a new direction

[Dmoney]

So all these new jobs have got me thinking.
I've worked in broadcast for a number of years and I have broadcast engineering based degree.
I've done some systems integration and worked on some small projects by myself, but the past few years i've been working in with compression systems as an operational engineer rather than from a design/build perspective.

im bored of it. im actually bored of everything. people keep telling me to make a change but I have no idea what i want or what I even enjoy anymore, so its impossible to plan a change with anything in mind. I'm going to loose my job in a few years, so now there is a time limit on me figure this stuff out.

any random advice? i have no clue what to do.

[MDV]

This may seem trite and obvious to the point of useless, but you just have to try something, take some (rational, evaluated) risks. We cant tell you what to do, but you have to take the chance to do something you think you can or will like when you see it.

I was in a similar situation a little over a year ago when I worked in Nuclear: I knew I didnt want to do what I was doing, didnt know what I wanted to do. Took a chance on audio engineering when the opportunity came up. Not the safe thing to do, but who wants to look back on a life of safe decisions, and I'm doing fine and am much happier now :)

[Dmoney]

yeah. I do keep looking around albeit online mainly just and stuff, just to see what takes my fancy. i don't even really feel like i have a hobby that i could switch up into some kind of job. I actually had an evaluation in work recently were i told my boss i had no interest in my job, and even less interest in working towards progressing into other areas of my job. I don't dislike my job, im indifferent. I do however realize that indifference is a better than hating it. my boss told me he thought I'd actually been improving in work, so he was happy... go figure!

I'll keep on the lookout. maybe try some working holidays and keep looking at random job websites.

[FELINEGUITARS]

I think also if you are generally feeling disenchanted with life on all fronts it is very tough to make a rational decision on work related stuff.
Feeling "meh!" isn't a good place to work from as you might just feel indifferent about everything that pops up.
It may be that finding some satisfaction in what you do outside of work - or rediscovering a passion  can restore some sort of balance.

Then look at how to transfer skill-sets in a work capacity.

The trouble with vocation based jobs is that they often fail to satisfy certain financial sides - unless your vocation is banking or something like that, but they do tick a lot of other boxes

[juansolo]

If you work to live (rather than live to work) and the job though uninteresting, brings home plenty bacon, then supplement the the dull money making side of your life with things you enjoy. Basically hit your hobbies hard and make the most of them.

It seems rare for someone to have a job they enjoy that also pays well. So you just have to find a balance, as Jon says.

[Philly Q]

If you work to live (rather than live to work) and the job though uninteresting, brings home plenty bacon, then supplement the the dull money making side of your life with things you enjoy. Basically hit your hobbies hard and make the most of them.

It seems rare for someone to have a job they enjoy that also pays well. So you just have to find a balance, as Jon says.

I can only echo what John says here and Jon says above.

I'm generally pretty disenchanted with life, never enjoyed my job much but I've never known what else to do instead and at least financially I'm OK (until I'm pensionable age, but then we'll all be down the sh!tter so let's not go there....).

Very, very few people get to make a living - much less a comfortable one - doing something they really love.

But Mark is right too, if you do get a chance to do something you truly enjoy then you should take it.  That's if you know what it is you actually want to do!

Sorry, that wasn't any help at all, was it?  Just random scribbling.  :roll:

[Dmoney]

my job is dull but the people I work with are all awesome, so I enjoy being around the people I work with even if they aren't the type of people I'd hang out with outside work. The job itself has got more and more dull as years have gone on. Mainly due to technology changes and how my role has changed from being an engineer to an over qualified trained monkey. In a few years im going to loose my job at the BBC, and then I'll probably have to move house to find something new.

I do enjoy the money and I also get 9 days off in a row every 6 weeks or so. I also prefer it to a 9 - 5 monday to friday. This means I have some spare cash and time but at the moment I don't use either.

At the moment, playing the guitar really depresses me. I think because I feel i need something to be working on and I don't have one, at the same time the idea of putting a band together freaks me out too and I cant think of anything to work on by myself. My job allows me to tour etc pretty easily. I'd like to do a band again but i have idea what kind or who with.

my only other hobby is building amps, but i'm really at the bottom end of knowledge on that subject. Once I build one I don't feel like i could sell it for its actually worth and they also take up lots of space! I don't know if its the same with building pedals Juansolo, but It's probably easier for some to invest in a quality built pedal for £100+ than to spend £800+ on a potential death trap built some random guy. So i think I should curb the amp building to stuff for myself.

[juansolo]

Much as I'd like it to be, the pedal building isn't ever going to be more than a self sustaining hobby. To be fair I'm back in the red again in that respect anyhow so it's not even that :) luckily I love doing it.

[gwEm]

but It's probably easier for some to invest in a quality built pedal for £100+ than to spend £800+ on a potential death trap built some random guy. So i think I should curb the amp building to stuff for myself.

thats being negative man - i'd seriously consider buying one of your amps if it was my cup of tea

[Dmoney]

Much as I'd like it to be, the pedal building isn't ever going to be more than a self sustaining hobby. To be fair I'm back in the red again in that respect anyhow so it's not even that :) luckily I love doing it.

Thats cool, but i mean you've sold stuff to a few people on here and you must build a few things at a time right? So it seems to me you get the odd thing out of your house.

At the moment I have a gutted laney chassis I could turn into a lot of different things. I don't mind doing that but I don't have the space to keep building new amps, especially not if i have to keep moving around london to pokey little flats. I also don't gig them cos i'm not in a band, so i take satisfaction in building them and it usually means I learning something doing it but then they get added to the furniture. I've actually been thinking hard about making this build the last one for the foreseeable future.

[juansolo]

Oh yeah, I've a table full of stuff on the go, a few enclosures currently curing and a load of parts on the way. So plenty happening. The good news being that there's about 5 pedals that are for other people in progress, which should pay for the nigh on £300 worth of bits I've ordered lately ;)

[Roobubba]

I'm feeling very down again at the moment. Last year it got really really bad about this time, worse than it's ever been before. I got some professional help then in the form of CBT, and that did really help, though I can feel myself getting wound up more and more just now. Looking at it rationally, I reckon it's a combination of tiredness (working way too hard at the moment) and the light. I'm going to try some full-spectrum lighting for the seasonal affective disorder and see if that helps.
Might be worth thinking if you often get down at this time of year.
I know this doesn't address your job questions, but as Jon said, starting from a 'meh' point is bad news...

Roo

[Dmoney]

I'm feeling very down again at the moment. Last year it got really really bad about this time, worse than it's ever been before. I got some professional help then in the form of CBT, and that did really help, though I can feel myself getting wound up more and more just now. Looking at it rationally, I reckon it's a combination of tiredness (working way too hard at the moment) and the light. I'm going to try some full-spectrum lighting for the seasonal affective disorder and see if that helps.
Might be worth thinking if you often get down at this time of year.
I know this doesn't address your job questions, but as Jon said, starting from a 'meh' point is bad news...

Roo

I have tried CBT before and found it to make me worse or at best no different. I have actually just been and made an appointment at my new docs (the last ones I had in this area SUCKED) for next week with a view to trying all that again. Even if I get some temporary lift out of the 'meh' state enough to figure out what I want and maybe get something (whatever it is) started, then at least that is a start.

[_tom_]

If you're at all interested and skilled in the creative/production side of telly/video I bet you'd be able to get into it easily enough with your experience in broadcast.

[Brow]

I'm in an extremely similar situation myself too. My main problem is that as well as not knowing what I want to do, I also don't really have any qualifications to fall back on either  :lol:

Hope things get sorted out for you.