#CareerAdvice #MiddleAgedMan #LostInLife
Hey everyone! 👋
So, I’m a 39-year-old guy with a job in the railway industry, making decent money but not feeling fulfilled. I keep thinking there’s something more out there for me, but I’m not sure what that is. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Any advice to share?
Here’s a quick rundown of where I’m at:
– Have a family to support
– Not enjoying my current job
– Passionate about working with computers and design
– Considering UX/UI design but unsure due to AI advancements
Any thoughts on what I could do next? I’d appreciate any input or personal experiences you may have to share! Let’s help each other out. 🤔💡
I know some older family in the same place, worked manual labour his own life, was getting then slowly transitioned into an accounting role. He always said the first step is to just start- take a class a day at the local community college, or something similar, and snowball from there.
For UX/UI, you don’t even need community college, start playing with Adobe or Figma and learning from youtube videos, curate a portfolio, look for open jobs, or do freelance. Start slow, see the point where it can take over your current income, and switch?
Taking a step, is almost always worth it, even if it doesn’t pan out completely. Know someone who graduated uni at 64. Another person in my family, starting learning Java and coding when he was 70, and he was getting higher marks than every other person in his coding class.
Will it be easy? Not really, it would’ve been easier 20 years ago, but it will be even harder 20 years from now.
Also, I don’t think AI is taking over all aspects of UI/UX that quickly, ChatGPT still routinely fails basic math.
In short, start to dabble and build a base, and look at your next steps from there.
Technology-based roles are going to involve AI but I don’t think they are eliminating all the people yet. The greater challenge is that there are a lot of people who want to do tech and are already doing it. The issues of supply and demand come into play.
I don’t think anyone has a good grasp on which jobs are going to be secure in the future. It’s more likely, in my opinion, that everyone will need to be prepared to pivot and adjust as their roles do. So you have to gain foundational knowledge and work from there.
Do you think you’d enjoy more hardware related technology like robotics and interfaces between software and machines? There are several fields that involve both.
If you have time, maybe start exploring what a local school or community college offers. Take a few courses to see what you’re good at and enjoy. (Or explore some free or paid online courses.) My son used Code Academy to learn various coding languages. My spouse used online sources to learn to program Arduino modules (no idea what he really does with that).
If you are worried about what AI can do, then get a career in AI.
Stay where you’re at. You’re probably too old to start another career…especially in technology…you’d need to start at the bottom, likely taking a pay cut for a few years…and you’d need to job hop to get salary increases. That too is stressful restarting as the new guy all the time…not mention benefits like time off…unless you can negotiate it, you’ll be stuck at the bottom each time you hop.
Best advice at 40 is to realize you probably waited too long to make the change and now you’re stuck.
Can you change jobs to a new career? You can…but know it is going to bring stress you don’t have right now. Just go in with eyes open.
I’m in the same situation. Same job for 10 years, at 46. Burned out, angry, stuck on 2nd shift… Just miserable. I got a lead on an auto body apprentice job, and was told I had a very good chance at getting it. So I quit. Just couldn’t take it anymore. Guess what? Didn’t get the job. It’s been 2 weeks and I’m playing the wait and see game with applications for jobs I don’t really even want, but have to take. On top of that, I made a terrible decision on a vehicle that I didn’t fully check out, because of nostalgia. This hooker gave me the “All it needs is” bull shit, so I’m having to do all these major repairs that I didn’t expect, with zero money coming in. I’m telling you, for someone who should know better, I continuously make dumb ass decisions based off feelings instead of logic.
Downvoted for calling 39 middle aged. Qft.
I tried the switch into ux/ui design and was able to do it for a year and a half before I quit. It’s a really difficult industry to break into now. It’s over saturated at the moment and there are very few companies hiring for the role without 5 years experiences. You also need to have good drawing skills. I like it for a while but it just wasn’t fun anymore once my job required mostly explaining to stakeholders why we need to do things and listening to engineers for hours. I maybe spent 10 percent of my time doing mockups and the rest of the time reading and trying to assist the CEO in any business needs they desire (creating a blog, running social media, campaigning at events, taking photos). Design became less about creativity and more about work logistics and I was making much less than what I was doing previously. It takes a good 3-5 years of making poor wages before you get the opportunity to make a decent wage. Most ux designers I know do other disciplines like graphic design or code or take on other work on the other side to make ends meet. PM me if you have more question about it.
I’m in a similar place as you in some ways. I do make great money where I’m at and have been there for 15 years, 20 in my “career” field (machinist). I work a rotating schedule 5pm to 5am, rotating days, three days one week and four days the next. As I get older the 12 hour shifts are starting to take their toll, and even though I only work like 180 days a year, the lack of having the same days off each week makes participating in recurring weekly events impossible. Like if I wanted to take a class that meets on Tuesday and Thursday I would have to take PTO for one of those days each week which just isn’t feasible. I’d love to get a straight 3rd shift job because I prefer working nights and having my days off. I’m a victim of what I have come to refer to as the “golden parachute”. I fell into a management position I don’t feel qualified for or competent at, and as such my salary is quite high for my industry and skill set. If I go somewhere else I would have to settle for a 5or 6 dollar an hour pay cut. Which I simply can’t afford. The whole thing has been taking a toll on my physical and mental health and I feel stuck.