Career advice
Does anyone here enjoy giving career advice or know any good resources? I have been poking around reddit boards but I haven't seen anything really relevant to my situation or anyone with extensive knowledge commenting. I've been working in basically the same job for my whole career (I am 12 years out of college) and I feel like I don't have much to show for it. I'm a little jaded with the corporate world and would like to have my own business someday. My job may be ending soon and I need to figure out my next steps. I'm not sure if I should focus on trying to find a better job in my same field (which I don't really like), learn some new skills to try to find a better job in a different field, or try to start a "side hustle" which could maybe later turn into a full time business. Anyway I can give a much more detailed background but I thought I would put a feeler out first. I appreciate any and all advice or recommendations. Thanks!
Comments
What I can say is that I relate to your spot, though in a different way. I'm a college dropout and I've been at my same company for 20 years (basically started when I dropped out). My problem is kind of the converse. I don't really enjoy what I do, and would like to think about moving out of So. Cal because living in So Cal is just stupid from a price standpoint, but there is no way that I will be able to match what I make and I'm a little scared of being the low man on any totem poles in a volatile economy.
I guess the two things that I would offer (hopefully at least one is relevant) is that I would suggest being more bold than I am. It sounds like your hand is a little forced anyway with your job end arriving, if you can come up with any sort of a framework for it that makes sense, take a shot on yourself. I certainly wouldn't do so irresponsibly, but if you can see a path why not try to do what you would most like to do? The second, which may or may not hold any value: Over the last year I've tried to sort of seal up some of my resume deficiencies by getting certifications and taking programs. It's been a pretty hectic year so I haven't done a ton of it, but I got my Enrolled Agent certification from the IRS and I'm taking a finance course now and beyond having some things to pepper onto my resume, it's just been a very gratifying experience. The finance course is just starting out, but already I'm thinking it may end up being a pretty significant little spark because I'm pretty fascinated. I guess it may not help much, but if you have an interest and particularly one that can work to sort of pad your career I think it can never hurt to pick up a class or so here and there. Maybe that will even point you somewhere beyond just picking up some good knowledge.
Good luck!
Thank you for your reply. Part of me really wants to take this opportunity to make a bold move and try something different. However, I know that it would be more practical to try to find a new job, hopefully paying more, build up some more savings and then try to start something on the side. It's just hard to for me to muster up the motivation to do serious job hunting when I am thinking of that job as just a means to an end. I keep cycling through job searching for normal full time jobs, looking at training to do some other kind of job (potentially something I could go out on my own with later), or looking at business ideas/side hustles. Right now I am doing a half-assed (third-assed?) job of all 3.
I think you have a great idea of taking some courses on the side to build out your resume. One of the reasons that I'm so jaded with my current job is that I'm not learning anything new anymore, and we are lagging technologically in our industry, so I don't have a lot of experience with the latest and greatest tools that other companies are using. I am definitely considering further education, I'm just not sure if I'd be better off sticking with the area my experience is in (digital marketing/music/e-commerce) or something else that I might like better and might pay more.
Anyway, I should have a better idea in the next month or so if my job is likely to end this year and I guess that will be a big factor in my plan. Thanks again, I really appreciate the input!