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by lhorie 1860 days ago
Honestly, I don't think age is an issue. My mom did a career change at 50. Your problem is grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side syndrome: you seem to think that if only you put in years of study into some field, it'll turn into your dream career. That's not how it works. Academia suckage is a well documented phenomenon; unless you're keenly aware of what that entails and are willing to tolerate all the BS that comes with it, you're just going to find yourself at the same spot you're in now: entering a field with starry eyes and being confronted with a reality that isn't so rosy.

For me, when looking for career advice, the one single piece of advice that served me very well is this: "Don't aim to do what you love, look for something you can tolerate". The idea is that if your approach to career choice involves romanticizing a profession, you're most likely ignoring its downsides (all professions have downsides) and you're setting yourself up for disappointment, whereas being brutally aware of all the suckiness factors means your opinion of the profession can only go up from there.
2 comments
mrleiter 1858 days ago
I agree with you. Yet I am not romanticizing a profession. The areas in which I have expertise in simply do not make me happy. I am happy, though, when I do something with maths or biology. So studying and working with it probably makes me happier than I am now. For me it's more about what I like/love doing, not a certain profession itself.

But thanks for pointing that out! And also for your advice.

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5bolts 1860 days ago
might also just be seperation anxiety from the academia environment/structure.

For the original question.. try to drift towards technology in the fields you're already experienced in?

Not familiar but I'm sure there are software programs for both business admin and the legal fields.. hell seems like there could be lots of crossover where a little programming knowledge but lots of the people skills could be beneficial.

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helph67 1860 days ago
> Not familiar but I'm sure there are software programs for both business admin and the legal fields.. hell seems like there could be lots of crossover where a little programming knowledge but lots of the people skills could be beneficial.

Agreed, mrleiter might consider programming in his current industry with ultimate move into those he prefers later.

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