Would you change professions?

With unemployment so high here in the US, would you be willing to change professions to get work? Well I am sure most of you will say yes, but lets see what everyone does for a living and what kind of work they would be willing to do.

Myself, I guess I am lucky. I bartend on a Navy base and work is good. If I lost this job, I am also a nurse and the healthcare field is hiring.

Not in a million years...

I do what I do because of several reasons..

It "fits" me
It is not just a job, it is my career
I get to help people

But then again I am older and lived through the Carter years and the Recession he created; I will weather this as well..

I think that we should all remember that economic downturns happen. For whatever reason. Perhaps prior to making any life changing decisions, one should consider this and the fact that it will improve. It may take us 4 years (Or God forbid 8).. but it will improve..

Semper

I'm a self employed entrepreneur. I change professions as the economic winds blow. I've never had a career and only part time jobs.

I maintain a studio/gallery where I make things but thanks to "W" and his economic policies that have stripped the disposable income from the middle class and gave it to his oil company buddies; my sales are almost non existent. I'm a survivor.

Currently the economic winds have blown me into perusing a gig as an actor in the movies/TV and it's working out pretty well; 15 films/TV in a year.

I would like to thank Gov. Bill Richardson for creating the incentives for the film industry to come to New Mexico.







[edit on 7-2-2009 by whaaa]

reply to post by whaaa
Well, good luck to you my friend. It is great to hear you guys being so sure about yourselves! Just what America needs.

Well I was subjected to a layoff and just yesterday they called and I have an interview for a job on Monday that would require me to relocate to either Nebraska or Sacramento, CA.

Laid off and then two weeks later they call for a job interview?!?!? Now what do you think the odds are that I will only accept if it is a significant increase in my old pay rate along with a few other conditions?

In my opinion a 'career' is the work history BEHIND you, not your future job prospects (including current job). To say "No I wouldn't change my career to get work" is just stupid. If you can't get work in your field then obviously you would have to change your standards to get employment.

I am in the tech support field. My job is fairly secure as my company deals with the health care, for now at least. But I know that if I decide to leave my employer, I may be faced with outsourcing problems and will be hard to get hired. Many of my friends have fallen victim to outsourcing. So, I am furthuring my education to getting a BA and possibly going further with an MA in Environmental Geology. That is one job that they could not outsource easily.

So, YES I am changing careers.

Hey, if you want a job you will do what is needed in order to get an income.

My daughter had no choice, right out of college a year ago she had to switch from her biology and medical research bachelors degrees as she has two into financial business as in banking.

Is she satisfy with her change, well she is no but at least she has a job.

I would change careers in a heartbeat if I my choice was to wait indefinately and fight the masses in the IT field looking for work, or get something else to pay the bills.

I'm a single dad, and I have a kid I need to take care of. If it provided enough money for my child to be comfortable and educated, I would clean Porta-Potties full time in July. Mind you I would buy a gas mask the second I had the money for it...

As a matter of course, I change my profession every eight years. I have no idea why. I was a Lab Tech, then a Pastry Chef, then a Personal Assistant/Secretary to a Military Attaché and now I'm off to study Massage Therapy. Nothing like diverse experiences to keep the brain cells flexible.

Probably not, I like what i do and there's not much chance of economic downturn putting me out of work, even well into the collapse of our civilization. I'm a cook and a mechanic currently, but i have a wide range of experience and skills that will ensure my survival well into post-apocalypse feudalism should we decline to that state.

Specializing in one narrow field is just silly, that's slavery at it's finest.

living and working in an apple and cherry orchard

hopefully there will always be hungry enough folks around to keep working here, does not pay much, but the working outside is sure ok...

even tho we have trees here, we can have them ripped out and gardens planted in literally minutes if things ever got that bad, sure hoping all stays well, as without this internet, and talking to people all over the planet, sure would be a lonely existence

does anyone else have this vague feeling of being the one of the few left if the shtf? crap, i hate when my thoughts escape like that

if i could do any other job? or dream job.... being on one of the first teams to ship out to Mars or some other off planet place, but at 42 now, thye will probably never get there till i am 80

either that, or something to do with computers, working at home of course, as i am too used to a 30 second commute to work now....

I get bored easily and have had dozens of jobs so yes I am like a tree in the wind. I own two tiny businesses that barely support half of me and my partners needs so change may be in my immediate future unless people start spending on eBay again. If I really needed to I could make a living with just my chainsaw alone.
here's a dozen jobs I could do right off the bat:

1. dishwasher
   
2. cook
   
3. groundskeeper
   
4. equipment operator
   
5. logger
   
6. GIS mapping
   
7. internet sales
   
8. teacher
   
9. farmer
   
10. wildfoods harvester
    
11. stone mason
    
12. mechanic and
    
13. message board poster
    (the pay is terrible)
    

Food Service, Factory, Retail, I've done em all and then some. Currently in the IT sector providing remote support, however I've done some of the most miserable jobs out there. With the level of uncertainty in life there no longer is such a thing as a career, just long-term and short-term employment.

I'm not in the US, but I wouldn't change employment right now.

I work in the security industry, a middle management position.
While it's not nice to say it, security is a priority, and as unemployment in other sectors rises, so does crime, so does our business.

We do well in times of economic strife.

I have two jobs. One is normal and one illegal. Not going to change anytime soon but if I were, I'd let go of the regular job and just be full time criminal. It's much more fun and the money's great.

Change proffessions? In a freaking HEARTBEAT!

I work currently as a Innkeeper at the worst hotel in Detroit. (voted dirtiest hotel in Detroit by TripAdvisor.com)

I wish that some good construction job came along so I could get the hell out of there.

Or maybe a brain surgeon, Ill bring my own Mellon ball-er

Hell I would do just about anything else besides the job I am in now. (except for Police Officer in Detroit, I couldn't possibly be that apathetic)

I thought this was a great post topic! S & F.

The economic turmoil seemed to have been mainly US but I can tell you here in Canada things are getting bad...many US companies set up shop here and are closing down entirely or laying off in large waves to try to save the bottom line.

Currently I am looking for work after being injured at my last job and I'm finding that my "normal" field which normally paid up to 16/per hour in good times has dropped in scale to about 11/hour and that my competition is HUGE...people are scrounging for jobs that offer enough to live on and anything over 10 bucks/hour is being snatched up PDQ.

I have made the choice to change careers at 40. I am setting out to get my Bachelor of Nursing and later Registered Nurse.

1 - At our ages and current financial situation, one of us must be able to continue working beyond retirement for us both to be comfortable and continue supports for our three girls combined. Currently aged 12, 16 & 20, plus supports for the Ex if an when possible or required.

2 - The BScN is a four year course, I will need a year of pre sciences for nursing, plus a few other courses tossed in that can be done on the side - so it's a five year schooling plan.

3 - I need to be able to earn a decent wage while going to school - to be able to pay for going to school During first year nursing I am able to qualify for many positions in health care relative to nursing and the wages are pretty good - between 13-15 per hour. Each year of the program sees this wage increase dramatically. By graduation the average wage expected (in Job Futures) is between 36-40/hour. There are numerous benefits and job security is very good!

4 - As we are relocating to Ontario Canada, the current offering by the Gov is a reduction in tuition by up to 7000/year starting year one of the program.

5 - Job security being all important as we age...after retirement age Jobs in the private sector are many. I'd love to retire but reality is that I'll be the main income earner in our old age Nursing is one of the few jobs where practicing past retirement is completely possible and age is not really a determining factor, so long as my health holds out.

5 - Enrolled in nursing I am eligible for numerous bursaries and scholarships, as a female, as and adult switching careers, and with a high GPA even more perks are awarded - Reducing the amount of a student loan I have to take out...by the end of five years, with working while attending school, awards and bursaries, the Ontario Gov's reduction of tuition (up to 7K)...I will have been able to repay all of my student loan within a five year period post graduation.

6 - There are also numerous high pay positions for registered Nurses and Practical Nurses...contract work, Private sector, Canadian Forces and Humanitarian Organizations... so even IF jobs in the mainstream health care system dry up there are so many options.

7 - Also important I'd be good at it. There are a lot of other things I'd be good at but I can't support a two person household plus children (will be adults by then but you know how kids are) on what other fields pay.

Nursing combines many of the skills I already have and feeds my need to help people. Sure, by the end of the first year I'll have seen more sweaty old nuts than most prostitutes, and handled/cleaned up more feces, urine, and vomit than I did during the first three years of my girly's life but hey...with an ending salary upwards of 55K per year depending on the type of nursing I choose...I'd say it's a damn sight better than my current field where even in management position (with so much competition in technology and administrative) I'd be lucky to make more than 35-38K per year.

I was hoping to start school this coming March but I'll have to put it off until March 2010...meanwhile I'll be taking several other required courses (first Aid, sciences and upgrading some maths) to make sure I can manage the course load.

My greatest challenge will be maths related and attention span. I was a terrible student in my youth and certainly don't expect to just stroll through the nursing program with no trouble. At 40 it's going to be achallenge for sure. brain cells aren't what they once were ;P

Well I am a chef by training, security/LE by experience and currently looking into restararunt management...lol