Life's a mess right now - job ideas? UPDATED!

[RTSDaddy2]

UPDATED - See final post at end of thread - some good news I hope!

Hey gang,

Well, it's become clear that - for the 3rd time in 9 years, I will be out of work again soon (teacher).

  My problem is that I really felt this was my calling, but now I just don't know - I'm tired of being kicked around like this for as hard as I work.

Problem:  My initial degree was Computer Science, but that was 15 years ago. So teaching is really all I feel that I have....unless....

I know it's not much, but understanding how controls in cabinets work more now than I ever did before, what sort of career might I find in the Arcade Industry? I'm in the SE, by the way.

I've also thought about trying to be a BB Geek Sqaud person - don't know if that's a job I'd like or not - but I know my programming degree is now officially screwed.  And there's always retail or a greeter at Wal-Mart!

I have to make a decision soon as to whether I think I can finish out the year where I am currently - and truthfully I don't know if I can or not right now.

Thanks for listening y'all, if nothing else.  Boss asked me if I had people I could talk to outside my family and when I got home I thought of you all.

[leapinlew]

Hey gang,

Well, it's become clear that - for the 3rd time in 9 years, I will be out of work again soon (teacher).

  My problem is that I really felt this was my calling, but now I just don't know - I'm tired of being kicked around like this for as hard as I work.

Problem:  My initial degree was Computer Science, but that was 15 years ago. So teaching is really all I feel that I have....unless....

I know it's not much, but understanding how controls in cabinets work more now than I ever did before, what sort of career might I find in the Arcade Industry? I'm in the SE, by the way.

I've also thought about trying to be a BB Geek Sqaud person - don't know if that's a job I'd like or not - but I know my programming degree is now officially screwed.  And there's always retail or a greeter at Wal-Mart!

I have to make a decision soon as to whether I think I can finish out the year where I am currently - and truthfully I don't know if I can or not right now.

Thanks for listening y'all, if nothing else.  Boss asked me if I had people I could talk to outside my family and when I got home I thought of you all.

Ouch!

I don't know much about how the modern arcade industry is, but I would think it's not a good field to choose. Does either the Walmart or Best Buy jobs provide enough income? If so, I would think there would be plenty of other jobs you could consider.

The big issue with picking a tech job is your lack of experience for the age you are. I'm assuming your in your late 30's to early 40's. When I hire someone, I look at their age (even though I'm not supposed to) and their past experience. I'm usually hiring someone who needs to be pretty cutting edge technologically speaking. While you probably could do an excellent job, I would be a little suspicious and odds are you'll be up against younger more experienced candidates.

Perhaps you have the right calling but the wrong location?

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Surviving in the arcade industry would probably be harder than it was for you trying to survive as a teacher.

What about I.T.? You've got a good basic foundation, maybe you could start at a smaller office/firm doing support, then work your way up from there. Lot's of options, once you get in.



mrC

[RTSDaddy2]

Lew- I appreciate your honesty regarding the computer field.  That's interesting to me that the lack of experience would hurt more than the amount of dust on my degree.  (laugh with me, it's ok).  You're a good guess of age (which also makes this hard!)!

I wish I could believe that it's the right field, wrong location - but I've lost a lot of my confidence as a result of all this.   Part of me still does feel that way, but without sounding too "poor me tonight",  I'm tired of being kicked around by education.

Mr. C - I'm just so stupified by this whole thing that I cannot even think of what an I.T. person does.  Maybe tomorrow the abbrev will make sense and I can look into it.

BTW, I didn't really expect to find much in the arcade industry...just thought it'd be an interesting question to ask.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Mr. C - I'm just so stupified by this whole thing that I cannot even think of what an I.T. person does.  Maybe tomorrow the abbrev will make sense and I can look into it.

IT = Information Technology. An IT support person, depending on the company and job requirements can be anything for a dude that runs around fixing printers and desktop PC's, to someone who sets up and configures enterprise-level network infrastructure.

Getting some "hands-on" hardware experience (ie: building, configuring computers) could land you an entry-level IT position with a small to medium sized office. It's not hard knowledge to earn, but it might be a tight market, since a lot of computer people are out on the market, so it won't be all flowers and candy.

Either way, it's a thought. You mentioned BB Geek Squad, so my thought is just an offshoot of that. Maybe you could get into a position like that more easily, being that it's retail, then you could move into the corporate world from there.

Good luck, whatever you end up doing!

P.S. "IT Support" is how a LOT of us geeks here put food on the table.

[saint]

Look into IT support in the school industry. That's what I do (Network Manager) -- I recently hired a 50+ year old doing tech support at roughly 35-40k a year with school system benefits. I hired him because he had basic computer skills, and a good solid work ethic. His age was actually a bonus as we were wanting some stability.

Lew- I appreciate your honesty regarding the computer field.  That's interesting to me that the lack of experience would hurt more than the amount of dust on my degree.  (laugh with me, it's ok).  You're a good guess of age (which also makes this hard!)!

I wish I could believe that it's the right field, wrong location - but I've lost a lot of my confidence as a result of all this.   Part of me still does feel that way, but without sounding too "poor me tonight",  I'm tired of being kicked around by education.

Mr. C - I'm just so stupified by this whole thing that I cannot even think of what an I.T. person does.  Maybe tomorrow the abbrev will make sense and I can look into it.

BTW, I didn't really expect to find much in the arcade industry...just thought it'd be an interesting question to ask.

[danny_galaga]

Look into IT support in the school industry. That's what I do (Network Manager) -- I recently hired a 50+ year old doing tech support at roughly 35-40k a year with school system benefits. I hired him because he had basic computer skills, and a good solid work ethic. His age was actually a bonus as we were wanting some stability.

Lew- I appreciate your honesty regarding the computer field.  That's interesting to me that the lack of experience would hurt more than the amount of dust on my degree.  (laugh with me, it's ok).  You're a good guess of age (which also makes this hard!)!

I wish I could believe that it's the right field, wrong location - but I've lost a lot of my confidence as a result of all this.   Part of me still does feel that way, but without sounding too "poor me tonight",  I'm tired of being kicked around by education.

Mr. C - I'm just so stupified by this whole thing that I cannot even think of what an I.T. person does.  Maybe tomorrow the abbrev will make sense and I can look into it.

BTW, I didn't really expect to find much in the arcade industry...just thought it'd be an interesting question to ask.

any room for a fairly stable 37 year old    and which state do i immigrate to...

[saint]

Heh. I have it on good authority you're a trouble-maker.

Look into IT support in the school industry. That's what I do (Network Manager) -- I recently hired a 50+ year old doing tech support at roughly 35-40k a year with school system benefits. I hired him because he had basic computer skills, and a good solid work ethic. His age was actually a bonus as we were wanting some stability.

Lew- I appreciate your honesty regarding the computer field.  That's interesting to me that the lack of experience would hurt more than the amount of dust on my degree.  (laugh with me, it's ok).  You're a good guess of age (which also makes this hard!)!

I wish I could believe that it's the right field, wrong location - but I've lost a lot of my confidence as a result of all this.   Part of me still does feel that way, but without sounding too "poor me tonight",  I'm tired of being kicked around by education.

Mr. C - I'm just so stupified by this whole thing that I cannot even think of what an I.T. person does.  Maybe tomorrow the abbrev will make sense and I can look into it.

BTW, I didn't really expect to find much in the arcade industry...just thought it'd be an interesting question to ask.

any room for a fairly stable 37 year old    and which state do i immigrate to...

[shardian]

Heh. I have it on good authority you're a trouble-maker.

Look into IT support in the school industry. That's what I do (Network Manager) -- I recently hired a 50+ year old doing tech support at roughly 35-40k a year with school system benefits. I hired him because he had basic computer skills, and a good solid work ethic. His age was actually a bonus as we were wanting some stability.

Lew- I appreciate your honesty regarding the computer field.  That's interesting to me that the lack of experience would hurt more than the amount of dust on my degree.  (laugh with me, it's ok).  You're a good guess of age (which also makes this hard!)!

I wish I could believe that it's the right field, wrong location - but I've lost a lot of my confidence as a result of all this.   Part of me still does feel that way, but without sounding too "poor me tonight",  I'm tired of being kicked around by education.

Mr. C - I'm just so stupified by this whole thing that I cannot even think of what an I.T. person does.  Maybe tomorrow the abbrev will make sense and I can look into it.

BTW, I didn't really expect to find much in the arcade industry...just thought it'd be an interesting question to ask.

any room for a fairly stable 37 year old    and which state do i immigrate to...

In his defense the 'fro is gone, so at least he looks respectable.

[RTSDaddy2]

Amazingly enough, I got sleep last night - figured I'd be up all night tossing and turning....not even any bad dreams about losing house, wife, kid, etc. for inability to support them....wow....that's so atypical of my brain to leave me alone.  Maybe it IS a blessing....

On the plus side, ironically enough, there is a music group through which I could set my own schedule and offer private piano / voice lessons.  Waiting as patiently as I can to hear from them today.

Also have had a CRAZY thought about pursuing a volleyball coaching position at our local rec center.  Talk about a sweet commute....it'd take me 5 minutes to walk to work! 

More soon - thanks guys for the input - I haven't ruled out ANY job yet!

Edit: Wife says walk is more like 11 minutes - but she's forgetting she's traveling with our 4 year old! 

[ChadTower]

With a real Bachelor's in CMPSCI, he should be able to find an entry level job in any number of software dev or hardware management spots.  Those entry level jobs will pay well (as entry level goes) and they often go to people with far less credentials than a Bachelor's in CMPSCI.  Just don't be a dumbass and hold out for that 70k internal systems junior engineer position and take what you can find.  This is an industry where the difference between no experience and 2 years of experience can be as much as 25k/year.

I've been a hiring manager multiple times and every time I would have hired an older hard worker with an "outdated" CMPSCI degree over the unreliable 20 year olds I ended up having to bring in.

[Crax]

Good programmers are still good programmers regardless of their age.  If you have solid fundamentals and can work hard, I would try and find a company that programs a language you are already familiar with as there are still tons of places using older languages.  Hell, I am programming in Delphi 7 inbetween my posting and occasionaly mix in some .NET web stuff but mostly it's Delphi. 

While you have some free time between jobs, get familiar with a new language like C# or get good at something like C++ or Java and you will be set.

[shardian]

Do you have an emergency savings account for situations like this? If you can afford to, do some interviewing and hold out for a good job - don't just go apply at the local 7-11 if you are qualified for much more. If you are a certified teacher in a k-12 field, then get yourself on some substitute teacher lists asap.
Things will get better, you just have to get back on your feet and keep on marchin'.

[ChadTower]

In a software dev organization of any size there are a lot more nonprogramming jobs to be had than programming jobs.  There are also quite a few that involve easy to pick up (with his background) scripting languages rather than something that requires more recent experience like Java or C++.  He could easily slip right into one of those organizational positions that would allow him to lean heavily on his theoretical base while learning the rest on the fly.  That's pretty much how I got in and advanced... I did it in parallel with my CMPSCI undergrad work.

[RTSDaddy2]

The only way we have emergency cash really is if I finish out the year...which I may do, on my own terms if it's possible. 

I am DEFINITELY holding out as long as I can for a better job this time.  I would love to find something in the music industry, perhaps choral directing.  Music is my true passion beyond all the others.  I don't know how long I can hold out, but if I work through the end of May I am assured a paycheck through the end of August, so that will help.

[danny_galaga]

Heh. I have it on good authority you're a trouble-maker.

Look into IT support in the school industry. That's what I do (Network Manager) -- I recently hired a 50+ year old doing tech support at roughly 35-40k a year with school system benefits. I hired him because he had basic computer skills, and a good solid work ethic. His age was actually a bonus as we were wanting some stability.

Lew- I appreciate your honesty regarding the computer field.  That's interesting to me that the lack of experience would hurt more than the amount of dust on my degree.  (laugh with me, it's ok).  You're a good guess of age (which also makes this hard!)!

I wish I could believe that it's the right field, wrong location - but I've lost a lot of my confidence as a result of all this.   Part of me still does feel that way, but without sounding too "poor me tonight",  I'm tired of being kicked around by education.

Mr. C - I'm just so stupified by this whole thing that I cannot even think of what an I.T. person does.  Maybe tomorrow the abbrev will make sense and I can look into it.

BTW, I didn't really expect to find much in the arcade industry...just thought it'd be an interesting question to ask.

any room for a fairly stable 37 year old    and which state do i immigrate to...

wa? huh?  and you just see if i dont!

[AlanS17]

Well there's always the option of teaching in a private school if you want to stick to what you know.

I also have a boxed set of official Microsoft Press books to study for an MCAD (Microsoft certified application developer) certification if you're interested. Getting that certification might go quite a ways towards catching up with current technology. Are you familiar with object-oriented programming? What languages do you know?

I'm a 27 year old programmer with a business degree. I learned what I know from experience rather than a classroom.

There's no reason why an entry-level developer with an MS certification can't start in the $40k range. Within a few years, you can easily jump to a job in the $50k range (or even higher). That's assuming you want to do do it.

[RTSDaddy2]

What I'd love to do Alan, is to find a job teaching music say - in a private school - and then agree to go back to school to take classes to be certified in that.

Here's the deal: I have 32 years of experience playing piano, 20 years of songwriting experience, and some professional touring experience.  I also have 4 + years of choral music training.  PROBLEM:  That doesn't count for diddly squat to a school looking for a music teacher on occasion because they have to have so many certified people on staff.

[ChadTower]

You haven't given us enough info to come up with any useful advice.  The general impression before was that you were simply being cut - cost/headcount measure.  Now you're implying you are being let go for some type of misconduct and/or poor performance (actual or otherwise). 

If you want better advice you're going to have to give us better info.

[RTSDaddy2]

True enough, and thanks Chad for bringing me round to my senses.  I think for this forum just the advice you've given about work ideas is enough.  On with the thread.

[ChadTower]

I agree.  If there's any question, don't put it on the net.

[RTSDaddy2]

Ok, update time - have a potentially difficult meeting with the bosses tomorrow at 4 PM.  Perhaps my last meeting; initially I thought I could finish out the school year, but now I am having doubts.

Add to that the music / piano teacher position is looking promising, plus there are several other jobs that I've seen that I might be interested in that would take me out of this and put me closer to home.

This is hard...over the last four days, I've learned that my daughter has really missed having her daddy at home for most of the last two years (it's a 45 minute commute to my current job each way).  Perhaps God was saying to me, "It's just the wrong place for you."

This really sucks.  I initially told them I thought I could finish out the year, but now am having second thoughts for a lot of different reasons.  I don't guess there's anything wrong with that...but if I can get a fair severance package, I really wouldn't mind being at home with my kid for a little while, then going back to work closer to home. 

I tell you, I get so tired of trying to do good sometimes, when all I get for it is a broken heart, a stomach tied in knots, and a mess of confusion in my head.   I'm just glad I had this group to turn to for advice and to vent....

More tomorrow after I get home, I'm sure.  I could use as many positive thoughts as you have time to send gang...I don't look forward to this meeting at all.

[spacies]

Chin up mate.

Bad things happen but its usually for a reason.
Hopefully things take a turn for the better soon huh?! 

You sound like a good Dad and what ever you happens, just remember to spend some time with your daughter, ok?

[ChadTower]

There is nothing more important than spending time at home with your kids while they still want you there.  Nothing.  It won't be long before they're teenagers and want to be away from you more often than not, so do everything you can to take advantage of this time you have now.  I scaled my career back two org chart levels and a large chunk of salary so I could do just that.  Jobs will be there ten years from now, your little daughter won't be.

[RTSDaddy2]

I could not agree more with either of you two guys, especially you Chad...and on that note I will add a "Hallelujah!"

Why? My school took good care of me tonight, praise God.  While Daddy still needs a job, I am basically covered through July, plus three months of health care.  We are not "set" by any means, but it gives me a LOT of time to find the job I want...and to try out the piano teaching thing, which seems to be where I'm heading next (and something I REALLY want to try doing, just for myself).  That job will give me schedule flex as well as a comporable salary once I add students.

Thank you all for listening this week.  I am happier to be home for a while than anything else.  My wife, kid, and I need it.  I had been driving 45 minutes both ways, as I said earlier, for 3 years, and during volleyball season I hardly saw them.   Some games would last until 7:30 at night, and it was an hour drive from the game site just back to the school - so Daddy got home some nights around 9 PM, then got up at 5:30 AM to leave at 6:30 AM, often not seeing my daughter for a 24 - 36 hour period of time.

Once again, I'm glad to be home for a while....but I'm greatful to the school's willingness to say "Thank you for all you did for us too."

Bottom line: I was worried but it was a very peaceful meeting.  It worked out just fine.  Again, thanks to all hear who have offered advice and sent thoughts our way.

More as the piano gig develops

[MikeQ]

Where in the S.E. are you. 

[Xam]

The volleyball coach job sounded good to me. I know I have had an autistic boy on my basketball team the past 3 seasons. Though difficult to deal with at times, I just found out he has "graduated/been promoted" to regular PE classes at his school. His mother attributes it to the time I take teaching him...I say it was his hard work and application of what I taught. That is why teachers teach...there is nothing like when the lightbulb goes off in their head and you know they finally "got it".

It sounds like you have many options to mull over. My advice...pray.

I know it may sound silly...but I have left some pretty high paying jobs  (after praying) because I just was not suppossed to be there...not that I could not do them...It just wasn't my calling. I am now in an occupation that I love...albeit less paying I figure the happiness is worth it.

Xam

[ChadTower]

I've coached a lot of challenged kids like that in baseball.  Most places I coach I specifically request that they be placed on my team as I have a good amount of experience with them and strong resources to help when I'm at a loss as to how to reach a kid.  I've managed to get kids that couldn't even deal with their glove on to be consistently hitting a pitched ball by the end of a season. 

[AtomSmasher]

I'm a 27 year old programmer with a business degree. I learned what I know from experience rather than a classroom.

Yikes, sounds like you and I hit the market at the same time.

Coming from Texas A&M with an MIS degree in 2002 was basically the worst set of degree lottery luck ever.  Whole state was flooded with IT people from Enron and WorldCom that were desperate for jobs.    I ended up working for the university and doing okay, but man, it was some scary times!

heh, I also graduated in 2002 with a comp sci degree....I'm now a real estate appraiser     The only people I knew who got computer jobs after graduating were the ones who had been interning for years at the company who hired them or became a low paid grunt programmer for lockheed.  I've actually been thinking of getting back into programming now that there are computer jobs available and the real estate market is still falling.  A friend of mine told me that if I learned ruby, I would be guaranteed a job.

[RTSDaddy2]

MikeQ - I'm in Georgia, about 30 minutes outside Atlanta.

I actually saw a book on Ruby yesterday - I thought (well, no I didn't really, not seriously) "how 'bout that...my kid's only 4, someone's written her bio!"

I do not mind telling anyone that I while I am still scared and shell-shocked,et. al., right now I have to do something for me too.  I am going to give piano teaching a whirl since I have a six month package from the school and see how it goes.  I am not naive; I will either supplement that with subsitute teaching money and / or money from a part-time career at Best Buy, volleyball coaching, etc.

Bottom line: I gotta try a job that I believe I can FINALLY have FUN doing.  I am just really, really sick of the politics of education.

[RTSDaddy2]

Just thought after a month or so I'd post and let you know where things are.

I'm still trying to get the piano thing going, but it's very slow, of course.  I have my first voice student Tuesday (yep, added vocal coaching)...we'll see!

Today I'm headed out to the Gwinnett County "Open House" hiring meeting for teachers to see what they have to offer.  As previously stated, I am pretty shell shocked with public school, but this is supposed to be a grade A county in Georgia when it comes to education.

On a much more positive note, I am placing my resume and cover letter in the hands of Atlanta Girl's School today for consideration.  Why is this so positive?  Well, this idea of single-gender education was the topic of my thesis paper in college and it is something that I believe very strongly in.  That and the fact that they are - apparently - interested in me!  I'm very excited as it is that if I have to teach I'd much rather stay in the private sector. 

I have also applied to local private Jewish schools as well, one of which had a music teacher position, so we'll see.  At any rate, as it is only March and things are this positive, hope springs eternal for the first time in weeks.

As for the rest of it, I'm having a good time just being home with my family.  If I speak the truth to you, the three of us REALLY needed this time together.  I've been working my  off for the last six years and I've missed a lot. 

We will be financially ok through June.  July could be rough, but that's about it, especially if I have a job by then (first check in August if I'm teaching again), and July actually should not be all that bad....just be tighter than normal possibly.  We are trying to save all we can (in spite of some of Daddy's occasional wild hares that have been shot and put to rest before they got away - I never said I was bright).

Those of you  who have kept us in  your thoughts during this difficult time, I thank you more than you know.  I STILL find that I have a lot of anger towards people at the last school...I just pray every day for the experience to make me better, and not bitter....because some days bitterness was just around the corner.  However, due to recent things we've learned (which I won't go into here), that too was a blessing in disguise.

[ChadTower]

Get a part time job now to extend yourself through July and maybe August just in case.  That way even if you don't need it then you'll have softened the financial blow of being unemployed now.

[shmokes]

Absolutely.  Six months goes by in the blink of an eye, especially when you're happy.  Don't let the intoxication of being home (and having all kinds of Wii, DS, PSP (you know what you were thinking) time on your hands) cause you to squander the opportunity you have.  Get your ass in gear right now or you'll find yourself trying to get it done in a panick in June, only to find that you didn't leave yourself enough time or you missed important opportunities.

[RTSDaddy2]

I agree.  I think that's why I found today to be so refreshing.  I have been out for a month now with nothing to do except spend time with the family.  Believe it or not shmokes, 90 percent of my time has been spent with th 4 year old, NOT the Wii (though I do seem obsessed at times! ). 

Today was a good day.  I have a potential interview with one school later on that's looking for a 4th and 5th grade teacher (they said they'd call, but who knows), and I gave out 7 or 8 other resumes as well.

As far as getting covered through June / July, I'm working on that too.

[Unholyknight]

If you want an arcade industry job, the BEST jobs are in gambling cities.  You would work as a tech on the machines in the area.  My uncle does it and makes a decent amount of money (based on his house and truck, I don't know exactly how much he makes).

I hope I don't fall into this situation, I'll be out with a CS degree, but I already have an internship and 2 possible jobs lined up!  I'm good... for now...

good luck!