The Best Jobs for a Second Career

Okay maybe you’re bored with your job, or it doesn’t pay enough, or your boss has sent you off into the sunset to fish your life away. If you’re just bored with your job, but have a family to support, the urgency to find something you’d rather be doing is going to depend on how bored you really are. If your job doesn’t pay enough, your urgency is going to depend on how short on money you are every month. If you’re retired, chances are you’ve decided sitting around the house all day watching the tube is about as fascinating as watching a rock erode. Maybe you’ve discovered that the whole 24/7 with your significant other is driving you nuts. Or, you may find your retirement income just doesn’t meet your needs. So, what are you going to do?

If you fit into any of the above situations and you don’t want to spend the money or the time to glean the college education necessary to put you in a new career, take heart. All is not lost, there are other options.

For those of you interested in changing jobs because you’re bored, you might want to think about going into:

Sales or marketing: This field offers good opportunity for those of you with good people skills. The learning curve is relatively short. In addition, good sales people can make a handsome income and, due to the variety of people they meet, usually find the work interesting. You can also become an online marketer of various goods. Go to EBay if you want to see what others are doing. If you decide to go this route, you will need to keep your day job until your online job generates sufficient income.

Trades: Plumbers, electricians, and carpenters (skilled) offer opportunities to move from project to project. The learning curve for the trades can be several years, but there are apprenticeship programs available that will help you get the appropriate licenses. Also, depending on where you live and who you work for, the income should be adequate enough to keep you from starvation until you move into journeyman status.

Service: This includes everything from nursing assistant to delivery truck driver. The pay for these positions is nothing I would brag to my friends about, but you might be able to match your current salary and, depending on the service job, find it less boring. There are exceptions. For instance, I know a waiter who makes gobs of money. He’s a professional who services his customers so well, he drives a new Mercedes which he can well afford.

For you retirees, you can look at many of the same opportunities that I have listed above, but you might be interested in part-time work to supplement your income. Some of the jobs, such as becoming an EBay seller can be worked part-time. However, there are other part time opportunities you might find interesting such as:

Gardening: If you’re into plants, you can sell cutting and seedlings that you have started at home. This is a great part time opportunity.

Woodworking: If you know how to work with wood, you can make bird houses, and other small items that can be sold at a local farmer’s market, online, through nurseries, and gift shops, etc.

Consulting/teaching: Depending on the job you retired from, you may have skills that you can draw on to help other people. You can do this as a consultant or a teacher (adult classes). Check with your local community college if you’re interested in teaching adult classes.

Security Guard: Though these are often night and weekend positions, the work is not difficult and, as long as you perform your duties, you can spend the extra time catching up on your reading or maybe write that best selling novel.

There are many opportunities for all of us as long as we screw our heads on right so that we can see them. Whatever you do, don’t spend your time thinking life sucks, or it will.