When the Going Gets Tough...

When you find yourself out of work and you have financial responsibilities you can whine, go broke, use your resourcefulness to reinvent yourself and go in another direction. I chose the latter. Not that I didn't whine a little, but I put most of my energy into reinvention.

I spent most of my career doing technical management. When the bottom fell out of the economy there didn't seem to be many jobs available for that kind of management. When times are tough companies tend to spend their resources on those positions that are required to keep the doors open. Technical management is typically something that can be done in the periphery by operations managers, although not very well. Technical management positions usually enhance the customer experience and contribute to product improvement. When a company is trying to stay afloat these are issues that can wait. I get that. If I had it to do all over again, I might chose a career path more in line with operations rather than maintenance or technical logistics.

During this job search one of the biggest changes I have noticed is the lean to specialization. I know it has been discussed but it seems to be the rule rather than the exception. Most potential employers are looking for an individual who has experience with a specific software platform or experience within a specific industry or role within an industry. For example, I have a very solid foundation and broad knowledge of maintenance management. This background could easily translate to many industries. Maintenance management is more about techniques that improve efficiency and reduce downtime and less about what nut to turn or circuit to tweak. However, most companies want maintenance managers that have experience in their specific industry. This is grounded in the need for an understanding of the regulation and requirements that are necessary for that specific industry.

The big collapse dislocated a lot of people, managers included. Finding a position with equal pay became difficult. At some point you must agree to taking less just to keep your head above water. You could remain determined and starve for a few months, taking the risk that your credit rating or worse your house might disappear into the mist or you can look inward and determine what other opportunities interest you. Once again, I chose the latter.

Considering my options, there are plenty of retail sales positions available. Unfortunately they pay very little and I don't care much for dealing with people all day. There are life insurance sales positions. Today they are called "financial planners". Sounds more palatable and necessary but it still equates to the same thing. I didn't give that much consideration. Spreading doom and gloom for the sake of making a buck just isn't my cup of joe. Don't get me wrong. Life insurance is necessary so you should go get some. That is as close to life insurance sales as I will ever get. "Would you like fries with that?" is more appealing to me. And based on my track record with sales probably has better income potential. My boys can sell. They have the sales gene. Silver tongued devils. I have always considered them little devils. Only following their majority did I add the silver-tongued part.

I found openings in the transportation industry. Once again I needed specialized experience I didn't have. Although I knew my management background would prove valuable if given the opportunity, I couldn't get past first base because I had no first hand knowledge of transportation. I knew that the wheels on the bus go round and round, I can identify a semi-tractor two out of three times, and I had experience pulling mobile homes from a previous life. In addition the government would pay for the necessary training. My reinvention began.

There are lots of opportunities to drive trucks and it is a great entry point into the transportation industry. Mind you, I am not looking to start another career. Truth be told, if someone were to ofer me $200K I would retire tomorrow, comfortably. I am looking only for a job that will keep us afloat until I can exercise my exit from the work-a-day world. I have planned it and worked toward my final promotion to retirement and it is just around the corner.

Trucking will be a significant change in lifestyle because I will be out away from my wife and my home for weeks at a time. Hopefully, this will be for a reasonably short period. Possibly within the first year I will have the necessary experience to get a gig that will get me home more frequently. Honestly, buy my groceries, pay my mortgage and route me through the house.

This installment was supposed to be about creating opportunity where none seemed to exist. I seem to be having trouble maintaining that theme. Maybe there is more to consider than can be written about in a single installment. After all, when changing career paths the effect on your life and those in your life must be considered. The effect it will have on your plans for the future must be taken into account. You are a damned fool if you haven't set acheivable goals for yourself. If you have twenty or thirty years before you retire you have time to put a whole new career in place and make of it what you can. If you are like me and have ten years tops but plan to retire in five your approach is going to be a bit different. Regardless you better know where you want to be and have a workable plan to get there. My needs are simple. Protect my credit scores to enable the purchase of a motorhome so we can spend more time with family and seeing places we want to see. If I need to make a few bucks here and there I can write any place I can charge the batteries on my laptop. Once again, "Welcome to Walmart" is probably not the position for me.

Till Later, maybe then I can pull some of these thoughts together into a sensible conclusion.