When the storm finally clears, will there be a shore to paddle to?
January 21, 2015 10:16 PM Subscribe
The storm isn't over yet, and I am still in free-fall...but that can't last forever, right? I'm wondering what to do next. (Underemploymentfilter)
So, I have not really recovered from recent job/financial disaster...I have secured a part-to-sorta-fullish-time merchandising gig that still does not actually pay the bills. I make just under enough to barely survive. I'm working on that, taking on any extra work I can find.
In the meantime, I have my eye on the (hopefully) near future.
in 25+ years of working, I have yet to actually find anything rewarding or interesting. Generally, I have worked in merchandising and sales mostly. I am confident in my skills here, my abilities seem to have always been appreciated...but I can't say I have ever got anything out of it other than a modest pay check.
The problem is, I never have figured out what I want to do. Or, at least, what I may want to do is few and far between, and extremely specific.
I recently have tried to soul-search and imagine something I could see doing professionally and get paid for. All I could come up with is:
Audio editing and photo retouching/manipulation.
These are two things that I can spend hours doing, passionately. I actually do this just for fun when I have time, and I do wish I could make a living at it. But I tend to think it's just a pipe dream. Too specific, I worry.
I have no formal education in audio, I'm self taught. I did go to school for graphic design 15 years ago, but I didn't finish. In either case I don't see how I can get formally educated anytime soon. Also, I worry about attempting to enter any field at my age (41). Do entry level positions go to rookies in their forties?
Anyway, are these actual ideas?
Audio Editor - is this a thing? Photoshopper - is this a thing?
If so, how does one go about it?
Otherwise, I have no idea what to try and strive for if/when (if feels more accurate, sadly) I finally pull out of this employment nosedive.
I'd like to legitimately enjoy a career for once, and work be something more than a boring task that never gets me anywhere anyway.
So, I have not really recovered from recent job/financial disaster...I have secured a part-to-sorta-fullish-time merchandising gig that still does not actually pay the bills. I make just under enough to barely survive. I'm working on that, taking on any extra work I can find.
In the meantime, I have my eye on the (hopefully) near future.
in 25+ years of working, I have yet to actually find anything rewarding or interesting. Generally, I have worked in merchandising and sales mostly. I am confident in my skills here, my abilities seem to have always been appreciated...but I can't say I have ever got anything out of it other than a modest pay check.
The problem is, I never have figured out what I want to do. Or, at least, what I may want to do is few and far between, and extremely specific.
I recently have tried to soul-search and imagine something I could see doing professionally and get paid for. All I could come up with is:
Audio editing and photo retouching/manipulation.
These are two things that I can spend hours doing, passionately. I actually do this just for fun when I have time, and I do wish I could make a living at it. But I tend to think it's just a pipe dream. Too specific, I worry.
I have no formal education in audio, I'm self taught. I did go to school for graphic design 15 years ago, but I didn't finish. In either case I don't see how I can get formally educated anytime soon. Also, I worry about attempting to enter any field at my age (41). Do entry level positions go to rookies in their forties?
Anyway, are these actual ideas?
Audio Editor - is this a thing? Photoshopper - is this a thing?
If so, how does one go about it?
Otherwise, I have no idea what to try and strive for if/when (if feels more accurate, sadly) I finally pull out of this employment nosedive.
I'd like to legitimately enjoy a career for once, and work be something more than a boring task that never gets me anywhere anyway.
Feel for you and I've been there.
Sounds like two separate issues: how do you stay afloat right now, and what do you want to do that you can be passionate about?
Are there temp agencies in your area? Maybe do some intake interviews and sign up with a couple. Chatting about your skills with a new person who has a connection to the work world can make you feel better right away. Take whatever gigs they throw you, and see how it goes. You can always walk away if you're not happy.
I'm relating to you again on the audio-editing and Photoshop fronts. I do art as a freelancer, and it's definitely hard to get regular paying gigs -- marketing is such a big piece of it. But if you're good at selling, could you sell potential clients on your editing work? Just having Photoshop already is a big plus. Once you've got some kind of income, you could put together a promotional card with some samples of your retouching and your contact info, print them at Kinkos and mail them out.
If you have audio editing skills, you could work at a radio or television station. I work in radio for a company that could really use some reliable people for audio editing, news editing, and commercial production. Maybe put a resume together that focuses on those things specifically, and contact some stations. It couldn't hurt. Radio is one of those fields where, unless you have management aspirations, nobody cares whether you have a degree. You'd have to be willing to start at the bottom of the pay scale, but the environment rewards basic reliability and willingness to work a flexible schedule. It's also the kind of thing where you would end up learning more than one skill, making you even more valuable over time.
One more thought - these people are expensive, but if you had the scratch, I would recommend a life coach to help you suss out some possibilities for future gigs.
Eventually you'll have enough financial stability to start filling out the rest of your life -- hobbies, travel, etc. Your work life can just be your money source -- it doesn't necessarily have to be your passion. If you can combine them, though, so much the better.
You have tons of skills and abilities. Things go in cycles. You just came out of a dip, so you're due for a crest. Things will definitely get better -- hang in, and good luck!
posted by cartoonella at 1:14 AM on January 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sounds like two separate issues: how do you stay afloat right now, and what do you want to do that you can be passionate about?
Are there temp agencies in your area? Maybe do some intake interviews and sign up with a couple. Chatting about your skills with a new person who has a connection to the work world can make you feel better right away. Take whatever gigs they throw you, and see how it goes. You can always walk away if you're not happy.
I'm relating to you again on the audio-editing and Photoshop fronts. I do art as a freelancer, and it's definitely hard to get regular paying gigs -- marketing is such a big piece of it. But if you're good at selling, could you sell potential clients on your editing work? Just having Photoshop already is a big plus. Once you've got some kind of income, you could put together a promotional card with some samples of your retouching and your contact info, print them at Kinkos and mail them out.
If you have audio editing skills, you could work at a radio or television station. I work in radio for a company that could really use some reliable people for audio editing, news editing, and commercial production. Maybe put a resume together that focuses on those things specifically, and contact some stations. It couldn't hurt. Radio is one of those fields where, unless you have management aspirations, nobody cares whether you have a degree. You'd have to be willing to start at the bottom of the pay scale, but the environment rewards basic reliability and willingness to work a flexible schedule. It's also the kind of thing where you would end up learning more than one skill, making you even more valuable over time.
One more thought - these people are expensive, but if you had the scratch, I would recommend a life coach to help you suss out some possibilities for future gigs.
Eventually you'll have enough financial stability to start filling out the rest of your life -- hobbies, travel, etc. Your work life can just be your money source -- it doesn't necessarily have to be your passion. If you can combine them, though, so much the better.
You have tons of skills and abilities. Things go in cycles. You just came out of a dip, so you're due for a crest. Things will definitely get better -- hang in, and good luck!
posted by cartoonella at 1:14 AM on January 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Totally inside-the-box suggestion, but reading between the lines it sounds like you have 25 years of experience in sales but are still working entry-level positions? What would it take to get from where you are to where your bosses are? I mean, that is how most people go from barely getting by to making a comfortable living: not by picking a job that pays well from the start, but from moving up the hierarchy in whatever their chosen field is.
posted by drlith at 3:27 AM on January 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by drlith at 3:27 AM on January 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
You might consider looking for a generalist position with a smallish office or company where your diverse skill set would be appreciated. We have an admin at our office who was hired to do front desk stuff; turned out she really loved graphic design (not trained in it formally), and she started designing everyone's event flyers, web pages, informational emails, etc. Now she does that stuff for other offices in our college and she's taking classes in communications as well.
So, maybe you could get in the door in a sales/marketing position but branch out into "the guy/gal who puts together those funny customer voicemail promotion clips" or "who photoshops our way-out-of-date product photos to look contemporary" or something like that. My sense is that you don't need a lot of formal training in order for your skills to be useful to employers; you just have to be where the opportunity exists, and no one else has already taken on the task.
posted by helpthebear at 5:05 AM on January 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
So, maybe you could get in the door in a sales/marketing position but branch out into "the guy/gal who puts together those funny customer voicemail promotion clips" or "who photoshops our way-out-of-date product photos to look contemporary" or something like that. My sense is that you don't need a lot of formal training in order for your skills to be useful to employers; you just have to be where the opportunity exists, and no one else has already taken on the task.
posted by helpthebear at 5:05 AM on January 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you are skilled and fast with photo editing, there might be freelance retouching opportunities you could take on to see if it's something you're interested in as a career. Contact some mid-grade wedding photographers in the area and see if they have any guidance on what the field is like there.
Would your sales experience translate to auto sales? It's high stress work, but if you have the tempernent for it, it can give you a high enough income to enjoy life outside of work in ways low paying jobs can't.
posted by Candleman at 5:32 AM on January 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Would your sales experience translate to auto sales? It's high stress work, but if you have the tempernent for it, it can give you a high enough income to enjoy life outside of work in ways low paying jobs can't.
posted by Candleman at 5:32 AM on January 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hmm... I'm going to combine cartoonella and helpthebear's advice and suggest that you go to some temp agencies, but see if you can get any temp jobs you can leverage into a full-time position that would then allow you to move into graphics. You don't have to tell the temp agency this, of course, or you can--depending on how helpful they seem in that regard. I say this because I temped off and on for years, and I got offered a LOT of jobs. I wasn't looking for a permanent position at the time, so I usually turned them down, but there were many opportunities at different places and there would have been chances for me to move into a variety of areas. And a lot of places need someone to work on newsletters or other publications.
What happens is that once you are actually there, you are no longer random untested 40-something person looking for an entry-level graphics position but a real human whom they like who! oh my goodness! is there when you're needed to do a graphics thing! or an audio thing!
I temped in a huge variety of industries--shipping company, advertising, hospitals, public relations firms, paper company, the list just goes on and on. I won't lie--some of the jobs were dreadful and some of the offices had awful atmospheres, but just as many jobs were perfectly fine, and some I genuinely would have enjoyed taking a permanent job at if I'd been looking.
The key is to turn up and be professional. They'll be so excited to get someone who is even halfway competent that before you know it they'll be throwing work your way, and the good places will try to figure out what you are good at and what you want to do and push you in that direction. You might have to sit through some agonizing data entry or filing or other tedious jobs working under insane people now and again, but you'll get some good positions too.
Of course, it helps if you can start to identify some industries and positions that you might like that would use your skills/interests. Not necessarily to share with anyone else, but to give you a focus so you know what it is you're looking for.
At worst, it's something you can do to make some money while you build up freelance clientele or look for other positions you'd enjoy on the side.
posted by tiger tiger at 5:38 AM on January 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
What happens is that once you are actually there, you are no longer random untested 40-something person looking for an entry-level graphics position but a real human whom they like who! oh my goodness! is there when you're needed to do a graphics thing! or an audio thing!
I temped in a huge variety of industries--shipping company, advertising, hospitals, public relations firms, paper company, the list just goes on and on. I won't lie--some of the jobs were dreadful and some of the offices had awful atmospheres, but just as many jobs were perfectly fine, and some I genuinely would have enjoyed taking a permanent job at if I'd been looking.
The key is to turn up and be professional. They'll be so excited to get someone who is even halfway competent that before you know it they'll be throwing work your way, and the good places will try to figure out what you are good at and what you want to do and push you in that direction. You might have to sit through some agonizing data entry or filing or other tedious jobs working under insane people now and again, but you'll get some good positions too.
Of course, it helps if you can start to identify some industries and positions that you might like that would use your skills/interests. Not necessarily to share with anyone else, but to give you a focus so you know what it is you're looking for.
At worst, it's something you can do to make some money while you build up freelance clientele or look for other positions you'd enjoy on the side.
posted by tiger tiger at 5:38 AM on January 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
The idea that we need to be passionate about our jobs is bull. Its nice if passions and jobs align, but it's the edge case as best. Most of us have jobs we tolerate so we can get to the parts of our lives we really are passionate about (family, friends, hobbies...). I'd argue most of us never figure out what we want to do. I sure as hell haven't. However I've found something I sort of like most of the time, and I'm good enough at it to make a decent living.
Sales jobs are normally pretty easy to get. Stick with what you are good at, especially when you are teetering on the edge financially. When you have 6 months expenses banked you can chase the dream if you want.
posted by COD at 5:40 AM on January 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
Sales jobs are normally pretty easy to get. Stick with what you are good at, especially when you are teetering on the edge financially. When you have 6 months expenses banked you can chase the dream if you want.
posted by COD at 5:40 AM on January 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
I'm led to believe (from misc discussions in the muffwiggler forum) that it is very hard to break into audio production: tons of people willing to work for free or cheap in hopes of getting in the door, and as soon as they prove themselves and ask for money, they get shown the door and are replaced by the next work for free person.
On the other hand: if you're good with images, you might want to check out digital compositing in the movie/teevee biz. It's a different set of tools, but I suspect that if you know Photoshop, you shouldn't have much trouble learning something like Nuke.
posted by doctor tough love at 5:54 AM on January 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
On the other hand: if you're good with images, you might want to check out digital compositing in the movie/teevee biz. It's a different set of tools, but I suspect that if you know Photoshop, you shouldn't have much trouble learning something like Nuke.
posted by doctor tough love at 5:54 AM on January 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sell yourself. Create your brand, design a website with your work on it, and market yourself to small businesses and individuals for a modest price. Slowly build your business until you are the go-to person for advertising in your area. Once you have enough clients, you can sell yourself to a larger company for a more than entry level position. You have been playing with your art for decades now, slowly start throwing it out there on a facebook page and your website. Generate traffic and look for open doors and windows that you can jump through. One idea, offer a package- for a set price you will do however many fliers and ad designs and you will throw in a radio ad for free. Call your local stations and ask if they use a certain format. Call your local newspapers and ask what format they prefer to receive ads.
posted by myselfasme at 6:08 AM on January 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by myselfasme at 6:08 AM on January 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Investigate programs at your local public community college if you're in the US. They have a lot of programs for people who need training for new careers and they generally have a better sense of employment trends. You're young, 41 is young! I re-trained for my current occupation when I was in my fifties.
The US Dept. of Labor's Occupational Outlook website may help you to choose a possible career.
posted by mareli at 7:03 AM on January 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
The US Dept. of Labor's Occupational Outlook website may help you to choose a possible career.
posted by mareli at 7:03 AM on January 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Photoshopper - is this a thing?
fuck yes. And in fashion photography (even catalog work/easy non-billboard-or-cover-of vogue stuff) the starting rate for a freelancer is around $100 hr.
posted by sexyrobot at 7:18 AM on January 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
fuck yes. And in fashion photography (even catalog work/easy non-billboard-or-cover-of vogue stuff) the starting rate for a freelancer is around $100 hr.
posted by sexyrobot at 7:18 AM on January 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
I know someone who got enough freelance work doing wedding-photo touchups in Photoshop that she was able to quit her day job. The downside is that the work is highly seasonal: she's overwhelmed in late summer and twiddling her thumbs in the winter.
posted by yarntheory at 9:26 AM on January 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by yarntheory at 9:26 AM on January 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Photoshopper - is this a thing?
Totally. I was a PS hobbyist when I was in college and managed to get a gig doing hourly PS image correction work with an architectural photographer in my small town. Made very decent money on an hourly basis (around $20/hr) as a part-time supplement.
I didn't continue doing it after college, but my friend did who has followed that chain all the way up to having an adjunct faculty position in the art department of our college.
Find some really hi-res public domain images that have problems normally encountered with print images--dust spots, telephone lines blocking part of the field of view, blurry people walking by--and fix them. Build a little portfolio of a few before-and-after examples of your skills (like this). Email architects offices in your town and ask if they need image editing services on a contract basis. Beyond architects, see if there are archivists in your area who need similar services. And so on.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 11:06 AM on January 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Totally. I was a PS hobbyist when I was in college and managed to get a gig doing hourly PS image correction work with an architectural photographer in my small town. Made very decent money on an hourly basis (around $20/hr) as a part-time supplement.
I didn't continue doing it after college, but my friend did who has followed that chain all the way up to having an adjunct faculty position in the art department of our college.
Find some really hi-res public domain images that have problems normally encountered with print images--dust spots, telephone lines blocking part of the field of view, blurry people walking by--and fix them. Build a little portfolio of a few before-and-after examples of your skills (like this). Email architects offices in your town and ask if they need image editing services on a contract basis. Beyond architects, see if there are archivists in your area who need similar services. And so on.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 11:06 AM on January 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
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