Now what?

[cjsmith]

What's worth doing?

Need physical fitness goal. Maybe another run or a good long hike.

Also need something useful to do with the rest of my time. Having no job is getting old. Might look for one just to save my sanity.

Comments

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

Also need something useful to do with the rest of my time. Having no job is getting old.

*smiles brightly*
I could loan you my daughter for a while. THAT should keep you busy!

(But seriously, I get it about wishing for a job. Even with having Allegra to keep me occupied much of the time, I'd prefer to be out somewhere ELSE sometimes. I'm sure you understand.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I could loan you my daughter for a while. THAT should keep you busy!

I bet it would.

And yeah, I definitely understand. Is there any possibility that you'll get a job outside the home, even part time, so that you get to stay sane and functional? Or are you thinking of other ways to cope?

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

Yes, there is the possibility of my getting a part-time job, though realistically not at least till summer (Allegra's schedule is not currently amenable to any sort of regular outside work schedule). Even more realistically not till after my sister's wedding in September (Scotland!). But the real kicker is I don't want to just get "any old job." I've done that. Did that for 15 years. I feel like there's a big opportunity here for me to finally CHOOSE a direction in my life, and that just running to fill up my time with "something productive" would miss that opportunity. However, like you, I'm a bit of generalist, so choosing a direction is hard. Which of these dozen things that I'm decent at should I focus on next? Should I go back to school? If I choose to support Akien's aim of coaching work, am I really doing what *I* need to be doing, or is it somehow "cheating" to "take on his goals as my own"? Would I find myself in 5 years very unhappy to have done that, and say, not have pursued more music (which I had seriously considered some time back, right before Victoria barrelled into our lives and sent that right out the window)?

So for the moment I'm in a "holding" pattern. Keeping my eyes focussed on the short term goals (gotta finish the paperwork to get her signed up for the summer program or I will go INSANE with her home all the time!). Periodically trying to sit and think about and discuss with Akien the various possibilities. (Just found an on-line Master's in Psych. program--that could be a good option).

How about you? What have you been thinking about as you consider your options and where to go from here?

[yoak.livejournal.com]

I missed a step. What happened? How did you end up without a job?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ah, my griping about my workplace hasn't been conspicuous by its absence? :-) :-)

Haven't had a job since late last November. Got laid off (and thank goodness I waited for that, too) and haven't looked for anything new since. I wanted to take some time off, regain my balance, see whether I really want to stay in the computer industry. I have the skills for it, but perhaps not the soul for it; don't truly know.

Six months later, though, I find I'm getting tired of doing nothing. I may abort the search for a new career and search for any ol' job I can stomach, just because "nothing" is an occupation so very ill-suited to me.

[yoak.livejournal.com]

I see. If you wrote about it at the time, it probably happened during a multi-month break I took from LJ. That timing sounds about right. :-)

Well, I understand getting itchy like that. Do you have any ideas about sort of career you might like to switch to if you don't get back to computers?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Do you have any ideas about sort of career you might like to switch to if you don't get back to computers?

That's the trouble -- I have way too many ideas. Veterinary technician, with an eye to eventually being a veterinarian. EMT. Fiction writer. Doggie day care provider. Translator (currently only useful French-to-English). Aerobatics performer in airshows. Airplane mechanic. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.

What would you do, if you couldn't do what you do now?

[yoak.livejournal.com]

That's quite a list. The more I find out about you, the more I like you. :-)

What would you do, if you couldn't do what you do now?

In recent years, I haven't put as much emphasis on career. I really don't have much of a long-term plan to stick with something. My list of professions includes computer programmer of different flavors, B2C and B2B sales, professional poker player, construction (very briefly and won't do it again), financial analyst (really "commodities trader" would be closer, but FA was what was on my business card), instructor. For about half of my adult life, I've owned businesses instead of working for them. That has been largely tech-centered too, but I've also done tech recruiting, credit repair and travel sales.

To answer your question directly, I've been thinking about playing cards again. My current job is tiring, and there are lots of things in Florida that would be nice to be able to pay attention to for weeks or months at a time, so the flexibility allowed by cards would be really nice. I took a year off in 2001 to play cards and made about as much as I do in software... I've continued to play in my spare time and I'm much better now, so I think it is a viable choice. Longer term, I've always wanted to be a college professor. Really, I want to be a student and do research, but "professor" is the only form of that that isn't broke-making. I've never been able to commit to doing something that hard and time-consuming that doesn't pay at all. I imagine that I will do that if I ever get enough money together not to worry about it, or perhaps when I'm getting close to 40 and running out of time.

Or I could do just about anything interesting that comes along. I don't hold on too tight. :-) I'm sure I'd wander a lot more if I hadn't coincidentally gotten good at pushing around 1's and 0's about three years before the Internet exploded. It pays so obscenely well for something that isn't very demanding. The thing is, I used to love doing it. Now I honestly don't love it much more than I would doing many other things.

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

When I was in the same situation a number of years ago, I started a business brokering aircraft. My late husband T and I pioneered the concept of buyer's broker -- in 1984 no one had ever heard of the concept. We'd talk to buyers about what they wanted, find just the right airplane for each individual, take them to see it, help them evaluate it, negotiate the price for them, and arrange the paperwork for the sale. We charged a commission of 10% of the price of the airplane (which was practically always covered by our negotiating the price for the buyer, so ultimately they got our services virtually for free, which was a great marketing tool).

As a buyer's broker, we didn't need a ramp to display a stock of aircraft -- we'd simply take the client to wherever the airplane was, and had a home office (also ahead of its time).

It was my business -- T had a full-time job, but he helped by flying with the clients (he was a CFII) and at the beginning by helping me evaluate the prospective purchase aircraft (until I got good at it myself).

It was originally supposed to be a part-time business -- I was at home with a 2-year-old, which can make anyone stir crazy -- just something to keep me busy and feeling productive. But it really took off, and I found myself working almost full-time. I had a policy of making sure the client was happy, and although it cost me a commission once or twice, we got a lot of word-of-mouth referrals which really built our client base up fast. I loved it, and couldn't believe I was making money for having fun!

Just something for you to consider.....

[(Anonymous)]

I definitely get the "wanting to do something" - a good part of the reason I got lured into my latest startup was that it meant I had coworkers again (which I'll admit is as much "ooh, an audience!" as anything else, but that counts :-)

You might try the old standby - make a list! Actually write out everything you'd be interested in doing. It's mostly a focussing trick, but if nothing else you can throw darts at it to figure out what you'll try today... _Mark_