Anyone ever successfully gotten *out* of IT?

[Bailey Guns]

I'm looking for an apprentice motorcycle mechanic. Low pay, long hours, no benefits...but at least the boss is an a$$h0le...

OK...but what's the downside? Gotta be a catch in there somewhere.

[Bailey Guns]

Just kicking around ideas.

Open to your thoughts.

Thanks.

My ex went to nursing school (2 year program...not even BSN) at 44. She makes $93k to $98k year now as a charge in a dialysis clinic in Lewiston/Clarkston...not even a mid-size market.

Daughter in law graduated from a nursing program maybe 5 or 6 years ago...mid 20s, little work experience. Started working for VA. She now has a Master's and is like #2 in charge of nurses for the VA in Alaska.

May not be your thing but might give someone else some ideas. And nursing isn't just a "girl" thing any more.

[Irving]

Have some friends that were cruising on a trust fund and they both went the nurse route in their late 30's and have been very successful since.

[fitterjohn]

Are jobs billed by time, or would you just be working 40 hour weeks and it breaks down to a $16/hr to start?

Its hourly pay. apprentice pay is a percentage of journeyman pay with a bump in precent every year until you turn out then once a journeyman you have level 1,2&3 pay. on the plus side school i pretty much free. I think the flat rate is more of a residential thing. or at least a none union thing

[MrPrena]

My boss from actual professional job told me this about 23 years ago.
Grass always greener on the other side.

[fitterjohn]

The grass is greenest where you water it

[cableguy11]

Anyone here ever decided they didn't want to do IT anymore and gotten out of it into something they actually enjoyed and still paid the bills?

Been in IT now for 5 years. Went from Service Desk to Desktop Support (I actually enjoyed this since I *fixed* things) to Network to Cybersecurity in a rapid succession. I was hungry.

I just don't care anymore. I don't make anything that I can point to at the end of the day. I don't care about the meetings, "mission", or the endless seeking after what is basically just a giant waste of time and bureaucratic kabuki theater. Pretty fed up with the lack of remote/telecommute yet *still* doing geographically diverse meetings and remotely logging into devices. I don't mind being onsite if it's actually necessary, but I pretty much hate it when it's not (and I know it's not). Maybe it's because I've been in the Energy (oil/gas) and DoD sectors my entire time in IT. Maybe private sector is better. I certainly enjoyed my time more in the private sector when working for an energy company.

Saw Roto-Rooter has it where an apprentice can make up to 55k/yr, trending up from there. That would be a significant paycut but might be interesting. Always been interested in Carpentry. Not into the idea of Electrical. Not sure about welding. I despise Unions.

Just kicking around ideas.

Open to your thoughts.

Thanks.

Do you work for a large business? Maybe you just need to downsize? Our IT guys do it all, cyber security, desk top support, communications, installation, maintenance the whole kabob. Not sure what they are making, but I assume it is not too bad. I would look at the local utility company. Lots of cyber assets and mandatory security compliance.

[CS1983]

Do you work for a large business? Maybe you just need to downsize? Our IT guys do it all, cyber security, desk top support, communications, installation, maintenance the whole kabob. Not sure what they are making, but I assume it is not too bad. I would look at the local utility company. Lots of cyber assets and mandatory security compliance.

DoD contract, currently.

I was on a smaller team when I was private side and we definitely did more and touched more things. I think part of my issue is I'm far too specialized now as an ISSO. No real variety. Holding out for a full time remote gig, if possible. But, here in the Springs much of what's available is DoD.

The problem with downsizing too much is one runs into the issue of being overworked/underpaid for it. Ideally, if I stay in IT (which probably will be the case, regardless of my random pining for swinging a hammer), I'd be with a company that's large enough to provide some variety without spiting Peter to pay Paul.

In general, if a team is handling everything, they're really sys admins who are letting security slip or doing the bare minimum at best. The private company I left after the M&A had just stood up their security team a few months prior to me hiring on. Reason? They previously had been handling security the way you described, and it was just inefficient. So the guy who had been treating security as an additional duty was able to convey the reasons *why* that was such a bad idea.