I am currently working as a CDL truck driver (a career for some) but I completely hate it, and I cannot see myself making a career out of it. The only reason I get up and go to this job everyday is to pay the bills. I've been driving trucks professionally for about two years now, I drove just about all the equipment we had in my unit in the Army as a mechanic also. In two years I've worked for three different companies in two different states, so I know it's not just the company I don't enjoy.
My question for anyone who has been in my shoes is, what is the best way to pursue a career in another field that you have no experience with, while working full time? My reality is, I work eight to twelve hours everyday as a driver. We have no set time frame, except the 6am start time, and you 'work until the job is done'. Which makes it really hard to plan anything, like going back to school, working another job or even a doctor's visit. I have a bachelor's degree (music major) and the only other career skills I possess are mechanics (Army trained, no civilian experience or certifications) and CDL driving.
I feel like I've explored just about all of my career related interests except being a pilot which isn't realistic for me because I simply can't afford what it costs to pursue that. So I guess part two to my question would be, how do you find something you would be interested in, good at and enjoy doing for a career?
The hardest part of leaving this job, other than not liking it, is the fact that I'm very good at it. Unlike being a mechanic, that wasn't my "cup of tea". The life of a music major is one where you either make good money, or, you make no money. I made no money. It is a great hobby though and is something great to do on the side but I really need to figure out this career thing.
Answers
You could probably also play music for the elderly in nursing homes in your area, if you have your own music business, whilst keeping your other job of truck driving, part-time.
Maybe you could work for a K-12 school teaching music to kids. You could also consider teaching music to special needs kids. If that doesn't interest you, then you could purchase the book: What Color is Your Parachute? This book discusses careers.
Life is too short to work at a job you hate. Ozzy Osborne became a musician because he had the talent and could not see himself working at an auto horn factory....testing horns until he became deaf. Put the key in the door and say good by to truck driving. He are some of your possible outs:
Mechanic for fleet at a college....good benefits...work into your 60's...free tuition for you and your kids.
Mechanics for a fleet at a Cable TV operator.....or Cable TV Contractor....There is a contractor in your area looking for Techs....Google Craigslist Wilmington DE...Under jobs type in Cable TV...one says Techs needed for DE/MD...they offer company owned trucks...all Cable Ops have bucket trucks....get certification for buckets. That was my old industry before retirement.
Mechanic for DE National Guard...your GI points will help you get this civilian job.
Music even for my high school buddies have never paid the bills...including one good enough to be a sessions player for Nashville. Play it and make money on the weekends. Keep your day job as a mechanic.
Good luck.
You might try some self-paced technology course.
Any job worth having and paying good money will be driven by technology.
Many companies have a military sponsorship program.
Examples : http://military.microsoft.com/
http://military.microsoft.com/paths/
http://csr.cisco.com/casestudy/veterans-program
http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/careers/diversity/veterans-programs/overview/index.html
http://ibm-veterans.jobs/
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hpe/jobs/veterans.html
Being self-paced means you can work on it when you have free time, as long as you can get WIFI access. For example, on lunch break at Panera or McDonalds.
Check salary guide here :
https://www.roberthalf.com/workplace-research/salary-guides
If you wanted to be a Cyber-security engineer or an Artificial Intelligence analyst, you could make $200k per year on base salary.
Eric... foremost, "thank you" for your service.
Second, while it sounds like your worklife provides no time to explore options, what it suggests is that you need other resources to act on your behalf. Couple thoughts:
1) Are you on LinkedIn yet? If not, then get that set up; it's free ... and provides a myriad of options to leverage people and experience. Two examples:
> if you want to leverage your music major, you can type 'music' and 'Wilmington DE' into the keyword search fields and see what names pop up local to you where you live. From there, you can reach out and introduce yourself, being candid with your desire to seek a career ... and ask to set up a 5-10 min. phone call to solicit how they've done it. Not everyone will respond, but even if you get a couple, that's learning you didn't have before.
2) On a more whimsical, but potentially intriguing note - I typed 'Eric Livingston' into a general LinkedIn search agent - and no less than 61 profiles popped up, even one going to school at Delaware County Community College (nursing student). Admittedly, this is a more creative approach - but as you may be exploring multiple career fields - the 61 'Eric Livingston' profiles will provide you a breadth of industry options to learn about ... and who could resist getting a request from a same-named person (I couldn't...)
3) Finally, if you've not already seen... there were 2 questions previous to yours on ACP AdvisorNet (see below) where similar questions were posted; you may get some hints there:
> How do I find a career not a job / Thaddeus Fitzpatrick / Career Exploration / 24 answers
> Picking the RIGHT career / Ryan Brown / General / 14 answers
Hope these thoughts help ... given your long work hours, let others help you help yourself!
Hi Eric, great question and one that individuals are facing everywhere today as the job market keeps changing and becoming more complicated. A place for you to begin reflecting is a website that will allow you to learn about yourself and other careers that may align with your skills and goals. www.mynextmove.org is an easy to navigate site that will have you take a simple profile assessment of likes and dislikes and then suggest careers and jobs. It also shows skills required , pay scales etc. I's not a magic quick fix, but it would allow you an easy way to get the thought process going with your current schedule. Once you start to get some ideas of the fields/ jobs you want to pursue, you can come back with another question to the advisor community on how to do that. If you need any clarification to this answer, you can reach out to me separately at mtcottell55@gmail.com. Again, your situation is not unique and you can find new opportunities, just takes a little time and process work. Finally, thank you for your dedication and service to this great country. Best Regards, Mike
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