I was wondering how many people are happy they chose their current career path. I'm a lawyer but if I was starting over, I think I would be a wildlife biologist. If I were twenty years younger, I would go back and get that degree. As it is, I just take classes and workshops.

I would have probably gone into the oil and gas industry instead of banking

I'm in IT. I probably would alter my career track a bit to focus on the parts I find more enjoyable now. Other than that, though, I wouldn't change it. I enjoy it, and it's a very portable skill set. IT is very similar to accounting in that everyone needs it in some form or another.

When I came to Norman in 86 the game plan was we'd both obtain our respective degrees and on grad day hand in the robes, hug a few, wave to some more and then slip into a packed U-haul and leave the little city on the prairie in the rear view mirror. But come 89, with another wee one in the haus and jobs/colleagues we both truly enjoyed, we decided instead to shelve Plan U-haul for a year. One year later, we wrote Plan U-haul II and simply moved to a different part of town.

I had a couple of careers before I returned to school, and my path today is vastly different from the earlier years of my professional life. Enjoyed all aspects along the way, but I think I am doing today what I was always meant to do.

At times I feel I wouldn't be real opposed to doing it elsewhere. But sheeesh, I soooooo hate to pack so that's not real likely to take place.

Interesting question . . . I think that I might have enjoyed a career in Advertising, Architecture, Journalism or Law Enforcement.
(Instead of Truck Driving . . . Construction . . . Teaching and Retail. Cooking is a hobby and involvment in that area as a job would have ruined it for me. My early experience at IHOP as a dishwasher and Kentucky Fried Chicken as a "cook" convinces me of that. =)

Kevin, are you practicing law, now, or something else? (you don't need to reveal the "something else").

I'm in aviation and have been treated well but I've always wished i would have gotten into medicine. Really any level, including rn, dr, specialist, pa. It seems like it would be nice working with different people each day, the day would go by fast, and having some sort of real 'outcome' of your work. The scale of the items i work on now are so large and complex that they require tons of people so its hard to not feel like a cog in the machine.

But from alot of the stories ive read from people in the field complain (esp doctors) complain about lack of job satisfaction.

PQ, I always chuckle at our standard terminology. No matter how long we're at it, we almost universally refer to it as practicing.
So, as my own minor protest, I've taken to simply noting I helps people from time to time.
:)

I would have probably gone into the oil and gas industry instead of banking

Hilarious. I would have done the exact opposite. I'm in oil and gas (in the land and regulatory side jointly). I had a banking internship my last year in college, mainly focused on energy and real estate lending and loved it. The previous two summers I had internships in the energy sector and came away from both with an "ehhh" feeling. I tried very hard to get a job in banking my senior year at OU and had two very promising leads, but of course this was late 2008 so by that winter they were both off the table. Of course if I could REALLY go back in time I would be an architect or food reviewer. In regards to the food reviewer, I've actually had friends suggest to me to start a blog.

I certainly don't hate my job and I make a decent living for someone in his mid 20's, but its not for me. If you don't mind me asking, what don't you like about banking?

Hilarious. I would have done the exact opposite. I'm in oil and gas (in the land and regulatory side jointly). I had a banking internship my last year in college, mainly focused on energy and real estate lending and loved it. The previous two summers I had internships in the energy sector and came away from both with an "ehhh" feeling. I tried very hard to get a job in banking my senior year at OU and had two very promising leads, but of course this was late 2008 so by that winter they were both off the table. Of course if I could REALLY go back in time I would be an architect or food reviewer. In regards to the food reviewer, I've actually had friends suggest to me to start a blog.

I certainly don't hate my job and I make a decent living for someone in his mid 20's, but its not for me. If you don't mind me asking, what don't you like about banking?


Oh it's not bad since I have never been concerned with job security...Worst part is if you ain't in sales you ain't making great money...I tired of selling so I now hide out in operations with the others who couldn't stomach sales either lol

Oh it's not bad since I have never been concerned with job security...Worst part is if you ain't in sales you ain't making great money...I tired of selling so I now hide out in operations with the others who couldn't stomach sales either lol

Interesting. I hate sales but I never saw a lender's job as rising to the level of salesman. Maybe I just missed something.

One thing about the O&G industry is that people view it as the days of "da awl bidness" back in a time long ago where good ol boys kicked up their boots and made deals. Those days are dead. There is a lot of money at stake in this industry; I'm blown away at the huge bills our tiny company sends out. The average well drilled in western Oklahoma is about $4-5 million from start to finish. This has created a nasty level of cutthroat-ness that is very trying, if you are in the wrong end of it (which I am). In the short term I would like to do something different within the industry before I completely cut it loose, even if that means a slight dip in pay.

I want that job where I play with puppies for 4 hours a day for $250,000 a year (give or take).

I also wouldn't mind going back to blowing **** up for a living. But they abused me too much the first 10 years, and now I'm unserviceable.

So I guess I don't mind being an armchair warrior in the IT world so much. It's low stress. :)

My path was marketing and I got side tracked somewhere along the line. Though, now, based on my close friends and family, I'd have probably enjoyed being a criminal defense attorney.

My path was marketing and I got side tracked somewhere along the line. Though, now, based on my close friends and family, I'd have probably enjoyed being a criminal defense attorney.

Some of the happiest lawyers I know are criminal defense attorneys - they mainly seem to hate the bill collecting, though. In law practice, I liked employment law the most.

Race Car Driver, I would have worked more towards that as a goal.....

Rally, I always wanted to be an architect, I grew up around it and knew what I was getting into. I became disillusioned in architecture school, what they taught had nothing to do with what an architect really did (in my mind). I left and went to work and was a Business-Finance major going to CSU/UCO at night for awhile, changed my mind and went back into architecture. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have probably got more into development as an architect/developer. I still plan on having my own practice in a few years, maybe things will pick up and I will have a chance to do development as well.

Buy, renovate and resell existing houses and buildings.

I enjoy what I'm doing. Any different career would have been "plan B." I gave some serious thought to going into television news. I was at UCO and was an anchor/reporter on the Channel 22 News program for a couple of years and was actually pretty good at it, but professionally, the hours suck. I'm all for 9-5 with weekends off.

I recently gave some pretty serious consideration to switching to the Democrat Party and running for the state legislature after being recruited by the Oklahoma Democrat Party. Maybe politics, maybe the bench... who knows. I'm in my early 30s, educated and self-employed. I feel like I can pretty much do anything I want to at this point.

If I had the backing, I'd do exactly what Marva Ellard does.

I'm in aviation and have been treated well but I've always wished i would have gotten into medicine. Really any level, including rn, dr, specialist, pa. It seems like it would be nice working with different people each day, the day would go by fast, and having some sort of real 'outcome' of your work. The scale of the items i work on now are so large and complex that they require tons of people so its hard to not feel like a cog in the machine.

I've always looked at those in the aviation industry with an envious eye. I'm in IT and I love what I do and it fits with my life very well, but ever since I was a kid I've wanted to do something around those amazing flying machines (piloting or working on/around them). My one "take a chance" venture into the ATC world took much of the fight out of me though and so I took a different direction based on a favorite hobby. Not a bad way to end up and I feel very fortunate.

I don't know if I would have started different but I wouldn't mind changing careers now. I would love to get into real estate development, and maybe at some point I can.

Well, let me start by saying that I wished I had known then what I know now!

I have worked as a software engineer in the automation field since the early 1980's, say about 30 years. Although it has had its interesting moments, if I were able to do it over again as a young person entering college I would try and become a naturopathic physician, organic farmer and teach yoga. I believe I would have been much more useful than having set at a desk and stared at a computer screen worrying about micro seconds!

A billionaire playboy.

a billionaire playboy.
jethro!!!!!

jethro!!!!!

Granny!!!!!

Been in IT for 30 something years. Worked in aviation back in the 70's...

Enjoy what I do, and that's 3/4 of the battle. Could have retired a few years back, but a person needs a place to go and something to do when they get there.
I enjoy amature archeology, I explore ancient sites on occasion all over the world.

Career military - with a break to civilian life from 1999 -2001. I wouldn't change very much - nuclear power operator as an Navy enlisted person and combat arms as an Army officer. If laser surgery had been available in the80's I would have been a helicopter pilot in the Army, but that wasn't in the cards so I went another route. I received an outstanding education in engineering and science at nuclear power school and felt obligated to serve again after 9/11. I consider having a career like I have had a privilege and have been honored to work with and meet thousands of outstanding people.

If I had to choose another path I suppose probably Mechanical / Civil Engineer, Nuclear Medicine / Radiation Therapy, or Urban / Regional Planner would be very high.

The premise of this thread is sort of sad. Why would one have to "go back" to achieve a goal or practice a different profession? What limits anybody from pursuing a professional or occupational goal other than a lack of courage, persistance, or personal will?

For one who is constantly labled as a "leftist 47 percenter who isn't interest in the american dream," I don't really identify with this sort of self limitation or wistful nostalgia. What to do something? Then do it. Obviously, age does limit one wanting to be a professional athlete or an astronaught. But most things have no such limitations.

Want to be an astrophysist? Then do it. So what is the road is long and you're already old? If you make it all the way, hurrah! If not, you're traveling down the road you choose and you get as far as you get.

I don't mean any critisism of anybody nor am I setting out myself as an example of anything. I generally feel like an underacheiver despite having been able to put these basic ideals to action succesfully over the past 30 years. I'm an autodidact and I learned this idea along with everything else I've done professionally by trial, error, and research.

Perhaps that's why I don't see "my America" as being lost or complain that I "want my freedoms back."

If you want to see the world as flat, then it is flat. If you want it to be round, then it's round.

Pick your course and take off.

The premise of this thread is sort of sad. Why would one have to "go back" to achieve a goal or practice a different profession? What limits anybody from pursuing a professional or occupational goal other than a lack of courage, persistance, or personal will?
Because some professions are limited by various factors like age and/or size. I am too old (48), too big (6'-2"/260 right now, even when I was working in a warehouse lifting all day and in the best shape of my life I was 235) to be a professional race car driver at the highest levels. Most races start of in their teens or pre-teens and most now are in the smaller portion of the population. My goal is to be as good of a club racer as I can be and hopefully participate in some pro level sports car events, that is pretty much the top of the ladder for someone like me now. I accept that with no qualms, my decision was made long ago but it is always nice to dream some.

I edited out of my original post those few things age and physicality actually limit. I'm wasn't considering the things few people can do regardless of age such as compete in any sport at the professional level, be an Astronaut, or become president of the US. Physicality limits as well--only a few people are small enough to be a Jockey or big enough to be a sumo wrestler.

But, within the realm of the reasonably attainable professions, age doesn't limit as much as apptitude and fear or desire limits folks more than anything.

I've always tried to live a life in a way so I'd never "look back" and regret the road not taken. At age 50, I still look forward to endless possibilities of the future and the exciting turns ahead. If anything, I see more possibilities ahead than I did when I was 18.

But, within the realm of the reasonably attainable professions, age doesn't limit as much as apptitude and fear or desire limits folks more than anything.
I agree with that, we had an engineer at Benham who went back to school when he was 50 for engineering but his original profession was not engineering.

Because some professions are limited by various factors like age and/or size. I am too old (48), too big (6'-2"/260 right now, even when I was working in a warehouse lifting all day and in the best shape of my life I was 235) to be a professional race car driver at the highest levels. Most races start of in their teens or pre-teens and most now are in the smaller portion of the population. My goal is to be as good of a club racer as I can be and hopefully participate in some pro level sports car events, that is pretty much the top of the ladder for someone like me now. I accept that with no qualms, my decision was made long ago but it is always nice to dream some.

I guess that depends on if you really want to do it or not. Paul Newman won his class at the 24 Hours of Daytona at age 70.

I guess that depends on if you really want to do it or not. Paul Newman won his class at the 24 Hours of Daytona at age 70.
There is always the possibility in sports cars, especially if you had the money that he did. The problem is most competitive race teams are looking for small guys in the early 20's, not bigger guys in their 50's, Newman had the advantage of owning his own team. There has always been a whole lot more to high level professional racing than just sheer talent.

Sports cars has always been my favorite racing discipline. Size is not as big an of issue in sports cars like it is in open wheel and was not as critical back then, Newman was not exactly a big guy either. Newman did hold the GTO class track record at Hallett in the mid-80's.

I'll admit I always wanted to be a race car driver as well. I had a chance back in the early 90s but my then new wife put the kibosh on that quick, fast, and in a hurry. It has been all downhill from there. :)

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I'm planning on getting into club racing again (SCCA, BMWCA, maybe NASA) after we get the house deal done. Hopefully for the 2014 season, spend next year building a BMW Spec E36 car.

I'm planning on getting into club racing again (SCCA, BMWCA, maybe NASA) after we get the house deal done. Hopefully for the 2014 season, spend next year building a BMW Spec E36 car.

You ever run out at the Sheriff's track?

I edited out of my original post those few things age and physicality actually limit. I'm wasn't considering the things few people can do regardless of age such as compete in any sport at the professional level, be an Astronaut, or become president of the US. Physicality limits as well--only a few people are small enough to be a Jockey or big enough to be a sumo wrestler.

But, within the realm of the reasonably attainable professions, age doesn't limit as much as apptitude and fear or desire limits folks more than anything.

I've always tried to live a life in a way so I'd never "look back" and regret the road not taken. At age 50, I still look forward to endless possibilities of the future and the exciting turns ahead. If anything, I see more possibilities ahead than I did when I was 18.

Oh now, come on, EO, why so serious? I don't think you understand the game. The rules of the game is whether you'd have chosen a different path back when you started. Implied in the question is whether you'd have changed career paths after factoring in our lifetime of experiences, taking into account a changed world and much greater knowledge of that world - and ourselves - than we had as youngsters. It is NOT about changing your career path. Surely you don't think there is any shame or sadness in living a life so that we learn more about ourselves and the world as time goes on? This certainly isn't about looking back with regret - it is more about - what have a learned and how have I grown?

I've had several careers and have started a third (fourth if you count raising babies). I actually considered wildlife biology and probably would have gone that route as a young woman. And that was the question asked. The question I didn't ask was about changing careers, right now. Like you, I believe we have endless possibilities but having lived my life and knowing more about myself than I did at age 18, I also know that starting over as a wildlife biologist isn't what I want to do NOW. Doesn't mean I can't study, take classes, work on being certified as a naturalist, etc. It doesn't mean I can't incorporate those interests in my life, right now. Life is about balance and right now, keeping those interests as a hobby or side interests makes better sense than thinking I have to start a whole new career path. I could if I wanted, certainly, but I don't want to do that. And actually, from my perspective, not only do I not see having second thoughts as "sad," I see them as healthy and normal for anyone who has spent their lives growing, thinking and evolving. Few of us know what we want to do or who we are/will be at age 18. Or 20. Or for that matter, we may have gone in a different direction than from where we were even at age 30. That's the fun of life.