If you were given a "career mulligan," what would you choose?

[RDamien]

if you had another chance to start your w*rking life, what would you choose to do?

Porn Star.

Then maybe a writer.

 

[Bimmerbill]

Ever since high school and the old CPM system they had (8" floppies!) I knew I wanted to work with computers. I still enjoy it a lot. Unfortunately, my current gov't job took me away from the technical side of it, but I still fool with my PCs and anyone else who has a problem.

So, I wouldn't make any changes. My state school education is serving me well, no student loan debt (tho it was pretty cheap back in 85-88), so I wouldn't change that either.

 

[Khan]

Resident poet at a small New England college.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

first openly gay president of the united states of america.

 

[Life_is_Good]

I think I just got tossed the career mulligan.....

I used to be a corporate IT professional. During those days, I wondered how it would be to work for myself and do individual consulting. Though I dreamed about doing it... I never left the corporate safety net of a paycheck and good benefits.

In 2005, I was lucky enough to early retire.

While I don't feel I need to work for financial survival, I discovered a unique opportunity that would allow me to do consulting in my local area. Since It's self employment, I can set my own schedule, work as much (or as little) as I want, and choose the jobs that sound interesting to me. Anyway, I decided to try it and I like it. I may decide to continue and do about 10 hours/week.

In my head I'm thinking "what happened to my retirement"? I hope I can balance it out and not want to take on too much. I asked my wife to let me know if I jump too far into to it.

That probably qualifies as a career mulligan.

 

[CuppaJoe]

.... -- if you had another chance to start your w*rking life, what would you choose to do? If you had that do over -- that "mulligan," as they say in golf parlance -- what would you do?
....

Most of my adult life I listened to my gut, took a lot of risks with j*bs, moved cross country without a j*b lined up. The thing I might change came toward the end of my working years. I got a fantasy going about quitting my j*b (of 14 years) and applying for a flunky j*b among creative people, and stay there a couple of years until retirement. At that time I was almost FI, had a particular company in mind which would have given me a short reverse commute.

I didn't do it and then seriously burned out but stayed on the old j*b two more years.

Years ago I had a role model for this idea who always said, "I am coasting into retirement" implying that his previous j*bs were more impressive.

 

[hankster]

Commercial pilot. I got my private pilot certificate in my early 20s and had a job that would have allowed me the time and money to add more ratings. It would have been cool to fly corporate jets or airliners. Of course I would have been up against the people who got paid by Uncle Sam to learn how to fly the heavy metal.

 

[ziggy29]

Commercial pilot. I got my private pilot certificate in my early 20s and had a job that would have allowed me the time and money to add more ratings. It would have been cool to fly corporate jets or airliners. Of course I would have been up against the people who got paid by Uncle Sam to learn how to fly the heavy metal.

I thought this was a pretty rigid career path:

1. Join the Air Force.
2. Become a pilot.
3. After 20 years, retire at around 40 with a pension.
4. Get a job as a commercial pilot in industry.

 

[Rustic23]

According to Google Answers:

According to testimony given in 2001 by Nicholas Lacey, the Director of Flight
Standards Service at the FAA:

"(…) In addition, military downsizing will ultimately reduce the importance of
ex-military pilots as a source for civilian airlines. From World War II through
the mid-90s, approximately 80 percent of major airline new hires were military
trained. Today, civilian pilots make up approximately 60 percent of all pilots
hired. Non-military sources for pilots are persons with commercial pilot
certificates, general aviation pilots, and the more than 200 colleges and
universities that offer aviation programs."

Also, a lot of military pilots are joining the airlines after a full military career. The serve 20 years in the military, and then at about the age of 43, or so, they retire and go with the airlines. Use to be till 60, but I am not sure what the age is now. Interesting part is that the airlines are very rigid as far as seniority goes. So the civilian that starts out at say 20 ends up the pilot in command at age 43. Some see this as a problem. The military pilot may have thousands of hours of Pilot in Command duty while the civilian pilot may have more co-pilot time than pilot in command time, thus the possibility exist of not having the most experienced pilot in command of the aircraft.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

I would have done these things instead:

1) I would have stayed with my aunt and uncle in the burbs of NYC for a couple more years so that I could go to the excellent schools in their school district. Too bad my dad insisted on my moving to NYC.

2) I would have gone to the NYC high school that had the crazier entrance exam instead of the one with the slightly easier exam. I passed the exams for both schools.

3) I would have skipped the graduate engineering degree and gone to a top-notch MBA school earlier.

4) I would have gone into some kind of quant or programming job Wall Street. I'd be posting here as 0 Years to Go.

 

[calmloki]

Somehow this t-shirt seems apropo:

Woot Shirt : One Shirt, No Shoes, No Service (SM)

 

[Walt34]

Commercial pilot. I got my private pilot certificate in my early 20s and had a job that would have allowed me the time and money to add more ratings. It would have been cool to fly corporate jets or airliners. Of course I would have been up against the people who got paid by Uncle Sam to learn how to fly the heavy metal.

Sometimes it works out that way, sometimes not. Just after I went into the Fraud Section of the police department in 1991, one of the guys I'd trained, now a training officer himself, came in with a new guy. Knowing that I had an interest in aviation, he mentioned that the new guy was an Air Force F-16 pilot.

NG was sharp, because he said "I can see what you're thinking. What the hell am I doing here?"

"I've had six jobs in five years, I've got a wife and two kids, and I need a steady paycheck."

So for that guy the dream didn't quite turn out the way he wanted it to. I don't know how the PD worked out for him.

Maybe talk to a couple of corporate pilots. They also empty the potty, stock the bar, and spend what seems like half their lives in hotel rooms waiting for the customer. Doesn't sound like fun to me.

 

[FIYes]

I am long time lurker and rare poster on this forum. One of the reasons, that I quit lurking for quite a while was I that kept reading posts of "How can I possibly retire with only X income" typically the X income was way more than I will have and more than I make right now while still saving heavily toward retirement. So I guess that if there is one thing that I would change it would be to pursue a more lucrative career. Of course, I knew going in that education was not a top payer. I have at times enjoyed my work and at times it was not so enjoyable. At this time my pursuit of early retirement is so that I can have the freedom to choose what I want to do.

 

[hankster]

Maybe talk to a couple of corporate pilots. They also empty the potty, stock the bar, and spend what seems like half their lives in hotel rooms waiting for the customer. Doesn't sound like fun to me.

I did talk to our company's pilot and co-pilot, and yes, they reported that they do get those inglorious duties you mention. Plus a ton of BS paperwork required by the FAA.

The uniforms and flight bags are still pretty cool though

 

[Meadbh]

Check out "Ask the Pilot" on www.salon.com

 

[REWahoo]

It would have been cool to fly corporate jets or airliners. Of course I would have been up against the people who got paid by Uncle Sam to learn how to fly the heavy metal.

Knowing that I had an interest in aviation, he mentioned that the new guy was an Air Force F-16 pilot.

NG was sharp, because he said "I can see what you're thinking. What the hell am I doing here?"

"I've had six jobs in five years, I've got a wife and two kids, and I need a steady paycheck."

Yep. I'm not aware of any of my flying buddies who made a successful transition from military aviation to civilian aviation. They either returned to the military or got "real" jobs after a short career as commercial pilots. Of course the fact most of them went with names like Braniff and Pan American didn't do much for career longevity...

I skipped the commercial/corporate pilot phase all together and went directly from the cockpit to a cubicle. I got the same "what the hell are you doing?" questions - and a steady paycheck.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Yep. I'm not aware of any of my flying buddies who made a successful transition from military aviation to civilian aviation. They either returned to the military or got "real" jobs after a short career as commercial pilots. Of course the fact most of them went with names like Braniff and Pan American didn't do much for career longevity...

I skipped the commercial/corporate pilot phase all together and went directly from the cockpit to a cubicle. I got the same "what the hell are you doing?" questions - and a steady paycheck.

I tried to make an aviation career out of my Cessna 152, but couldn't fill the seat with passenger. I just don't know where I went wrong.

 

[REWahoo]

I tried to make an aviation career out of my Cessna 152, but couldn't fill the seat with passenger. I just don't know where I went wrong.

Ugly stewardesses?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Ugly stewardesses?

No, no "flight attendants," but now that you mention it that would have filled the seat.

"Flight attendant, prepare for departure..."

 

[MovingtotheCove]

Able to hold a license in something?

As a person in business for the last 28 years I've re-invented myself numerous times to make gains and seek tolerable situations or even to be proactive an avoid downsizing of the M & A world it has become. What would my mulligan be....holding a license in something so I could move around a bit and not be dependent on simply my talents and skills. What do I mean...well, a license as a pharmacist, a license as a CPA, a license as a teacher, a license as a pilot, a license as a barber, a license as a doctor, a license as a ship's captain...who knows...simply credentials vs. only my degrees and skill set...might be missing something but without those credentials seems to me to always be more limits than if I'd gone a different route.

 

[gettingthere]

Ziggy,

Seeing your post made me smile.

My college degree was in wildlife biology, but I by the time I got my BS degree, I was sick of school, and did not want to continue for a more advanced degree that would be needed for a better position in the field. My ideal job would have been a mid-level position in a state or national park/refuge system. Actually, I think I may have had some romantic vision of life as a wildlife biologist, probably brought on by too many National Geographic specials about the Craighead brothers.

I stumbled into a job with a small company that trained me as a computer programmer. I really enjoyed working for that company for many years. The people I worked with were great. Sadly, that company is no longer in business, and I now work for mega-corp as a programmer, which I don’t enjoy so much. It is, as you put it, “uninspiring”. But it pays fairly well, and is allowing me to salt away funds for retirement faster that I otherwise might.

One of the things I’d like to do after retirement, for a few years, anyway, is to live and travel in an RV, working as a volunteer at state and national parks. And I’d like to take some courses and improve my photography skills.

What I would do over career-wise knowing what I know now?

I might have gone to work sooner for that company I liked so much, and skipped the expense and time spent on the college degree I never used. I would now be that much closer to FIRE, and being free to go play at what I thought I wanted at the outset.

“Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.” - Garrison Keillor

 

[MovingtotheCove]

An interesting concept...

The more I think about it a career mulligan is an interesting concept.....how do we become FI enought to PT RE and make that mulligan a reality...both to have some fun and to still earn some $$$'s to replace the market meltdown underway? I think frugal living and downsizing might be the only way to make this mulligan happen thanks to the current state of the economy. I'm kind of wishing I was 10 years older or 10 years younger....oh well....save, save, save has been out motto and sitting on a large cash hoard right now seems to have been a move of genius vs. what it looked like only months before. The cash isn't growing fast but at least not going backward like all the funds and stocks in the retirement accounts we've suffered.

 

[heyyou]

Dropped out of school and went full time where I'd been working part-time. The work was fine (somewhat physical, always outdoors, service oriented), but sometimes the job sucked. Stayed 30 years for the pension and the retiree healthcare. All I ever wanted was financial independence. Retirement is the happiest time of my life.

I've known a few national park rangers and I currently volunteer at the local forest service. There, if you want to own a home and have a family, you will likely need to rise above outdoor work in order to make more money. After a budget crunch, one wildlife biologist switched to law enforcement just to stay in the same community until retirement. Another guy retired from a manager position, stayed home six weeks, then came back as a volunteer. He now does field work without having to attend any meetings. We cut logs off of hiking trails, so the average age of that volunteer work crew is 64.

I can't imagine a career mulligan. I didn't want a career.

 

[ziggy29]

Stayed 30 years for the pension and the retiree healthcare. All I ever wanted was financial independence. Retirement is the happiest time of my life.

In retrospect, when I chose careers and employers, I wish I realized just how critical -- and valuable -- this was going to become in terms of hoping to retire early. Over the course of the next generation or two I think it will increasingly determine who gets to retire *at all*, let alone early.

 

[Dawg52]

I would probably be a PGA tour golfer, making millions per year. This swing should do it.