[sapphiremodena]

Hey folks!

So here's my situation. I've been out of high school for 3 years now, working full time at a meat counter, and saving tuition money while trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, career-wise. After a few years of that, I have the tuition money saved up but I really don't know what the heck I want to do with myself. It feels like I should have figured it out by now, but I haven't, so I'm trying to narrow it down and get opinions from others about what they like about their jobs or careers and why...

A couple things that catch my interest are:

(1) Culinary Arts - I say this because I love food, it is really one of the few things that I feel I can't get tired of, because of its sheer variety and beauty to the senses. It does seem like a very demanding career, both physically and mentally, and I get the impression that it takes a lot of focus and sacrifice to succeed. - And even at that, I read somewhere that only 1 in every 34 restaurants stay open past the first year... how's that for job security?! But then again, I also read that there is an expected shortage of skilled chefs in my town for when the Olympics arrives here in 2010. That aside, I'm not sure if I have the discipline and ability to focus that the food industry demands. Generally I do things a little slowly, not exactly a fast-paced, hectic type of guy - but of course it seems like a daunting prospect to me right now - everything does, because I'm completely inexperienced, which is why I feel I need to go back to school.

(2) Trades - My parents, friends, and adults alike often profess the virtues of trades: Right now there is a lot of demand for skilled tradesmen, and because of this, you will always be in demand and be paid very well. I really enjoy the idea that the market for this career is very steady if not on the rise, because unlike many other careers out there, the market doesn't fluctuate so hugely - people always need plumbers, but they don't always need to go out to restaurants to eat fancy food. If your career falls under the category of the average person's basic necessities, then you'll always have a job. If it is considered a luxury, you might not. The types of trades that interest me are:

(a) Carpentry - I like that this one straddles that line between creativity/art and rules/business. There is always a correct way to build a cabinet, but when you take a step back and let creativity step in, the 'art' aspect can collide with the 'skill' side of it to make it pretty exciting and new. I do like the idea of creating something great (a wonderful wooden table, for example) from something that at its root is kind of boring. But because wood and tools and the workshop environment typically sort of bore me, I'm not sure if I would feel inspired or motivated enough to succeed in carpentry. I've never been the powertool-handyman type. But again, maybe that's simply because of inexperience.

(b) Plumbing - Another career that people always need, and that professionals get paid a lot to do and because of this, they have good job security and a steady income. Typically when someone thinks 'plumber', they get this automatic visual of an overweight dude bending over into an awkward space beneath an old sink, his buttcrack on display. Or else they picture that same dude fixing an old toilet or having a pipe of sewage bursting on his shirt (okay, maybe that last one's just what I used to picture) but the fact is that the job is in such demand that if you're good at what you do, your job is nothing like this. My uncle is a plumber, for example, and he has never had to work on a single used pipe in his whole life - the only jobs he does involve the installation of *new* pipes into buildings that haven't even finished being built yet. Then there is also the fact that your work environment would typically be a construction site. Doesn't exactly sound like my idea of a dream job, but then again you have your job security and your nice steady, hefty paycheque, so...



For now, these are all the things (that I can think of, at least) that I find interest me at all. I'm open to suggestions, and also I would love to hear your takes on jobs, careers, success and failure, goals, motivations, etc.



A couple questions that I ponder a lot lately:

(1) Success vs. Failure - I feel I've wasted a good deal of my 20 years here on Earth. And because of this, I feel less experienced than my colleagues, more prone to failure. But of course, you will never succeed if you don't try. But, some things seem to take too much effort that if you fail at them, you've wasted time and money and effort and can feel as if you're back at square one or even further back than that. What aspects do you personally look at when deciding whether or not something is worth investing the effort in?

(2) Goals vs. Personal Growth (or, Your career vs. You) - Is it better to (a) have a goal or career in mind, and then work hard and take the steps necessary to adapt to the demands of success in that career? Or, should you (b) try and figure out who you are at your core, your skills and strengths, and then pursue a career that utilizes those strengths and that you feel comfortable in?

(3) Money vs. Happiness - There are the classic quotes: "Money can't buy you happiness", "Do what you love and you will never have to work a day in your life", etc... I find that I am the type of person that honestly does not feel that money motivates me - not *excessive* money, anyways - enough to live in comfort is absolutely enough to satisfy my needs. But what if an emergency comes up and my parents need money for emergency surgery one day? That's where excessive money can come in handy - I don't like to live paycheque to paycheque. But I am good with saving money. How much pay is enough to be comfortable?

Thanks in advance for all your thoughts, experiences, insights, advice, hollow hopes, cynicisms, spirit-crushing truths, and further confusingly deep questions you will surely bring up that never even crossed my young oblivious mind yet.

Cheers, and seriously, I mean it: thank you to anyone who replies with anything at all. (Even if it's just a link to a funny video on ebaumsworld or something.)

-Scott.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

I am not the most experienced person when it comes to professions, as I am training for one myself (elementary school teacher), I can say a few things that I find important for myself ( I will direct them to you, but I believe them myself):

1. You do not have to be rich to be successful. Living a life of rich experiences, having a job that means something to you, and living comfortably within your economic means is what I would consider a successful life.

2. If you are going to have a family, choose the more stable job. You have more than yourself to worry about, so you want to be able to have a paycheck to contribute. If you are single and are planning to stay that way, at least in the near future, you have more options. If you know you can support yourself, go for the job that you like the best even though it may be a little more risky.

You sound like you could go either way on the options you have presented. What I really recommend is ask around, and see what people have to say that are in those professions. Maybe what they say will sway you one way or another. From what I hear, being a chef is VERY hard overall, because it is very fast-paced and job security is virtually nill. BUT, if you LOVE to cook, definitely check into it, but do not pay for culinary school unless you are positive you want to do that, as I hear it is very expensive.

That's all I have, hope it helps

 

[Jahn]

Interior Designer, specializing in Kitchens. Folks in Manhattan pay good money for people to walk in their kitchens, sniff at the horribleness, and rip up their floors to make way for that monster Viking range.

 

[mr_baseball_08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn Interior Designer, specializing in Kitchens. Folks in Manhattan pay good money for people to walk in their kitchens, sniff at the horribleness, and rip up their floors to make way for that monster Viking range.

Ah, Viking.. That was the competition to the company I interned with this summer (The Delfield Company).

Anyway, back on topic, I don't know how much carpentry work you've done but I'm not sure how well the money will be. I don't think it's quite what it used to be, and it's not a very stable job to have.

I just finished up and 4 feet x 4 feet country kitchen table made of solid red oak and I've invested somewhere close to 20-30 hours in just one table. Mix in the fact that it cost probably $60-70 for the wood and the fact that it's very tedious work, AND this kind of work bores you, you might want to look elsewhere. I just do it for fun little projects in my spare time, so that's always an option for ya too..

 

[Uncle Erik]

I've got a professional chef (occasionally on the Food Network) as a cousin, and it's a grind. For the hours involved, you don't make much even at the highest levels. I know a number of chefs and it is long, hard work. Only do it if you love it.

I'd go with being a plumber or electrician. The money is good and there's rarely a shortage of work. Set your own hours and you can work for yourself, too.

 

[ken36]

Join the Army and grow up fast.

 

[JahJahBinks]

Maybe male supermodel?

 

[zotjen]

Do what you love even if it means you won't make as much money as you could in another field. Most people wake up in the morning not wanting to get up and go to work. Imagine having a job where you can't wait to get to work every day.

If you love food then you should pursue a field related to that. Concern of the demands of being a chef shouldn't prevent you from pursuing it if it is what you really want to do. You should also explore other options in the culinary field. A woman I used to work with left my company and studied to become a pastry chef. She later realized that the restaurant industry was not for her and decided to open up her own business selling handmade chocolate and is now very successful.

 

[kingsqueak]

Do what you like to do...everyone says it and nothing has ever been more true.

Do NOT go into a field because of the money it represents. Example, my brother going to classes for computer networking. The guy just about puts his fist through his screen at the slightest problem surfing the web. I grabbed him and talked him out of doing networking finally. He has no personal fascination with the technology, not one bit. He's never used a computer for anything but a tool and couldn't care less how one works. Had he gone into networking, he would have been just another incompetent, angry network engineer. The only reason he was getting into it was for the money.

One thing I've figured out, having worked at least 40hrs/wk since I was 15, is to pick something you have a natural curiosity about.

I wanted to learn to cook so I worked my way up to being a chef. I wanted to learn construction, so I worked my way into that trade and learned framing, electric, masonry.

With both of those I learned that the working conditions are severe. Easy to handle when you're twenty, but just looked around and saw how beat up the guys in their forties were and decided to do something else. I walked away with skills that most people don't have and that will always pay off for me. I can always fall back into the trades or cooking if I really had to as well.

Quote:

Just to address your concern over working in a kitchen, don't waste money on a culinary degree without working in a restaurant first. Chef is probably one of the most physically demanding jobs I've ever worked. The pressure turning over 700 tickets in a night is insane and the heat in most kitchens can easily get to 120F at the grill. This is something a culinary school will NEVER teach you or ready you for. You should see if you can deal with this long before you decide to go to school for it.

I was also curious about sound engineering, as in front of house mixing. I got well into that too. I was a sound engineer and tour manager for a number of years. The downside there is that with the exception of maybe the top 50 guys in the entire field, it's very hard to make a steady living. Even then, you do so living out of a bus 10mos out of the year. It was a *great* job, I still miss it, but it didn't go with family life because of the constant traveling.

I got lucky in a way that my long time hobby of computers turned out to be a way to earn a living. Now I'm a full time systems architect.

My only regret in my path was that maybe I picked a trade that required too specific a location to live. I can't really make sufficient money doing what I do, or find a large enough job market without being near a major city. I really don't like urban/suburban living...I'd much prefer to live rurally.

The distilled advice I'd give there is that if you learn a commodity trade, something like auto mechanics, you can find work most anywhere. If you follow something with a more focused field, just consider the restrictions it may come with.

Follow your instincts, whatever drives your own curiosities is what you should pursue. If you aren't learning anything or challenging yourself, no matter what the field, you will be bored and implode from the frustration.