Making a career change from programming to...?

What about doing training in your field? High-tech companies have in-house training staff and also bring in contractors to train their workers, updating or expanding their skill sets. You might look into how some of the big networking companies handle training and what their requirements are for instructors.

When I worked for one of them, I had to take an annual quota of training courses, and I wasn’t an engineer. All employees had to take two basic courses in networking concepts, regardless of their job descriptions. In fact, we were encouraged to seek networking certification. It seems like there’d be opportunities there for someone with your knowledge and interests.

You might investigate freelance as a way of life. As a person skilled in tech, you may find that more to your liking. Less boring, more risky. You might find that job hunting will turn up a different kind of company to work for.

Follow your heart. What could possibly go wrong.

I am a developer as well.

Before going back to school and changing careers, you should try a different development job. In my experience, doing something you don’t enjoy and that wears you down isn’t worth it. Not all developers work in cubicles and not all developers work alone. I currently spend about half of my day collaborating with other people; plenty of interaction for me. As long as I get my hours in and my projects done, I get to choose my hours. What I’m saying is there is probably a job in software development that better meets your needs.

Are you involved in any user groups? I’m involved in both my local ruby and javascript programmers groups. I’ve found that getting together with other developers helps me avoid burnout. They are often looking for people to do presentations, which I think would also be a great way to see if you’d enjoy teaching others.

In that same vein, I joined toastmasters this year. I’ve started to enjoy getting up in front of people and practicing my public speaking. It could be another way to explore your options.

Lastly, you say that you really enjoy math. Have you thought about tutoring math on the side or volunteering in some way? When I was in college I volunteered at community center, teaching basic computer skills to people who were trying to get their GED.

@DaphneT I do some freelance work on the side, but as I said – even doing work at home isn’t as enjoyable and I think my current job probably has a lot to do with that. @phaedryx you make some great points, and I appreciate your opinion given that you are in the same field. I think you’re right in that I should probably try to explore my options in this field before I choose to make a change, and tutoring/volunteering is also a great suggestion. To be honest I never really thought of that, I think it would be nice to do something of that nature so I could get my “teaching fix”, without jumping too quickly into a career change.

I will try moving forward with this, and maybe in the near future I can re-evaluate where I’m at and see if my feelings have changed at all.

You might be able to get a job teaching a class in computer science as an adjunct at a community college while staying in your current field to explore whether teaching is for you. Some community colleges require a Master’s degree for adjunct; some don’t.

… to business requirement analysis. There’s more interaction with people and this is healthy.

Making a career change from programming to…Teaching programming, or text book writing. My JAVA textbook doesn’t make any sense to me past the first chapter. It’s all gobbledygook from chapter 2 on.