Seeing Very Little Value in What I Do...

LegacyUser · 19-07-2014 03:31PM #1

Hi guys,

I want to keep the details to this thread fairly obscure so sorry if things don't mesh together very well as I'm trying to remain anonymous.

I am 28 and went to college for a long time to earn a PhD. I am now working in a university and doing what my colleagues around my age would love to be doing. I got a secure position there and being consistently praised for working hard and was promoted surely after starting the position from researcher to senior researcher.

However, I've always been a bit disillusioned by my field, by the people in it and what academia is generally... I am beginning to think I want to completely retrain and do something much different. I looked at doing Graduate Medicine but it'd cost around 100k to do. I looked at nursing as a mature student and the costs would be just way too much for me to bare.. As I have a PhD I am not entitled to any form of free funding or grants (which, tbh, I agree with - I've been given my fair share!).

I know I want to do the following:

- Working with people in a hands on way
- Solving problems in a fast-paced environment
- Helping people, generally
- A clear hierarchy where I can move up the ladder and get consistent evaluation on my performance

I don't care about the following:

- Money (as long as I've enough to survive on)
- Working shifts (no big deal)
- Blood or anything 'icky'

I find I'm drawn to emergency service type jobs, social workers, counselling, health work. I don't want to spend a fortune or a lifetime in college (I've done enough college.. 1-2 years would be grand but not 4-5!).

Anyone have any idea what the hell I'm going to do? The dream was medicine and I ended up in science but I just can't face 6 years + massive costs

Thanks,
K

J_E · 19-07-2014 05:21PM

Have you ever thought about volunteering with Order of Malta or the like, to get a taste of emergency response service?

AmberAmber · 19-07-2014 05:23PM

for some reason and I dont know why , but I think Paramedic might suit what you say your looking for. You could train in the USA or here , but I have seen few people (friends of friends ) who have trained in the USA some come back here to live some apply for different visa after getting jobs over with fire service stations and as such .
What does that sound like for you ?

SuperSean11 · 19-07-2014 05:27PM

Could try open university or even just try a few evening classes and get a feel for different things. Might find interests you never knew you had.

Rubberchikken · 19-07-2014 07:02PM

Even as i was reading your post i thought first responder. Irish Ambulance do courses and don't think there're anything as expensive as some courses out there.

LegacyUser · 19-07-2014 10:21PM

Hey guys,

thanks for the responses! Yeah, the thought of becoming a paramedic had really crossed my mind but I heard recently that Ireland isn't recruiting any new medics which means emigrating (not an option - mortgage central!).

I wouldn't mind training abroad for a year or two, definitely! I wonder what my next steps would be. I might look into the Order of Malta too and see what could come of that.

I know I don't want to be a fireman (doesn't appeal to me, really), but never say never!

I guess it's good to have an idea of what I want to do... I just feel that I'm a bit too old to be chaning fields but I know that might be a silly thing to hold me back.

castaway_lady · 19-07-2014 10:49PM

Yea Emergency Medical Technician came to mind too when I read your post. Do you have scope for a career break there? Having been in the career 'crisis' position previously and from time to time still....what really helped me was a good career guidance counselor- I can pm a recommendation on that. Go and talk to people about hunches you have on what you might like to do who are doing it, get the warts & all version and see if it still appeals. You definitely dont have to stay stuck, you just have to see the process of figuring out the next move as a bit of an adventure and then plan your route there.

LegacyUser · 20-07-2014 09:36AM

Tbh, if you're only 28 I'd look at nursing again. I went back as a mature student and there were quite a few mature students in my class who were paying full whack. Its not that bad - put it this way, you'll be able to pay it back easily enough when you start working.

Whilst its 4 years you're out on placement in the hospitals constantly throughout - which means you feel really valued from early on and its not just sitting in a classroom. I'm about to graduate and have effectively been working on the wards for four years now. Most interesting four years of my life. I've seen stuff none of my friends have seen.

Its an extremely structured environment with instructions for everything, and you know immediately if something works or not, and you have to course-correct on the spot. Its all very CLEAR. I find this suits my personality which didn't work well in my previous "work on your own initiative/make it up as you go along and we'll give you no feedback until we decide we hate what you've done for really abstract reasons"

Also, the patients are the best thing about the job. I go home every night feeling good about myself. You help them with personal things, and they squeeze your hand and look up at you and you feel 20ft tall. And truthfully, Irish patients are pretty nice to nurses in general. Most are up for a bit of craic, and are very rarely unpleasant. So they are a big plus.

I'm not emigrating, and will get work somewhere. Yes, permanent jobs in the HSE aren't there and haven't been for a long time, but that doesn't mean there aren't jobs out there in the private sector, or on rolling contracts in the public hospitals. Put it this way, you don't hear about much (or any) nursing unemployment. Also, nursing can be quite flexible if you have kids. One of my colleagues in my hospital is placed there by an agency - she only works long days fridays and saturdays as it suits her for childcare.

I have heard that there are not many jobs in EMT. Yes, the courses are there, but the problem is everyone is doing the courses and the ambulance services are not expanding. In my hospital we see the same four or six paramedics all the time! You wonder if anyone else is doing it in a radius of 50 miles.

LegacyUser · 20-07-2014 01:14PM

Oh and I forgot to say: most of the students on my course worked throughout as care assistants for agencies. If you're a Nursing Student you'll get taken on no problem as they are quite valued.

Again, its flexible so you can work Saturdays & Sundays and also do an hour in the evening putting someone to bed etc.

So basically you can be earning the entire time. Not big money by any means, but its worth looking at the sums.

Galbin · 20-07-2014 11:44PM

castaway_lady wrote: »

Yea Emergency Medical Technician came to mind too when I read your post. Do you have scope for a career break there? Having been in the career 'crisis' position previously and from time to time still....what really helped me was a good career guidance counselor- I can pm a recommendation on that. Go and talk to people about hunches you have on what you might like to do who are doing it, get the warts & all version and see if it still appeals. You definitely dont have to stay stuck, you just have to see the process of figuring out the next move as a bit of an adventure and then plan your route there.

Can you pm me also?

Thank you.

Galbin · 21-07-2014 07:35PM

Trooping wrote: »

Tbh, if you're only 28 I'd look at nursing again. I went back as a mature student and there were quite a few mature students in my class who were paying full whack. Its not that bad - put it this way, you'll be able to pay it back easily enough when you start working.

Whilst its 4 years you're out on placement in the hospitals constantly throughout - which means you feel really valued from early on and its not just sitting in a classroom. I'm about to graduate and have effectively been working on the wards for four years now. Most interesting four years of my life. I've seen stuff none of my friends have seen.

Its an extremely structured environment with instructions for everything, and you know immediately if something works or not, and you have to course-correct on the spot. Its all very CLEAR. I find this suits my personality which didn't work well in my previous "work on your own initiative/make it up as you go along and we'll give you no feedback until we decide we hate what you've done for really abstract reasons"

Also, the patients are the best thing about the job. I go home every night feeling good about myself. You help them with personal things, and they squeeze your hand and look up at you and you feel 20ft tall. And truthfully, Irish patients are pretty nice to nurses in general. Most are up for a bit of craic, and are very rarely unpleasant. So they are a big plus.

I'm not emigrating, and will get work somewhere. Yes, permanent jobs in the HSE aren't there and haven't been for a long time, but that doesn't mean there aren't jobs out there in the private sector, or on rolling contracts in the public hospitals. Put it this way, you don't hear about much (or any) nursing unemployment. Also, nursing can be quite flexible if you have kids. One of my colleagues in my hospital is placed there by an agency - she only works long days fridays and saturdays as it suits her for childcare.

I have heard that there are not many jobs in EMT. Yes, the courses are there, but the problem is everyone is doing the courses and the ambulance services are not expanding. In my hospital we see the same four or six paramedics all the time! You wonder if anyone else is doing it in a radius of 50 miles.

May I ask what the shifts are like in nursing? Do they run 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and vice versa? Or are there other shifts in between? Is that what student nurses do?

blatantrereg · 22-07-2014 02:49AM

Lecturing or training? It fits most of your criteria, and having a PhD means you fit the role... I think university lecturers are generally assessed primarily on their output of papers firstly and their ability to attain funding secondly. Successfully teaching students isn't always that big a deal. Possibly you agree with me and have dismissed it because of that. However there are plenty of teaching and lecturing jobs in institutions without a strong research focus.

Have you looked at roles in industry that fit your qualifications? I think research departments in companies are quite different animals to university research. The focus has to be on genuinely developing a product or service, rather than ticking boxes to get funding and churning out papers. You could look for projects that you might fit what you are looking for and not necessarily limit your search to Ireland.

It seems pretty common to get pretty down after completing a PhD for some reason - burnout or an anti-climax or something. It might be worth making sure you are sure and not reacting to feelings like that before you quit a job and head in a completely different direction.

LegacyUser · 22-07-2014 10:55PM

Galbin wrote: »

May I ask what the shifts are like in nursing? Do they run 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and vice versa? Or are there other shifts in between? Is that what student nurses do?

You usually do 3 long days per week. 7.45am till 8pm. But it depends on the ward and how they want to break it down. Those days are not neccessarily (or indeed usually) together.

Students do blocks of these placements each year, with blocks of college in between.

The website www.nursingboard.ie has a lot of PDFs which tell you everything.

hairycakes · 06-08-2014 10:19AM

Hey Trooping, That's really interesting. I was thinking of doing nursing/social care and because I'd have to pay full fees for nursing I had given up hope and was focussing on social care as at least there are part-time and conversion courses available. I really want to do something more meaningful with my life than pushing papers and filing etc. I just don't feel fulfilled here.

Is there any particular companies that hire care assistants? Or would nursing homes be a good bet?

Seeing Very Little Value in What I Do...

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