Career Advice

[SParkes]

Hi guys,

My first post on this forum. Firstly I want to say how grateful I am to Steve for providing us all with a wealth of knowledge and information. I have read a lot of the articles he has written and they have pretty much all been very inspiring. They've helped me to focus on what I want to do in life and how to make it better, rather than moaning about how terrible it is and not doing anything about it!

I am looking for some advice on career changing though, maybe some of you are in the same position. I'm currently working as a Deskside Support Technician, which I have done for almost 2 years. I feel that I need a change now, as it's just not motivating me enough and I am becoming very bored & restless (I am writing this at work now!).

I am considering leaving my job and taking some time out to perhaps do some training in programming & games development - which is something that interests me a lot. I don't have much experience in programming though and am wondering how long it might take to get proficient enough in this to do it as a career. I'm just slightly worried I might leave my job and be stuck without a regular income for a while.

I've seen a few good courses online, has anyone had any experience in taking this kind of course through the Internet?

Sorry for the long post, just looking for some advice and I know you guys will be more than helpful!

Thanks,

Steve.

[mustard76]

You don't have to leave your job right away. It will pay the bills while you figure out what to do next. It's depressing to be unemployed when you don't know what you're going to do next. It would be better for you to make the leap when you have a plan that you are excited about.

Ask yourself if you want to do the training program for "programming & games development" because you are passionate about game development or you think this would just be a better job. Before you make any career moves, think about what type of job would motivate you to work hard and succeed. Listen to Steve Pavlina's podcast about finding your "purpose" in life. This podcast helped me.

How old are you? Honestly, it would have been very hard for me to find my passion in my 20's. Now that I'm 30, I have 10 years of work experience, so I've learned the hard way what I love to do. Don't feel bad about skipping from job to job if it helps you learn more skills and learn more about what you want to do. The worst thing you could do is stagnate in a job for 30 years.

I hope this helps.

[SParkes]

Cheers for the reply, appreciate it.

It is annoying though, I feel that the only thing I am certain about is that I want to leave this job but not certain about anything else i.e. what I want to do next!

The main reason I am interested in programming/games development is just because it's something that's always interested me. I did really well in programming at college, whilst everyone else just seemed to find it boring. I actually found it enjoyable because I was creating something from nothing and it felt like I was actually achieving something.

I'm 22 and this is really my first permanent job but rather than just jumping to another job for more money, I want to do something that I can really get passionate about. I'd love to be able to work from home and have more freedom but again, it's figuring out what to do.

I'll figure it out but it's nice to hear other people's views so I can get a different view on the situation.

[yoopersmith]

SParkes,

I am in a similiar situation with my job. I mostly don't like it, but I'm not sure what I want to do, but I want it to be something that I enjoy and can get excited about.

Programming seems like something you could dabble with in your spare time to "try it out". Maybe you could buy some used books on the cheap and learn enough about programming to write a game and see if you like it.

I agree that you might be better off keeping your current job, just to pay the bills until you figure out what you want to try next.

Hope this helps!

[SParkes]

I did actually buy a book on Python and have gone through some of that, which I found quite interesting. I've also done the basics of VB, Assembly (in college) and a very small amount of C.

I considered taking the online courses whilst staying at work but I really think I'd find it more beneficial to do it when I didn't have a job, to help me study more. My idea was to leave my job now, study for 2-3 months and see how that goes, also get my driving licence and see what happens from there...either try and get a job or work something else out. It's just putting it into action! Doesn't help when I'm no good at making decisions