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The old career change advice topic... My turn this time.

4,035 Views | 32 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by evestor1
bam02
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AG
Howdy Ags!

I am in need of some serious advice. I got laid off almost a month ago after 11 years with my company. I worked in pharmaceutical sales and had a ton of success despite never truly enjoying it. I know I know its a job and jobs suck.

Anyway, I am truly drawn to a career where I work with my hands. It REALLY is important to me. I've always wanted that but my job was hard to walk away from. Plus... producing/working with something tangible is all I really know I want. I don't know exactly what I want to do or even can do. I keep thinking about construction and trying to get on with a home builder. I don't have any professional construction experience and would have to be trained. I have enough savings and severance to take a major pay cut for a year or more and would be willing to start at the bottom. I am confident I could quickly move up in responsibility.

Any suggestions or insight into getting into construction? I'd also value any other feedback or ideas.

Its crazy... In 22 years of work life I had never lost a job until now. I knew working in pharma it was inevitable and thought I would be really devastated and stressed when my time came, but I have never been happier and feel like now is my time to make a major change.
strohag
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AG
Become a plumber. Join the local union. Pay is good. There is a clean side of plumbing (new construction). There is a major shortage for plumbers. Get your hours in and get your license. It will be hard work but if you are serious about it there is a ton of money to be made.
stroodles
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strohag said:

Become a plumber. Join the local union. Pay is good. There is a clean side of plumbing (new construction). There is a major shortage for plumbers. Get your hours in and get your license. It will be hard work but if you are serious about it there is a ton of money to be made.


Only three things a plumber needs to know is **** rolls downhill, don't bite your fingernails, and payday is friday.
Southpaw 07
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Is there a particular reason to think plumber? If I were signing up for a licensed trade I think it would be Electrician>HVAC>>>>>Plumber.
UmustBKidding
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Why, according to my Fil a plumber, when the the toilet don't flush it's always an emergency. Never lack for work and never get put off until next week or payday.
strohag
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Cause Americans will never go without clean water and their waste water going away. I sell plumbing for a living. I deal with many plumbing company owners who are millionaires many times over. If i could do it all over again I'd go to A&M to get s business degree and work on a plumbing license while i was there.
bam02
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Ok thanks for the replies. Plumbing is not something I would have thought of. How soon can you become a master plumber in Texas?
PrestigeWorldwideAg12
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Either plumber or hvac technician. Not sure where you're located but holy crap the money in hvac.
IrishTxAggie
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I worked HVAC in college. I made more as an AC tech in college than I did with my first job out of college.
jtp01
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I went through something similar several years ago. Left construction after 13 years for the Ag industry. It was the best career move I ever made! Take some time to think through it and then once you have made up your mind, dive in and enjoy your work.
IrishTxAggie
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Mind if i ask what you do in Ag?
jtp01
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Telemetry for farming/dairies/feedyards. We connect entire farm operations to the web delivering data to ease Irrigation decisions.

We monitor, soil moisture conditions, weather, center pivot location, speed, water pressure etc.

We also control center pivots, Irrigation wells, chemigation systems all remotely on your phone or computer.

I cover Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and the western half of Arkansas and Louisiana
IrishTxAggie
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Gotcha. I'm in animal health and nutrition feed additives and water treatments.
CenterHillAg
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There's much more money than outsiders would ever believe in ag. It's hard work, but seasonal and very rewarding IMO. If you were to get in right now, I'd try for an operations or ag tech position, and let management know you'd be interested in a sales career track once you have a feel for the industry.
IrishTxAggie
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Huge generation gap in Ag. I'm 30 years old and I'm a division director for a company. Older guys don't want the added responsibility this late in their careers of a director level position and there Is a lack of people in that 40-55 range. I've worked my ass off, but in any other industry I'd be overlooked for "lack of experience" for my current position.
CenterHillAg
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Yep, it was the same way when I was in sales. At our location, two of us were in the top 5% for sales in our company by our mid-20's. It was humbling if not a little ridiculous how many job offers we had between us, all levels of sales jobs plus management positions. I got out and started in crop dusting, which is in about the same situation as far as age of pilots and job opportunities. It's a great time to be full of piss and vinegar in ag.
Green2Maroon
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What were your majors? I graduated Ag Business and it seems pretty frustrating so far, 7 years after college.
IrishTxAggie
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Poultry Science and a minor in Ag. Econ.. Worked poultry live production for 3.5yrs before getting a sales job and then just kept performing, networking, and making myself known and opportunities started presenting themselves.
Win At Life
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Might be good money in plumbing, HVAC or other trade, but the monotony of doing the same the over and over again may not give you the "satisfaction " of "working with your hands " that you think it might be. As you apparently "think" you enjoy working with your hands even though you've apparently never actually done it, it may not be as enjoyable as you're thinking it will be in the long run.

Seeing as you want to work with your hands and you think general construction is for you, I would consider flipping a house or two. That will give you a chance to do numerous simple things at the start and contract out the harder things initially until you see how they do things. You might also appreciate the design aspect of making improvement decisions to a property. You should at least recover the sweat equity of your efforts. After doing one or two of those and you decide one of the above trades is what you want to specialize in, then you can just stop flipping and move into that business.
CenterHillAg
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I graduated Ag Leadership, I wasn't a very good student. All of my connections and work experience were made while working on the Extension Research Farm all four years in college, that job was invaluable and gave me a big head start over my fellow fresh grads with a better degree and higher GPA, but no work experience.
notheranymore
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I'm in an unrelated industry but am attempting a career change as the anxiety of anticipating going back to my soul-crushing job tomorrow is suffocating. I hope you find something you love.
jtp01
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I graduated with an AGSM degree. It has been a good ride from me. I'm on my 3rd job out of college and feel like I'm generally respected among folks in the industries I've worked in.

I get calls 1-2 times per month from the construction industry asking if I'm interested in a return. Now in the Ag industry, I get calls 3-4 times per month asking if I'm interested in a change. It's funny how competition gets a feel for your results, they reach out checking for interest.
IrishTxAggie
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The recruiter/headhunter calls are a good thing, but dammit all I'm tired of some of these large firms putting kids fresh out of college on the Rolodex to call people on any opportunity w/o knowing our backgrounds. I lit into one kid's manager because he called me three times on three seperate positions in one week. All varying experience requirements and only one that truly pertained to my background, albeit for a position I would've taken 5 years ago. I even told the kid the first time he called that I need '$X' just to listen and none of them were even close! Pissed me off to no end and now that headhunter is blocked.
bam02
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Win At Life said:

Might be good money in plumbing, HVAC or other trade, but the monotony of doing the same the over and over again may not give you the "satisfaction " of "working with your hands " that you think it might be. As you apparently "think" you enjoy working with your hands even though you've apparently never actually done it, it may not be as enjoyable as you're thinking it will be in the long run.

Seeing as you want to work with your hands and you think general construction is for you, I would consider flipping a house or two. That will give you a chance to do numerous simple things at the start and contract out the harder things initially until you see how they do things. You might also appreciate the design aspect of making improvement decisions to a property. You should at least recover the sweat equity of your efforts. After doing one or two of those and you decide one of the above trades is what you want to specialize in, then you can just stop flipping and move into that business.
Thanks everyone for your replies and input. It is really appreciated.

This is a good suggestion and one that I have thought about before. I know there are plenty of people who flip a house and its out of their system. Maybe that would be me and maybe thats the best way to find out. Flipping houses or building houses is not really something that appeals to me as a career, but is something I'd like to try to just learn more about.

In the meantime I will be focused on trying to find a role within my current industry that fits my skills and priorities better.
Synopsis
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Southpaw 07 said:

Is there a particular reason to think plumber? If I were signing up for a licensed trade I think it would be Electrician>HVAC>>>>>Plumber.
Plumbers can make more than either of those two. Like others have said, when the plumbing doesn't work, it's the highest order of emergency.
BrazosDog02
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AG
Have you considered Roofing Sales? It will answer your money issue, but it probably wont be as hands on as you like. I assume you mean that you want to produce something rather than organize and assist a bunch of guys producing something? I find it very rewarding and with enough activity and parts to keep me entertained and not bored. It is also one of those things that it high priority when it needs fixing. TONS of money to be made with insurance jobs.
bam02
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Brazos,
Not specifically but something like that could be just right for me. I have something in the works right now that I think could be great, but I will keep this in mind. Very interesting.
BizBroker97
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Ever given any thought to buying an existing business? With your sales background you'd be surprised how many types of businesses you'd have the skillset to run, and you'd have the ability to explore a lot of different industries to find what you're really interested in doing.
bam02
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A little. I actually met with someone last week who markets/brokers franchises.

My ex-employer paid for 2 months of Right Management (outplacement) services. It has been surprisingly helpful. This guy have a presentation there.
HumbleAg04
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Stay in sales but find a product/industry you are passionate about. Leverage your previous success and experience.
Bird Poo
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AG
Aircraft mechanic? Majority of them are union, so you would have to deal with that shltty mentality, but it seems to pay good and you'll get to fly for free.
Arctic Ag
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OneNightW said:

Aircraft mechanic? Majority of them are union, so you would have to deal with that shltty mentality, but it seems to pay good and you'll get to fly for free.
That's a minimum of 2 years of school to get the needed paperwork trail for you to be able be hired for any company (big or small), unless you want to start out changing oil and replacing missing screws on training aircraft
MichaelJ
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Just spit balling here. But don't welders do well?

Seems to fit your criteria.
evestor1
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You are being pushed in the wrong direction here.


Become a professional golfer and use your hands 4 days per week. Your brain will be exercised the other 3 days counting winnings!

On a real note - outside of a few trades already mentioned...the most steady money is made by being hands-on as management and not the guy turning a wrench or hanging from a rope inside a tank. I send guys around the world making 5-7k per week with HS diplomas and they love it until they are "waiting for the next job" 12 weeks later.
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