If you had to start your career over again, what would you do?

Join the military and fly helicopters.

 

Getaway car driver.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VMxjFTtTquc

 

I'll have 37 years in law enforcement when I retire in 2 years. I would never do it again! Policing is a thankless job and messes you up physically and mentally. If I had to do it all over again, I would get skilled in a trade. My order of preference: electrician, plumber, and carpenter.

 

"I was happier when everything I owned fit in the back of my Volkswagen"

One thing I learned is; it's not a race.
Trying to make up for lost time spent as a wayward youth, I fell in with like minded guys who were "creating wealth" in my 30's.

Now I look longingly at the few I know who worked what I thought were go-nowhere jobs.
They stuck it out with their original wives, in the houses that they built, manicured and loved, surrounded by family.

You can't buy it, you have to grow it from a seed.

None of us is getting out of here alive.

Keep looking up !

Good Luck & God Bless.

 

Already started over my career… First, I was in the trades and now I am a mechanical engineer.

Do you have the ability to make castings?

 

I got into the Forest Service as an archaeologist. It is fun at the lower level but I just turned down a promotion which would have put me in the office full time. I got into archaeology because I thought it'd be interesting, get me outside, force me to travel, but almost 10 years later and I was faced with the prospect of writing reports all day for the Feds. Now, I am going to begin work as an Operations Director of non profit sailing center. I couldn't do the office thing either.

Depending on you're age and physical ability working for the forest service could be really nice,

I think if i could start all over I would want to be a yoga instructor haha, keeps you healthy and helps other people, low stress on the joints.

 

Well I'm retired but if I could have I would have started the job I retired from 35 years sooner!

 

F-16 combat pilot USAF. I feel the need for speed, sir!

 

I'm retired and don't miss my job at all. But I am a veterinarian (although I did research and only a few years of practice) and it wasn't all bad. Had some godawful jobs and bosses before and during my career. But I'm in a happy place now and I'm not sure I would change anything that would change my now. I wish I hadn't chickened out when a rock band (not a famous one) asked me to be their lead singer back in the '70's. Or that I had taken up woodworking and woodcarving as a career. Or at least saved more money for retirement so I could have retired 15 years ago!

 

I dabble with the idea of a career change often. The office life doesn't appeal to me. I love what I do, but changing laws are opening me up to the possibility of frivolous law suits just for doing my job.

I've been considering electrical line work (lineman to some). Similar pay (if not more) after training, and an active work life. If I were to do so, I'd choose to leave CA at the same time.

 

It is more about location with me. Started out as FF/EMT. At about 26 years old I decided to become a special education teacher. My wife is a PT so her decent pay offered me the chance to go to college full time.

My first years of teaching were in Alaska. Eskimo village. Fishing, hunting & gathering paradise. Using and abusing the school 4 wheelers and snowmobiles.

Now I work in Michigan.

My change will be location: Move back and teach in Alaska. I only settled in MI because of family. My kids grew up with the local AK kids and now they are begging for seal meat! I am afraid of what will happen if I take them to a zoo aquarium.

 

Ranch hand/cowboy

 

Woodford Reserve taste tester

 

No, sorry I do not.

 

I'm a Registered Nurse! Thinking back on it I COULD do it again I mean how many jobs can say you make $45/hr as starting pay you know?? There's a lot of opportunities but you have to go back to school for most of them so staying bedside doesn't really grow much in terms of money.

I think I'd get skilled in being a mechanic or a contractor/something to do with building/carpentry. It's just another industry that won't die out so to speak. Also I'd have the opportunity to have my own business.

 

@anthonynoriega

The last time I posted here, I mentioned starting school sooner.

Here's the thread on it -

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/intro-to-welding-week-2-a-on-my-project.734401/

Thought it'd be cool to post updates and track my own progress.

Quitting work and going back to school has been the breath of fresh air I've needed for a long time now.

 

Cross country driver but not in a big rig but just any regular sized truck. Like the Hotshot hauler folks or the million mile Tundra or Tacoma guys on youtube.
I absolutely love road trips and driving on the open road.

 

As a young adult I loved smoking weed so I went to Oregon to start a cannabis business. It was fun but as they say don’t make what you love your job, ruined marijuana for myself. Went back to school got an accounting degree now I work in a director role for a small company. Don’t really love that either, looking at an MBA or?

This came up in another thread, but Salesforce is a huge software company and they will train you to configure their program for customers. This doesn’t require you to know or learn programming, it’s more like setting up a profile on social media. We pay a consultant $250 an hour and she just sits on a zoom call with us from Texas and we watch her click around remotely. She’s a nice grandma from Texas. She works when she wants and with the clients she likes, says she loves the work, very rewarding as she is most people’s problem solver. Thinking about getting some Salesforce training myself once I finish learning the accounting side for my work.

 

Currently working as a construction supervisor while working on my associates degree in construction supervision. Absolutely love this job and all the responsibilities that come with it, but I definitely do not want to work as a soup till I retire. My current plan is to get an LLC rolling for a home improvement business and work my way into constructing brand new homes. I’m 20 and have a loooong way to go before I get to where I’d be ideally happy.

 

Drive one of these