Ask HN: Help my wife find a new career. | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Help my wife find a new career.

6 pointsrudenoise6 comments

Hello all,

My wife is looking for a change in career, this is proving to be a time sapping and uninspiring process.

Some background: she has a degree in English and Sociology and has worked very successfully for the past 7 years in marketing and events ending up as an account manager. However, this job never inspired or satisfied - I'm convinced that with the right motivation she could succeed in most areas.

The problem is where do you start? We've read plenty of books and explored the various careers advice services (which are pretty awful so far). With many jobs merging into a very similar skill-set (various combinations of management, logistics and administration) it is hard to find inspiration.

I guess the question is, if you had not found a field of work that satisfied how would you go about finding it? Income is not the primary motivator, it is about finding an enjoyable/fulfilling way to utilise the working day.

Any form if inspiration would be really helpful.

Thanks in advance

The right way to do this is to try out a lot of different areas and see which ones are actually interesting; once she notices which of those are satisfying, those skills could be further developed.

For example: let's figure out if your wife would enjoy being a teacher. To be a teacher one needs some significant education, so the commitment is significant. The right thing then is to try out being a tutor - there's no need for a certificate there, you can just put up an ad somewhere or go through your social network. If enjoyable after 3 months -> consider teaching and getting the required degrees. If not, consider something else.

You said income is not the primary motivator. If there's some savings in the bank, that savings should be partially used up to find an answer to this question. The best way to start is to completely quit whatever she is doing right now - a lot of the time the fact that one has complete intellectual freedom of the day really gives some perspective on life.

Also, of course, she can pick up minor projects on elance and other freelancing sites, and see which of those projects satisfy more than others. Whichever ones satisfy most, those are the areas where the skills should be developed most.

I'm not sure where you're living, but I would suggest jobnob.com. There are quite a few interesting startups looking for people both long and short term for traditional or alternative compensation. That way, she can try a few different things without having to sign onto a long term committment if it isn't something she's interested in doing.

Good luck!

Think of what she has always dream t of and go after that.

Many times our dreams arent necessary what we think they are, but unless you try them out you would never know.

I know the story ..... ( things wont work out or too hard ) but heck nothing in this world is easy , even ur dreams.

Definitely get out of marketing and avoid anything advertising-related. It will without a doubt suck the soul from you.

If she can work as an account manager, she can probably become a great project manager. Is she organized?

"If she can work as an account manager, she can probably become a great project manager."

I find that statement highly suspect. Yes they have some similar skillsets but still. And if they really are so similar, if she didn't enjoy being an account manager, why would she enjoy being a project manager anymore?

Offtopic: I must get myself checked by a doctor for this but I read your title like Help. Wife. Cancer.

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