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second thought about working in the IT industry

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Hi guys,

I recently was let go from my job as a Support Phone Rep at my company... which has thrown me into a funk especially looking at the belt tightening that companies are doing. I am having second thoughts about working in the IT industry especially considering how volatile and fickle it seems to me. This was before I was let go, as I had developed a routine in the job that just left me bored out of my mind and ultimately unfulfilled.

I have already invested a good deal of time and money in my current career track, with some certs under my belt as well as an almost finished bachelors in Computer Science.

For reference I am in my early twenties so I haven't had much of a career, but I wanted to get some perspective from veterans in the field. Have any of you had second thoughts of the line of work you have gotten into, or even the industry itself? And if you did, how did you address it?

Thanks any responses are appreciated.

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by oz_media

I change careers if I simply feel like it one day. I refuse to ever be pigeonholed or set into a single task for life, how boring would that be?

As a result I have paid for a lot of training, and while I don't work in a trade full time anymore, I still earn income from it.

Ie: I was a 3rd year machinist at age 17, I then got bored of that and got into sales management (several certs for different areas there) then i got bored and went to BCIT for auto training (welder,certified mechanic and alternate fuels specialist, 2nd yr automotive engineer). I worked the field for while and got bored again, so I got back into business development and sales management. As a teenager I also learned framing and eventually finish carpentry, not certified but employable by most in the field. I worked in IT for about 8 or so years, where I became a Master Certified Netware Engineer, today I am a BDM again.

Tomorrow? Who knows? It only takes 4 years to become a lawyer, it only takes 4 years to becoem a GP, it only takes 4 years to become just about anything you can imagine.

So what? tired fo what you are doing? Stop doing it, its that simple. Life's way too short to be doing something you don't enjoy doing. You are young!
Don't fall into that rut that so many middle aged people hit, 'too old to change', 'young un's are taking all the jobs I better stay here to stay secure' etc.

In fact it is looking at these people, stuck into a "career", which they no longer get any life from, that makes me keep moving forward and doing exactly what I want to be doing at any given time.

Nobody says that because your last name is Shoemaker that you have to make shoes.

Live life to the fullest and don't think about a career gone bad, think of the valuable experience gained. Life and work skills that will follow you to anyything you ever do, you'll be surprised how all jobs are very similar and yet different in many ways. I work with people all teh time who haven't done anything, except put in 20 loyals years or mroe at their current employer. For the most part, these are often the most UNemployable people around so they are better off staying put now that they have no real work experience beyond one company, one job. THAT'S a rut.

IN their defense though, some people just prefer a complcent exxistence wher ethey can do their time and eventually retire, thta just doesn't SOUND like you though.

Experience life, don't shut it in a security closet. Go for it, whatever it is that you FEEL like doing. Go to work because you want to, not just because you have to. I don't work anywhere I get bored, I'll quit any job anytime if I am not interested in it, life is just too important to me to waste it that way.

As for a resume, mine has many changes which some people feel is weak, however my employers are those who seek the dynamics of someone like myself that is always looking around the hcorner for what's new and exciting. No experience is bad experience, the more you can do, the more you WILL do and the easier you will find it to remain employed in one field or another.

by jamesrl

But keep your options open.

I was not a computer science grad, but I go into the field.

Ultimately it is better to pick the field that you enjoy working in than to try and find the job with the best pay, or most stable or whatever, since market forces tend to change, and whats hot today may not be hot tomorrow.

I have lots of friends who are classical musicians. Its a dying breed, orchestras are struggling and they dont' have the income potential of other jobs (like teaching music at a school). But they do what they love and are successful, in their own way. They may not make big $$ but they are happy.

Similarly you, and only you, have to figure out what career would make you happy. What works for me may not work for you.

James

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