Please Wish Me Luck.

[mokapi]

So I'm in the middle of considering a massive career "change". This is going to be a long post, and there's really no "TL;DR" I can offer, so kudos and thanks to you if you read the whole thing.

Back story: I graduated high school early, went to trade school, and immediately got a job in the field. I worked there for five years and hated every minute of it. I then got a job in the field I'm actually passionate about, but of course it makes no money without a Master's degree (at LEAST, if not Master's + Bachelor's + a buttload of certifications). Life and being an actual adult pressured me to get a boring 8-5. I can't do it. The only way I can think to describe it to people is to imagine crating a border collie or a husky for 10 hours a day. I'm going insane. It's worsening my depression and my anxiety, and I'm becoming downright combative, which means my tenure here is up. I hate it every day. I'm a good worker...when I'm given good things to do. Otherwise, between ADHD/anxiety/whatever else, I start falling into a downward spiral.

My boyfriend and his dad are both in skilled trades: bf is a welder, and his dad is a plumber. They've been encouraging me to get into a union apprenticeship for something. His dad recommended electrician, but is also fairly keen on HVACR for me. I adored the little bit of stick welding my boyfriend lets me do in the backyard. I took to it very naturally. I had so much fun...he took a picture of me and I'm standing on the back porch with this huge, doofy grin on my face, holding up his welding helmet in one hand and holding the torch in the other. It's hilarious but I was clearly having so much fun.

I don't really want to copy him and become a welder, though, so I am looking into electrician apprenticeships. I've found a few, and I put in applications. Problem is, I have literally no experience/background. I'm hopeful, but don't want to get those hopes up too high.

I'll face added challenges in any trade because I'm a woman, but I don't know if it'll hurt my chances at a privately-owned business. I guess the unions actually WANT more females, to increase diversity.

So, as I wait to hear back from these places, please wish me luck. I'm chomping at the bit to get out of my current job, to the point that I'm considering taking a pay cut and working at a warehouse for a while.

 

[Winchester]

Of course! It's no fun when you truly hate your job.....I did it for 18 years. I went into a place day in and day out that I absolutely despised.

I wish you the best of luck!

 

[mokapi]

Of course! It's no fun when you truly hate your job.....I did it for 18 years. I went into a place day in and day out that I absolutely despised.

I wish you the best of luck!

18 years?!?!

I don't know how you did it. Wow.

I've been stress crying here almost every day for the last week and a half. One of the issues is that I have a stutter; it's only noticeable when I'm on the phone, but then it's very noticeable. I was in speech therapy for 16 years. Co-workers will say things like "do you know where you work?" and "do you have a name?" because I'll totally block when I go to say our company name, or my own name. Random strangers on the phones are worse. I was asked if I was having a seizure last week while stuttering.

I took this to HR/the VP of the company, and they were the total opposite of compassionate. She tried equating my stutter with her dyslexia (um lol), and then suggested I just make fun of my myself. ?!?!?! I don't want to do that.

The work environment sucks. I know it could be a lot worse, but I'm not making enough to tolerate it.

 

[neely]

Follow what you are passionate about especially while you're young and I'll cross my fingers, good luck!

 

[foxxycat]

I'm a female welder. Never looked back. LOVE it. Yes union is better. The welding we do is not what I want but the good paying job makes it worth it. Look into it. if you like to weld-you can make $$$$. THERES A SHORTAGE OF WELDERS. I highly recommend it. Women make better welders because we have better hand control.

 

[MeganLLB]

Good luck! If it weren't for my massive student loans, I would consider a second career. I don't think I like my job either. I can do it while I'm still single but if I wanted to get married and have family, this job won't cut it.

I should have done what you did but my parents wouldn't let me consider a trade. I had to go to college. (Even though my dad went to trade school and worked a trade).

I hope you find what you love. That is a great accomplishment if you can work a job that you love- don't we all wish we could do that...

 

[foxxycat]

18 years?!?!

I don't know how you did it. Wow.

I've been stress crying here almost every day for the last week and a half. One of the issues is that I have a stutter; it's only noticeable when I'm on the phone, but then it's very noticeable. I was in speech therapy for 16 years. Co-workers will say things like "do you know where you work?" and "do you have a name?" because I'll totally block when I go to say our company name, or my own name. Random strangers on the phones are worse. I was asked if I was having a seizure last week while stuttering.

I took this to HR/the VP of the company, and they were the total opposite of compassionate. She tried equating my stutter with her dyslexia (um lol), and then suggested I just make fun of my myself. ?!?!?! I don't want to do that.

The work environment sucks. I know it could be a lot worse, but I'm not making enough to tolerate it.

Well one thing about welding-you won't have to worry about verbally speaking as much once you get onto a job-because most jobs are written instructions-and people shouldn't be treating you with disrespect. We have a guy in my department who has speech issues but writes fantasticly so we agreed he should email instead-helps a lot. I am sorry this is making you sad. It is hard to be in a job you don't love. My particular role isn't welding right now but I did it for years. At least my goal at the time was to learn welding then become a welding inspector. Then this other position opened up and no one wanted it-kind of boring but I am good at keeping myself busy.

But if you like welding-go for it. In this area there's not much work for electricians as there are for welders. BUT maybe where you are-it will be different. I suggest taking a night class at the local high school and see if you will like either of the trades. There's all kinds of things you can do in the welding world but not weld. It's just getting the schooling out of the way.

 

[mokapi]

Good luck! If it weren't for my massive student loans, I would consider a second career. I don't think I like my job either. I can do it while I'm still single but if I wanted to get married and have family, this job won't cut it.

I should have done what you did but my parents wouldn't let me consider a trade. I had to go to college. (Even though my dad went to trade school and worked a trade).

I hope you find what you love. That is a great accomplishment if you can work a job that you love- don't we all wish we could do that...

I hope I do too, eventually...right now I'm sort of "supplementing" by running kid's nature programs out of my huge backyard. I have enough props I can kind of manage. Volunteering is sort of scratching the itch, too.

I have 1,800$ in student loans and that's it, because I hated school and it became too difficult with two jobs/relationship.

Quite honestly the trade I went for WAS NOT WORTH IT and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Maximum of like 17$/hour for very skilled people. I only did it because I was being emancipated and knew I couldn't handle a uni atmosphere.

I hope you can find a better job too...everyone deserves to at least not dislike what they do, at bare minimum...ugh.

 

[MeganLLB]

I hope I do too, eventually...right now I'm sort of "supplementing" by running kid's nature programs out of my huge backyard. I have enough props I can kind of manage. Volunteering is sort of scratching the itch, too.

I have 1,800$ in student loans and that's it, because I hated school and it became too difficult with two jobs/relationship.

Quite honestly the trade I went for WAS NOT WORTH IT and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Maximum of like 17$/hour for very skilled people. I only did it because I was being emancipated and knew I couldn't handle a uni atmosphere.

I hope you can find a better job too...everyone deserves to at least not dislike what they do, at bare minimum...ugh.

hey that's better than what I'm doing now. I have three bachelors' degrees OVER $100, 000 in loan debt and I only make about $14/hour. I would love to be making that kinda dough.

 

[Willowy]

Can't really go wrong with HVAC (if you like it). I know a guy who is in HVAC and he turns down more jobs than he takes because there's such a demand. He also wants to sell his shop and retire, but he can't find anyone to take it because nobody around here wants to do HVAC anymore. . .so if you want to move to tiny town South Dakota I have a suggestion . I don't know as much about welding but it seems solid too.

 

[mokapi]

hey that's better than what I'm doing now. I have three bachelors' degrees OVER $100, 000 in loan debt and I only make about $14/hour. I would love to be making that kinda dough.

Girl, you can make more than that working as an administrative assistant/secretary!! I make almost 17$ right now and it's TOO easy of work.

 

[MeganLLB]

Girl, you can make more than that working as an administrative assistant/secretary!! I make almost 17$ right now and it's TOO easy of work.

That's just how it is in this field. I don't think it is the right time to leave this community. I know I am making a sacrifice financially to do this work. But soon I can't defer my federal loans anymore and I won't be able to stay in the program that is making my private loan payments affordable. In the next year or two I will have to start looking for a job that pays more because with the outrageous loans I just can't afford it.

 

[mokapi]

Can't really go wrong with HVAC (if you like it). I know a guy who is in HVAC and he turns down more jobs than he takes because there's such a demand. He also wants to sell his shop and retire, but he can't find anyone to take it because nobody around here wants to do HVAC anymore. . .so if you want to move to tiny town South Dakota I have a suggestion . I don't know as much about welding but it seems solid too.

I've only just dipped my toe into researching anything. I know the most about welding because I listen to Lucas talk and I watch videos over his shoulder. The rest of it...I know next to nothing.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

Follow what you are passionate about

This advice is oft repeated, but seldom heeded, owed to seeming, "trite." It is, in fact, just about the most sagacious advice that ever was. To spend every day - or even any single day - of your Life bored, unchallenged, and unfulfilled, will wear down even the most stoic personality, and eventually will sap your energy and your ambition to improve your Life's situation.

The Marines, in combat situations, use an old trick which can be applied to nearly any situation, but which is all too often ignored: when your plan isn't working, fall back, regroup, and formulate a new plan. Don't continue to fight; don't press onward down an avenue which clearly has no positive outcome, and don't simply change plans without forethought, hoping the new plan will be better.

It sounds like it might be time to regroup - to "make a list first," as our Parents once taught us, and to weigh your passions against what's pragmatic, before making your next decision. "Do what you Love, or do something else," is the encapsulation of wisdom, and when tempered with a well-considered plan for the future, usually ends in success - if you know your definition of, "success," since to be, "successful," has different meanings for different people.

Decide what it is that would make you, "successful," to your own way of thinking, and set that as your goal. Reading the above, this in particular struck me: "...right now I'm sort of "supplementing" by running kids' nature programs out of my huge backyard." This sounds like something born of passion, and not simply something done for monetary gain. Just a thought....
.

 

[mokapi]

e what it is that would make you, "successful," to your own way of thinking, and set that as your goal. Reading the above, this in particular struck me: "...right now I'm sort of "supplementing" by running kids' nature programs out of my huge backyard." This sounds like something born of passion, and not simply something done for monetary gain. Just a thought....
.

Definitely my passion. Being a naturalist is a defining part of my life. I'm certified through state and national organizations as an interpretive naturalist/guide...I adore it. But, there's no money there. It also takes a lot of schooling to become qualified on paper...schooling that, admittedly, I have no interest in pursuing. The field is inundated with biologists, ecologists, wildlife scientists, environmental scientists...and only handful of them have jobs. After years of school. Years! And thousands and thousands of dollars in debt.

What I would like to do is something that challenges me every day, that allows me to use critical thinking and my hands to solve problems and fix things. Something that pays well enough that, on the weekends, I can spend that money doing what I love...traveling, exploring, teaching, etc. That's the main reason I'm looking into skilled trades. Can't be outsourced, always jobs available, excellent pay, and they're just...cool.

 

[neely]

Being a naturalist is a defining part of my life. I'm certified through state and national organizations as an interpretive naturalist/guide...I adore it. But, there's no money there.

Then volunteer as a naturalist/conservation guide and pursue a career that will pay your necessities and accommodate your lifestyle.

I work in education which has it's plus and minuses but volunteer for a non-profit organization that is both rewarding and fulfills my passion. You sound like you have put a lot of thought into your decision and I wish you the best.

 

[neely]

Decide what it is that would make you, "successful," to your own way of thinking, and set that as your goal.

Excellent advice!

 

[muffy]

I don't have any advice but I wish you the best of luck in finding a job that you like and one that pays well. I think your best bet is a Union job especially if you want to become a welder. Good luck!!!

 

[mokapi]

I don't have any advice but I wish you the best of luck in finding a job that you like and one that pays well. I think your best bet is a Union job especially if you want to become a welder. Good luck!!!

Thank you!!

 

[artiemom]

I am late to this thread, but mokapi , I wish you so much luck. It takes a ton of fortitude to change careers. I kind of did it, at the age of 28. I went back to a Community College and started a new life.

It is also horrible to be in a job/career which you actually hate, and discover you are at a dead end. It adds to depression, and eventually will effect your work performance.

I say, if you want to be an electrician, go for it!! It will be really hard for a few years, but then, it will improve. You will have a union to back you up. I honestly feel a union is a necessity, especially with this current world environment.

Glad you have the support of your boyfriend and his dad.

If you want to get into something else, then try volunteering for a bit. You love animals.. what about something with a Vet.. a tech or so.. The pay is terrible, but you may get some satisfaction from helping sick animals...and they only bite when they are afraid.. not to intentionally hurt you..

You could also begin by volunteering at a shelter/rescue.. see how you feel about the possibility of doing this full time. Volunteering could also give you a sense of self satisfaction and self-worth, by doing something that you love.. while you are searching for alternative job choices.

I think trade jobs are the way to go right now. I think there are too many college graduates who eventually end up in jobs which are completely out of their fields.

Good Luck...((hugs))