Changing Occupation

[Mr Snow]

Hopefully someone in the SYM forum has done this and can add pointers...

I'm getting mighty sick of my line of work (Mechanical drafting - mining / and contract work), and an wanting to get out (completely, not even drafting again) and try something different. But the delema is that, I can either train up and try something new, or do a sh*tty job in the interum and get paid very well.

But my fears are lack of experience in any given area I'd like to do (especially when knowing what you really want is a major question in itself).

So what are some tricks to starting a new life (so to speak) and doing it that would not:
a: cause me to go to uni/collage (Tafe would be fine though)
b: still have work (which I wouldn't do any study etc if I didn't have some job to pay for it and have a life)
c: start something that is enjoyable and pays well. (obviously that is a personnal perspective).

Any ideas anyone? Know any great jobs (insert national parks and wildlife officer here ).

Like: Animals, computers (more hardware than software), books, education.
Dislikes: people (really just the public - I cannot stand being a receptionist etc {anything that deals with the public in a major way)), drafting, paperwork, anything boring (What a narrow field that is ).

Any help please.
I Assume at least some of you have wanted a major change and pulled it off? Any golden rules?

[C Elegans]

I made a major change in life direction when I was younger, and many of my friends have also done so at various ages. Let's see if anything useful for you can be derived from what I have learned.

Knowing what you want is the most important. However, if you don't know, try to narrow in possibilities by imaging yourself in different kind of situations long term. Many people focus too much on what they don't want, but elimination only gets you so far. Try to think in terms of what you would like to get out of your job, what kind of life you'd like to lead in general, what kind of feelings you would like to have etc. When you have got an idea about this, start looking for jobs that fit the pattern.

Questions to ask yourself:
1. How important is your career/job life? much time and effort am I willing to spend at my job? Is it better to have a job where you are not personally engaged in and just leave it behind you the moment you step out from your work place and instead engage in spare time hobbies or activities that you enjoy? Or is it better to have a job you enjoy greatly and are deeply engaged in, but that demands more?
2. How important is money? Is it better to enjoy your job less and make more money, or the other way around?
3. What areas in life do you want your job to fulfil? We all have a lot of needs - physical, social, emotional, practical, intellectual etc. Obviously a job should fulfil one's finacial needs, unless we have a private fortune and just work for fun. But what else? Would you like to meet people, travel, spend time in nature, intellectual challenges, moral satisfaction like the feeling of doing something meaningful, physical exercise?

I know a guy who has a great job IMO, but unfortunatly it requires a lot of training: Half of the year he is head of the ER at a the international hospital in a big city. He also works for the international rescue force, and he is often called for alpine rescues and natual catastroph resuces. The other half of the year he works as a photographer for National Geographics, so he travels worldwide to take pictures of wildlife and scenic areas.

I also think my own job is great - as a researcher, you work with whatever stuff you think is the most exciting and interesting things in the world It's very free and flexible, you work with your own ideas and examine the things you want to know, you pace you own time, and you are very independant.

[Aegis]

Originally posted by C Elegans:
<STRONG>I made a major change in life direction when I was younger, and many of my friends have also done so at various ages. Let's see if anything useful for you can be derived from what I have learned. </STRONG>

so, that would be what? Exotic Dancer to mad scientist?

[C Elegans]

Originally posted by Aegis:
<STRONG>so, that would be what? Exotic Dancer to mad scientist? </STRONG>

No, I'm still exotic dancer

As I told some people here previously, I have skipped 4 years of school between 15-19. Instead, I spent most of my time like a bum, travelling around planless wherever I felt like, looking for mountains to climb, interesting people, big cities to party in etc. In between the travelling, I was at home working with different sh!tty but well paid jobs to save up for the next journey, partying to make up for my boring jobs, and exercised a lot (perhaps 20 h/week) to keep fit for alpine climbing.

Then, when I was over 20, I realised I couldn't go on like this, I hated all the crap jobs I had have, and I had a lack of intellectual stimulation even though I always read a lot of books and discussed with my very intellectual friends. Also, I damaged my knees with all the ballet training and climbing. A fall while freestyling a rock face in a remote area, rendered me some heavy knee surgery and 6 months on crutches, so I had plenty of time to rethink. After a while I decided I wanted to work with the human brain (very unclear in what way) - so I contacted a college, made all the exams you need for degrees to apply to uni as a privatist, came out with A's in all subjects (20 or so) and applied to uni