You make $65,000 (USD 🤢) in a dead end career doing nothing but showing up sometimes. Guaranteed employment without change in intensity or salary until retirement in 15 years at age 62. You receive 3 weeks paid vacation, reasonably priced medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401k matched at 2.5%, and virtually unlimited sick days as long as you don’t call out too often (>3x month). You are given 6 college credits per semester to use at the local university. You’re currently working on a PhD.
You live comfortably and have 1 year’s salary saved. Zero dependents.
Do you ride it out, or do you seek a career change before it’s too late.
I know, infinite unknown variables, but what would you do regardless?
UPDATE: I’m slightly taken aback by how many of you actually took the time out of your day/evening to reply to my personal crisis. I’ve think I’ve replied to everyone, which, in doing so, made this morning surprisingly sunnier. So thanks for that.
Adding some thing I’ve shared in replies. I’m a homeowner with zero debt aside from a very affordable mortgage. Purchased my car outright new in 2024, had household concerns addressed over past five years (new roof, HVAC systems, sump pump, water heater, shed, remodeled bathrooms), have three degrees, and a lifetime of piss poor fortune.
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Dude, that job pays THREE TIMES as well as the equally-dead one I currently have (even more if you include benefits). Just accept the good fortune bestowed upon you, get paid to do practically nothing, and find a new hobby to invest all your new free time into. Like, how is this even a question?
Edit: I redid the math and turns out you’re making 3x what I do, not the 2x that I originally said
That was my thought too lol, this is essentially my job but with better pay and benefits.
Holy shit I would realize I no longer have any real problems in life and figure out what makes me happy with all of that free time
Seems like you already made your decision.
Lets say you change careers and want to come back to your current career at this or another company. Would that be feasible. If yes, you literally have nothing to lose.
If not, you have to be a bit more careful picking your new path but also little to lose
Just submitted a resume yesterday. Almost exact situation I’m in.
If you are already doing a PhD you are probably lucky to have a job that pays reasonably without requiring much. But even if you decide to change jobs, don’t leave till you are guaranteed another job.
Career change. Better to try improve than to do the same thing over and over. Not even about the pay just the change.
I’m looking to transition to an educator role with the PhD. It would be a bump of maybe $20k-$25k. I never imagined making six figures, and I grew up in a fake rich family (crippling debt), so anything above $80k would be mind-blowing. The faculty position would require more “work,” but it would probably be more rewarding.
How has nobody suggested the obvious yet? Keep your current job while you interview, test the waters and see what’s out there. You might find something you enjoy more with a big enough raise to cover the college credits. You don’t have to quit to start looking elsewhere. I know you’re talking about career, not just job, but I’d argue the same still applies.
Thanks for this. Justifies some of what I’ve recently been doing. I’ve been at this job for almost 20 years. I’ve been awarded the top employee honor at work, essentially the “outstanding achievement” award for employees. Not sure why. This was just a few years ago, when I essentially quietly quit.
Recently received notification I had been moved to the final search committee for a major leadership role at a neighboring college. Regardless of the outcome, this was primarily an attempt to see what interest there still is out there. This would be a CIO role, one I’m more than capable of running with considering the size and scope of the school. I just don’t know if that is even how I want to end my working life.
Nobody prepared me for any of this. I guess none of are technically.
As somebody who is quickly coming up on 2 years of unemployment, my recommendation is not to fuck with the job market right now even with a year’s expenses covered.
Almost 20 years at my current employer. Stepping away without something else already lined-up sounds like career suicide. Yet another reason I’m hesitant to shake things up.
Are you happy?
Regardless of the answer, I’d follow this up with “Are you unhappy?” If you’re happy-ish or at least not unhappy, then the peace of mind that comes with job security is a big motivator.
You can always seek happier happiness outside of work so long as the work itself doesn’t promptly steal it all when you go in the next day.
It’s an optimization problem.
There are a lot of factors that could go into what you or I end up calling happiness. We probably see things differently after all. Job (life) security, being wild and free, location, family, friends, money… the list goes on. Optimize for what makes you happy.
I’m a contradiction. I’m no more unhappy than I am happy. Pay isn’t the best, but the certainty and creature comforts make it tolerable.
My take - based on everything you are saying in this thread, it sounds like you aren’t happy, but that you are balancing that unhappiness with potential unhappiness you are worried about facing if you were to try for another job.
You talk about pay and creature comforts - but you seem to be avoiding talking about meaning. What is your purpose in life? Because if this job facilitates that purpose, then by all means, keep it. But if it undermines it, then you should ditch it.
Like, imagine you are on your deathbed, and a young highschool boy comes to interview you about your life for a school project. He asks - what did you accomplish? What are you most proud of? What did you learn? What is a story you’d like to tell my class? What are your regrets? If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
What do you want your answers to be?
“imagine you are on your deathbed” is exactly where my mindset currently resides. I’m not close enough to the grave to truly be feeling this way, but I do feel like this is crisis-time, and with zero guarantee I’ll survive another 20 years, I’m beginning to value and fear time.
All of these suggestions have merit, and I appreciate them immensely. The scenario you painted is one of my greatest fears, with a slightly greater fear being that I don’t have answers to any of those questions. I try to live without regret. Do I have regrets? Absolutely. Do I allow them to control my existence? Well, that’s what the meds are for.
In all seriousness, I don’t know what I want my answers to be. Without answers to the impossible questions (what is the point of all of this?), I struggle to not only find answers, but to formulate questions worthy of answers.
Only thing that matters
virtually unlimited sick days as long as you don’t call out too often (>3x month)
“virtually unlimited” = 36 days a year
I get 2 per year so 36 would feel like unlimited.
Yeah, I’m cringing a bit at my “virtually unlimited” comment. For this situation, I’m currently sitting on roughly 500 hours of PTO medical leave.
The location matters. $65K in Arkansas is not the same as $65K in California.
West Virginia-Lite. About 2 hours outside of DC. Homes around here range from dilapidated trailers to McMansions. A cornucopia of ugh.
Sounds exactly like where I grew up. I got out of there the first chance I could. Would you consider moving to another state or city? Also, are you in any danger?
Personally, I’ve hit the point where I no longer want to contribute to some random employer and would rather do something myself. That’s another possible direction
Also income matters less in counties with better social support nets and health systems
Yeah, this is impossible to answer until we know the cost of living in OP’s area. In my area, $65k would be decent for one person, (slightly above the average for a single individual, but only about half of the average household income) but would basically be hand-to-mouth regarding income and expenses. You wouldn’t be able to save anything with $65k, which means you’d have zero wiggle room for future planning or surprise expenses.
If I was able and willing to move to the middle of bumfuck nowhere, I could be really damned comfortable for $65k. But that would be entirely dependent on my job (ability to WFH, and thus able to pack up and move), availability of things like groceries/hospital/etc., and also my willingness to suddenly have an hour drive before I’m in town. If you hate rural living and are tied down by an in-person job, the “move where it’s cheap” idea doesn’t really have a lot of options.
Ride it out. No question. You have unlimited opportunities to grow outside the job.
No employer is going to hire a 47 year old. Too old to train and not enough experience in the field to be a good manager.
If you aren’t getting enough excitement from the job, go out and start dating or find a hobby.
Heck, the the year’s salary you have saved there are dozens of businesses you could start.
I would totally start a side hustle if I was set up like this. I’d be thinking of a project where immediate ROI didn’t matter, and I could take as long as I want before it produces an income.
The fuck? I got my job around that age. And we hired our temp who is at least 65. And a treasury manager over 60 too.
It’s harder, I’m sure. But 47 is absolutely NOT too old to change careers, that’s nonsense.
Thanks for this! 47 has me feeling like I have one foot in the grave. I think that’s one of the reasons I’m pursuing this PhD. I mean, it’s free, I have oodles of on-the-clock time to do the work (7 hours a day), and it puts me back in school, which I seem to equate to youth. I’m not the oldest in the program either, which makes me feel a bit lighter in the casket.
This is more of where I’m leaning, but then I think I’m wasting my potential, without having any idea where to even exhibit potential.
I’m referred to as a “generalist” at work. I’m told that’s a good thing.
Your potential doesn’t need to be limited to work. You can exhibit that in a multitude of ways with no connection to a job.
Having a job was my parents only aspiration for me. They thought college was a waste of time, and that I would be better off finding a job in retail, working my way up the ladder into management like my father, and live with self-inflicted misery for the rest of my life.
I’ve been employed since 12 years old. I’d only been without a job for roughly 18 months back in the early 00s when I was furloughed from a customer service role at a bank. I was given a nice retention and severance bonus, so I took that money and started an associates degree. Finished it in under two years, picked up a part-time gig, transferred credits, worked and earned my bachelors.
I equate success to maintaining a job. Just the way I was wired, I suppose. I would much rather find success in something not involving money, but I can’t separate the idea of success from money. Capitalism.
That still doesn’t need to be tied to a 9-5 job. Some advice I’d once heard was to get at least 3 hobbies. One that helps you stay in shape, one that is just pure fun, and one that can earn you some money. Find potential in a hobby that can earn you money.
It doesn’t sound like a demanding job, just do whatever you feel exhibits your true potential with all the free time it gives you. If you get good enough that you can make that your career, then it’ll be a much less risky move. As long as the work doesn’t kill your soul and it’s not harmful to society or nature at large, it sounds like a great deal to me.
We’ve been taught that we need to use all our potential but if you don’t gain from it, even spiritually, I truly don’t see the point.
Do what makes you happy as long as others don’t get hurt. For a lot of people, that conveniently happens to involve helping others. If that isn’t yours, then just keep looking until you find it.
You are the only one in control of what you deem “realized potential”.
I can dig this. How do you break that cycle of thinking? That it’s acceptable to not capitalize on your potential. Is this in the vein of “life is what you make it?” I’m not making anything with my life.
But that’s just it. Whether you’re a gamer killing time at home or a monk in a cave at the top of a mountain meditating, or a frontline Red Cross Volunteer or a treacherous villain, ultimately, if you’re not actively hurting others, you are the only standard you have to measure yourself by.
Who’s to say what you’re supposed to make? If you’re supposed to make. We’re all just animals at the end of the day.
You might try looking into Taoism. 365 Tao is how I got started, meant to be read one page a day. It’s what redirected my energy. It teaches that the ultimate state of being should feel effortless and that there is a path within that will comfortably guide you to happiness and it’s all about finding that path for yourself.
The less you use the world as a measuring stick for yourself, the less you will feel like you don’t measure up.
I’ve been passively studying stoicism for the pest few years, and while some of the strategies meant for dealing with certain aspects of my psyche (like envisioning a stop sign when feeling triggered), others sound a bit too defeatist to me. Committing oneself to any singular concept is the fall of man, so I’ll definitely look into Taoism after your recommendation. Thanks!
I’ve worked in the arts and I’ve worked in public health.
Yes, you can get a certain satisfaction from helping people, or creating something.
In the end, if you’re looking for true fulfillment, it’s an inside job.
No career is going to guarantee happiness. Look at superstars like Charlie Sheen or Tiger Woods. The both had all the external validation anyone could ask for.
My best advice is to accept that your going to be on this job, and start looking for answers in otehr places.
Have you tried meditation?
I know it sounds corny, but in the end, happiness is a choice not a destination.
I’m a generalist myself. The upswing is that you can probably choose a new career and train up pretty quick, faster if you make a relatively lateral move to a field related to your current one, especially if you can highlight transferable skills built at work. The downswing is you’re likely to get bored of any one job eventually.
It’s hard to say exactly what fields are transferrable without knowing the specifics of your current career. You can try to find a line of work that presents diverse stimulating problems and rewards generalist thinking. You can always try to fulfill your potential outside of work, since it sounds like the job isn’t very taxing. Pick up a productive hobby or start volunteering or get politically active or something. Join an organization devoted to making a positive impact and contribute your time and effort. Maybe identify something you do really well and teach other people how to do it. As a generalist I’ve done a bit of all of these things, and they all bring some degree of fulfillment, some sense of effectively implementing my potential.
Thanks! Excellent suggestions on finding one’s potential outside of employment. I need hobbies, friends, activities. I’m in a rut socially. I abandoned all social media around 2020 when the insane publicly identified a corrupt, sociopathic, pedophile and chose to make him a leader. My return to socials happened just this year, and you’re looking at the extent of it now.
Unfortunate events and failed relationships have guided me to this point socially. Nothing ever within my control, just the way things played out. But these instances cost me some serious time and wasted perspective. Example, I was once a family man. Thought that was my calling. Being a father. A husband. Didn’t work out. She discovered she was poly following our daughter’s birth. Infidelity, I try to divorce her, turns out we were never legally married despite having an officiated ceremony, reception, the whole nine. During the divorce process, it was discovered the state had no record of our marriage as the certificate had never been returned. Our officiant had us sign the documents immediately after the ceremony, and that was the last we saw them. So all of the family dynamics that play into a divorce were void. She sold the house, gained custody (VA loves to give custody to the mother, especially if they make more $$$) and moved away with our daughter just far enough to make scheduled visitation a challenge. I believe this was intentional, as she was not keen to me being disapproving of her poly lifestyle. She’s insane.
Yeah potential and job are often mutually exclusive. Unless you’re like a teacher or something where you’re actually helping people and not just a person making boss more money.
Find something you enjoy that can give back to the community. Help establish something cool, or help foster/TNVR cats or dogs, or find something you could do that is fulfilling and helps you not feel like you’ve done nothing. Enjoy yourself.
So, what am “I” hoping for, I guess? More money, more possibility for advancement? What other jobs could I get?
Not to be a dick, but the median personal income for a full-time employee in the US is ~$55,000, and half are definitionally below that. If you live in San Fransisco and are working towards your PhD in data science, I guess sure, vomiting face, but that detail wasn’t in there.
Yep, sorry about that. I was trying to make this sound as unrelated to my actual situation as possible when I originally posted. Gave up the ghost on that almost immediately. WV eastern panhandle is where I’m located. Work in VA. On the edge of what they call the DMV (Delaware, Maryland, VA). Yes, they omit the omnipresent WV lurking just alongside big money northern VA in the colloquialism. Our area has just as many people commuting to DC for six figures, as we have folks living in squalor. It’s definitely WV up in here, but maybe a little shinier.
You’re focusing too much on what you are supposed to do and too little on what you could be doing.
I would grab this with both hands. Max out the education, and work on side projects that don’t impact the day job. I mean, that is what the “show up sometimes” means, right? Ya gotta warm the seat but you don’t have much to do? So fill that time with things that improve your skills!
You’re focusing too much on what you are supposed to do and too little on what you could be doing.
Absolutely, but man is it a hard habit to break. Obviously one I’m struggling to break myself. I literally have a text note stating “Do what you want and do it for fun” on my phone’s lock screen and home screen. I’m trying my best to change my way of thinking about all of this, and rather lean into a "fuck it, it’s a paycheck, (most) everyone needs one, use all the money for fun and live deliciously because at least in my inevitable end, it will all just go to some charity.
I would spend all the time I can contributing to open source projects.
