u/witchatiel

Hi! I wasn’t sure exactly how to title this, but basically I am pretty unhappy with my job. I really appreciate everything I read on this sub, so I hoped maybe I could find some good advice here? 

I am not a very career-motivated person, like I have no aspirations of climbing the ladder, I just want to be comfortable. My current position is in biomedical research and I have a higher level degree (not a doctorate, thankfully). Little to nothing in my job is rewarding to me, I don’t feel particularly good at it, and I worry a lot about chemical exposure, especially with recent health conditions I’ve had diagnosed.

SO I know I want out, but how? I have ideas for changes, but they require me going back to school, which I’m not opposed to but do not currently have the money for (working on my financial literacy after a long period of unmedicated ADHD, it’s a work in progress).

My big two are dental hygienist and vet tech. Dental hygiene would pay a lot better, I‘m not a huge fan of such a people-facing position but I figure people don’t really want to talk much at the dentist anyway, and I like that kind of hands-on detail work. I also like that I could go part time/per diem, as my big dream is to start a family in the next few years and I would want to maximize time with kids when they’re little especially (but SAHM is not an option for me and I don’t know that I’d take it even if it was).

Vet tech would pay less than that by a pretty decent amount, I love animals specifically exotics (bunnies, birds, hamsters especially, basically anything but cats and dogs. No offense they’re cool!) and so I think I would find it rewarding, but I’ve heard love of the animals is not enough to stave off burnout in that field. I’ve also read that veterinary jobs are more people-y than people would expect.

Then there’s also the option of figuring out something that uses my current degrees and just dealing with that, with the understanding that I’m just not the type for a job to bring me purpose/joy/fulfillment (which is the case with the big two as well I know!). But I’m not even sure where to start with that. I primarily have hands-on benchwork experience and right now the field seems pretty dry with job opportunities (but maybe that’s all fields currently, it’s rough out here). 

I’ve thought about bioinformatics, but the barrier to entry has gotten a lot higher with that in recent years from what I understand. I’m also hesitant to continue in science because I feel like there’s this culture of…needing to love what you do? Not be in it for the money, but for the love of scientific progress and knowledge? But I work because I need the money, if I could be independently and mysteriously wealthy I’d choose that!

Idk, I guess I’m wondering if anyone who has successfully done career changes/pivots in recent years, especially in fields relevant to the above, has any advice? Do you recommend talking to some kind of career coach? My therapist is not great currently, I’m still working on what to do about that so she’s not a great option. My grad school has a career center for alumni, but the coaches listed are kind of expensive and I’m a little worried they’re going to be very “find your dream job!”.

Thank you if you read all this ☺️