Career change at 30

Agähnim · 12-25-2014, 02:52 PM

I'm in a bit of a bind here. I've been doing a/c work for over 7 years now but, having done sports and working physically demanding jobs over the years has finally caught up to me. I've been having some serious back issues over the past year and this past Saturday it was at it's worst. I had to take a week off of work and had some scans done (still waiting for the report) but, I can't see myself continuing on this career path for the next 25+ years. The last thing I want is to have any kind of permanent damage. I even managed to miss out on holiday pay as our company states you have to work the day before or after to be eligible for holiday pay -_-

One reason why I like this line of work is due to the fact that I get to work by myself most of the time and have little to no customer/employee interactions (commercial a/c). I'm not sure what other jobs are out there with that kind of job description but, I really don't have much to fall back on. I was a ramp agent (loading/offloading planes) after high school and from there I went on to a/c work. I thought about truck driving but I don't think my back will favor that too much.

I was fortunate to pay my house and car off, so I'm not trying to chase the highest paying job and I don't even care if it's full time. I'm at the point where I just want to find something I can enjoy and not have it take a toll on my body.

Just curious to see if any of you have suggestions on jobs out there that I should look into.

CessnaDriver · 12-25-2014, 03:02 PM

What are the industries in your area?
Are there vocational schools? Sometimes there
are low cost ones, California has Regional Occupational Training ROP for instance.
Probably will have to do things in stages.
Start with some schooling, may have to work for free for a while to get experience, take an entry level position
that pays low and keep training so you can move higher over time. If you can keep doing your job for now for a while you could get some night classes going. Rarely there is a short cut to a different career without doing this
kind of stuff.

ONEYE · 12-25-2014, 03:11 PM

Join the military.

risingstar · 12-25-2014, 03:21 PM

Have you considered a management position in your line of work? In other words, a job where you can delegate.

CessnaDriver · 12-25-2014, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ONEYE

Join the military.

I don't think that's an option with his back issue.

**MONSTER** · 12-25-2014, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by risingstar

Have you considered a management position in your line of work? In other words, a job where you can delegate.

This is exactly what I was thinking. You already are ahead of most having your house paid off by age 30. That's super impressive.

Underdog07 · 12-25-2014, 07:36 PM

Start your own a/c business. This follows on what RS and Monster were saying. You have the experience. Getting financing propobably would not be hard. Then you are in charge and you can manage operate the business more than doing physical labor.

Underdog07 · 12-25-2014, 07:37 PM

And 30 is not too old to start a completely different line of work.

WickedlNl · 12-25-2014, 11:17 PM

Hey im quitting my job next year and ill be 30, of corse you can make the switch, just gotta find what you like. And to all those people thinking they missed their boat when they were younger, think again:

Sharkey · 12-26-2014, 01:54 AM

Dang man, congrats on having the house paid at 30! That is super impressive!

I know some of your struggle right now, I'm trying to move careers atm as well and trying to find something that I am interested in that pays the bills is tough without taking a major payout for me (software engineer atm, trying to move into system administration).