Career related discussion/questions...
 

I'm having a bit of a quarter-life crisis, and was thinking that some people here would have good advice on this.

I have a degree in computer science, been doing web programming for about 4 years now. Its a great rewarding career path, but I've decided it's not for me. Got laid off from the venture capital firm I was working for, and I've been thinking about a career change. (Note, I didn't get laid off cause I sucked, it was cause they lost funding and got rid of all development staff...)

The eventual plan is to go back to school for Mech E. Didn't get in the U of MN for the fall, they were already full by the time they got all my stuff. Planning on transferring my application to the spring semester.

However, until then, I've been thinking of trying to get my foot in the door of the automotive (performance?) world. Anyone have some connections, or know if any local performance shops would be willing to hire someone with little experience? I'd be willing to lend my services as a web programmer if it would help to get my foot in the door, though I don't want a job solely doing that. I'm pretty experienced/good with working on my cars, just from working on my own. Done pretty much everything, and I'm pretty decent at it. I'm professional, extremely responsible and meticulous. I'm willing to step back a bit and be humbled for a while to get some experience.

Thanks for reading, and any help/advice anyone can provide.

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Thanks, I posted to see if that position is still open... Although it seems to be solely a website development position, which i'm sorta trying to avoid. But MAP is a solid company, and I'd bet they'd be flexible to me doing other things.

Edit: its been filled already.

I'm open to both part time and full time at this point. Benefits aren't required.

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not going to lie you really have to know someone or just get really lucky to get a job at a performance shop. and they are usually looking for people with a lot of experience. I called a handfull of shops after I graduated with an ast degree and an ase master certification and didn't have any luck so I gave up on that venture for now. I'm not trying to come off as an a-hole i'm just sharing my little bit of experience with trying to get into one of these shops

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What are you doing now?

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I like the automotive performance world as a hobby and plan on keeping it that way. There's lots of good IT jobs out there, just gotta search and schmooze. What kind of development do you do?

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X2

Keep searching and be patient. Maybe get any job you can right now to hold you over while you figure out your plan or while you are job searching.

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I'm a tech at a little 3 bay bp shop in shoreview

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A web programming job pays for a lot more car goodies than working your way up through the shop scene.

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i have an ME degree, and i'm still jobless if thats worth anything!

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I'm not sure if I was clear... I want to explore different career paths. If I wanted to have another development job, I would have had one the week after I got laid off. That isn't the case. I do have it as a fallback, and I don't absolutely loathe it, but I just know it isn't where my strengths lie.

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I mean wrenching isn't for everyone and I would much rather prefer working in the performance side of the industry for me it is still very rewarding when someone comes in with problems with their car and I can figure them out and fix them. if you love cars and love working on them and want to look at other career options I would recommend it. you'll prolly never be really rich wrenching but thats not why I do it

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We appear to be in the same boat. I am currently a webdev for an outfit in Savage. The pay is ok and I am good at what I do, but the work just is not something that I feel benefits my life or society. I've been going though some of the free online course work at MIT (http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/courses/courses/index.htm) trying to figure out what appeals to me. I would really like to be involved in R&D for the next phase of technology (something with advanced lightweight energy storage sounds beneficial to society).

I further echo Scheides in saying try not to force your hobbies into your source of income or you will feel nothing but pressure instead of enjoyment.

Off the cuff: have you thought of a degree in anthropology?

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Ah, I knew I wasn't alone :)

As for the forcing hobbies into income, I see where you're coming from, but it is a balance. I don't want to stifle my passions, but I also want to enjoy what I'm doing more. I'm just a mechanically minded person. I think deep down I am ok with not working with cars, but I'd like to engineer some sort of machine.

Anthropology would be really interesting... but what the hell would I do with that degree? :)

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Yea that's the catch... although you could probably get a nice grant for niche research like the study of modern cultural phenomena, for instants: how social networking influences cross generational communication, or how World of Warcraft effects breeding patterns of adolescents :hide:

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haha, that would actually be really interesting! I have always enjoyed understanding human interaction.

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Maybe you should go for sociology.

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eh, I want a career that has a better story for employment. And while its interesting on the surface, don't know if I could do it for my career.

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Get jobs that don't pay anything, but travel the world for free?

(My sister has an anthropology degree)

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I know a couple of people who have jobs that they love but don't get paid shit. They are women and don't care about the money, they enjoy what they do. I was engaged to one of them but couldn't stand the lack of motivation to become something better than a daycare worker. Other reasons also...

I would like to work a job I love but you have to consider the main reason you are working; for money. Find a job that pays well and you can stand working for a period of time.