How many of you gave up on a high-flying career? (employees, middle class)
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Yes, actually it is true, in fact, there are people who have even more than that in loans. And not just for med school. And no - I did not say "ALL" people owe that much in student loans.
I understand, I'm just saying it's an outlier that takes that much out in loans (especially outside of med school). It's definitely reasonable to say business school and law schools can come in around $125k, med school $200k-ish in loans.
I understand, I'm just saying it's an outlier that takes that much out in loans (especially outside of med school). It's definitely reasonable to say business school and law schools can come in around $125k, med school $200k-ish in loans.
Berkeley EE PhD program $30k/semester. Times 8 = $240k.
But please, it's off topic.
I gave up when in my undergrad I struggled with a glut of health issues that gave me a crap GPA. Even though I have good references from people I worked and currently work for, no good Masters program will accept me with the low gpa and no professor references. Would love to find a way to redeem myself, but how am I supposed to make up for all of that when on paper I don’t look anywhere near qualified.
Last edited by Prickly Pear; 04-27-2019 at 02:18 AM..
My high flying tech career peaked in my late-40s. I was chief architect on a project with a couple hundred engineers and then briefly a VP at my next company before the Great Recession killed it and Asian offshoring killed my industry sector. I spliced together the next decade coaching Asian companies. The metro Boston job market doesn't hire 50-something engineers unless they're an exact skill set match and nobody younger is available and it really doesn't hire 60-something engineers.
I left a career in high tech, where I hit a ceiling - no matter how good I was, I was not going to earn more. On top of that, the employment in that field was getting less and less dependable as I got older, due to age discrimination.
I took a 40% pay cut to move to an area with 20% lower COL to take a new career track - and I'll be making more than I was making before (net of COL adjustment) in three years. On top of that I'm getting PTO in my new career and 40 hour workweek.
In my old field I was never going to retire. But in my new field I actually can retire at 68.
Doing work you love that you are really good at is one of the greatest things you can get in life. If you find that then you don't give it up until you are ready to retire. I got my chance for a high tech job that I really loved in my early 40's and did that work until I retired from my company at 59, and then as a contractor until I was 62. I was way ahead of the learning curve so was left alone to do my job. I often felt like I was my own boss because for the most part all that counted was results. It paid well and I was treated well and I thrived on it. When I retired for good at 62 I left it all behind with no regrets.
Quote:
Originally Posted by buenos
How many of you gave up on a high-flying career?
Scientific, engineering, Hollywood, wall street, art, medical careers...
For example giving up on leading edge technology engineering for some more average engineering company. Or working in a famous top institution given up for a less known place.
I assume the reasons might be for moving to a lower cost of living or lower crime city, or have less stress or shorter working hours.
I'm in silicon valley (not too nice to live here), and want to move to a cheaper place with slower pace. Also my work is leading edge tech which is what I always wanted...
If you have been in a situation like that, what's your story?
Was it worth it in the long run? Any regrets?
What about the recent grads (5 years or less) who are making $75k+? Granted, my exposure has mainly been to financial and tech careers.
I'm old and it took a long time before I began making "comfortable" money.
75K with 5 years of experience is not a high flying career. Maybe because this is a HCOL area, but that is average. I wouldn't consider it high flying until at least 150k.
But, anyway, to answer the original question, yes I decided to stop climbing up the ladder because I wanted to enjoy life. Instead, I changed to a job with a lot less stress. I also started my own little business and even if I never make huge money from it, I am happy to maintain my current lifestyle. A big thing I noticed between my old workplace and the new one is how much healthier everyone looks and how much happier they are. Some people get off on working themselves to death, I am not one of them.
I turned down an extremely, ridiculously large amount of money I was offered in a modeling contract in 1989, so that I could finish nursing school & have a career that I could still be enjoying in my 50s & 60s.
I was lucky ... wait, no. I had worked extremely hard to even have been accepted into the nursing program: A teenage mom with a ninth grade education who starts at a community college with a GED, establishes a GPA & transfers to a university in a year?
Statistically nonexistent.
So I made what I thought was the responsible decision & I stayed in school. Graduated & was enjoying my 15th year of incredible work experience when SLAM! My youngest child, then age two, regressed into a permanently disabling disorder. I took time off to organize resources but soon discovered that I would be the resource.
Thirteen years ago & counting ...
Living below poverty level despite being an RN hurts worse than turning down the modeling contract but the irony that I would never work past age 36 anyway; is infuriating.
After a year or two into your career, you find that the workplace is not a meritocracy, Its a high school filled with politics, cronyism, and nepotism. Where you see the biggest idiots promoted up the chain with ridiculous fast success even if they FAILED in their previous positions. While the more qualified individuals are placed off into a corner or laid off.
If you're someone that expects just hard work, accountability, skills value to mean something today, you will QUICKLY give up on a "high flying career" under the current climate and just accept whatever hand you have been dealt unfortunately.
Hard work/value/skills has LITTLE return investment these days. Its all about connections. Its a superficial, shallow, extremely pathetic, brain dead society we live in as humans today
Last edited by DorianRo; 04-27-2019 at 03:08 PM..
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