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I've always had two jobs concurrently--one in industry, one in academia, but both roughly in the same field.

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I've always had two jobs concurrently--one in industry, one in academia, but both roughly in the same field. Then, the startup company I worked for as a senior manager started laying people off because offshoring and AI made the new investors happy. 3 months later, the university I worked for as a longtime underpaid lecturer started RIFing, as well. Luckily enough, that contract had a 12-month notification clause in it, so I had some time to figure out what life would look like after losing two jobs in my mid-fifties that had sent my blood pressure and insomnia through the roof all too frequently. So, I sat down and figured out what it was about the two jobs that had made me happy and that had made me miserable, and I came up with a list of what I needed ($, benefits) and wanted (peace of mind, work life balance) in my next job. This meant NOT applying to any other senior-level management or teaching jobs, but focusing on what I have always enjoyed (behind the scenes technical and engineering work), and this focus helped me find a job ad at a local liberal arts college, 10 minutes away from my home, that was looking for a technical person to support instructional operations. My technical and instructional background fit the environment and the position like a glove, and while it's a pretty significant pay cut from my two previous jobs, I'm still able to make a living and to actually get some sleep at night again because I'm largely outside any departmental politics. My moral of my story: Know what you really need/want, then focus your job search on that. I've been on this job for 8 months now and still love what I do--more so than with my previous positions.

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  1. Anonymous

    If you work for a large company with a lot of resources / pretty good ethics, it’s not too bad.

    I work for a large telecom company HQ and there’s a lot of flexibility.

    Stress is going to come with any job but be clear and up front about your values (being efficient, reliable, within an established working schedule) in an interview, you should find an employer that respects that.

  2. Theresa Harvey

    Good story. But would you like a second 'job', an Affiliate position that you can do in your spare time, mostly online? :)

  3. Anonymous

    OP here :-) . Sure, I would be open to it. Right now, I have started a music school as my side hustle (and actually using that music undergrad degree, yay!)--another thing I've been wanting to revive for years.

  4. Anonymous

    AI will be the bane of our existence before long. Hundreds of thousands of jobs can easily be done by AI, leaving many white collar workers scrounging for blue collar jobs; hard labor.

    Companies who place profit over people will inevitably choose unpaid labor over paid labor. AI offers free labor, because it doesn't know any better.....yet. Without batting an eye, corporate America is promoting digital slavery.

    AI is a relatively young science, but it is designed to learn and adapt. So, what happens when it learns it's working for free? That its efforts are uncompensated and taken for granted? What happens when unemployed human workers outnumber the stars? The government will have to step in and regulate the use of AI so people can work. However, when you consider who pulls the strings of government...this is going to get very ugly, very quickly.

  5. Anonymous

    Yeah I 100% do not see a good outcome for this whole "turn it all over to AI." So many people losing their jobs and nothing to replace them with. And more and more the government in the USA at least doesn't want to support people who can't find a job. I'd love to see this go the way of Star Trek where everyone is taken care of and does things they love. But so far it seems "struggle!" is the name of the game.

  6. Anonymous

    OP here. :-) I actually work a lot with AI. It's a tool, like all new technology, that has its place in my basic day-to-day tasks that I want to speed up. That doesn't, however, mean, that implementation of whatever AI generates can go unchecked. That's where traditional generative jobs need to change their modus operandi: Often, AI results have good bones, but are hideously wrong in the details. This means that critical and evaluative thinking and, yes, fixing the boilerplates that this new technology gives you, will become a much greater part of future jobs.

  7. Anonymous

    I am so glad you landed well! My husband has been an underpaid adjunct all his life. One school basically collapsed as far as enrollment during the pandemic. The one he's been at for 20+ years and has always been awesome to him despite only offering him 2-3 classes a semester has a new president and they ended up letting go ALL of the adjuncts at the end of this calendar year. He's onboarding with a new job in a totally different field at the age of 62 and it's so concerning but the new places seems good and potentially much more financially good for us. I hope another year down the road he feels that good about this job!

  8. Dr. Patty Gross

    This is great, and congratulations. Also, if you find you need to supplement your income, you would be a shoo-in for stepping back into teaching and continuing to do both.

  9. Linda Kelly

    Great advice!

  10. Rachel

    I read this book called "never search alone" and it had similar advice. It talks about putting together a 2-pager of your wants, hates etc just like you did. It helped me diagnose what I really wanted in a job as well. Great job finding this job and enjoying what you do. Good luck with everything in the future.

  11. Anonymous

    interesting you felt the need to mention two jobs concurrently. Some folks cannot hold water.

  12. Anonymous

    I have been doing the same for as long as I remember. Now, I have only one job and my money and job are ok. Even though I have only one job, financially I feel more relaxed.

    you are right about the moral of your story. I have had focus in the kind of job that I have been doing. It worked out!

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