Help & thoughts needed,

Ive been in the electonics industry mainly in test & debug for 10 years now, I mainly went into it as it was sugested to me from school as a good career, i had no clue then what i wanted to do and still don't, Problem is it does not really interest me that much its mainly just a job.

Im really think i need a career change but to what?

How do you find out what jobs may interest me/you?

I know its reached a time of my life were i need to maybe retrain and do something else.

Everyone says do something im interested in, problem is i don't know what im interested in?

Like must on here im of cause interested in cars and audio but thats my own interests really.

Any idea how you go about finding out if certain jobs may interest you?

Sounds like you're going throught the same thought process as me.
Lots of interests but don't know if I could actually make a decent living out of any of them.
Would I still end up bored if I tried one of them?

Sitting behind a PC all day rots your mind.
I often feel like I want to be doing "anything" outside rather than be stuck inside.
Think that's a common thought among people stuck in offices.

Unfortunately there are no work experience/tester-day schemes for 30+'s

Can't think I'd survive long (financially) if i went off to train in another subject.
We just end up stuck in a job for the money.....
Can be seriously depressing!!!


If you come up with any ideas, let me know!!!

My advice - DON'T do something you're interested in.. you'll rapidly lose interest in it. I love ICE, but there's no chance I'd take a job installing.. If I spent 40 hours a week installing headunits, hands free kits and alarms, the last thing I'd want to do at the weekend is my own installation.

I have to agree with Mark in a way. Doing something you really enjoy as a hobby as a job can be a problem. But I know some people who love to do what they enjoy as a job. I guess it depends on the type of person you are.

3rded - stay away from something you do as a hobby

i used to love computers, alwasy fiddling with them making them go faster/batter

now having worked in IT i really do not give a stuff about computers and id rather just re-image a machine than find out why its running poorly now

Makes a lot of sense....
I think i want to retire!!!

hence why I keep turning down the offers of starring in a p0rn movie.....

Any what would you be?

The fluffer?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluffer

Personally, I think your only option really is to sit down, read lots of job adverts and apply for ones that take your fancy...

...but be prepared for false job descriptions - I won't mention my situation here as it's now getting to a messier stage of a 4-year argument regarding job description & actual job role being 2 completely different things!!

Hum,
I don't know what to do.
Must find away od working out a change but to what.
Its trying to figure out what a job actually is, is a problem.

Im the same to be honest use to go to the careers meeting in school and ask what you want to be do i could never think of anything to but they said when your older you will im 25 now and still dont know.Dont think i ever will to be honest as i hate 9 - 5 or office work ect.At the moment i build and repair pc,s as a hobby as im not working but agree if i did it for a living ide hate doing it

If you're not sure, go out and try different jobs...

I've worked in an R&D lab
Council offices
And now work on the highways installing, commissioning and repairing traffic lights.

Every time I've changed jobs, knowledge wise it's been a step backwards - I no longer need to know how circuits work at component level, no longer need to be able to pick and choose components, no longer need to do day long testing procedures on each section of a circuit like I used to do in R&D.

In the council I was overlooking a lot of highway electrical systems - traffic lights, tunnel systems, bus information systems, VMS signs etc etc...

Now I only deal with traffic lights.

Some people say I'm mad for going backwards - many people ask why I'm doing this job with the qualifications I have as I'm hugely over qualified.

Why do I do it?

No boss standing over me
Company car (not the perk it sounds though!!)
No office (except the pile of paperwork in the back of my car)
No-one to shout at you if you're 5 minutes late
No car parking issues (just set out cones and an arrow )
And I enjoy the work!!

I enjoy work that is hands on. I enjoyed R&D because of this, however there are not many jobs out there for analogue audio r&d tech / engineers.
The council was not hands on enough - too much time at a computer, and not enough depth when I did get hands on... the council were too quick to pass problems on after initial diagnosis - frustrating when you're used to fixing.
My current job involves biolding, testing, fixing, commissioning, and if my boss gets his way will also involve maintenance.
So, when you look at it, although I've gone backwards in some respects, I've found what I like doing... for now at least!!!

wow old thread,
The job i now do combines my passion for audio with my background in electronics, as its the exclusive build house for one of the top home audio brands out there. I may now only work for a small company but thats a huge bonus in how you are treated a bit like family, Wages maybe really crap but i feel much better here than i have anywere else.