Did you stay the course on your career or work life path?

[TheLooks]

I was at one time a prototype machinest. Very much discontented, so always had side hustles. Then for the last 5years in that trade I had a garage shop that My customers billed as a design shop.

When NAFTA offered to bankrupt me, I changed gears and became a commercial electrician. The pay was so low in AZ, I started a handyman side hustle that consumed My time and became a full time gig.

Then went sailing and installed instrumentation as other sailors learned of My skillset. Now as I move around, I find people still bring me out of retirement with everything car/RV related small jobs.

Never had a real plan, but I have had a full life.

I like that last line, I never had a plan, perfect.....

 

[Underboss]

So, as I stated I started as a tool and diemaker. Got into the music business on the road and realized there is much more out there. Moved to LA worked on some videos, then movies. Started a construction company and a hobby of building hot rods. During the construction company I started a cabinet shop because the shops I was using tended to never be ready on time.
While those two were running with incredible employees, I decided to open a hot rod shop. I built show cars and street driven hot rods and bikes. I also started an online hot rod parts store.
Somewhere in the middle of it all I began writing tech articles, at first for magazines then online websites.
I decided to partially retire and move back to NYC. A friend had a privtae lab and building inspection company. He was having a hard time trying to get an inspector with a certain certification. So I took the test, passed and went to work doing inspections in Brooklyn and mostly in Manhattan high rises.
That is where I was made an offer I could not refuse and took over the construction superintendents position to finish a 62 story building.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Let's see: got out of the Army in 1973 and got a job repairing car stereo systems. Six months later heard of an opening for an electronic technician at a local semiconductor manufacturer (in Silicon Valley) - with absolutely no experience, or knowledge, of digital IC's I applied and surprisingly got hired. A little over 2 years later that company got bought out by a larger one, and a friend recommended me to another company in the Valley - National Semiconductor. Got hired as an electronics tech in their digital design group. Spent the next 30+ years there, advancing from electronics tech to senior software engineer in their CAD Support group - supporting the software we used to design integrated circuits. All that with only a high school diploma and a few college classes. Then 2008 came around and got caught up in the massive layoffs so we simply retired - I was 57 at the time and got an awesome package so it made sense. About 2 years later National got bought out by their largest competitor - I like to think they couldn't survive without me!

 

[murphysranch]

I always wanted to be a veterinarian. Didn't make it into UC Davis. So I got my Master's in Food Science and worked in the food biz for many years. When I was 45, I reinvented myself and got a job as a Purchasing Manager at a Paul Allen-funded wireless internet access company. Ricochet (Metricom).

Sadly, they were great at their tech, but horrible at their "accounting". Got laid off. Did some consulting, a stint working in a Commercial Bakery, some odd jobs. Retired at 58.

 

[RobertE]

I always wanted to be a veterinarian. Didn't make it into UC Davis. So I got my Master's in Food Science and worked in the food biz for many years. When I was 45, I reinvented myself and got a job as a Purchasing Manager at a Paul Allen-funded wireless internet access company. Ricochet (Metricom).

Sadly, they were great at their tech, but horrible at their "accounting". Got laid off. Did some consulting, a stint working in a Commercial Bakery, some odd jobs. Retired at 58.

It pains me to say this, but depending on your age I’m not sure how much you may have missed. Vet medicine has veered from its mission and is slowly but surely going the way of human medicine - swallowed up by corporate owned and profit oriented. I suppose there will always be the small town vets, but with student debt and the new generation averse to ownership I fear rural areas will be without veterinary services. The large animal/farm situation is bad and getting worse.

Like you I had a goal (DVM), became obsessed with the pursuit but after a few setbacks I achieved it. Graduated in 83 total of 9 years in college with a whopping $20K in debt. I was able to put myself through undergrad with 20 hours/week student jobs, netting me $88/every 2 weeks. Hard to believe I lived on that.

43 years and counting, part time now, own my clinic, and people beg me not to retire. Yes, there have been times I thought I had a different calling, but overall my career has been very satisfying, both professionally and personally.

 

[T’sOVR&Explore]

Sorry to hear the vet regret. Two people that I had friendship awareness about through spouses were entering their own stand slone vet office path in the late 1990's and the "my territory" aspect at the vets they had worked for in their initial time after schooling was astounding.

The one who worked in the Orlando area had signed an employment agreement that agreed to not open a competing clinic within 150 miles if they left the employment at that clinic.

The second one, in Denver metro was similarly barred by the agreement they had accepted to get on somewhere and get started.

Kinda reminds me of the "barbershop mafia" in my not-to-be-named central Florida small town. New private (not a franchise) barbershop got firebombed after it opened in the late 80's here. Them "good ole boyz" didn't want any competition either!

These days, dogs are more than ever a family member. 30 something single women I know have meds for dogs on constant reorder, get them stomach anchoring surgery to fix "bloat" and will spend thousands on cancer surgeries. Big pharma can't help but notice and end up distorting what has become a sure thing, those steady sales being the golden goose...