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Author Topic: Update on my job situation  (Read 17048 times)

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Offline Ladislaus

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Re: Update on my job situation
« Reply #60 on: February 03, 2026, 08:41:40 AM »
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  • I think it hasn't been said. But the problem with switching to other job field. Is that they demand you experience for every job. It's difficult to start working on a new field these days because without experience you can't get a job, but you can't get experience without a job. It's a Catch-22 situation.

    So ... you CAN find some jobs where if you get the training and certification, and there's higher demand, and plenty of openings, you can get in.  Yeah, you'll initially take a paycut compared to where you might have ended up in IT after 30 years or so, but it's better than nothing, and it it's in a high-demand field where there's a shortage, the wages will go up quickly, as it's a laborer's market rather than employer's.

    You can use ChatGPT to help you work it out.  Just interrogate it.

    I'm looking for a career change, into a field where there are plenty of entry-level opportunities and decent pay (define exactly what you need) due to there being a shortage of qualified labor, something you could get into after a year or two of training (to get the necessary certification), and perhaps isn't TOO physically demanding.  You just have to find something that hits the criteria.

    Offline Ladislaus

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    Re: Update on my job situation
    « Reply #61 on: February 03, 2026, 08:44:39 AM »
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  • Same here. People make helpful suggestions, but either they are "way off" for me personally, for someone in my geographical area, for someone my age, someone with my family situation, someone with my skills and temperament, etc.
    I want to underline how long I've been a software dev, how long I've identified and worked successfully as a software dev, and how long (zero) I've ever considered other lines of work.
    It's crazy to me that this line of work isn't working anymore.

    It's like running out of food for the first time in your life, and someone lists off your possible courses of action: "we could go to the KFC dumpster, we could go forage for food in the woods, we could beg on the street for food" and you just throw up your hands, silently walk to your bedroom, and close the door -- because who could make such a decision? They all seem equally insane to you. If you indeed have to do one of those things, it's going to have to be later, because I can't right now.

    As mentioned earlier, perhaps interrogate ChatGPT as per above.  Give it your criteria, part of the country, likes or dislikes, look for high-demand fields that you can get trained relatively quickly in, where there are plenty of entry-level openings for decent pay, and then see what it can do for you.

    I've always enjoyed programming, and even if I do end up switching careers, I'd still do it on my own for "fun" .... a little bit, but it's also gotten old for me, and I'd relish a change where I'd feel I could be helping people a bit more directly.  It's alway uncomfortable to switch out of the "only thing I know", and I'm in the same boat, where IT has been the only thing I can do to earn a decent paycheck.