I’ve decided that in the next two to three weeks I will enter the job market full-time in a search for new employment. I will be leaving a brief 7 year stint in federal law enforcement for something a little better paying, a little less stressful and a lot more family friendly. I will no longer consider working nights, year after year with no end in sight. I will no longer work every weekend and I will no longer work holidays. Those desperate career days are over. Though my career is important to me I am tired of putting my family second and it is with this goal in mind that I have stuck through this MBA program, thick and thin, tough spots and all. I have earned this degree with them in mind, with my own freedom in mind. I am looking to go to work on my terms and I feel that I have the capacity at this point in my life to do so.
Okay so I am a career changer, I may not have all the requisite experience on the surface that some employers may be looking for, but here’s what I see. I see where I have earned a graduate level degree in general business management and administration, no small feat. I also see a seasoned professional with many crossover skills that are independent as to the discipline that I am currently working within.
For example, I don’t know anything about bottle cap making, but if a bottle cap manufacturing plant were looking for an operations manager do you think it would be easier for them to hire someone with operations management experience and education and then teach them about the bottle cap business? Or easier to promote a bottle cap assembler and send him to school and then allow him to feel his way through management until he gets up to speed? Personally I think the education and experience would go farther than the specific industry knowledge and that’s the type of logic I am counting on in this soon to be executed job search.
I know I’ve said in the past that I would no longer consider a job in IT. I’ve since changed my mind as I have come to realize that if I ever did decide to work in IT again it would more than likely be as a manager or project manager, not a technician. As such not only has the market changed since I was in IT but I have changed as well. The only constant in this life is that there is no constant.
Another career I am considering is in project management, I don’t really care what type of industry. I am a goal oriented, big picture kind of guy and I love reaching objectives and sorting through a challenge. From what I’ve read on project management I think I would excel at this.
I’ve also considered teaching, not just college but possibly entering the public or corporate training sector as well. As most of you know I’m positively passionate about education and it’s potential. I don’t think that this would be a waste of my time at all.
So that’s a start. I haven’t eliminated finance and accounting but truth be told this is still my weak point. This LSU stuff should help a lot but I feel inadequately prepared for accounting as a profession just yet.
As for security? Only if I find an employer who is willing to put me as the #1 security guy and pay me a stupid amount of money in the process. I’m kind of through with guns, badges, polyester and handcuffs for right now.
I do plan on reserving in law enforcement as a volunteer, but again I’ve decided that I’m at the point in my life where doing so will be on my terms…
So let the countdown begin…