My first career stint was in the merchant navy, sailing some of the world’s largest ships, particularly oil tankers, for about eight years. I then transitioned through an MBA into management consulting with Accenture in Chicago and London, for about ten years. I am in my third career now as an entrepreneur and financial advisor in Bangalore.
Thinking back I realize that a career in the merchant navy prepares you for, principally, a longer career in the merchant navy. Yes, there was early exposure to team management and leadership, but the canvas of influence and for achievement is quite small, unfortunately. The biggest advantage is that the savings ratio is outrageously high, obviously because not a lot of opportunities to spend money. The MBA program does a good job of preparing one for career changes, and management consulting was a good extension of the MBA program in that learning as you work also happens. A stint in consulting was a great foundation for entrepreneurship, though, so transition #2 to #3 was a lot easier. But I have been doing what I do now for 15 years, so I guess being a professional magician sounds really appealing 😊 Warm regards, Shyam From: silklist <[email protected]> on behalf of Andy Deemer <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, 29 July 2021 at 8:51 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [silk] Starting a second career I've done it a few times, and it's never been easy, but it's always been very fun and rewarding. The biggest challenge is the $$$ part of it -- being able to carry yourself through the transition until you've built up a resume or client base. My examples include Tech PM > Exploitation Filmmaker (*Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead*), Tech PM > Propagandist (government campaigns), Tech PM > Author (*The Stormglass Protocol*). I'm doing it again right now -- Tech PM > Professional Magician. Which is possibly one of the more embarrassing career switches one can make, especially to your spouse. (I *did* win the IBM's International Close-Up Magician of the Year award last week, which at least moved the dial a little... so maybe it wasn't the single worst idea of all time. Ha!) Andy Deemer PrivatePsy.com On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 7:53 AM Peter Griffin <[email protected]> wrote: > I've changed career paths several times. A short disastrous stint in > door-to-door sales, a stint in journalism, then all kinds of experiments > for a couple of years, then advertising for 10, consulting on communication > and freelancing as a writer for eight, then another 10 fullt-ime in > journalism. > Doesn't quite fit Alok's query, because all of them (except that sales bit) > were in some way related to writing and ideas, so transitions were easier, > but still scary. > In the last journalism stint, I moved in in a senior role; it required a > lot of quick learning on the job, and because I wasn't starting at the > bottom, I had juniors who had built networks and had some kinds of > experience I didn't. I've had to deal with knowing that contemporaries and > juniors in the professions I quit were doing very well indeed (especially > financially: advertising pays well!) but overall the experience was > positive. > And here I am now experimenting with several different ways forward, > knowing only that what I do will have some connection with writing and > creative thinking, and that I want to be able to keep time aside for > personal projects and pro bono work. > > On Mon, Jul 26, 2021 at 11:16 AM Mohit <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi Alok > > > > I worked for 13 years in corporate finance, primarily handling financial > > planning, budgeting & MIS (called FP&A). > > Then, launched my own firm planning to do the same but for multiple > clients > > - fate took a turn, and I ended up doing a number of things besides for > > almost 4.5 years. It involved running FP&A for a couple of clients, > mergers > > for another, audits & controls, and then cash management for yet another. > > After my most successful year ever, I shut that down to rejoin the > > corporate world for 5 years as Controller & CFO. > > And next week, I am joining a software firm as a Product Manager. > > > > Each of my moves has been scary when I thought about it. And yet I did > that > > because something pulled me & wouldn't let go. I think the fact that I > have > > a really really small boredom threshold has something to do with that. > And > > yes, each move has been rewarding & fun ultimately, but never without > pain. > > > > Regards, > > Mohit > > > > > > > > On Sun, Jul 25, 2021 at 1:48 AM Alok Prasanna Kumar < > [email protected] > > > > > wrote: > > > > > Read this fascinating piece on the Guardian > > > > > > > > > https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jul/14/leaving-burnout-behind-the-pain-and-pleasure-of-starting-a-new-career-in-my-50s > > > ? > > > > > > ...and wondered if any of you have switched careers later in life (say > > 20+ > > > years after one) and what was the experience like. > > > > > > Alok > > > > > > -- > > > Alok Prasanna Kumar > > > Advocate > > > Ph: +919560065577 > > > > > >
