tree farm, volunteer marketing director in state growers association, church volunteer</p>
<p>Chemical engineer, pulp and paper
editor of technical/financial journal for same industry
Sales in pulp and paper capital equipment
Owner/operator of garbage collection company
Owner operator of marina
Along the way developed property and built quite a few houses
What’s next when D goes to college next year? Could be one of a dozen options!</p>
<p>Elementary school teacher, SAHM, law student, prosecutor, then public defender in two urban counties (Garland’s H and I could probably swap war stories), university director of alumni relations, corporate lawyer, federal government bureaucrat.</p>
<p>Garland, it’s depressing. Ideas, themes, situations, snippets of dialog…the occur and all clamor for inclusion in a piece. I’ve got probably three novels, a one-act play, and several short stories that I’d like to write. But 'twill have to wait. Given the economy, I need to go where the larger $$$ are.</p>
<p>That’s exactly the phase I’m in now. I’ve been casting about for a part-time business but the more research I do, the more I realize I’m just not into it. Part of the problem is that I love what I do now (I am an artist), but it doesn’t pay the bills.</p>
<p>Composer here. I soooo get the “doesn’t pay the bills” issue. I’ve premiered several works - most to some acclaim, but there is no money in it. With all the copyright problems, etc. - well, I would rather write for my own pleasure and earn a living doing something else I like. Being a realtor will allow me some flexibility in my life - at least I won’t have to sit there looking busy from 8 to 5 secretly wishing I were at the piano/computer working out some harmonies. </p>
<p>Keep looking around, though. You might get lucky and find a job which incorporates your art. Perhaps working on an arts council or in a gallery?</p>
