Jumping ship

Started by fummchumm, May 01, 2014, 05:53:56 PM

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fummchumm

May 01, 2014, 05:53:56 PM
Hi,

First post...and maybe my last!

After working in Prepress for 15 years I've decided I need to move on. Problem is I've never done anything else as I've done this since school. In order to boost my CV I recently completed a Business degree and passed with a 2:1 to which my senior managers responded with a  :kissass:

Anyway, my real problem is I have no idea what I would like to do and as far as I can see I have no transferable skills to any other career.

Have any of you considered changing career and if so to what field?
What skills would you say are transferable to other careers?
What career is a natural follow-on for us Prepressers?

Thanks

frailer

#1
May 01, 2014, 06:26:21 PM
So many possible ways of looking at it.  :undecided:  You introverted? Extroverted? Sales, maybe? Using the skills you've got up to now?
Prepress has deskilled a lot since APPE and PDF file supply. But lots of areas have suffered the same process, not just prepress. How about actually sourcing a careers advisor type-person. May be worth a few bucks to get an objective look at your personality/skills/motivation. Often hard to gaze at yourself from the 'outside', so to speak.
But maybe you just need a different job in the general image processing area. That's a bit vague and airy fairy, but we wish you well, either way. There may be some more constructive answers later; in amongst the inevitable smart-alec ones.   :laugh:
Forgotten good guys: Dennis Ritchie, Burrell Smith, Bill Atkinson, Richard Stallman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now just an honorary member.

Slappy

#2
May 01, 2014, 08:25:55 PM
Depends on your age, I'd imagine. I could see a career in IT or similar support services if that's your kind of thing. Takes a fair amount of school and expensive tests however. I know this topic is brought up here every so often, but unless there's something you're already passionate about & willing to just "take a leap" then I'm afraid I don't have a great answer.

Curious to hear where the discussion goes however!  :popcorn:
A little diddie 'bout black 'n cyan...two reflective colors doin' the best they can.

Sabrina The Turd Polisher

#3
May 02, 2014, 07:16:06 AM
Go work on a boat!  :grin:
That is if you like the water.
I am biased, however.
Ambidextrous, Double-jointed Prepress Slave
We all have issues. The only people that don't are the dead ones. ©2011 Joe  |  doomed ©2011 david

StudioMonkey

#4
May 02, 2014, 07:42:17 AM
Before I worked in prepress I was a designer of sorts.  Low-rent stuff, but I learned a lot.  When I moved into prepress I found I had a head start.  I have since gone back into a design / prepress role (for half the money). 

Starting from prepress and going into design you may find it a step backwards, but it is quite different.  You will already know how to avoid the common mistakes and you have a lot of experience with good design / bad design. 

Of course, if you want to post here you might need to keep it quiet . . .
Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana

Tracy

#5
May 02, 2014, 07:43:56 AM
work part time after work doing something you love that maybe doesn't pay well at first?

Farabomb

#6
May 02, 2014, 07:45:13 AM
Pretty sure you can't get paid for drinking, Tracy.
Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         —Benjamin Franklin
My other job

DigiCorn

#7
May 02, 2014, 08:30:46 AM
I started off in high school/early college as a computer draftsman and installing fire alarm systems. I also ran drip irrigation piping. At one point, I burned plates for a while, but after college I was hired by an advertising company as a copywriter. Then the designer got pregnant and quit, and since I knew my way around the computer and had some experience with printing, they made me the new designer. I worked with an awesome art director, and got a better foundation in this business that was better than anything anyone could learn in school. Unfortunately, my company didn't pay me well, and was unwilling to change and the only job I could get was in printing... 20 years later it's all I know how to do anymore.

Basically, I have no marketable skills, and my degree is in Journalism/Advertising/Marketing. If you can get out and do something else, DO IT!! It's too late for me... save yourself.
"There's been a lot of research recently on how hard it is to dislodge an impression once it's been implanted in someone's mind. (This is why political attack ads don't have to be true to be effective. The other side can point out their inaccuracies, but the voter's mind privileges the memory of the original accusation, which was juicier than any counterargument ever could be.)"
― Johnny Carson

"Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it."
– Nikki Sixx

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

David

#8
May 02, 2014, 08:37:19 AM
don't know... been in the biz since I was 19...  it's over 40 years now, so....

I'm screwed
Prepress guy - Retired - Working from home
Livin' la Vida Loca

Farabomb

#9
May 02, 2014, 08:53:57 AM
Trained as a network administrator, former chef and mechanic. Been in this joyous world of printing for 15+ years. Came out of computer school just as the market got flooded and couldn't find work. Brother called and told me to come down to the printshop he worked at to help out and it's all been downhill since then.

I recently tried to get out but like the mafia I was dragged back in. I wish I had an answer for you mate but I'm still trying to figure out what to do myself. 
Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         —Benjamin Franklin
My other job

andyfest

#10
May 02, 2014, 09:10:03 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on May 02, 2014, 07:45:13 AMPretty sure you can't get paid for drinking, Tracy.
Actually, being a brewery rep/salesperson might be a rewarding opportunity that I really hadn't thought about. Hmmmmm..... :drunk3: 
Retired - CS6 on my 2012 gen MacBook Pro

Joe

#11
May 02, 2014, 09:36:46 AM
The $64,000 question raises its ugly little head again I see.

The best advice is to be born into a wealthy family and have everything handed to you and then you can do anything in life your heart desires. No need to even be successful. Just be sure to step on as many little people as you can along the way.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Farabomb

#12
May 02, 2014, 09:37:16 AM
Quote from: andyfest on May 02, 2014, 09:10:03 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on May 02, 2014, 07:45:13 AMPretty sure you can't get paid for drinking, Tracy.
Actually, being a brewery rep/salesperson might be a rewarding opportunity that I really hadn't thought about. Hmmmmm..... :drunk3: 

Very good point there.
Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         —Benjamin Franklin
My other job

DigiCorn

#13
May 02, 2014, 09:45:50 AM
Quote from: Joe on May 02, 2014, 09:36:46 AMThe best advice is to be born into a wealthy family and have everything handed to you and then you can do anything in life your heart desires. No need to even be successful. Just be sure to step on as many little people as you can along the way.
oh! Like Paris Hilton, or Miley Cyrus.

Quote from: andyfest on May 02, 2014, 09:10:03 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on May 02, 2014, 07:45:13 AMPretty sure you can't get paid for drinking, Tracy.
Actually, being a brewery rep/salesperson might be a rewarding opportunity that I really hadn't thought about. Hmmmmm..... :drunk3: 
This is intriguing. Since I have been hanging out at Cap Tap, I have met a great number of these people. They go from bar to bar and talk up their beers, sometimes even quaffing a few. Everyone I've met has been just a delight to talk with, except for one: the Blue Moon guy.

The Blue Moon guy was a total schmooze, and annoying; he kept trying to say Blue Moon "invented" putting an orange slice in beer. He went around to all the patrons and insisted that they put orange slices in whatever it was they were drinking. Cap Tap doesn't/won't carry Blue Moon (or any other Coors product). When I ordered a Pliny, he asked what it was; and he might have just been a really good actor, but he actually had me convinced that he had actually never heard of it. I thought the guy was a total sleeze. It got to the point where patrons banded together and started insulting him, mostly telling him that Blue Moon was good when you couldn't find water, and that Coors is shit. I actually didn't think Blue Moon was all that bad (not my favorite, but not terrible), but I hated this guy so much, I may never try it again.
"There's been a lot of research recently on how hard it is to dislodge an impression once it's been implanted in someone's mind. (This is why political attack ads don't have to be true to be effective. The other side can point out their inaccuracies, but the voter's mind privileges the memory of the original accusation, which was juicier than any counterargument ever could be.)"
― Johnny Carson

"Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it."
– Nikki Sixx

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

Joe

#14
May 02, 2014, 09:49:49 AM
Quote from: DigiCorn on May 02, 2014, 09:45:50 AM
Quote from: Joe on May 02, 2014, 09:36:46 AMThe best advice is to be born into a wealthy family and have everything handed to you and then you can do anything in life your heart desires. No need to even be successful. Just be sure to step on as many little people as you can along the way.
oh! Like Paris Hilton, or Miley Cyrus.

The list is much longer than that but yeah...like that.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.
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