   How to change careers?
  I have a friend who is a unix sysadmin.  He's really burned out and wants to change to a different field.  He doesn't want to go back to school, start a business, or freelance.  He wants a secure steady job that pays the same doing something different, maybe even something entirely unrelated to computers.  Anyone have any suggestions?  Anyone using a comp sci degree to do something different?   
  Tell him he can have my job selling car parts to disgruntled ignorant poor people who can't speak English, smell like vomit, and have never brushed their teeth. He'll enjoy getting paid minimum wage while putting up with the dredges of society and the ever gready minimizing optimizing maximizing corporation.Yup, Automotive Retail sounds like the place for him.In return. I'll take his job as a sys admin. Least his cs degree pays him more than 15k a year :PSeriously though, if he wants another job he should think really hard what he wants to do. Then apply to do it. The job market as it is right now however, he shouldn't be complaining.   ;  Landscaping?  I've often thought that shoveling dirt would be more exciting than some IT work...   ;  I tried to move from my current career in game dev and realised that the salary drop was impossible for me. Basically you can do what you want, pretty much, as long as you're willing to drop onto a low rung on your "career of choice". Obviously, there are exceptions; such as being able to prove a technical/craft/etc skill will get you further up the ladder. Basically I'd say we can do anything, just don't expect the same pay :)   ;  Lumberjack?Crab-fishing (crabing??).I'm totally serious. I wanted to be a lumberjack (with MSc in Engineering), but it's hardly possible here, but I guess it's possible in Canada.I was actually thinking about crab-fishing too (like on Discovery Ch).I bet he would get nice salaries with these jobs. And these will make him a real (hu)man (and he will get to know himself for sure). I highly recommend at least thinking about these.   ;Quote:Original post by sunandshadowHe doesn't want to go back to school, start a business, or freelance.The economy still sucks, so it's difficult, if not impossible, to do it without going back to school.CNC programmer.  This is more like "hand coding" a website than programming, but basically you guide a cutting tool through a 3d field using a lot of 3d math.  There isn't a degree for this field, just a few weeks of classes and a certificate.Medical lab scientist. This one again requires a 4 year degree, but there are accelerated programs available.  If you think nursing has high demand, MLS beats nursing and you don't have to deal with patients.  Basically you load blood and other body parts into machines and send the results back to doctors.  If he went to school recently and has a lot of lab sciences, there are ways to get a cert instead of a degree.  Like nursing, the cert is more important than the degree.There's also Cisco routing, since he's already got a good grasp on networking, being a *nix guy.   ;Quote:CNC programmer.  This is more like "hand coding" a website than programming, but basically you guide a cutting tool through a 3d field using a lot of 3d math.  There isn't a degree for this field, just a few weeks of classes and a certificate.Ah, nice to have a programming position without degree requirement. Hmm, wonder how much the few weeks training can cover 'lots of 3d math' for a development position dependent on it. Quote:Medical lab scientist. This one again requires a 4 year degree, but there are accelerated programs available.  If you think nursing has high demand, MLS beats nursing and you don't have to deal with patients.  Basically you load blood and other body parts into machines and send the results back to doctors.  If he went to school recently and has a lot of lab sciences, there are ways to get a cert instead of a degree.  Like nursing, the cert is more important than the degree.Do they really give that title? My biology (4 year degree) friend working as a lab tech with similar roles is still yet to have a 'scientist' title.Quote:There's also Cisco routing, since he's already got a good grasp on networking, being a *nix guy.Might this position be named Cisco Router.   ;Quote:Original post by szecsI was actually thinking about crab-fishing too (like on Discovery Ch).When I was younger, I worked on a fishing boat for something like half a year. Sounds interesting in theory, sucks hard in practice.;Quote:Original post by Yann LQuote:Original post by szecsI was actually thinking about crab-fishing too (like on Discovery Ch).When I was younger, I worked on a fishing boat for something like half a year. Sounds interesting in theory, sucks hard in practice.May I ask how old you were then?   ;Quote:Original post by szecsQuote:Original post by Yann LWhen I was younger, I worked on a fishing boat for something like half a year. Sounds interesting in theory, sucks hard in practice.May I ask how old you were then?About 21, 22, something like that. The captain was a real asshole, so maybe I just got unlucky. Anyway, it's hard work, you're working long hours, you're freezing your ass off all day (especially with the cold weather and rough sea over here), and uhm well, chicks usually don't like guys who smell like fish when they come home ;) The main reason I quit was my boss though.Oh well, was an experience.If you want to do something like that, go ahead, but have an exit plan ready. It's harder than it looks on Discovery Channel...