This is the best advice I can give you is from my father. "The best time to find a new job is when you already have a job, so stop bitching about your current job and go get a new one you like" Yeah my father was a no BS kind of guy and did not sugar coat his feelings. So I guess that's the why I am who I am.
I know I didn't have a real clue. I thought I wanted to be a draftsman... Look where that got me. I Can draw pretty good though. :lol:
How true... I loved my last flying job for 5 years....then hated it the last 2...then my job hated me...and it was over...should have moved on...but I waited too long as management changed the company, and eventually I no longer fit the "new" corporate culture....and I got cut loose...:nonod:
Sadly your supposed to make a life long decision on what it is you want to do at 16-20 years old and most have no clue. Some have never even had a part-time job yet so how can they possibly know what they want to do for the rest of their life!! You grow up hearing you need to go to college so you go and take something and then once out you either can't find a job in that field, or you do and realize you don't like it so much..It's a messed up system call LIFE!!!
Same here, went to a vocational high school and studied architectural drafting. I picked up a job as a draftsman for the town engineering office after graduation. That lasted for about four months until a smooth talking recruiter filled my head full of wild ideas.
My degree is in Elementary Education and now I do project management (which is kind of like working with kindergarteners as far as trying to keep the developers on task and getting the different teams to get along with each other).
I have always enjoyed machinery, I studied mechanical engineering, became a ship's engineer. So, I stayed pretty much on track.
I don't think I will ever do that. I figure I will probably move to a different area of the company in a couple of years. I did support for 4 years, QA for 9, and have been in Project Management for 4 so far (all with the same company).
Interesting Discussion (first time on this thread). I'm an Insurance Company examiner for a state Insurance Commissioner. I think I do many of the same things APOK does, but everything is totally opposite for me in terms of job enrichment, challenge etc. College was the right prep for Insurance career, and what I do is challenging and interesting at almost every level. Of course I regulate all lines of insurance including OBAMA-CARE, (and yes, flood insurance) so there is no end to the amount of knowledge I need or should acquire. So, I have a lot more variety and can customize what I do to a certain extent. APOK may enjoy government regulation in the right area. Yet, I see many people even at the Insurance Division expressing some of the same frustrations posted here. So, yeah, not a perfect world for many.
I should also add the professional level regulators (like myself and the examiner group) are long-termers and there is very little turnover, while production-oriented people express more dissatisfaction. It seems like there is more satisfaction when people have variety and a fair degree of personal autonomy with how they perform their work. Also, managers who leave their egos at home and at least try to juggle their duties with equanimity and without hostility help create a bearable work atmosphere. But, even here, often management doesn't know what we know, and very often, don't know what they don't know. APOK, start contacting State Insurance departments. You may have the makings of a market conduct examiner. It's a limited market, and there aren't many such jobs over-all.
If one has cheese, one does need some quality bread. Columbus is about to have a Toast Bar. They are hiring. JOBS