What do I want to be when I grow up?

I'm bringing up an old topic here, but thoughts of a career change keep popping up in my mind. About.com has this little true-false self-assessment quiz. It's kind of funny because if you answer true to any of the questions, it says you need to change your career. I answered true to most of the questions.

I believe the philosophy of " get a job doing what you love" is far too watered down for reality. There are a whole lot of jobs out there that no one would love to do. Somebody's got to do it. So I'm not looking for that 'perfect job'. I just don't think it exists, at least for me since I can't make up my mind anyway. I believe "love what you do" is far more achievable. It's all about a mindset and being content with what you have.

But what if I'm not content? What if I'm bored out of my gourd?

What I need to do is start my own assessment. Outline my likes and dislikes about my current career, consider what I enjoy doing outside of work, and maybe come up with a plan. So here goes...

What are aspect of my current job that I enjoy?

• I enjoy the freedom that comes with being a manager and I don't mind the responsibility or the fact that most of the crap seems to land on my desk. That's fine. I'm a big boy. I can deal with it.
• I like the diversity. There are a few menial tasks I have to do every day, but for the most part I get to choose what I do. The opportunity to do a lot of different things is available. Swinging a hammer, running a saw, making deliveries, etc. I even got to design again for a while.
• I know something about the construction and component manufacturing industry. To stop using all the knowledge I've accumulated over the last 8 years would seem like a waste.
• I enjoy dealing with people. Even more than I had first anticipated when I was moving into a management position. Going from a pure design job, which means being stuck in your own little world most of the day, to trying to get people out of their own little world, has been interesting, if not even enjoyable. Developing the mentality and skill to not let the angry customer or employee drag you into their anger has been a major achievement for me.
  
• I like the challenge of looking at plans and putting together the most effective way of getting it done. I got to do that as a designer, but as a production manager, I don't get to do that outside of our own production process. It's been something to set up new processes to get that work done, but now that those are set up, it's the same process for every job. Almost every job follows the same steps and anything out of the ordinary just skips a few steps. There is no real difference between projects and it's all handled by the people assigned to handle it. I perform a few of the steps, but I could hire a minimum wage assistant and have absolutely nothing to do.
  

What about things I enjoy outside of work?

What I've enjoyed doing in the past is audio/visual tech work for churches. It was entirely volunteer and didn't get terribly in depth, but I enjoyed it. Near the end of that, I was the requested tech for weddings. The thing about getting into this field as a professional and not starting at the bottom, is that it requires years of experience or something like an electronics engineering degree. Because I'm so mathematically challenged, and I'd be starting another baccalaureate at a different school, that doesn't sound so enticing. I'd rather spend that time getting my MBA.

Something that's kind of oddball that relates to the audio/visual field is DJing. I'm something of a musician, although I've been out of practice for too long. I like the music, mostly house mixes, dance, maybe a little techno. (I know, a 30 something white manager dude liking house music? ...weird. :) I like handling the equipment (TWSS) but I have no experience at all. Would I ever have the juevos to make the jump from production manager to DJ? Not so sure about that. Certainly not while I have kids that rely on me.


Now there is a field that involves both construction and audio/visual aspects, and that's designing and installing home theaters and conference setups for new construction. It's a pretty hot field right now, but again, it may require that electrical engineering training. Might have to look into that some more.

So where does that leave me after this wall of text?

If I want to switch careers without going back to school, it'll probably have to be within the construction field. If I stay in the construction field, it might have to be in a year or two. Changing jobs during a construction slump is probably not the greatest idea.

After writing all this out, maybe it'll put off those career change thoughts for a while.

Unless anyone wants to offer me a job...? :)