Starting a new career at 38 - worth it ?

I am. Leaving the unstable job security of IBM, although the pay is decent with good benefits, but I feel I want a new challenge, so I am going back to school to be an RN
 
My dad switched at 50 years old after he got layed off. You really have to bust your ass though.
 
I am 38 and started a new career this week. I hated my previous job in the end and had done it for 21 years.
Glad I did it too. Being stuck doing that shit for rest of my working life would have driven me insane.
 
I'm asking the same question but at age 30
Let's do this bro
 
John Wang said:
Depends on how long you live, ben!

Code: 
Current_Age INT = 0
Final_Age INT = 0
New_Career_Good INT = 0

SET Current_Age = GETAGE()

SET Final_Age =
(
SELECT TOP 1
OP_Age
FROM
@Life
ORDER BY
OP_Age DESC
)

IF (Final_Age - Current_Age) >= 10
BEGIN
New_Career_Good = 1
END
Click to expand...
ugh, I hate programming in sql
 
That really depends totally on your needs to be honest. That said the value of the ability to retire early with a solid pension can't really be overstated , at 38 it ain't THAT far away. To me having 5 or 10 extra years to do as you please would easily be compensation enough for being a little bored at work now .

As long as the pay/benefits/schedule were acceptable, I'd need a better reason than that to walk.

Edit : after further reading I see you want more money and have no dependents. I'd say go for it then
 
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I've met plenty of people who went back to school at a late age for a 2nd career. A lot of them already have a really high paying job. Some were pursuing a career which ends up paying less than their current job. Everytime I ask, it's because they hate their current job.

If you like your job, then it's not a job.

You can either work for 12 more years then retire and live out your life the way you want. Or you can start a new career and possibly work for the rest of your life for less dough but you'll be enjoying it. So suffer 12 years and enjoy the rest. Or semi-enjoy the rest of your life from now on or 4 years later (school).
 
Broken arrow said:
I was an electrician from about 26 to 44 making $43/hr plus pension and great benefits. The last 5 years I was miserable and lost all desire to do it. I dreaded getting out of bed everyday.

I didn't have a choice. I had to find something else or kill myself.

Walked away from it and became a fire fighter making a lot less money but 10000x happier and I love going to work
Click to expand...
No shit, at 44?!?! Im 40 now and similar to the ts I have a good job but fucking its killing me. Always wanted to be a firefighter but life took me in a different direction. Always thought I was too old to get started; how did you even begin getting started?
 
my grandpa was a mechanical engineer from like the day he left college til he was like 55... then he decided he was more interested in law, he had made a shit ton as a Mech.Eng that he was able to stop working and go to school full time...he was in law school the entire time my mom was finishing high school.

was a prosecutor for like 20 years or something.

granted career changes that drastic were a lot easier back then when the dollar could be stretched way further, and saving while having 4 kids was easy as pie but nonetheless

if a 55 year old man can decide its time for a change, anyone can! its just about determination and goal setting!
 
Defanged said:
I have a girlfriend, no kids. 100% debt free. I'm currently making $60K but have peaked in my dept. I want to get to $75K or higher but don't mind leaving for the same pay.
Click to expand...
Pfft, no kids!!! I would switch in a heartbeat. You've probably reached the point were you feel like a drone going through the motions. What field are you looking to switch to? The only thing that would suck is losing the pension and benefits though.
 
It's an uphill battle. I've been moving around to different fields for the last 7 years and though I finally found my place, I'm sick and tired of entry level jobs. I'm fucking 31 and just tired of getting stepped on and not considered as a human. I finally got out of it, but it'll be tough to change careers now because like an ex-con, I ain't going back.
 
Man you spend like 8 hours a day at work do you really want to go the rest of your life spending that much time somewhere that your not enjoying? That sounds like my worst nightmare.
 
Why not, its said the average person changes their careers 3-5x within their lifetime.

I think I remember reading about a Chinese-'merican actor back in the 50s (I think) who's primary career was in the restaurant business, and he became an actor in his 60s. Funny enough, it was his acting career that really kicked off, as a restaurant career-man he did good, but wasn't a stand out.
 
Scott Parker 27 said:
No shit, at 44?!?! Im 40 now and similar to the ts I have a good job but fucking its killing me. Always wanted to be a firefighter but life took me in a different direction. Always thought I was too old to get started; how did you even begin getting started?
Click to expand...


Around age 42 I took classes to get my EMT certification...... then I started volunteering at a local deptartment. There were 300+ guys applying to volunteer so the competition is steep but at our age we have life experience and maturity over the 20 year old fresh out of high school. Once you get an interview you have a lifetime of things to talk about. After volunteering for 6-8 month (I was also testing for other local departments with 2 kids and a wife so I couldn't leave the area), I got called for an interview with probably the best deptartment in my area. I went to their stations and did mock interviews with their guys, tried to network as much as possible (I knew one of their guys was a BJJ guy also) and a week after my interview I was offered a job



I was the oldest guy in my academy but I finished 2nd in scores and had 100% positive monthly reviews. Being 40+ has a few challenges but it also has many benefits



Edit* - I wanted to add that fire fighters are solid good dudes by nature and they enjoy helping people. Stop by a station and ask the guys for guidance. They'll probably spend 30 minutes explaining the routes they took and will offer help in any way they can.
 
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Broken arrow said:
Around age 42 I took classes to get my EMT certification...... then I started volunteering at a local deptartment. There were 300+ guys applying to volunteer so the competition is steep but at our age we have life experience and maturity over the 20 year old fresh out of high school. Once you get an interview you have a lifetime of things to talk about. After volunteering for 6-8 month (I was also testing for other local departments with 2 kids and a wife so I couldn't leave the area), I got called for an interview with probably the best deptartment in my area. I went to their stations and did mock interviews with their guys, tried to network as much as possible (I knew one of their guys was a BJJ guy also) and a week after my interview I was offered a job



I was the oldest guy in my academy but I finished 2nd in scores and had 100% positive monthly reviews. Being 40+ has a few challenges but it also has many benefits



Edit* - I wanted to add that fire fighters are solid good dudes by nature and they enjoy helping people. Stop by a station and ask the guys for guidance. They'll probably spend 30 minutes explaining the routes they took and will offer help in any way they can.
Click to expand...
Thats fucking nuts. Did you have to take a giant pay cut to go through the academy? It looks like the pay is pretty mediocre while going through the academy. Also, whats the physical portion of the training like?
 
Broken arrow said:
Around age 42 I took classes to get my EMT certification...... then I started volunteering at a local deptartment. There were 300+ guys applying to volunteer so the competition is steep but at our age we have life experience and maturity over the 20 year old fresh out of high school. Once you get an interview you have a lifetime of things to talk about. After volunteering for 6-8 month (I was also testing for other local departments with 2 kids and a wife so I couldn't leave the area), I got called for an interview with probably the best deptartment in my area. I went to their stations and did mock interviews with their guys, tried to network as much as possible (I knew one of their guys was a BJJ guy also) and a week after my interview I was offered a job



I was the oldest guy in my academy but I finished 2nd in scores and had 100% positive monthly reviews. Being 40+ has a few challenges but it also has many benefits



Edit* - I wanted to add that fire fighters are solid good dudes by nature and they enjoy helping people. Stop by a station and ask the guys for guidance. They'll probably spend 30 minutes explaining the routes they took and will offer help in any way they can.
Click to expand...
At that point you're serious about a career change. So you have a plan how to do things, and everything falls into place.

It'll sound like bragging on my end but when I went back to school a bit later I had a plan in mind of how the whole thing would fold out, alot were just winging it, they didn't know what they were doing. They figured it was a good career path from friends and family and just went with the flow, no planning whatsoever.
 
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