But lately I'm suffering the burnout/apathy/midlife-crisis that seems so common, and I'm wondering if a big shift might be warranted. This last weekend, I was thinking that exploring some other area of engineering might be interesting. Right now, something physical sounds interesting: structural, electrical, mechanical etc. (Heck, right this minute, even carpentry sounds good.) I have near-zero experience with these worlds.
The salaries for these positions are all half of what I'm making now or even less, which might be fine if I was sure that I'd be into it, but I'd like to get sure.
I'm thinking a "baby step" toward an alternate career might be to go work on the software that powers them, where the structural/electrical/mechanical engineer is the customer, using software or physical products that I'm writing code for. Ideally, I'd work at a place where I could interact with customers directly, though I realize that may not really be how things work. My thinking is that I could get some exposure to those worlds without totally retooling and taking that risk.
Does that seem crazy? What opportunities might be available that I haven't thought of? Anyone worked in these industries or for these companies that has experiences they might want to share?
One piece of advice is to not over-romanticize such a switch. Every job has its frustrations and irritants and drudgeries. Changing careers does not cure burnout or apathy, if the source of those feelings is inside you.
Perhaps consider contract work as a way to get started.
At the risk of being over-sentimental, I reflect on something Steve Jobs said, about being fired from Apple:
The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter into one of the most creative periods of my life.
If that kind of thing sounds interesting let me know.
At first I made small fixes to the house and then small tables and stools. I am still at that stage trying to refine my skills and haven't attempted anything too big but that alone has provided much therapeutic relief. Have used Youtube for learning; attended some classes but they can get expensive fast so it is mostly Youtube for me until I feel ready to tackle bigger projects.