have any of you changed career paths later on in life? I applied a while back but just got accepted into a two year program in Enology and Viticulture (winemaking and related fields) and have decided at the age of 40 to go back to school and learn something completely new. I'll be moving to Walla Walla for school and Im very nervous about the prospect of leaving behind everything I've grown familiar with. In my last job as a research assistant in a cancer research laboratory our grant funds ran out and once again I was going to have to scramble to find a new, low paying job. I just got tired of low pay and low security, but mostly wanted to do something that built a foundation for me to create a more fulfilling career, one that ends in ownership and self-reliance. Anyway, I'm freaked out but excited. Anyone else been through a similar situation?
Thats the part you should look forward to. Life is full of new challenges and getting out of your rut will help you appreciate the little things. You will have a whole new life, filled with new experiences and you will have the opportunity to build new habits and routines.
Sounds exciting. I am contemplating a career change, but I am in a situation where it doesn't make sense.
Central Oregon desperately needs realtors. I bet the school costs $250 for a few weeks and you can make big bucks.
I'm not just looking for money, although that's part of it. I'm looking for a job I'm excited to do, in an atmosphere I want to spend my days in. And the potential to build my own little world. For me, wine makes sense. And I already have a friend who wants to start buying vinyard property for the future, he would be in charge of the animals and non-grape farming portions of the property and I the grapes and winemaking. My mom just retired as realtor so I'm quite familiar with that path too. It's a great choice for many, just doesn't fit my wants. If it were just money, I have a business degree and used to be a manager in market research. I hated that. Money isn't enough.
Frankly, it seems like you have a lot invested in the research thing. The government has dumped many $billions into it, but there's a LOT to be done still.
I really enjoy it, but I would need to go back for a masters at minimum to earn more money, and even with a masters I'd only be looking at a small increase. A doctorate would get me there, but that's at least four years devoted to something that only the extreemly bright succeed at, and I'm a dullard. I could go the private sector, but the jobs there that truly exploratory, interesting and pay well are rare completion is fierce. The research being done is amazing and very worthwhile for the most part, just not by me.
Not to derail the thread, but this is interesting. http://dtp.nci.nih.gov/timeline/noflash/milestones/m4_nixon.htm
And this: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/more-money-won-t-win-the-war-on-cancer/279100/ There was a great mini-series on PBS a couple weeks ago by Ken Burns, discussing cancer and treatments and research. Good stuff. http://video.pbs.org/program/story-cancer-emperor-all-maladies/
I left a stable job at a CPA firm with a path that would likely have eventually allowed me to become a partner for a job in the wine industry. The wine industry is so much fun. I have learned so much about production (though I'm on the office and management side of things). Thus far, I have been with my current job for half the time I worked in public accounting, but the opportunities and amazing experiences I've had at the new job have been ten-fold the previous job. Dive in. Enjoy it. We are considering selling our house, buying some land, and developing a small vineyard to dive even a little deeper into the industry.
You don't make any money unless you're in sales or the business side of things. I interviewed for these lab jobs, and it looked depressing. Do what you love though, I hate what I'm doing, I'm making ok money but i'm pretty miserable the rest of the time. If you enjoy your work, I think your overall hapiness would be better.
Yes, a few times now. One time it was kind a unknown what the heck was going to happen. I retired, and bought a ranch with some farm land on it. Went to UC Davis and got their ag books, got the whole coarse. Read it in about three week and went farming. Did it for about 6 and half years, made a little money along the way but not much, the help I hired at minimum wage was making more than me, but I like the work. When my depreciation time on capital equipment ran out and I was actually going to have to pay taxes, I sold the place. Turned out pretty good, made about 400k on the place and carried a contract of 200k @ 8% when I sold. Decided to take up my all time favorite then, Naval Architecture. Don't know how that will turn out, sold a few plans for a few K, but we shall see.
Well I'm following your lead into the industry. In the past I worked some fine dining restaurants which gave me my first serious look into the wine world. Also, every few years I go to France, usually a family vacation, and spend a good portion of my time visiting the wineries, tasting and just enjoying the life. but aside from that, the field is really new to me. I just read a textbook so I'd have a little background, but mostly I'm a complete novice. There are only 30 people a year accepted into the program, so I should get more than enough guidance and exposure to the wine world. The school grows 14 varietals and the students will be responsible for making couple dozen wines per year. Also, really exciting is we will be tasting over 1500 wines in class during the program. I'm not totally sure what I want to stress, winemaking, viticulture, wine science techniques, import/export, but we will be learning all of that and more. last night to celebrate the acceptance letter, my family drank a few bottles of áMaurice Melbec, super tasty Walla Walla wine. By the time the bottles were drained I was more secure than ever with my new found course. Where are you guys thinking of getting land? Are there specific varietals you want to grow?
FWIW, I've been to EJ Gallo and seen their operation. A few times. The town (Modesto) is a ghost town since the recession, and I think I saw actual tumbleweeds rolling through the intersections where there were no cars but the streetlights still working. The company is so big if they opened their own cafeteria, they'd put the local restaurants out of business. It's not likely to be similar to the smaller vineyards you guys describe, but Gallo buys a lot of them.
Gallo is one of the biggest wine conglomerates in the country, if not world. Their operation is unlike nearly all others.
