Career Change???

[SS MAYFLOAT]

I've been thinking about changing my line of work. I've been a service tech on HVAC and commercial kitchen equipment for the last 25 years or so. When I was younger it wasn't too bad to perform my job. Lately it is getting to be painful to perform my work. Also the grease and dirt jobs I get into tends to turn me off of the jobs I do anymore.

My wife thinks I should take up nursing since I was able to learn a lot from her while she was taking her courses. It does make me curious about that field, but when it comes down to dealing with the patient,,,,,,I'm not a touch and feel type person.

I love to work with my hands, but anymore the blood and sweat type jobs just doesn't bring in the money like they use to. I'm not a suit and tie type either, so a desk job is out of the question.

I'm good at typing, but if I sit in front of the computer for more than an hour, I will actually get sick to my stomach and vomit. (Might be a medical condition, but not sure).

At 52, I need to make a choice now if I intend on going to school. Just not sure what I want.

One thing that I feel that I would like to do is upholstery and marine canvas work. I just know I need to change into something that I will enjoy vs dreading every day. Any ideas? What jobs do some of you do? Thanks......SS

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: Career Change???

You're probably living in the wrong state, when i lived in Texas HVAC guys made plenty in the long hot summer, in South Florida they're busy all year long.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Career Change???

You're probably living in the wrong state, when i lived in Texas HVAC guys made plenty in the long hot summer, in South Florida they're busy all year long.

I make a decent wage for the services I perform and have lots of job security. Plenty of work all the time, but I'm the only tech for the company I work for. So it seems like it is rush rush rush all the time. If I was just a troubleshooter and had other techs do the repair, that would be great. But thats not going to happen with the company I work for.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Career Change???

I hear ya. I was an auto mechanic but switched to computers a while back.
It was the A/C that got me. One August we had an extended heat wave and the shop I was working in disbanded. I figured I could put that high school typing class to use by doing data entry until the weather passed. Got spoiled and never looked back.
Starting over at 52 sounds tough; I assume you have some pension or something to fill the gap. I'm 48 and am 2/3 way to my pension, so this would be financially suicidal for me (although tired of it all, but I'm pretty much coasting now).
I'm with you as far as the touchy-feely thing. There are other care giver areas you might consider. Radiology comes to mind. I'm not familiar with all the nooks and crannies, I'm sure your wife is - have you asked her about this?
You could put your experience to use teaching.
If you lived around here (Annapolis) I would tell you to go to one of the many local sailmakers and/or canvas shops. This is demand around here. I know several people who do this freelance. It's not without it's aggrevations though - you still have to deal with people.
BTW, please check out my "pilot light won't stay lit" post !!!

 

[cdnfthree2]

Re: Career Change???

I still live in Texas and HVAC still makes a killing. One of the few trades with sticky firm prices around here. But it sounds like there's more to it than money for you. Mayfloat, my job pays well but is killing me too and it's almost as dirty, sometimes worse. (Stairways) Even with helpers, it's still tough on you. I'm looking for an exit myself but am having major difficulty finding similar compensation even with my education. Good luck and if I find a good field I'll pass it along. Hope you do too.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Career Change???

With your background. One statement. Short and sweet.

Medical equipment, service and repair.

Booming market, with no end in sight.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Career Change???

Medical equipment, service and repair.

That would be a change of pace, but I've been led to believe that those jobs require a degree. Something I don't have. I learned by hard knocks, trial and error, and "Hey Watch This" I would be interested in going to school though to get a degree.

 

[JB]

Re: Career Change???

I like Snapping Turtle's suggestion. There would be some learning involved, for sure, but biomedical equipment/instrumentation is an interesting field and one that I think offers security in the coming hard times.

I think the years I worked in that field influenced three of my four children to go into the health care field.

I don't think it requires a degree, but things may have changed in the 40 or so years since I got into it. It probably requires a lot less electronics knowledge and more computer knowledge than back then, but troubleshooting skill is priceless in any technical field.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Career Change???

That would be a change of pace, but I've been led to believe that those jobs require a degree. Something I don't have. I learned by hard knocks, trial and error, and "Hey Watch This" I would be interested in going to school though to get a degree.

All I know is my former young neighbor was a Programmer & Server Adminastrator guy in IT.

When the IT industry started crashing (years ago & still is), he found out he would probably never get another raise in his live, and he watched the (very successful) company where he worked throw everybody out every two years, only to be replaced with fresh college kids, who in turn were also thrown out after two years, only to be replaced by ...

He decided he needed to find something else to do with his life. His mom was a Hospital Administrator and said they could never get anyone to fix what broke. With a little retraining he started low and within a year was earning double what he had been. Now it is about 4x, better working conditions, he is basically his own boss, and the working environment is really nice. No more 24/7.

That was 4 years ago.

Last night I saw a piece on “CNN International” on future, recession proof careers. Of the top five, three were in the medical industry (Baby Boomer's are getting old), and what was one of them. You guessed it.

Medical equipment, service and repair.

My neighbor had not attended a University, he had some trade schooling, and the typical run of the mill programming certifications. But that was it. He is not the brightest bulb in the package, and is lazy.

As far as schooling goes, at later stage in life, my mother has always said when people laughed at her, so what if I am old, and it takes me another two years to get that degree. What will I have in two years if I don't get it. Nothing, I'll just be two years older.

So she just kept studying. She has now retired three or four times (I forget). The last time, was at the end of last month. She was supposed to buy a new boat, travel, kick back, and enjoy life for awhile. Well she got a job another job offer she said she couldn't say no to, and started the first of this month once again.

She makes more money a year, than she used to make in ten as a school teacher.

She is 74!

If it is what YOU want to do, go for it

 

[mickjetblue]

Re: Career Change???

The better jobs available now are very, very technical jobs.
They require at least a couple years of education in grueling subjects.

Also, age discrimination is practiced nowadays, and over 50 is usually considered over the hill. At many places, it is over 40.

I'd suggesting sticking it out, and finding another hobby that you like.

 

[mscher]

Re: Career Change???

I drive a truck.

There are both lousy and good truck driving job. I have a great one driving a fuel tanker. Good money but often long hours. I'm 49, but we have drivers that are over 60, that do just fine.

It's not for everybody, but those that do it, most seem to like it, especially since no one is looking over your shoulder, every 5 minutes.

There is part time work available driving straight delivery trucks, some with not a lot of manual load/unload work.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Career Change???

The better jobs available now are very, very technical jobs.
They require at least a couple years of education in grueling subjects.

Also, age discrimination is practiced nowadays, and over 50 is usually considered over the hill. At many places, it is over 40.

I'd suggesting sticking it out, and finding another hobby that you like.

I agree that age discrimination has spread like a disease in the last ten years, but from the recent studies I have seen, America is one of the first countries that have seen what this has done to the economy, and is slowly returning to people with life experience.

I was twenty years older than the next oldest employee at the last company I consulted for. That is why I was there. I am in my mid 40's.

But age discrimination only works in areas that have more, hungry, well trained young people, willing to work for pennies, than there are openings available.

This is an area where the demand for new employees is out striping those entering the field by ten to one.

It is like the nursing field, they have been trying for decades, world wide, to keep up with demand. SS MAYFLOAT's wife just entered this field, and he was considering also. If SS MAYFLOAT can do that, he can also do what my neighbor did, Medical equipment, service and repair.

My neighbor was half brain dead from years of “chemical party life” on the edge, if you know what I mean. I am sure SS MAYFLOAT doesn't fall under this description.

This guy used to ring for help if he needed to change a light bulb, now he turns screw drivers, plays with multi-testers for a living, and reads what ever problems the system spits out on his laptop. The machines & equipment tell him what is wrong when something is wrong, and what needs to be serviced when something needs service.

I think if SS MAYFLOAT wanted, he could do it. Local colleges all over are starting to offer the courses.

P.S. Tell my mom she is over the hill at 74, and she will just laugh at you, she made half a million last year, working out of her house in the mountains, and my step dad was also paid as her assistant by the company, as part of the deal. When she retired the first time at 65, she was making about $20,000 a year.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Career Change???

I drive a truck.

There are both lousy and good truck driving job. I have a great one driving a fuel tanker. Good money but often long hours. I'm 49, but we have drivers that are over 60, that do just fine.

It's not for everybody, but those that do it, most seem to like it, especially since no one is looking over your shoulder, every 5 minutes.

There is part time work available driving straight delivery trucks, some with not a lot of manual load/unload work.

Thats what I have been thinking about, I like to drive, and it pays well.

Have a friend in Colorado who shut down his 25 year old, successful, industrial design studio last year, and now does dangerous goods. And another who walked out of the corporate world to run a small HotShot company for the oil & gas industry. Both love it.

Neither one has the status they once did at the local AmCham, but they make more money, and have more fun.

 

[mickjetblue]

Re: Career Change???

Snappin T - Your mother is to be commended for carrying on with her career,
even if from home and in her senior years. I note that she did "stick it out"
with her first career, though, presumably so she could retire from there.

For every one person who makes the career change successfully in late life,
there are probably a thousand others who didn't make it, and we will not
hear their stories. Just my 2 cents of thought.

 

[ne7800]

Re: Career Change???

ever thought about being a mail man (rual carrier) it would only be part time but it pays well

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Career Change???

Snappin T - Your mother is to be commended for carrying on with her career,
even if from home and in her senior years. I note that she did "stick it out"
with her first career, though, presumably so she could retire from there.

For every one person who makes the career change successfully in late life,
there are probably a thousand others who didn't make it, and we will not
hear their stories. Just my 2 cents of thought.

She actually changed States three times in the last years of teaching, trying to get experience in areas where she hoped to work later. Each time she lost what retirement she had accrued. We don't have a federal retirement plan for teachers in America, they are all state run.

Her teacher retirement was little more than SS check, and a State check that would fill gas in the car once or twice a month.

She also spent her nights & full time summers for years, furthering her degree. She knew her retirement would be little more than a hunger check, and she gambled on making more in the last working years, than she would ever get in the form of her tiny retirement plan.

It payed off. She can now do as she likes. It is the American way of thinking. If you can dream it, you can do it.

I know that this is not for everyone, but for those having the courage to try, they get my full support.

Had it not worked out for my mother, I would have been just as proud of her as I am now, for having the courage to try.

I currently live and work in a Socialist Country*, where no one takes chances. They are frozen in time. Unable to progress, out of the fear of change. Privately and business wise. It is the most frustrating place I have ever been in my life. They will go down without lifting a finger, even when it is a 100% guarantee that they will do so, rather than try something different. Their fear of failure, is so high, that they just set there, while staring sure failure by not changing, in the face.

What ever SS MAYFLOAT decides, he gets my full support, because he has the courage to try. Success or fail, he is the type of person that made America what it was, and with people like him will be again.

There are people that blindly follow, and there are people that lead. Take the lead, dare to be different. Just be prepared to face the wraith of your former colleagues, friends, & family, both when you fail, or when you succeed.

On a boating scale, "OOP's" & "jserb" seemed to have a ten to one, you can't, shouldn't do it, majority before starting their projects. They are doing it. Their support came from a few, but in both cases has built up to it's current stand of many. One word - Leaders!
________________________________________________________________

*Socialist Country - I hate to use that term here, because it is now being misused, as a new political sound bite buzz word in the election in America, but Germany is a true Socialist Country. The use of this term is not, I repeat, is not a hidden political statement on my part.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Career Change???

Start your own HVAC company and hire some kids to do the dirty work...I'm sure you can grab some contracts that will keep you floating till you grow...I have a buddy who did it and never looked back as the company he used to work for kept him running around.....he says slower pace now and more money in his pocket way more money.....never too late eh!

 

[mthieme]

Re: Career Change???

Just curious to see if what options you have if any on the table yet.

 

[57whitehouse]

Re: Career Change???

I'm an RN from Dallas. There are several different areas of nursing you can go into and never see blood,(or very little). I would advise a 2yr program. I make 80g with overtime and call. Of coarse, I've been a nurse for 18yrs.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Career Change???

Thanks again for the responses. Driving truck I have thought about, but that is one area that gets me stressed out now doing service work. I put on about 25K miles a year and that is in town driving. The longest distance I travel is maybe 35 miles from town. Its been a real busy week. My boss has been working nights installing new coffee systems with the contractors. Therefore I have been picking up all the calls during the day.

Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but the people I work for seems to be taking advantage of me. When I first started working for them I had a 40 hour work week, paid 2 week vacation with an extra day added each year, retirement plan, and health insurance paid for. 6 years ago, the retirement plan was done away with and then I was told that I needed to pay $500 a month towards health care. Thankfully my wife has better insurance coverage than them anyway. Now after I have been working for them for 10 years (in two weeks) I'm being told that I have to work 45+ hours. Plus they are making me clock in and out every day. I figured out that if I work for them another 10 years, they would be getting 1 year and 3 months of free labor. This is why I'm leaning towards to a change in jobs. I can't see giving up a whole years worth of labor when I can be earning money for that time expended.

I'm wanting to plan ahead and get training to get into something different. I don't plan to quit my present job just yet. We have another year of serious debt and then we will be debt free except for our mortgage and utilities. This way if I have to even take a pay cut for a new job, the fear of paying the bills won't be so stressful.

I have even thought about starting a business. My town has all of its ice trucked in from other towns. This would be sorta good because I have kept all the old ice machines that have been replaced at the stores I service. Plus I will be getting another 1200 pound a day unit in a couple of weeks. I'm just not sure what it is going to cost the most for the start up. I'm thinking that it will be the EPA water testing program.

My other choice of business I was thinking about was upholstery and canvas business. This I probably could start up as an after work business that I can do at home. I just need a nice size pole barn to get those big boats in (especially mine ). I just got to be careful as I don't want something that is going to take my precious time away from boating as well... Thanks shipmates, your input is appreciated very much..Carry On!.............SS