Career change?

-Mike-

-Mike-

-Mike-

Soldato
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Hey all,

After some advice here if you don't mind? I have worked in IT based roles from the beginning of my working life. After the previous company I worked for went under I took any job I could possibly find at that point in time which would cover my bills etc.

Now I've been in the same place for the last six years now, which is not primarily IT based, I have four job roles there and the IT work is only one of them. However, I've realised time is getting on, I'm not earning very much money and I'd like a change. I'd probably go so far as to say I loathe the job now, and certainly the thought of going back after my xmas holidays is not pleasant.

My problem is this - I don't know whether to try and learn something new and change my career direction due to the time that I have invested in IT. Whilst I am a jack of all trades so far as IT goes - I am a master of very few. I am cisco certified, however that certification is due to expire shortly and I'm uncertain as to whether to recertify or not. I also have a few Microsoft certifications.

I'm interested in teaching IT, but not particularly interested in working with computers or networking at a hardware level anymore. I find the work destroyed what was a part of my hobbies at home and I'd like it to be something I resort to for a bit of pleasure rather than seeing it as a work item. I'm also interested in mechanical engineering, electrical work or plumbing.

I'm not sure what I hope to achieve from this thread, but if anyone has any suggestions, or has had a massive career change I'd appreciate some advice.

Thanks
 
Quite a range of change! Mechanical engineering is going to be 3+ years of degree and then you have a wide range of areas to work in within the discipline. Some universities might insist on a foundation year if you've been out of education/previous experience isn't relevant etc. You might be ok on this front though. A certified degree is generally better and if you get an MEng (4 year masters instead of BEng) or MSc on top of the BEng you are on route for chartership after 4 years or so in the work place. Lots of interesting work and senior roles will pay the bills certainly. Job satisfaction is good too.
 
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I'm in exactly the same situation as you, OP. After about 10 years in user support I began to despise the work but hoped that a change to network support would help. It didn't and I now find myself dreaming of a new career. Unfortunately I don't know which direction to go in or how best to approach it. I don't have any hobbies that I would want to turn into a job and risk having them lose their appeal but I do fancy design of some sort, possibly including woodworking, and actually creating something. Unfortunately I have no experience in this field.
 
I went from being a UNIX sysadmin with 20 years experience to becoming a product owner over the last few years, now specialising in popular mobile apps for large well known companies. Because of my technical background I cannot easily be given bs by developers and I'm easily able to give a detailed plan of what exactly I want without it being fluff which you get from traditional product managers. Also I know how long things generally take to do specific tasks because of my previous experience. :)
 
OspreyO said:
What do you mean product owner?
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The best example I've read is that you a the 'CEO of a product', be it an app, service or whatever. In my case it's certain apps. Here's another description from Google:

"In Scrum, the Product Owner is the one person responsible for a project's success. The Product Owner leads the development effort by conveying his or her vision to the team, outlining work in the scrum backlog, and prioritizing it based on business value"
 
Mike19 said:
Hey all,
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How old are you? If university or going back into education is realistic for you then you can do pretty much anything you want.

I've been in IT for 7 years now, 5 of that working full time. I'm a programmer, earning good money for my age and could realistically buy my own house in the next couple of years. But, I've had enough and am thinking of becoming a veterinarian - one of my life long dreams.

I'm lucky enough to be able to go back home for the year or two prior to uni that I need to get the initial qualifications. Would that be realistic for you? It's a massive sacrifice and I'm not looking forward to moving back home, but I want to change my life completely so sacrifices need to be made.
 
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Em3bbs said:
The best example I've read is that you a the 'CEO of a product', be it an app, service or whatever. In my case it's certain apps. Here's another description from Google:

"In Scrum, the Product Owner is the one person responsible for a project's success. The Product Owner leads the development effort by conveying his or her vision to the team, outlining work in the scrum backlog, and prioritizing it based on business value"
Click to expand...

Basically a fancy way of saying Functional Application Manager.... we have loads of those in my place (that dont have a clue). :D
 
Em3bbs said:
I went from being a UNIX sysadmin with 20 years experience to becoming a product owner over the last few years, now specialising in popular mobile apps for large well known companies. Because of my technical background I cannot easily be given bs by developers and I'm easily able to give a detailed plan of what exactly I want without it being fluff which you get from traditional product managers. Also I know how long things generally take to do specific tasks because of my previous experience. :)
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I'm not really sure how being a UNIX sysadmin qualifies you to manage a team of developers, but congrats on making the move. Project management is where it's at.
 
Caged said:
I'm not really sure how being a UNIX sysadmin qualifies you to manage a team of developers, but congrats on making the move. Project management is where it's at.
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I'd been involved with a lot of projects over the years, working closely with PMs on some high profile launches so that's what helped me make the move. A traditional UNIX sysadmin does a lot of development too, we're not talking about setting up user accounts.
 
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Product owner could also be someone who owns the rights to a product.

But in the context of an internal role it makes sense. I'd see it as the same thing as project manager. Some places over use that though. To the point there's too many chiefs. So product owner makes that clearer. A lot of IT projects really struggle if there's no definitive owner or sponsor.

Functional application manager would be a subset of these other roles IMO.
 
I'm in a similar boat to a few here. Drifted from a variety of design creative roles into software development. But again jack of all trades. Done everything from programming, graphics, biz analysis, outsourcing, tendering, public and private sector work, big and small. Tend to fall into high end support, but always seems to get pulled out of it into other roles due to my experience. In my current role I was meant to be doing development but I need to do a lot of catch in that area. A dba role is on the cards next.

I'd prefer to be doing ux/biz analysis but in a start up. At the same time earn more money. Where I am is secure and easy but little opportunity for extra income. I'm not in a position to take risks now though. I still like IT work. Id like to be doing more interesting stuff and earning more.
 
Mat said:
I'm in exactly the same situation as you, OP. After about 10 years in user support I began to despise the work but hoped that a change to network support would help. It didn't and I now find myself dreaming of a new career. Unfortunately I don't know which direction to go in or how best to approach it. I don't have any hobbies that I would want to turn into a job and risk having them lose their appeal but I do fancy design of some sort, possibly including woodworking, and actually creating something. Unfortunately I have no experience in this field.
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Yes, just think design, think high end furniture, and think about creating unique pieces that rich people will buy to make their houses look unique. Just start as a hobby and see if you can sell stuff and make a name for yourself. Here's some inspiration for you:

http://www.johnmakepeacefurniture.com/

Rgds
 
Thanks for the replies gents, I left out something fairly important I think in the original post. I am 30. I did a FdSc in computer networking in 2009(-2011), with a view to doing the third year which was promised to us when we started the FdSc. However, the third year never materialised at the university college where I did my first two and so my only option was to travel to the university.

Life got in the way, well specifically my very pregnant at the time diabetic partner and getting my boy into the world was quite an up and down struggle due to that. He's here now and he's absolutely fine, but I want more for myself and for him.
 
OspreyO said:
I'd prefer to be doing ux/biz analysis but in a start up. At the same time earn more money. Where I am is secure and easy but little opportunity for extra income. I'm not in a position to take risks now though. I still like IT work. Id like to be doing more interesting stuff and earning more.
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It's very important to specialise if you want to earn more. Look at what skills pay what money, choose one you like, and then become as good as you can be in that. If you want to earn more, a specialist/expert is what you need to be, it doesn't work being a jack of all trades.

Rgds
 
Mike19 said:
Thanks for the replies gents, I left out something fairly important I think in the original post. I am 30. I did a FdSc in computer networking in 2009(-2011), with a view to doing the third year which was promised to us when we started the FdSc. However, the third year never materialised at the university college where I did my first two and so my only option was to travel to the university.
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Why do you mention being 30? To me, that means you're still young (I'm 39), and the world is your oyster.

Rgds
 
radderfire said:
Yes, just think design, think high end furniture, and think about creating unique pieces that rich people will buy to make their houses look unique. Just start as a hobby and see if you can sell stuff and make a name for yourself. Here's some inspiration for you:

http://www.johnmakepeacefurniture.com/

Rgds
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I do have an idea for furniture but would have to do some research before making anything. I'd also have to get hold of every piece of equipment I would need... oh, and learn how to do... everything! :P A good idea though :)
 
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