Midlife Career Change

[witchofthedogs]

So, I have been considering a mid-life career change that would, really, turn my life completely upside-down.

As many (*most*) of you know, I work for a law-firm during the day and own my own dog training business on the side. My original career plan was to become a professor of religion (I have a bachelor's degree in English and Religion) and when that didn't come through, I went into the legal field with the thought that one day, possibly, I might become a lawyer.

Well, that didn't happen and events in life intervened and I got involved with animal welfare and, most notably, the study of canine behavior.

The kicker is that I have no science background. The last biology class I took was in 9th grade, twenty-two years ago.

Despite that, I've made the decision to apply to a distance learning program from a large university to study for an Associate's Degree in veterinary technology. I'd like, eventually, to get out of the legal field and into the veterinary/animal welfare field at some point, but it's going to probably take me the next 10 years to do so. It'll be hard - school will be expensive, the jobs I will eventually take will pay a lot less than I make now, but I think I'd be following my passion, rather than just making time for it when I can.

My question to all of you out there is: are there any of you who made a mid-life career change? Left one long-time career for something totally different? Did you find it was worth the sacrifices you made?

[19720]

Yes... I am in the middle of one myself....


I changed from a job in which I was hoping to retire from, to a totally new unrelated job, just for my job security....

Scary thing to do, but in the long run, I will be happier, and the satisfaction of knowing that I can be able to retire from somewhere which will be there when I decide to, is a big big, bonus

[Mark Cowherd]

So, I have been considering a mid-life career change that would, really, turn my life completely upside-down.

As many (*most*) of you know, I work for a law-firm during the day and own my own dog training business on the side. My original career plan was to become a professor of religion (I have a bachelor's degree in English and Religion) and when that didn't come through, I went into the legal field with the thought that one day, possibly, I might become a lawyer.

Well, that didn't happen and events in life intervened and I got involved with animal welfare and, most notably, the study of canine behavior.

The kicker is that I have no science background. The last biology class I took was in 9th grade, twenty-two years ago.

Despite that, I've made the decision to apply to a distance learning program from a large university to study for an Associate's Degree in veterinary technology. I'd like, eventually, to get out of the legal field and into the veterinary/animal welfare field at some point, but it's going to probably take me the next 10 years to do so. It'll be hard - school will be expensive, the jobs I will eventually take will pay a lot less than I make now, but I think I'd be following my passion, rather than just making time for it when I can.

My question to all of you out there is: are there any of you who made a mid-life career change? Left one long-time career for something totally different? Did you find it was worth the sacrifices you made?

I have quite a legacy of giving very bad advice* on this board and would love to give you some. However just how mid life are you. I just hope you are not one of those 50 is the new 40 types Do you have kids?

How much do you like money, and living the good life?. Do you ever want to retire? How many times a week do can you eat Ramen soup? What about health insurance?

For each of us there comes a time when we must decide what is the most important thing to us. For me that time is when I was buying a house. Did I want a really nice big house and work until I drop, or did I want a just decent house and retire at 52? Just dont lie to yourself, and that is not as easy as it sounds

*sorry to that guy I advised to enlist and go to Iraq. I really did think that is was a great place to meet chicks and that it would be over in 5 weeks

[Raptor]

Career change? I call it retirement...I put in my 20 years in Commercial Banking and walked away to start my own business. Now, 2 years into it, everyday is a holiday - I LOVE coming into my store everyday - I LOVE my customers - and I LOVE my staff (editorial note: LOVE and Commercial Banking are mutually exclusive and never used in the same sentence, paragraph, or document). Yes, it's tough to lose six figures and drop to ZERO for two years, but we still go out as much as we used to, we still are hard to shop for (because if we need or want something, we just buy it) and we still have never missed a payment on any debt that we have.

Mark said it best, you need to decide what's important - my wife and I did a lot of creative financial things in the two years prior to the start of our business - paid down as much of the mortgage, refi'd so that we can work for min wage and still have money to save - granted, our jet-set ways have changed too, we can't just pick up and fly to Miami when stone crab season starts...and I've only golfed 8 times in two years when I used to play 8 times in two weeks.

The main thing is to make sure your support system is in place. I wouldn't be where I am today without my wife to back me up and force me to re-think some of the crazy ideas that I come up with....

[Tracy]

ok BC, I'm gonna be the silly cliche fairy, bc, that's what I am. Everybody is ABSOLUTELY right. You have to worry about your finances. HOWEVER, you obviously have dogs in your blood. It's your dream and we only have one life (first cliche) so we must FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS (second cliche). My advice, if there is any possible way to do it.......DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

[Naomi]

BC I give you a lot of credit for even thinking about it. I have 25 almost 26 years into my position and want to retire in 4 years and just do photography. I am scared as hell because I have become accustom to the income. I have been having second thoughts about trying to retire so young but unfortunately my family dies young.
What ever you decide to do I am sure you will be the best.

[witchofthedogs]

A little clarification...

I'm 35: no kids (never will be), no spouse, no second-party obligations except for the dogs. I own my own home, but the mortgage is probably cheaper than any rent I would find in this area.

I would be in school part time while keeping my current position until I decided what I wanted or needed to do to move into the new career. Financially, I have no one to rely on but me, but I'm not stupid enough to put myself in a position to jeopardize my home.

On the other hand, I refuse to consider the fact that ten or twenty years from now, I will be exactly where I am now and miserable. I took a chance last year and left my firm to go to a position that was horrible... The corporate life is simply not for me. When I left that position, I took a $10,000 pay cut, but at the same time started my own business on the side and learned that I loved doing it.

My passion is truly working with animals. Not lawyers.

[Mark Cowherd]

Career change? I call it retirement...I put in my 20 years in Commercial Banking and walked away to start my own business. Now, 2 years into it, everyday is a holiday - I LOVE coming into my store everyday - I LOVE my customers - and I LOVE my staff (editorial note: LOVE and Commercial Banking are mutually exclusive and never used in the same sentence, paragraph, or document). Yes, it's tough to lose six figures and drop to ZERO for two years, but we still go out as much as we used to, we still are hard to shop for (because if we need or want something, we just buy it) and we still have never missed a payment on any debt that we have.

Mark said it best, you need to decide what's important - my wife and I did a lot of creative financial things in the two years prior to the start of our business - paid down as much of the mortgage, refi'd so that we can work for min wage and still have money to save - granted, our jet-set ways have changed too, we can't just pick up and fly to Miami when stone crab season starts...and I've only golfed 8 times in two years when I used to play 8 times in two weeks.

The main thing is to make sure your support system is in place. I wouldn't be where I am today without my wife to back me up and force me to re-think some of the crazy ideas that I come up with....

Thats quite a story Raptor!! You know a lot of people have lost in jobs in Banking lately. You should let us more about those crazy ideas. You really hit on something there. Sometimes it is WHAT WE DON'T DO, that makes the differance.

[Raptor]

Thanks Mark.

There's gonna be a lot more bloodshed in the banking realms as BoA continues to cut the fat from the old MBNA. People get real comfortable when they are in a routine...one of MBNA's top auditors had a small business in the same shopping center where my store is...she only gave it about 15 months before folding it and going back to the corporate world (her loss was getting less each month which is a great sign!). Last time I saw her, she was down because her new employer had a more family-oriented culture...not the MBNA family-oriented where they build facilities so that you can work 100hrs/wk and have your family nearby...but a culture where it is only an 8-5 job and what you don't finish, gets picked up the next day.

My problem now is that I could never go back into the corporate world...if I did I would either be fired in a week or I'd be running the show and there would be a lot of pi$$ed off middle managers looking for work elsewhere. Doing EVERYTHING on your own gives you a great deal of confidence.

OH, BC...lawyers suck...luckily, mine is my best friend from high school and college and provides me access to his law library and if I need something through the courts, I only have to pay the filing fees and a token, billable charge (it would be unethical for a lawyer not to charge something!) Get enrolled in the classes, network with the pet stores and vets and any other target customers or businesses that could refer or provide you with customers and such and start putting your business plan together. The problem with turning a real passion into a business is that sometimes, you overlook the bottom line. You can't do that...if you do, your business is a hobby. The other problem is that when you become successful, you have to elevate yourself to a more managerial role and give your staff more authority and flexibility - you can't grow a hands-on business with your hands on it.

Best wishes.

[tricksterde]

GO FOR IT!! Life is short. I left MBNA after 15years in 2000 to move to the Bahamas to be a charter boat captain. Bought a truck to pull the boats, took scuba classes, first aid classes, cpr classes, boating lessons through the coast guard. Jumped through the many hoops of 17 page work permit from the Bahamian Consolute, checked with them about the paperwork no less than 9 times. Quit the coprorate workd making more money than I will EVER make again, put my stuff on a freighter out of West Palm Beach and flew over. Life was good until I was denied the work permit I had been promised by the consulate. Only natives can be charter boat captains -sorry the consulate didn't know -sorry we detained you at the airport because you filled out the paperwork like the consulate said to -no not even the former prime minister's personal attorney can help you --bye, bye and don't even try to stay and work because we are watching you. And yes I was followed around for weeks. So I came back to the US. Would I do it again?? In a heart beat, but a little smarter.

[trothaar]

Hello there!

I was unable to attend college right after high school because I was forced to leave home almost immediately (utterly toxic family dynamics). Therefore, I never had a "career" in my 20's; all I did was move from minimum-wage retail work to low-paying secretarial work.

I entered community college in 2001, just before I turned 30. At first, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I gave it up because of all the schooling involved (and the low pay once out of school). I changed my major to mathematics and hacked away at a degree one class at a time.

Two long-distance moves later, I finally entered Temple University full-time. I'm about to change my major to geology and use mathematics as a minor; the great thing about the math program is that if you're unsure of exactly what you want to do when you enter it, you'll get a lot of exposure to the other sciences so that you can figure it out.

I am hoping to get my bachelor's in December 2009, and enter the master's program the following January. Therefore, I will be at least 38 years old when I get my bachelor's, and at least 40 before I obtain a master's.

My husband and I have made and are making many sacrifices to make this happen. We moved from warm Los Angeles to a cold-weather climate, and both of us hate the cold. We live in a house that required extensive (and I do mean extensive) work just to make it habitable, that is too small for our needs, in a place where we don't fit in and feel like aliens (if anyone recognizes my icon--it's from a British TV series called Life on Mars--I chose it because I feel much like Sam Tyler). We did all this because we needed to lower our expenses to the point where my husband could pay all the bills on his income.

Will it be worth it? Absolutely. I have always been upset about not being able to obtain a college degree. I have hated being stuck in dead-end secretarial jobs.

I thought I would stick out like a sore thumb at Temple, among all the kids, but I do not. You would be surprised at how many people, for various reasons, did not get to attend college right out of high school. Or who, like you, did get a degree but found that they didn't care for that profession. In every one of my classes so far, there has been at least one other older student.

Whenever I feel like I'm too old, I give a thought to the pre-med students who are in their 40's and 50's. Compared to how old they'll be by the time they get out of med school and internships, I'll be a young'un.

Now, don't let the fact that I, personally, decided against vet medicine because of the money influence you. If you can make it work for you--and there are plenty of people who DO make it work for them--go forth!

[delwitch69]

I would be much happier doing something I'd love to be doing. Sometimes though that doesn't necessarily mean you'd make enough money. I guess you just have to decide if less stress and doing something more meaningful to you outweigh money. Maybe you are already set for the future and can just do that. I think I'd choose peace of mind over money especially if it makes you feel like a better human being. It's an individual thing. For some people money is security. I'm 44-to me doing something to make a difference is more important. I wish you luck. I think you jus need to weigh the pro's and cons and do some soul searching.

[Mark Cowherd]

Hello there!

I was unable to attend college right after high school because I was forced to leave home almost immediately (utterly toxic family dynamics). Therefore, I never had a "career" in my 20's; all I did was move from minimum-wage retail work to low-paying secretarial work.

I entered community college in 2001, just before I turned 30. At first, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I gave it up because of all the schooling involved (and the low pay once out of school). I changed my major to mathematics and hacked away at a degree one class at a time.

Two long-distance moves later, I finally entered Temple University full-time. I'm about to change my major to geology and use mathematics as a minor; the great thing about the math program is that if you're unsure of exactly what you want to do when you enter it, you'll get a lot of exposure to the other sciences so that you can figure it out.

I am hoping to get my bachelor's in December 2009, and enter the master's program the following January. Therefore, I will be at least 38 years old when I get my bachelor's, and at least 40 before I obtain a master's.

My husband and I have made and are making many sacrifices to make this happen. We moved from warm Los Angeles to a cold-weather climate, and both of us hate the cold. We live in a house that required extensive (and I do mean extensive) work just to make it habitable, that is too small for our needs, in a place where we don't fit in and feel like aliens (if anyone recognizes my icon--it's from a British TV series called Life on Mars--I chose it because I feel much like Sam Tyler). We did all this because we needed to lower our expenses to the point where my husband could pay all the bills on his income.

Will it be worth it? Absolutely. I have always been upset about not being able to obtain a college degree. I have hated being stuck in dead-end secretarial jobs.

I thought I would stick out like a sore thumb at Temple, among all the kids, but I do not. You would be surprised at how many people, for various reasons, did not get to attend college right out of high school. Or who, like you, did get a degree but found that they didn't care for that profession. In every one of my classes so far, there has been at least one other older student.

Whenever I feel like I'm too old, I give a thought to the pre-med students who are in their 40's and 50's. Compared to how old they'll be by the time they get out of med school and internships, I'll be a young'un.

Now, don't let the fact that I, personally, decided against vet medicine because of the money influence you. If you can make it work for you--and there are plenty of people who DO make it work for them--go forth!

Great Post, I'm Mark by the way. What a struggle!! Kids not considering collage should read your post. They should know that if they don't go to be prepared for a life time of shitty jobs, often two at a time, bosses they just want to choke, and alternatives that just plain suck.

And Trothaar, KEEP that Guy of yours.

[TomS70]

We've aquired a few of the former MBNA exec types where I work. Let's just say there's a learning curve from Banking to Telecommunications....

[Roogle]

I would do it! Not to many people can say they actually did what they wanted to during their life.

Win, lose, or draw. People are always praised when they put the fate in their own hands.

[Naomi]

When I was in high school I wanted to major in Music but I did Not want to teach. I was doing photography at the time but I hated doing weddings (and still do) I was working for a photographer in Wilmington then I saw an ad in the paper. (Sell cars and make $30,000 a year) that was a lot of money for an 18 yo in 1982, so I jumped right on that. So I never went to collage. But I do not regret it. The automobile business has been very good to me. ***thinking about a saturday night live skit from the 80's*** But I guess I was in the right place at the right time. But Photography is my passion, so we will see how "Come To My Window" goes and go from there, maybe I will retire from the dealership in 5 years, who knows?

[witchofthedogs]

Well, as an update, I did send in my application papers to Purdue University, so we'll see if I get accepted to the program.

If nothing else happens and I go no further than the associate's degree, I do this for myself and to better my understanding of the animals with whom I work. I'm sacrificing a bit of work on the house (new carpets, I never knew ye), and a lot of time, but I have amazingly supportive friends and I can live with scrungy carpets for a few years. I have the bachelor's degree already and am highly marketable in my current profession, so I won't lack for career choices if this doesn't pan out.

We'll see if they let me in - that's the first hurdle.

[Blbackack]

Aw, who needs carpets anyway?

[witchofthedogs]

Aw, who needs carpets anyway?

Oh, I already have them... I've also got an incontinent dog and 20 years worth of ick on them... Thank the gods for Kenmore vaccuums and Bissel steam cleaners.

[trothaar]

Check out this forum, Boundchaos. It is for people who are planning to enter or who are working in the veterinary profession, either as vets or techs. There's a wealth of information in that forum, and there's a section just for older students; there are a lot of them.

Mark, my husband is the best thing that ever happened to me. Every day I am thankful that I have him.