Career Change Advice Needed

[triodecr]

I've been working in Electrical Engineering for the last 10 years. I recently left my employer of 9.5 years for the same type of position at another company (first company has had layoffs during the last 4 years, contracts are ending and no new work is coming in). I was happy with my career at times but often bored and tired at the old place. The new place requires at least 50% more effort to complete the same work because of poor organization and inefficiency. So, at this point I'm ready for a major change and am considering a career change.

If anyone who's been through this could share advice/lessons learned it would be greatly appreciated.

TriodeCR

[m chops]

Perhaps after you have established yourself as a good worker for your present employer, you could provide them with your insights to make them more productive/profitable, working your way into a management slot?

[Thundernotes]

Transferrable skills are the key to everything. I went through it a few years back after 25 years in telecom. I fix copiers and printers now. Money sucks, but I love the job.

[hamerhead]

Perhaps after you have established yourself as a good worker for your present employer, you could provide them with your insights to make them more productive/profitable, working your way into a management slot?

This. It works like a charm. Anything you do to streamline the process bodes well for your future. IF you can stand it long enough.

And if you're doing 50% more work to accomplish the same thing, it sounds like there's plenty of room for improvement. Maybe that's why they hired you.

[tbonesullivan]

your skills as an EE should be helpful in many other fields, particularly with your experience and ability to organize. If it's an option you might want to consider seeing if you can get an MBA part-time, or even possibly an education certification or degree. There are a lot of options.

Heck I sat listening to one EE yesterday who worked at the Keck observatory on Mauna Loa in Hawai'i. Said it was the best job ever.

[tdelporto]

Your mileage may vary, but I recently changed jobs after working for the same employer for 10 years and am finding the new job less than ideal. I'm planning to stick it out a year, and then find something else. You might just need another change of scenery.

[seeker]

EE myself. One Option I looked at (and at least one friend did) was to go for a Law Degree. Patent Attorney's bank good bucks.

Believe that the J. Whitcomb, Esquire, recently went that route (jwhitcomb3).

[ZR]

48 and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up!!

[Ting Ho Dung]

I left the corproate world right after 911 when I was laid off. I started my own business while on unemployment. I got unemployment checks when I didn't earn any money that week. It wasn't much but it helped in the transition. I turned my avocation into my vocation. I've never had a boss I liked. Even now, sometimes I don't like myself.

[triodecr]

It was made pretty clear to me that my opinion does not count at this point. Not sure how long I have to be there before it starts to count. Unfortunately, I work in the manufacturing center and several of the things that I think could be improved are products of design engineering which is in another city. It's not just me that sees the need for improvement. There are at least 10 colleagues from my old employer at the new place and we've discussed the need for improvement.

At this point I'm in the same boat as tdelporto; I'll give it another 6 months and see what is out there. I've been thinking about taking a few classes so I guess that's the plan for the fall.

I'd love to start a business but that's not in the cards right now. I've got a few amp designs but that market is flooded, never been much of a pedal guy and that market's flooded too. I do have a pickup idea that might have to become reality though....... It's a single coil and a humbucker mounted next to each other in the same ring!

Thanks for all the responses and best of luck to you tdelporto.

[crunchee]

Amp repairmen are always in demand. From what I've heard in my podunk little town, there's only one local amp repair guy, he takes FOREVER as he does that gig part time. But he's also the only game in town if you don't want to drive an hour and a half to go elsewhere.

[Uncle Thor's Hamer]

I am a former EE in the defense sector, now an airline captain. I do love flying, but it is now a job not a career. The bigwig managers have restructured the industry so as to cut pay by 2/3rds and eliminate pensions.

My advice is to do what you enjoy, but to heed the investor's adage "The Trend is Your Friend". What has happened in the aviation industry has been a definite trend for the last 15 years, though there were signs of the new reality when I got into it 22 years ago.

If you are interested in, for example, patent law as someone suggested above, research not only what the current situation is but how the industry has been changing over the past 10 to 20 years. Public sector jobs look better than private sector right now, but the trend is the elimination of pensions. So don't expect a pension with a government job.

Being an employee is of lesser value than it used to be. Long gone are the days of being the loyal long term employee. Self employment offers as much job security as working even for a blue chip company.

My advice really is to think creatively about how to find or make the position that you desire. What are your own priorities? Location? Job duties? Pay? Schedule? Benefits? Social status of the job?

[hamer4ever]

I graduated with a dual degree in Chemistry/Biology, and worked in the field for a while. Switched to Law Enforcement, and never had a boring day in 25 years. I think I might have been the first in my graduating class to retire. No regrets at all. YMMV!