Career change advice

[Aquaholic]

Electrician, there is always a ton of work great pay and with all the ev stations that'll be needed massive demand for the foreseeable future. or fo for any trade for that matter thru bcit.

A skilled trade could allow you to dabble in self employment to see if it is for you. Don't burn any bridges though.

 

[Derby]

Don’t be frightened to change jobs. Don’t be frightened to completely change your career direction. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 changes to find the right job, boss and company. When the boss asks you if you want more responsibility the answer should be yes. Try to trade up salary in increments of 20% if you can. There is endless opportunities for someone in your age group right now and you’ve got 30 years to build experience wealth and your career still. Differentiate yourself from others. People today seem to say no to added responsibility and tell companies how they will work. That’s placed power in the hands of the employee for sure, but, if you’re a guy who says ya ill help out…..I think employers are starting to see the value in that because it’s not the norm now. Don’t underestimate the value transferable skills. You might be able to go into a completely different job/industry with zero experience and find your previous skills give you an advantage or at least a foothold into a new one. Wish I was 30 again, I‘do everything differently. That’s a great time to start thinking about career change. Good luck.

What Pescador says.. Do be afraid of the job change and in this day in age if your will to put the time in and work hard you will get everything you want....

 

[Corey_lax]

Trades would be great. Come be a glazier. You’ll start at the high end of your current wage scale. The apprentice schooling is 6 weeks per year and you get EI while in school. Our top guys are making $40+ an hour, phones, benefits, auto allowance, etc.

 

[kaelc]

Hey guys,

I'm in my early 30s with a young family, and I have been stagnated at my current job for 12 years with zero progression. I'm making anywhere between 50-60k/year. Enough to survive and save a little, but not a lot left to make memories with the kids.

With the way the world has been headed, and how expensive everything is getting I feel like I need to make a serious change in order to give my family the lives they deserve.

Reason I'm making this post here is because this forum is composed mainly of west coast, Vancouver Island guys who I'm sure come from many different industries so it seems like a decent place to get some advice.
I'm not afraid of going back to school, and I'm not afraid of a long road as long the end result is setting my family up financially to enjoy anything they could ever want to do in their lives.

I love the ocean, and would love to work with or around the ocean but it seems like the aquaculture or hatchery industry doesnt pay any more than I make now. I was also on the workbc website and came across this career that seems to have some demand in the future. Does anyone here work in this type of industry?

Deck officers, water transport

Discover the career of your dreams. Explore 500 career profiles and get all the details you need, from job duties and wages to projected demand in your region.

www.workbc.ca

Have any of you guys made a change in your 30s? And if so do you have any career ideas that could be a smart move to make? I would love to work around the ocean but I'm open to anything. I'm not afraid of hard work or whatever it takes to change my families life.

Thanks for your time.

I would grab the book What Color is your Parachute and do the exercises. Really helps you navigate from where I am to where I want to go with my career. 30 is a great time to start over. I was about 28 when I did.

Love the ocean? Also family? Would you want to do multiple days away from home, or missing bedtimes? Tug boat and crewing on BC Ferries might not be for you or it could.

Are you good at working outside for 8 hours in the rain, or crammed into narrow spots? Construction or Electrical roles may or may not be for you.

Definitely agree with many of the roles mentioned, but really look inward do skills and interest inventory and talk with at least 5 people in the industry over a coffee before you think about making the move.

 

[Pippen]

We are always looking for good people in IT. We are constantly turning away work because we cannot find tech's.
This is true for all our customers and industries we work with. Specialize in neworks or security and you can make $100k + in a few years if your good. Lots of municpalites, governments, and school districts looking for IT people as well. Money is not as good there but better hours and pensions.
One thing about IT is there are jobs everywhere. I would love to work on the water but if life events forced you to move to say, the praries, then your job does not go with you. I can work from anywhere too. I have been on my boat fishing while on conference calls. Was on a video chat once and people were asking why is the horizon moving back and forth?

The other good thing is unless you are a tech physically going out to sites etc with the way the pandemic has changed the workspace you can work from anywhere. Not many companies are of the "butts in seats" mentality in a physical office anymore. I have been in healthcare IT for close about 20 years now and have worked from the home the bulk of the time and travelled a lot. Only times I had to go to a head office/office is often when we have an annual sales summit and everyone flies in.

I have a friend's son who is going to McGill next year for some computer engineering program and he will likely graduate into a $100K++ a year job and it will only go up from there; there will be NO shortage of jobs for him out there.

 

[kingblazer84]

I second the HVAC tech trade, they pay amazing and most have possibility of unions and a PENSION!!! thats the key word right there. If I wasnt so invested and red sealed in my current trade I would have switched long ago knowing what I know now about pay and opportunities.

 

[BC Coast Pilot]

Seafaring is a lifestyle. an officer on a Union tug can make between 100 to 250k but be prepared to be away for 120 days a year or more CCG less money and more days away with a 28 on and 28 off cycle. Takes a strong woman at your side. There's a level higher at Pilotage which pays better yet.
Maybe IT is your gig? Look at the hits you got on this query!

 

[kaelc]

I second the HVAC tech trade, they pay amazing and most have possibility of unions and a PENSION!!! thats the key word right there. If I wasnt so invested and red sealed in my current trade I would have switched long ago knowing what I know now about pay and opportunities.

HVAC would take you right now. With the subsidies on heat pumps it's crazy the demand.

 

[Reel Gone]

Like mentioned CCG doesn’t pay as well but they send you to training back east and pay your way, only trick is you have to sign a 2 yr agreement so they get the training cost back. You can then go to Sea Span or one of the other Tow companies that pay more.

 

[Bill 310]

So.... when you are considering things quite often the value of both the pension/retirement plans and post retirement health and dental benefits are not correctly analyzed.

There is no better retirement plan than a defined benefit tax payer funded pension. Think BC Ferries , the Province and the Feds.

If you are fluent in a second language don't forget Border Services,

Do some self research, read the books as suggested, and perhaps pay for a career counsellor.

Find something you like. Making good coin in a job you hate, is a good way to ruin your life.

 

[onefish]

Stay away from anything fish related.

 

[Aquaholic]

There is no better retirement plan than a defined benefit tax payer funded pension. Think BC Ferries , the Province and the Feds.

This is so true. Public sector careers. Almost recession proof. I had friends working at ICBC during the early 80s crunch, and they were still buying cars and getting mortgages while the rest of us were counting our pennies.

 

[Slabbedout]

Electrician, there is always a ton of work great pay and with all the ev stations that'll be needed massive demand for the foreseeable future. or fo for any trade for that matter thru bcit.

In my opinion, the market is flooded with electricians and in order to make 80+ a year you are either working away or a ton of OT. There is lots of work out there but I think a lot of the good paying jobs are harder to obtain.

 

[ab1752]

I can't get a network engineer to show up for under a buck 50 a year base plus up to 50 on performance, at the very least. When they do accept, the startups come in and throw 250 at them and it's rinse and repeat all over again. Most just stay as contractors and can easily bill 250 to 300 a year, no problem, running multiple projects in parallel. Very little hands on beyond power up, it's all remote beyond that.

One point about networking, its here to stay. Cloud infrastructure whatever, but the speed of light wins every time.

 

[cpony]

Pick a career you enjoy. I have never had a regular pay check in my life and my career isn't a high paying one. It's more about what you do with the money you make than how much you actually make. Semi retired at 55. I work to stay out of the house and have space from the wife which includes going fishing with her blessing.

Biggest thing was to mange any DEBT. If you need to carry debt, pay it off as quickly as possible. Now more than ever with interest rates staring to climb. Most on here did not go through the late 70's and 80's. They know what I'm talking about.

 

[Fishless]

This is so true. Public sector careers. Almost recession proof. I had friends working at ICBC during the early 80s crunch, and they were still buying cars and getting mortgages while the rest of us were counting our pennies.

Now is a great chance to get on with BC ferries,you may never get rich, if your t looking for stable career,family benefits,good pension etc,etc......that's where I would encourage my kids to try(although I don't have any)

Good luck with your ventures

 

[Foxsea]

I would second, third and fourth the skilled construction trade route. HVAC is a good one but I've been a carpenter for almost 50 years and would do it all over again. It's a creative job with lots of satisfaction. Oh, yeah - still working a bit - because I love it. And 'way over $50/hr. The only question I ever hear is "When can you start?"

 

[wildmanyeah]

You are not alone lots of people are changing jobs right now.

I actually hope there is a recession, it’s impossible to find people. It’s impossible to find parts, it’s impossible to find contractors

 

[dradons]

You are not alone lots of people are changing jobs right now.

I actually hope there is a recession, it’s impossible to find people. It’s impossible to find parts, it’s impossible to find contractors

Yeah, is dark as it sounds. I think we need a recession. Needs to be a rebalancing in the economy in a number of ways.

 

[kingblazer84]

Just don’t become a mechanic lol take it from me I am one well now a service manager but the auto field has been so saturated and too many “google” and “YouTube” pros out there have really damaged the industry.