Thread: Thinking about a career change...

number one, stick with your current job, we are in for tough times ahead ...

number two, invest in some good tools and perhaps try furniture restoraton.....you could take an evening french polishing course etc at a tafe near you and pick up some tips ....or alternatively make your own pieces and sell them in markets/ebay etc, the opportunites are endless, but until you gain both knowledge and experiance as well as a customer base, should you quit your job, you will find yourself in a hole real quick ...by all means start off part time ....you will know when its time to change .....have patience .....good luck

G'day Atregent,

I faced the same thing a few years ago - ended up staying and don't regret it. My pretty good salary enables me to fund some nice 'toys' and I get enough enjoyment out of woodworking to cover the bad days at work. And if I get one of those days where the knees don't work too well I can still put in a good days work. I admit I still enjoy the work although my focus has changed from purely tech to mix of tech and management. Now I find more satisfaction from guiding younger people, giving them what they need to develop and watching their progress.

Not saying you should stay put, but it worked ok for me.

Cheers,
Adam

That's actually something I was thinking about. I could drop to 4 days a week in my current job, and maybe find a 1 day a week part time position. My other half thinks this is not a too bad idea, if I can organise it.

I am also 37. I am also a software developer, not sure what you mean by a pretty decent salary, but lets say I am earning a OK salary. I love building furniture. So we are pretty much the same.

BUT there is no way, no way I would consider making a career change.

To me woodwork is most enjoyable when it is a hobby. Once it became a job then all the fun will disappear very quickly. More importantly I need the money to feed the family and pay off the mortgage.

The idea is not crazy but it is not realistic at this stage of my life.

Anthony,
One thing to be careful of is that you don't turn a hobby you love into a job you end up hating.

With a woodworking hobby, you can take your time, fiddle about, walk away from it for a while if it's frustrating you ... with a woodworking job, you have to get things done on time and on budget and you can't fiddle about or walk away and take a break (well you can, but you won't get paid for it).

Just something to think about.

That's a good point Adam. I can afford to buy some pretty decent toys at the moment, and I'm in the process of building (well, planning at the moment) a workshop for myself. None of which I could afford if I packed it in with my current job.

Glad to see I'm not the only programmer who loves wood. If I could have my time over, I'd definately do a trade, but that ship has sailed now.

I take your point Vernon, I like to take my time, fiddle, tweak, adjust, sit back and admire. If things just won't go right, I can walk away and do something else for a while.

Perhaps it's just a mid life crisis. I should go buy a Porsche or Harley...

I'm also in the IT industry and have been for more than 30 years. I haven't liked the work for some time but the money is hard to beat.
While I would love to be able to work with wood or metal, there is no way I could earn a reasonable wage doing work in either field and given my age,
I doubt I'll ever get enough experience to be able to change that.
Still, retirement is not that far away and then I can spend a bit of time doing what I enjoy without worrying too much about how it pays.

Originally Posted by atregent

Glad to see I'm not the only programmer who loves wood.

...

Perhaps it's just a mid life crisis. I should go buy a Porsche or Harley...

Don't you worry, there are plenty of us here. More than you think.


Re Porsche, I can afford one but I have 2 daughters.

Originally Posted by atregent

Glad to see I'm not the only programmer who loves wood.

You'd be surprised how may IT people play with wood in their spare time. My (psychologist) sister explained it all to me one day, way over my head, but it made perfect sense at the time.

And I agree that it's better as a hobby then work - work, in essense is necessary not optional.

Cheers,
Adam

Beat me to it Wongo, guess I type too slow.

Woodworking as a career doesn't pay very well generally.

Woodwork is usually not lucrative enough to buy the nice tools you could afford if you kept your current occupation and became a serious hobby woodworker instead.

The odd exceptions you read about in mags are usually people with a passion for woodwork combined with years of experience who found a nice niche product/range.

Originally Posted by Chumley

My (psychologist) sister explained it all to me one day, way over my head, but it made perfect sense at the time.

My psychologist explained it to me too but I think he is

I think the attraction to wood, or other forms of artistic endeavour, is that everyone can appreciate what you've made. I can spend weeks on getting some code working perfectly, running efficiently and looking elegant, but no one can see that side of it. The end user only really notices when something goes wrong. If they say nothing, that's about as good as it gets.

Build a nice table, with a smooth mirror like finish and some fancy dovetail drawers, and everyone comments on how great it is.

Echidna, I think you've said exactly what I knew deep down inside, but was really hoping wasn't true...

Originally Posted by Wongo

Don't you worry, there are plenty of us here. More than you think.

Wongo, I fixed your spelling mistake there (not many I have met are pretty)

Originally Posted by Wongo

Re Porsche, I can afford one but I have 2 daughters.

Yeah tell me about it, I had to sell the MG....

Originally Posted by Chumley

You'd be surprised how may IT people play with wood in their spare time. My (psychologist) sister explained it all to me one day, way over my head, but it made perfect sense at the time.

Software development is a creative avenue, but there isnt anything physical from the expenditure of the creative effort, so we need a creative outlet that has a physical result. Well thats my excuse and im sticking to it

as they said above, stick with the job to fund your toll addiction.