changing careers

[Slartibartfast]

This is my typical day

go to work, go to a friend's office and shoot bull for about 30 minutes
sit down, look at my outlook calendar, realize i don't have any meetings for an hour, spend 15 minutes checking on systems
play with phone for 45 minutes
sit in meetings, sometimes contribute, sometimes wonder why I was invited to things that have nothing to do with my job
play with my phone some more
sit down with one of the people who work for me, go through their projects, give advise, expectations, praise, etc as needed
go to lunch
go to more meetings for most of the afternoon
by about 4, I am antsy and ready to go. go hang out with some work friends or play on phone
leave precisely at five

weekly i do exciting things like review IT engineering change requests, hold the company IT change meeting (I am the change manager as well, yay), solve some sort of crisis in a few hours that have taken others a few days to not figure out, maybe design a system, do light programming, stuff like that.

Then after all that. Once every couple of weeks or so, I ask for more duties, my boss tells me I am overloaded and that pretty much ends the discussion. (he works half a country away and we only talk a few times a week, so he doesn't know what I do with most of my time)

needless to say, I am finding my job dissatisfying and I am probably burnt out

so back in college, the finance dept pretty actively tried to lobby me to join their program (I graduated with a 3.9 GPA and they thought I would be good with numbers). so I have been thinking lately I am planning to go get my masters next fall. I am toying with the idea of getting it in finance and getting my CPA and just doing something different.

Any advice for those who are at this sort of crossroads?

 

[Mr. Invisible]

This is my typical day

go to work, go to a friend's office and shoot bull for about 30 minutes
sit down, look at my outlook calendar, realize i don't have any meetings for an hour, spend 15 minutes checking on systems
play with phone for 45 minutes
sit in meetings, sometimes contribute, sometimes wonder why I was invited to things that have nothing to do with my job
play with my phone some more
sit down with one of the people who work for me, go through their projects, give advise, expectations, praise, etc as needed
go to lunch
go to more meetings for most of the afternoon
by about 4, I am antsy and ready to go. go hang out with some work friends or play on phone
leave precisely at five

weekly i do exciting things like review IT engineering change requests, hold the company IT change meeting (I am the change manager as well, yay), solve some sort of crisis in a few hours that have taken others a few days to not figure out, maybe design a system, do light programming, stuff like that.

Then after all that. Once every couple of weeks or so, I ask for more duties, my boss tells me I am overloaded and that pretty much ends the discussion. (he works half a country away and we only talk a few times a week, so he doesn't know what I do with most of my time)

needless to say, I am finding my job dissatisfying and I am probably burnt out

so back in college, the finance dept pretty actively tried to lobby me to join their program (I graduated with a 3.9 GPA and they thought I would be good with numbers). so I have been thinking lately I am planning to go get my masters next fall. I am toying with the idea of getting it in finance and getting my CPA and just doing something different.

Any advice for those who are at this sort of crossroads?

My advice would be this. Go back to school and get you Masters/CPA, BUT keep your currently job and then leave IF AND ONLY IF you have 100% secured employment with a firm or business that pays at least the same amount as you are currently getting. Also, leave on good terms.


Hope it all goes well.

 

[ttwtt78640]

It seems that your skills (computer system design, programming and team management) are good, just that your current company/application is not keeping you busy or offering you a sufficient application to challenge them.

Are you sure that it is the work field, IT, which is the problem?

Do you really feel that accounting is a more "exciting" career?

I too worked as a computer programmer/systems analyst, but never in management, and hated working on business systems (payroll, personnel, inventory control and etc.) but liked "real time" applications such as submarine combat/nuclear power plant operations simulation, remote control of (classified) equipment and secure military communications (text message routing and distribution).

 

[lizzie]

I agree with the above poster. I decided to change careers about 15 years ago, as nursing has a high rate of burnout. I went back to school for drafting, which is a love of mine. I spent a couple of years taking the courses I would need for a degree, but the closer I got, and the more I looked around in the job market, the more I found that it would have been a mistake as far as salary and scheduling flexibility. You just have to decide what your priorities are, then base your decision on that. Best of luck, hon.
I may still go back to school, just for the love of learning, but at my age, without the responsibilities of kids and husband, it's easy to do. Life and responsibilities can conflict.

 

[MaggieD]

This is my typical day

go to work, go to a friend's office and shoot bull for about 30 minutes
sit down, look at my outlook calendar, realize i don't have any meetings for an hour, spend 15 minutes checking on systems
play with phone for 45 minutes
sit in meetings, sometimes contribute, sometimes wonder why I was invited to things that have nothing to do with my job
play with my phone some more
sit down with one of the people who work for me, go through their projects, give advise, expectations, praise, etc as needed
go to lunch
go to more meetings for most of the afternoon
by about 4, I am antsy and ready to go. go hang out with some work friends or play on phone
leave precisely at five

weekly i do exciting things like review IT engineering change requests, hold the company IT change meeting (I am the change manager as well, yay), solve some sort of crisis in a few hours that have taken others a few days to not figure out, maybe design a system, do light programming, stuff like that.

Then after all that. Once every couple of weeks or so, I ask for more duties, my boss tells me I am overloaded and that pretty much ends the discussion. (he works half a country away and we only talk a few times a week, so he doesn't know what I do with most of my time)

needless to say, I am finding my job dissatisfying and I am probably burnt out

so back in college, the finance dept pretty actively tried to lobby me to join their program (I graduated with a 3.9 GPA and they thought I would be good with numbers). so I have been thinking lately I am planning to go get my masters next fall. I am toying with the idea of getting it in finance and getting my CPA and just doing something different.

Any advice for those who are at this sort of crossroads?

You really don't have to "decide to do something different" now in order to get your CPA. It sounds as though it would be very interesting to do regardless of what you ultimately decide to do with it. Surely some of the classes would be helpful in some way to your current job, so absolutely positively go for it!!! You might even find, after you got it -- or even as you were working toward it -- that it would provide a pretty lucrative part-time income for you seasonally.

Your current job responsibilities sound to me like your strength is in managing people and problem-solving. Working for an accounting firm? As a newbie, I'm not sure you'd be utilizing your strengths. *shrug*

But, at any rate, the only decision you have to make right now is whether or not getting a CPA would be fun.

I say, "Go for it!!" There's a certain freedom one feels when we say, "Let the chips fall where they may." And, to carry on with the old saws . . . Maybe you'll find, when you have your degree, that you're willing to "jump knowing a net will appear."

 

[Slartibartfast]

You really don't have to "decide to do something different" now in order to get your CPA. It sounds as though it would be very interesting to do regardless of what you ultimately decide to do with it. Surely some of the classes would be helpful in some way to your current job, so absolutely positively go for it!!! You might even find, after you got it -- or even as you were working toward it -- that it would provide a pretty lucrative part-time income for you seasonally.

Your current job responsibilities sound to me like your strength is in managing people and problem-solving. Working for an accounting firm? As a newbie, I'm not sure you'd be utilizing your strengths. *shrug*

But, at any rate, the only decision you have to make right now is whether or not getting a CPA would be fun.

I say, "Go for it!!" There's a certain freedom one feels when we say, "Let the chips fall where they may." And, to carry on with the old saws . . . Maybe you'll find, when you have your degree, that you're willing to "jump knowing a net will appear."

Interesting point about not needing a degree

That opens some possibilities to explore

 

[humbolt]

Good advice above. Do it! Few things are less satisfying than being trapped in a job that bores you. I have been blessed to have done many different things, and while I can't recommend my approach to anybody else, looking back now I am uniformly glad I did all of those things, whether they were all successful or not. And they weren't all successful. Note that lack of success does not equal failure. Failure is when you do something poorly and don't learn a damn thing about it or you.

 

[SayMyName]

This is my typical day

go to work, go to a friend's office and shoot bull for about 30 minutes
sit down, look at my outlook calendar, realize i don't have any meetings for an hour, spend 15 minutes checking on systems
play with phone for 45 minutes
sit in meetings, sometimes contribute, sometimes wonder why I was invited to things that have nothing to do with my job
play with my phone some more
sit down with one of the people who work for me, go through their projects, give advise, expectations, praise, etc as needed
go to lunch
go to more meetings for most of the afternoon
by about 4, I am antsy and ready to go. go hang out with some work friends or play on phone
leave precisely at five

weekly i do exciting things like review IT engineering change requests, hold the company IT change meeting (I am the change manager as well, yay), solve some sort of crisis in a few hours that have taken others a few days to not figure out, maybe design a system, do light programming, stuff like that.

Then after all that. Once every couple of weeks or so, I ask for more duties, my boss tells me I am overloaded and that pretty much ends the discussion. (he works half a country away and we only talk a few times a week, so he doesn't know what I do with most of my time)

needless to say, I am finding my job dissatisfying and I am probably burnt out

so back in college, the finance dept pretty actively tried to lobby me to join their program (I graduated with a 3.9 GPA and they thought I would be good with numbers). so I have been thinking lately I am planning to go get my masters next fall. I am toying with the idea of getting it in finance and getting my CPA and just doing something different.

Any advice for those who are at this sort of crossroads?

Time to get the backpack, Kayak.com a plane ticket, and hit the road for a long walk to put everything in perspective. Try Samye Monastery in Tibet first, then maybe Auroville, India next for some time working as a guide at the Mantrimandir. Or, walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain. When the year is done, and you have covered a couple of thousand kilometers at 25-30 a day, meeting great people and sharing wonderful experiences, everything will become amazingly clear.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Good advice above. Do it! Few things are less satisfying than being trapped in a job that bores you. I have been blessed to have done many different things, and while I can't recommend my approach to anybody else, looking back now I am uniformly glad I did all of those things, whether they were all successful or not. And they weren't all successful. Note that lack of success does not equal failure. Failure is when you do something poorly and don't learn a damn thing about it or you.

warning, i am drunk right now

simple fact is this. There is nothign in life I don't have the ability to overcome. I am blessed with some rather amazing skills, intelligence, resilience, physical attractiveness, and some other stuff.

In a while, I will get bored with accounting too and go be a scientist for a while or something. Its my nature. I excel and then get bored easily.

it makes me sad, most people struggle in trying to excel in only one thing.

 

[AlabamaPaul]

warning, i am drunk right now

simple fact is this. There is nothign in life I don't have the ability to overcome. I am blessed with some rather amazing skills, intelligence, resilience, physical attractiveness, and some other stuff.

In a while, I will get bored with accounting too and go be a scientist for a while or something. Its my nature. I excel and then get bored easily.

it makes me sad, most people struggle in trying to excel in only one thing.

You need to find a way to become a partner in a company...

 

[Slartibartfast]

You need to find a way to become a partner in a company...

money is nice, but its not the point of my life. If I have enough to live on, i am good.

so many idiots here think people care about money more than people generally do, it creates some amusing and wacked out social theory and idiotic threads, its fun. like libertarian economics, LOL