If you had to find a new job today... what would you do?

[Matt S.]

A couple of months ago, I and a couple hundred other colleagues got laid off. Some of us had been at the company for about 6 years, and it was tough to go!

While I'd love to do exactly what I was doing before, it's a rare job and will be hard or impossible to replace--at least without moving out of state. But I ain't moving, at least not outside the area from roughly Oly to Everett.

I am trying to see this as an opportunity to find something else to do outside my old field... Obviously that poses its own challenges! So I was wondering... hypothetically speaking, if you lost your job and could not return to that field for some reason, what would you do?

[Grateful Diver]

I'd move to a third world country ... like Indonesia, Costa Rica or Florida ... and get a job as a scuba instructor.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Geek]

I would start my own business....

worked for me

[spatman]

i'd open a brewery/dive pub.

[Fishstiq]

i'd open a brewery/dive pub.

With a charter.

[ORDiver]

i'd open a brewery/dive pub.

With a charter.

I'd drive the charter boat for Matt and help drink the beer.

[selkie]

i'd open a brewery/dive pub.

With a charter.

I'd drive the charter boat for Matt and help drink the beer.

I'd DM for Matt and stay away from the beer because someone has to be sober.

[dwashbur]

Hi Matt,
I'm in pretty much the same boat. I've been a househusband for 20 years and my wife just divorced me. I've been clear out of the workforce for over 10 years, and at my age nobody wants to help me start over. If you come up with any REAL ideas, unlike the delightful hijacking you've seen so far feel free to share.

[spatman]

If you come up with any REAL ideas, unlike the delightful hijacking you've seen so far feel free to share.

hey now, my idea is real. just needs some venture capital.

[Linedog]

Having worked 30+ years in the telecommunication field, with the last 5 being my busiest ever. If I had to go somewhere else I would pick the medical field. We are all getting older ya know, and nobody get out alive.

[Joshua Smith]

I would start my own business....

worked for me

That's exactly what happened to me. Fortunately, I was already well on the way to being a general contractor. I just needed a license and bond to make it legal.

[sitkadiver]

i'd open a brewery/dive pub.

Several years ago some friends and I were talking about doing this very thing. We were going to call it The Dive, decorate the walls with vintage gear and nets etc... Only carry good micro brews and have a limited menu with alder smoked fish and burgers and the like.

I moved to Seattle in 2002 and one of the first places I went looking for a job was 'The Jolly Roger Tap Room' on 15th and Leary. It was almost exactly what my buddies and I had invisioned. It's moved since then, but I still have fantasies about apple smoke onion rings and the home made sauces they make. I would love to open something like that on a beach somewhere.

Since I quit working there and moved back to Alaska I've heard they moved the brewery to somewhere in Fremont, I'll have to look 'em up next time I'm town.

And if anyone ever stops in there for some of the best beer ever - please tell them that Chops says hello.

Also, one my buds did open a brewery here in Sitka with his wife, very limited supplies, but it's good enough that they keep selling out!!

[airsix]

Okay, this one is off the wall, but I've always wanted to build human powered vehicles for the physically challenged who want to go fast. I look at wheelchairs (even racing chairs) and think "that wouldn't do." The other thing I'd love to so is build custom prosthetics. Truly custom. Like hot-rod custom. Bad-ass prosthetics. Rat-rod, steam-punk, carbon-fiber and heim-joints... whatever they want. I know there is a person out there who has lost a limb, feels like **** about it, and might feel a little better if their prosthetic had some cool factor. I know it isn't for everybody, but it might cheer up the right person.

[sitkadiver]

Having worked 30+ years in the telecommunication field, with the last 5 being my busiest ever. If I had to go somewhere else I would pick the medical field. We are all getting older ya know, and nobody get out alive.

Matt,

I wasn't trying to hijack, was being serious and fanciful all at once.

The medical field is a great option, but you will have to get the schooling of course(3-4yrs counting pre-reqs)

My wife is an RN and she easily makes way more than I do working in law enforcement. Even counting my side job of diving in the harbors.

One of the great things about being a nurse is that you have TONS of options. My wife started doing patient care in a CCU and then branched out into flight nursing. She loved flying all over Alaska going to places that most people can't find on a map. She went back to OR stuff and is in management. There is such a shortage of qualified medical professionals that it seems their wages are only going up and up and up and if nurses, techs don't like what they're doing they can just shift gears into another specialty or department. I know there are lots of medical folks are this board who could give you better advice if that's what you decide. Washington is full of health care options - they everything there.

And remember to hang in there. We've all lost jobs at some point in our lives, it's a bummer of an ego bruiser, but there is always something else out there.

[H20doctor]

Id look into jobs that are economy proof.. Heating and airconditioning, comercial refrigeration ... Plumbing, electrical.. Etc.. Etc... Or start you own company doing what you love too do.. I'm self employed and I would never go back to work for a company.. There is also an internet based business

[Geek]

Hi Matt,
I'm in pretty much the same boat. I've been a househusband for 20 years and my wife just divorced me. I've been clear out of the workforce for over 10 years, and at my age nobody wants to help me start over. If you come up with any REAL ideas, unlike the delightful hijacking you've seen so far feel free to share.

If you think I was hijacking...... maybe you should think outside the box, I make 4x more now than I did working for someone else and I can take a nap under my desk when I want to

[dwashbur]

Hi Matt,
I'm in pretty much the same boat. I've been a househusband for 20 years and my wife just divorced me. I've been clear out of the workforce for over 10 years, and at my age nobody wants to help me start over. If you come up with any REAL ideas, unlike the delightful hijacking you've seen so far feel free to share.

If you think I was hijacking...... maybe you should think outside the box, I make 4x more now than I did working for someone else and I can take a nap under my desk when I want to

I wasn't necessarily talking about you. Whatsa matter? Gotta guilty conscience????? Seriously, what kind of business?

The talk about the dive pub made my ears perk up. My idea is a little different: I'd like to open a dueling-piano based restaurant that's family friendly, i.e. the humor is basically clean. I love the stuff they do at places like Chopsticks and 88 Keys, but I'd like to have a broader clientele and focus more on food than on the bar (though still offer drinks). My problem is, I'd have to focus on the music end of things, since that's where my abilities are, so I'd need to hire somebody who really knows the restaurant business to operate that part. But I can dream......

[ArcticDiver]

As some of you know I've been blessed with several good paying jobs/xarreers over the years. Here is what I've found.

>Do you like the people in the job? Some josbs pay well and are interesting but they draw people who you wouldn'' take home to your pet skunk.
>Is it a Job? Or, does it have potential to be a Career? Big difference.
>Is it satisfyiing?
>Can you handle the slave work to become qualified at the journeyman level?
>Is it hard enough and expensive enough to get into that once you are qualified some minimally qualified person isn't going to bump you out?
>Are the skills and the knowledge good building blocks for something else downstream?
>Can you make enough money to make the effort worthwhile?
>It is generally better to be unemployed than underemployed>

This is just a start. But should give you the flavor of what is involved. Most of all: Do Something! Don't think too long. Do Something, Nearly Anything.

[Blaiz]

I'm not really qualified to speak about the education opportunities for a pharmacy technician here in washington, but I took an adult continuing education course of 18 week duration to become a pharmacy tech in California. After my own divorce/layoff/homelessness hit (yeah that was a bad week) I transferred my license up to washington. It doesn't pay as well as most nurses and such make, but it also wouldn't take you 3-4 years plus pre-reqs.

[blt2go]

Well, I was/am in the same boat here. I am finally starting A job tomorrow after a year of unemployment. It pays 2/3 of what I was making before and about 1/2 of what I made going to sea (during the '90s) but at least it is A job.

I would love to do the brewpub/dive shop thang too, I am a home brewer and diver (who hasn't been able to afford to dive lately)

[ArcticDiver]

Each of my career changes came out of the blue and was because of someone I knew and who knew I was looking for something new and different. Each was something that was sort of but not directly related to something I had already done. A couple meant I had to go back to school. But, so what? Until the last couple years I've been taking one kind of class or another most of my life. In fact I'm taking a Bicycle Mechanic Class at the local U right now. Squared away my first drive train last week, repaired and adjusted brakes and trued wheels tonight. it is amazing the people I'm meeting in the class. Who knows, I don't think so right now, but it might result in a new at least part time career.

One tiime i took a class at the local community college. As part of the class I did research on different businesses. One of the businesses liked my research so much they hired me and then other similar clients just seemed to fall into place.


I guess I'm saying don''t worry too much about a specific job or career(different things) but more about being out in the community and willing to try just about anything. Amazing what will find you.

[Matt S.]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

The job I lost was game designer/lead writer for a big-budget video game--the project was canceled and we all got laid off. (I think it had something to do with the project dragging out for 6 years and never delivering anything? Nah, couldn't be...)

Anyway, if you know of someone who needs a game designer, writer, or web site content manager please let them know I am available. I'd love to find a smaller company where I could be a jack-of-all-trades, but those positions are darned hard to find.

I don't know that I have the energy to start my OWN business right now. I've been down that road once before! Maybe I will start writing a novel like everyone keeps telling me to.

[selkie]

Maybe I will start writing a novel like everyone keeps telling me to.

Now that's a novel idea!

[scottsax]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

The job I lost was game designer/lead writer for a big-budget video game--the project was canceled and we all got laid off. (I think it had something to do with the project dragging out for 6 years and never delivering anything? Nah, couldn't be...)

Anyway, if you know of someone who needs a game designer, writer, or web site content manager please let them know I am available. I'd love to find a smaller company where I could be a jack-of-all-trades, but those positions are darned hard to find.

I don't know that I have the energy to start my OWN business right now. I've been down that road once before! Maybe I will start writing a novel like everyone keeps telling me to.

You worked on vaporware? So exciting!

The healthcare call wasn't a bad one, particularly for an IT-minded project manager/developer. Even more so if you have experience with Lean/Agile/Scrum development. If you go to work for a non-profit like Group Health or Regence you can become part of corporate America with your counter-culture conscience clean. (Or at least it's easier to rationalize.)

With Health Care Reform, there are new requirements for electronic medical records, and insurers and providers are likely frantically looking for people to help design, build, and maintain those databases. It's not as sexy and exciting as game design, but you'll likely get good benefits!

[Blaiz]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

The job I lost was game designer/lead writer for a big-budget video game--the project was canceled and we all got laid off. (I think it had something to do with the project dragging out for 6 years and never delivering anything? Nah, couldn't be...)

Anyway, if you know of someone who needs a game designer, writer, or web site content manager please let them know I am available. I'd love to find a smaller company where I could be a jack-of-all-trades, but those positions are darned hard to find.

I don't know that I have the energy to start my OWN business right now. I've been down that road once before! Maybe I will start writing a novel like everyone keeps telling me to.

If they called off Diablo3, I'm breaking some kneecaps