re: Do you ever regret your career choice?

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Had a guy I worked with in Germany, who said "you should get into cybersecurity/info security....I think that would suit you." I responded with "nah man, not my jam". This was 2010 or so.

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Germans….

(Turnt out to be richt!)

I was somewhere around 40 when I realized I’d always work to live and never live to work. That and a boss that taught me to leave it at the office (for the most part), made me much happier at my job. I’m paid decent money, have great job security, and am under little pressure that I don’t put on myself.

Electrical contractor and in the electrical trade since late 1998. 41 years old and now a business owner since 2014. Multiple offices across Texas, and pretty much live my life on my own terms.
Firefighter/EMT since 2001. Joined my first fire dept in July 2001 in NY and was still a probie during 9/11. Volunteered to respond to lower Manhattan on the day of days for the fire service. My FD dug through the smoking pile of Ground Zero. I would not change a damn thing about my service to the public.
In 2003, I DEP'd into the Army with a contract to be a Ranger Medic. I chose my career in public service over going military. This is the biggest question of my entire life. What would have happened? Where would I be? What lives could I have impacted/saved vs would I have given my own life in that time? I have no idea. In the end, I'm still here and I know the lives I've impacted/saved because I've been there in those times and moments. Still, that moment of choosing one life path over another still sticks with me.

Whenever someone asks what I do for work, I say I'm a drug mule.

Yes. I spent 25 years in accounting only to get out of it and become a usps mail carrier. Never wanted to be a cpa nor was I a tax fanatic. So didn’t make the big money. Spent nearly 20 years with a company only to get laid off after the third acquisition. Got laid off again after another accounting job and just decided to be done with corporate America. I have a job now that I can make nice income and six figures in the not so distant future and I’ll have a pension and work towards retirement in a job that I cannot be fired in. Wish I had done this a long time ago cause I would be retired already as a millionaire.

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Number of Posts: 1

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Why do the bots always bump old threads?

Not my current job be my last one. My body is destroyed from it. I could have had my current job about 10 years ago but decided not to take it because I was make more money at my old job. Had I taken it I would be running my department and would have a really good head start on retirement.

I'm a teaching prof at an SEC school. I made several wise choices along the way to set myself up for this position, but in hindsight it was a pipe dream and I'm one lucky sob to have had it all work out. I strongly discourage students from trying it for themselves.

That said, it's been the perfect job for my family. My wife's the earner and my job flexibility has enabled her to chase that. We just have one child, a son, and I've been able to do all kind of stuff with him growing up. That might not have worked as well if we'd had a daughter. We have a hobby farm next to my inlaws' quite large farm and the flexibility allows me to work those.

But, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had gone to law school or my narcolepsy had been diagnosed earlier (might have ended up an engineer). Of course, I wouldn't have met my wife and had my son.

Fact is, we never live the fairytale. I think if you can live at peace with yourself and put your head down at night without feeling like you have sold your soul or cheated someone else, that's the best you can hope for. The home life with your wife and kids is all that really matters anyway.

Every damn day lately as I sit chained to a desk. I’ve made a good living but I’m tired of what I do.

If I could do it again, I would make the same choices as I love my fiance. That being said, I do miss working in a kitchen and would have loved to be a chef, or own a mediocre bar in the mountains.