Have you made a major career change in your life?

I went to law school in my fourties. I took early retirement from a large utility company.

Several. I went to college and met my then husband and we started a business together we both loved very much. Upon divorcing I didn’t have the resources to find someone as skilled as he to continue on and so made my first new start in order to just pay bills and then figure out how I was going to live life. From there I got into sales which I really enjoyed and would still be doing if my health would allow where I’m at but right now I need to find a new facet of sales. Right now I make less than ⅓ of what I made over a decade ago and cannot continue so yeah, I’m up for another change. Like so many people, if I had the resources to pay my responsibilities while re training or re schooling then that’s what I would do.

After graduating from high school I was suppose to go to college and play basketball. I ended up going a completely different direction and giving up sports and not attending school to pursue what I really wanted to do. I guess you can consider that a bit of a career change. Most people saw it as me essentially giving up school, hence giving up a career, but in reality I just happened to start my career 4 years earlier and training/educating myself in the field in other ways rather than sitting at a desk. I don’t regret a thing.

I’m actually in the process of making my major career change. I’ve been teaching since 2006 but I am going back to school in August to pursue a law degree. It’s been completely an internal change for me, though admittedly, I think if the organization I work for were run better, I might’ve stayed teaching longer. That said, I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since I was about 13 and I regret not going to law school when I was younger. I’ve spent pretty much the last four years of my ife in a state of limbo because I hated my job but didn’t want to give up the certainty of it for something that’s not a certainty, but I figure there’s no time like the present. Plus, statistically, law schools see more success from students who don’t go straight from undergrad to law school, so I think my life experience in a job I hated will help me in the long run. (It’s also helped me figure out what my concentration will be: juvenile and family law.)

@amazonqueenkate Good for you; I was in my fourties when I attended law school. I like the same areas as you do along with elder law.

Like Cincinatus, I’ve gone from soldiering to farming. Despite my educational level, my extremely poor social skills mandated that I find a career where informal socializing played little or no part. As an army officer, all interactions are governed by rules and regulations that can be memorized. I saw a great deal of the world (mostly the ugly and violent parts).
Approaching mandatory retirement, I returned to my farm, which has been in my family since 1783. As a farmer I have the luxury of choosing whether or not to socialize with others, it not being necessary to the occupation. I generally choose not to. I’m glad to help out my neighbors and community, but prefer to do it without social contact..

My plan of life was completely turned on its head last year. My life is now solitary and I prefrer it to remain that way. Fortunately I do not have to play social games with others to earn my daily bread. As long as the farm comes close to breaking even, I can afford to turn my back on the world.

I’m tinkering with completing my doctorate in history, but it is yet to seen whether this is just a dillitantish fantasy. The nature of academia has changed so much in the last 30 years. My obsolete research methods, lack of computer skills and aversion to working collaboratively may kill this project before it’s properly started.

Even the farm may degenerate into an old fart tinkering with wind turbines, solar panels and biodiesel, as even the minimal social interaction of directing farm labor is painfully irritating to me. If robotics were sufficiently developed to replace people on the farm, I’d be quite content. If my irritation at being around people gets worse, I’ll likely shut down the farm as a commercial venture and simply use the property as a hermitage, 650 acres can assure quite a bit of privacy.

I got my MLS degree and worked as a librarian before I had my kids, then for 13 years I worked as an a adminstrator in my family’s business because I could adjust the hours to my kids’ schedule better. Whne they got a bit older, the stresses of being in a family business overwhlemed me and I quit and went back to librarianship. Along the way, I also taught writing, wrote arts and book reviews and studied watercolor painting.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land It sounds like it would be a drag to find people to buy what you produce on your farm. I am considering farming and this is the most unappealing aspect of it to me – finding people to purchase your goods. How did you go about setting this up? Any tips?

@lilikoi We sell some of our products (such as maple syrup) through cooperatives. We’re organic-certified, which gives us an edge with high-end restaurants and specialty grocery stores. We don’t even attempt to sell to the big chain stores. We also do quite a bit of business at farmers markets, we sell to the stall-holders, not the consumer. We don’t bother with roadside stands, it’s really not worth the effort. The trick is to know your market and supply them with quality product. We have found a niche market in supplying Asian varieties of vegetables to Asian restaurants in the region, previously they had to import these at high cost or substitute local varieties that make for a less authentic cuisine. We’re currently experim,enting with various varieties of Chinese peppers in our greenhouses. The restaurant owners give us a lot of good feedback and we work with them to give them what they want. We’re also getting into the organic wool market, our current flock is 47, aiming eventually for 100. Our market is the handweavers producing an upscale product, the lanolin going to suppliers of natural skin-care products. Our biodiesel production yields glycerin as a byproduct, which we sell to soap manufacturers, mostly small “cottage” producers. One of our business philosophies is to buy local and sell local, trying to keep money in the local economy, rather than enriching some multinational giant.

@everyone Thank you so much for all your answers. I seem to get on fluther late and then I don’t see the answers till the next night. But thank you all. You all seem very brave to make these major life changes and I really appreciate the insights into how the experience has been for all of you.

I’ve had one already….. & am planning a second sometime in the next 2yrs.