rant - dont' want to work

[ApatheticNoMore]

I guess I'll have to look for work more seriously soon. I suppose I'll probably end up having to move eventually for work. Now, I'm not even talking anything radical like move out of state or anything. I mean yea, it might come to that, but I'm not quite convinced it's that bad.

But I just mean move so I don't have an hour commute or something. It makes me sad when I have spent so much time working to build up my local community. But such is the way of the world, I know. Ironically I actually care and am passionate about building up local community and don't give a rats darn about my career. But yea I suppose I need to get out there earning money eventually (I don't have a dire need for it now, but what else is there, you know, I can't retire yet).

I'd like to do something different with my life (a different career), but such seems a HUGE undertaking. Absolutely massive and time consuming. And I feel very alone and unsupported in it. (trust me career counselors are worse than useless, I don't really recommend them to anyone. I could give you the two pieces of advice they give: 1) do informational interviewing 2) look at o*net and also look at what careers actually have want ads in the area - now THAT WILL BE $100 :D).

Maybe changing careers is some thing better done after I have a job (of course career type jobs exhaust you to the point you scarcely have any energy to but ....).

There is quite honestly nothing I look forward to in going back to work (well except in that earning income and saving money will beat living off savings :laff: - yea there is that - nothing else).

[leslieann]

I was struck by this line: Maybe changing careers is some thing better done after I have a job (of course career type jobs exhaust you to the point you scarcely have any energy to but ....).

I disagree! The jobs that exhaust you are the ones that you don't like, or have no interest in, or don't feel connected to. Career type jobs, if you love your career, are no more exhausting than other types of jobs.

You sound like a great candidate for self employment. Or maybe you really just don't know what you'd love to do! In your college courses thread, you said that you needed to go back to school but you didn't know exactly what you wanted to study.

I was exhausted in my career type job but it was because I was working at two of them at once, and commuting between cities weekly. I am grateful (so grateful) that I stuck out grad school lo those many years ago because my training/license gives me opportunities to work for myself. Trying to learn more about living simply/frugally also gives me opportunities to work less when I work for myself. The work itself is quite energizing and enjoyable.

What can you do for "work" that doesn't feel like that much work?

[poetry_writer]

I think what exhausts me is the merry go round of trying to find a job. I have worked many different types of jobs and have had a couple that I loved. I enjoy working but the endless routine of losing jobs in this economy, searching for months (or longer) for a job, the stupid approach to hiring many companies have...I am pooped! Thinking of doing volunteer work in the field that I love until I can find a paying job.

[puglogic]

Agree with LeslieAnn, I find doing something I love makes it not feel like work at all. At. All. That's the only kind of job I ever want any more, I've decided. And there are a thousand ways to make that happen, "bad economy" or not. Example: I started volunteering at the library because I am just gaga over books. They loved how dedicated I was to what I did, and they ended up hiring me. I wasn't even looking for a job, but I figured I was already there X hours a week, and could put the part-time income in my savings account. Don't awfulize about what might happen. You have no idea what tiny niche opportunities might be everywhere.

[kib]

Maybe you could be a career counsellor? Not too tough and I hear the salary's good. :~)

[ljevtich]

As someone that has had 4 completely different careers (and has finally found the one that works best for me), I can completely understand how you feel. If you can, do not just jump into something else. Instead, write down what you are interested in, what you like to do, what makes you happy. You like helping out in the community, see if you can volunteer at the community level. You might be able to move into a job first, then a career. But first, figure out what would be the thing to make you happy, then see what avenues are there for you. Do not spend money from someone else telling you what to do, go to the library and see about different careers there, as there are tons of books to help you. It is free and may be able to steer you in the right direction. Good luck and let us know here.

[leslieann]

kib, you make me laugh....

[leslieann]

It is probably ridiculously out of date now but I got a lot out of working the exercises from What Color Is My Parachute many years ago. I hadn't ever really thought that I got to choose my career, more that somebody had to like me enough to hire me.

I have just made another career shift (not really totally new but a different focus) and I am delighted with it. But I have been delighted with each of the jobs I've had since the mid-1990s when I got really clear that what I had been doing part time (teaching at the post-secondary level) was what I wanted to do full time. It took quite awhile but I got a full time gig at community college for some years, with part time clinical work, then a switch to a university for some years with part time clinical work, and now full time clinical work. Before that, though I worked in some jobs where things felt a lot harder. I found out that I really value autonomy in my work and that having someone hover over my shoulder gave me stomach pains and insomnia. Keeping those things in mind made finding the right work easier.

There is nothing like the feeling of being happy to go to work, even on a Monday, just as there is nothing like that awful dread that starts at lunchtime on Sunday if you hate your job. I agree with the idea of taking time to figure out what you really want (you know better than a career counselor, for sure).

[chord_ata]

Work is the best available match between economic interests and your own interests. Very few people get a perfect match.

My personal thought is to just go work at something you can get a job in, and let accidents guide you into another career. If it is not already obvious what you want to do, then do what you know. That working will keep you in motion to stumble against the alternatives you don't know about yet. Really messy, but more usual than deliberate carerr searching.

[ApatheticNoMore]

My personal thought is to just go work at something you can get a job in, and let accidents guide you into another career. If it is not already obvious what you want to do, then do what you know. That working will keep you in motion to stumble against the alternatives you don't know about yet. Really messy, but more usual than deliberate carerr searching.

This actually is how it tends to work from people I have met. The problem is the career jobs I have had have been so narrow that there is really not much *room* for accidents to happen (for minor switches yes, not for radical change - but needless to say radical change is what I want. Not some title change in the same department but something really new).

[Spartana]

Do a "cool" job: www.coolworks.com