How easy is it to shift careers?

[cybelle]

Good Day to everyone!

I think at a certain point in everyone's lives, we all come across situations where we ask ourselves, "Is this what I really want to do for the next 10 years of my life?"

I have graduated from an IT course and I am currently employed in an IT field. But honestly, I don't like IT. Going to the office and staring in front of the computer is like having to drink bitter medicine every 10 minutes :(

I am currently looking another job, one that I really want. But to tell you the truth, the more I look, the more I realize that this is going to be one scary ride! So, I would like to invite other people who have gone through the crossroads and share their stories how uncertain the journey is and more importantly, how to survive shifting careers.

Thanks!

[NoisyCricket]

Hi Cybelle. I know what you're going through. I think I may be going through the same thing as well. Actually I think I'm even a little past your stage. hahaha :D

I think I may want to pursue two sort of different career paths at the same time. This will take some planning and some sacrifice on my part, though.

I've been a banker, a high school teacher, and an IT dude ever since I graduated in 1997.

I liked banking for SME's because I would see the Filipino entrepreneur in action, nation building at the grass roots, but I felt there were other things I wanted to do.

I liked being a high school teacher because there were a lot of things I felt I could teach people younger than myself.

I like working in the IT industry because it's a challenge intellectually, you get to learn about emerging technologies, and step by step you get to build things / programs. You can achieve concrete things.

Be careful though. I was asked once, "What makes you decide this career is not for you?" If you know what it is, and it's very specific, like "I don't like numbers" - and you're an accountant - well, then go ahead and shift careers into something you would enjoy. You have to be honest with yourself though. Sometimes I think the reason I wasn't as effective a High School teacher as I should have been was that I eventually all that lesson planning and mountains of paperwork got to me. Sometimes the reason we want to shift careers is not because we want to do something else, but because there are some aspects of the job we are in that we have difficulty with. But by that thought, if you *REALLY* want to be a teacher, then you have no choice. You HAVE to do the lesson planning and the checking of papers. If you don't want to do that, then maybe teaching is not the career for you.

Other times, our perception of what our field should be like and what the field is actually like, are different, and that's when we encounter difficulties also. We have high, unrealistic expectations and when we are not able to reach them, we feel disappointed. That's another reason for changing jobs.

Another it's because we're not trained enough, especially in the IT field. Or perhaps we were trained in the wrong way, so that we developed a dislike, not for the field itself, but the way it was taught to you. Sometimes I think if I stuck with my old school, I would have HATED IT by the time I graduated. (Which is why I shifted to another school, but that's another story ;) )

Regardless, each career path I've taken, and all the ones I will take in the future will have their own pluses and minuses, their highs and lows. Sometimes I think it's almost logical to want to combine the benefits of two careers. But would it be practical? I'm trying to answer that question myself.

Could you be a public school teacher from 7am to 3pm for example, and then develop IT projects the rest of the time? You would get the fulfillment of teaching, the intellectual challenge of always being able to learn something new, and be able to open yourself to new opportunities.

Somewhere down the road, though, I think to be really successful in something, you have to commit yourself to becoming successful. That means spending countless hours in time and effort always trying to better yourself. The question then is "Where do I focus my energies?"

Think back if there was ever a time in your life when you set a goal for yourself so badly you devoted your entire existence to making it work, when you had a passion for work, and nothing could stop you from doing that. It could be that that's what you were meant to do, or at least that's what would make you happiest.

Once you do choose a path to follow though, even though it may not be the one where you want to be in forever, give it at least a year, and don't walk away if you haven't learned as much as you could have from that experience. At some point you will realize that time doesn't go backwards, and that if you look back at idle times, you feel a sense of loss that you weren't able to do more. Looking back, I think I didn't learn all that I should learned have from certain times in my life, but that's in the past. You can't go backwards. You can only move forwards.

It may be hypocritical of me, but I think now I realize that I have to learn more about the world and how it works, by learning how to read more books. :D

Right now, I'm beginning with something simple. I'm half way through "Follow Your Heart" by Andrew Matthews. Hahaha. Ok ok ok so it's not the most technical, practical, or business minded book around. But it's a start!

[CaRaMBa]

It really depends on when you want to shift. :) If you've been in the same industry for a long period of time, it will be harder to shift. Companies usually look for experience, which you obviously won't have since you're coming from another industry.

I'm wondering...

What don't you like about IT? Is it because you're always in front of your computer? IT has a lot fields, maybe there are other IT fields that you will enjoy.

Also, what is it that you want? What do you want to do right now?

I don't think I can share anything significant, I've only been in two industries, and I'm quite young. I started in the advertising industry, but I really didn't like it. I quit after three months - easy for me to do since it was only my first job. I've been in the IT industry since April 1999 and it has been fun. :)

[dudung]

Find yourself while you're still young. Try everything you wanna do. Riding the employment merry-go-round is good! 'Coz if you do it at a later age, you might have a lot of "what-ifs" and regrets for not taking risks earlier in your life when there aren't too many things (or even people like family) to consider. At its early stages, think of your career as a lab experiment. Never stop testing and trying till you find the right formula. All your successes and failures along the way will certainly provide you with the leads or clues to figure out what you really want out of your career.

[NoisyCricket]

Asked my cousin, and this is what she had to say: ;)

You kidding me? I am a writer for Phil. Star, Woman TOday and People Asia, an image consultant for the President plus her speech writer, a PR consultant for DSWD Sec. Soliman, a volunteer for UNICEF and to top it all of, a dedicated Mom and Wife. Honey - MULTI-TASKING IS THE NAME OF THE GAME! We have so many talents, experience the glory of them all!

hehehe :D

[twinklestar]

in the early stage of our career, we should reflect on what we want to do, what makes us happy and what do you foresee yourself 5-10 years from now...

analyze and write down some of things you think is ideal job for you i.e., i like doing field work, i like networking, i like talking to different types of people, i don't like paper works, earning salary + commissions, mas flexible yung time...pag ganito gusto mo, sa sales ka dapat...

you will get some ideas too if you talk to your friends about their jobs and what they are doing...probably baka magustuhan mo rin what they are doing...

i used to be an HR Officer of a mining firm...now I am in sales & marketing of a multi-national company...shifting from HR to Sales was a leap of faith for me...but, it was one of the best decisions that i did in my whole life...i am happier and more positive about my future...I was uncertain at first about the career change, but now after 2 years in sales, i realized there is no turning back, i did the right thing...

i hope i am able to help you out on this one...good luck!!!:D

[Jennifer]

Ngak! I've been trying to do just this for the past couple of weeks but I'm so malas kasi the people who interview me are close to my professors in college o kaya eh batch mate pa nila. Tapos di nila ma-take na sasayangin ko daw yung pinag-aralan ko tapos yun daw ang ibibigay nila sa aking position. In other words, they're telling me to practice my degree kasi sayang daw. Eh mas marunong pa sila sa akin! Nakakainis na kasi 8 out of 10 na ang tumatawag sa akin tapos sa interview chichikahin pa nila ako tungkol sa professors ko and tungkol sa school tapos eh sayang daw achoo choo yung degree ko ek ek. Nakakairita. Feeling ko kelangan ko talaga ulet mag-aral.

Ang malabo pa sa akin, ambilis ko ma-bore sa work. Grabe, sabog sabog ata ako.

[mpxcz]

what IT job are you into anyway?, maybe you should expand your horizons a little bit on the industry... there are other things in the IT world that doesnt need to stare at the comp all day, think of it as just trying to make your work easier or something like that....

been an IT slave for about 3 years now, had the boring things happen to me, but never did I think of yet to shift to a all clerical or desk job that involved only pen and paper... sometimes I think I can't live without email hehehehe :D

[xyndirit]

Originally posted by cybelle
Good Day to everyone!

I think at a certain point in everyone's lives, we all come across situations where we ask ourselves, "Is this what I really want to do for the next 10 years of my life?"

I have graduated from an IT course and I am currently employed in an IT field. But honestly, I don't like IT. Going to the office and staring in front of the computer is like having to drink bitter medicine every 10 minutes :(

I am currently looking another job, one that I really want. But to tell you the truth, the more I look, the more I realize that this is going to be one scary ride! So, I would like to invite other people who have gone through the crossroads and share their stories how uncertain the journey is and more importantly, how to survive shifting careers.

Thanks!


5 Major Decisions in Life

getting married
having a family
switching careers
moving to a new location
buying a house


Goodluck!!:)

[cybelle]

Yeah, I think I need to sort a lot of things first.

Yun nga, it's true na mahirap maghanap ng trabaho when you're older. Mahirap din kung pupunta ka sa isang field na totally different from where you are now. In that case, you really have to be prepared to start from the "lowest" position.

It's the programming in IT that scares me. Hindi lang talaga ako confident about it. I mean, I've done a lot of other stuff and I've seen myself excel in those other stuff. Para kasing effortless yung pag-succeed when you do something that you really want to do.

Haaay nako, it's so true na when you tell people you don't like your IT job...nasasayangan sila. Well, ako hindi :p Seriously though, minsan hesitant na tuloy ako.

[cybelle]

I really appreciate all of the replies here...sobrang inspiring siya...naks :D

No seriously they are...:)

Anyway, I've thought about my dilemma over the weekend (plus the past weekends before this post). I think it all boils down to sucking the most out of life especially when we are still young because we have time in our hands.

Well, at this point I do have a plan :p and I'm currently looking for other jobs that I'm REALLY interested in. But after reading this thread I think that the most important thing for me right now is to be able to take advantage of the time (and money) that I have to learn more things. Para hindi na rin ako maging stagnant diba?

O well...here goes nothing...:confusing:

[NoisyCricket]

I used to hate programming and couldn't see myself as a good programmer because the way programming was taught to me before -- ang labo. So I got a bad first impression, I wasn't even able to understand any of the lessons, and as a result, I had a negative disposition of programming.

Now I'm learning it much better using a different system, and my outlook on programming is different ;)

[zimdude]

well I think not all people are cut out for programming. me, I've been doing it on and off. but IT is a wide field - if you don't like the tech side of your company you might want to shift to the other parts, like sales, marketing, HR, finance, et cetera...