Quarter-Life Crisis....Advice Needed!

[AAHunterGal]

@B-burg Dressage

I’m considering a major career/life change and I need to hear who this worked and didn’t work for.

Pros:
Working with horses and horse people
Being active all day
Being satisfied with my work
7-3:30 versus 8-4:30 (amazing for fitting in winter riding)

Cons:
Less money/benefits (not certain, but it’s a good guess)
Longer commute (10 minutes to 45 sucks majorly)
Less stability/longevity (if I were to get injured or whatever)

So folks–what do you think?

As another person who was once a pro and am now and amateur with a day job, I would say that your Pros and Cons are the ones typically seen through rosey colored glasses.

The Pros SOUND like they are fantastic - until you are actually on your feet all day everyday working around horses, some of which may bite or kick or bolt at turnout or run over you during turn-in or get aggressive in their stalls during feeding time - now that it’s your JOB to work with them, you can’t ask someone else to help you. Being “active” sounds fun until it’s 12:30 and you haven’t had time to eat anything other than 1/2 a granola bar and your coffee is now cold in the office. You have hours, but at the same time, horses are horses and you’re really done when the work is done. Also, be prepared to have your cell phone number given to all boarders and clients and answer their texts and special requests at all hours.

The Cons don’t sound THAT terrible - until you factor in that you probably won’t get any vacation or sick days, and a 45 minute commute will be BRUTAL at the end of the day when you just want to be home already and when you have to get up in the dark day after day. Getting injured is a very real possibility, and shouldn’t be brushed off with a “or whatever” sort of attitude (see above about bolting, kicking, biting horses). The other cons are the physical fatigue, the burn out, and the lack of career advancement.

Please don’t get me wrong. I know that this lifestyle DOES and CAN work for some people. But for most of those people, the love of the horse is really what drives them to go and stay in that career path, not their sense of ennui at their day jobs. I would try to either find another desk job that is more in line with what you want to do on a daily basis, and/or focus on the things that the job can provide for you.

The horse industry is brutal. It is not a walk in the park. That said, this has only been my personal experience, and I do treasure the time I spent as a pro and all of the things I learned there. I tried it out right after college with no other day-job / job experience at all. If you can still come back to your current path after a few years off, I would say give it a go knowing all of the things folks have told you here on the forum.

[reithme2]

I’ve been where you are, I remember sitting in a cube post undergrad and grad school thinking, this is my life for the next 40 years! In my experience its gotten better, I’m nearly 30 and almost 5 years into my current role and I’ve really worked to make it my own and I’m much more content than I was in my first role post grad.

1. I got OUT of the public sector. Yes, the benefits (retirement/pension) are hard to beat but my experience in several public sector rolls was that the bureaucracy takes a toll. Im going to generalize but my experience is that its not that flexible, not a lot of opportunities to work remote, much more structure and emphasis on ‘putting in your time’ vs. proving yourself through your work, etc. I’m work for a private consulting firm now and while it can be demanding but its insanely flexible and the projects you get to work on, what role you play is so much more about your performance than how long you’ve been around.

2. Set up my days to work for me. Again flexibility has been everything. Go the barn before work when the weather is warm, having the barn to yourself and getting a ride in before dragging yourself into the office is so great (though I am a morning person so this may not be great for everyone). Work from a coffee shop on days you aren’t feeling the office. Leave at lunch to go ride and work from home the rest of the afternoon. I can’t do this stuff everyday depending on meetings, etc. but setting up several days a week that im looking forward to helps me so much! I also rarely work past noon on a Friday if I can avoid it.

3. Set personal career goals outside of your office/work. Speak at a conference, go after your CPA or other certification, teach at a community college as an adjunct if you enjoy working with younger students. Get your masters and get your employer to pay for it!

OTHER IDEAS:

1. My limited experience is that your degree gets you your first job, after that its really experience, so if you want to do something different you may not need to go back to school. Ask around, network internally and externally, message someone on Linkedin that you admire, grab coffee! I’ve had a lot of cool project opportunities by just networking and letting people know what excites me.

2. I havent dont this but FREELANCE - start taking on side book keeping gigs and see if you can make it a full time thing, that way your flexibility is endless!

There are days when I look at my fitbit and have moved less than 4k steps because I’ve been strapped to my computer all day and long to have been working outside. BUT I know myself and I’m not one to easily turn off work. If I was responsible for a barn full of horses that is where my mind would be all the time. I love that in my current role I can more easily shut off those worries when I close my laptop because there are no lives on the line and whatever it is, it can most definitely wait!

[findeight]

Theres no set definition for “Barn manager” and the best barns don’t have to run ads looking for one. And keep in mind many barns are not run like regular businesses with clear expectations and defined responsibilities. Often BM is a glorified groom and mucker. Be clear on that before seeing this or any other BM position as a clear cut opportunity, wont even go into benefits and working conditions.

Somebody upthread mentioned free lancing? Thats a very good idea to chew on. You could come in for a few hours on a part time basis couple of times a month or weekly just for bookkeeping. Have a friend who started doing that, slowly picked up a few more barns via word of mouth over the next few years. Her “day job” downsized her out but she just increased her free lance business. Ended up full time running the office of a very nice AA barn as “Office Manager’, regular benefits too. Had a Barn Manager for the hands on barn management. She worked in the barn with a chair and climate control, was around the horses, had a window to the arena, chatted with the clients even was paid ti go to Florida several times during that circuit. Never touched a muck tub.

Not a bad idea to consider specifically office work in barns, might work up a little business of your own combining your education and skills with wanting a barn environment. Doesnt have to be either/or, figure out how to do both. It will take some time but its a good way to go.

[Lucassb]

@tbchick84

A few things come to mind, all generalizations and ultimately my own personal opinion. There are jobs and there are careers. The former, we don’t normally want to do but it pays the bills and let’s us enjoy the things we actually like. We get financial stability, health insurance, vacation time and relatively normal lifestyle. The latter, careers, are things we would enjoy or even love to do, but usually don’t pay enough to support our lifestyle if we are on our own. Careers tend in involve a significant other who makes the real money. If you are in a position to not have the need for financial stability and know you can easily re-enter your current job field if it doesn’t work out, by all means go for it. You are still young, and life goes by so quickly. You don’t want to look back in 30 years and wonder “what if”

An observation I would make is that it is completely possible to have a career that is enjoyable and fulfilling AND pays well/comes with good benefits…

But you don’t typically walk into those roles as an early career professional.

The reality is that you have to BUILD those careers. You put the time in, you get the experience, you build a network and over time, you get the better assignments and the more interesting roles. It takes time, which is hard to appreciate in the early days of a career when you are slogging it out. But that is the nature of work.

[pluvinel]

@reithme2

I’ve been where you are, I remember sitting in a cube post undergrad and grad school thinking, this is my life for the next 40 years! In my experience its gotten better, I’m nearly 30 and almost 5 years into my current role and I’ve really worked to make it my own and I’m much more content than I was in my first role post grad.

1. I got OUT of the public sector. Yes, the benefits (retirement/pension) are hard to beat but my experience in several public sector rolls was that the bureaucracy takes a toll. Im going to generalize but my experience is that its not that flexible, not a lot of opportunities to work remote, much more structure and emphasis on ‘putting in your time’ vs. proving yourself through your work, etc. I’m work for a private consulting firm now and while it can be demanding but its insanely flexible and the projects you get to work on, what role you play is so much more about your performance than how long you’ve been around.

2. Set up my days to work for me. Again flexibility has been everything. Go the barn before work when the weather is warm, having the barn to yourself and getting a ride in before dragging yourself into the office is so great (though I am a morning person so this may not be great for everyone). Work from a coffee shop on days you aren’t feeling the office. Leave at lunch to go ride and work from home the rest of the afternoon. I can’t do this stuff everyday depending on meetings, etc. but setting up several days a week that im looking forward to helps me so much! I also rarely work past noon on a Friday if I can avoid it.

3. Set personal career goals outside of your office/work. Speak at a conference, go after your CPA or other certification, teach at a community college as an adjunct if you enjoy working with younger students. Get your masters and get your employer to pay for it!

OTHER IDEAS:

1. My limited experience is that your degree gets you your first job, after that its really experience, so if you want to do something different you may not need to go back to school. Ask around, network internally and externally, message someone on Linkedin that you admire, grab coffee! I’ve had a lot of cool project opportunities by just networking and letting people know what excites me.

2. I havent dont this but FREELANCE - start taking on side book keeping gigs and see if you can make it a full time thing, that way your flexibility is endless!

There are days when I look at my fitbit and have moved less than 4k steps because I’ve been strapped to my computer all day and long to have been working outside. BUT I know myself and I’m not one to easily turn off work. If I was responsible for a barn full of horses that is where my mind would be all the time. I love that in my current role I can more easily shut off those worries when I close my laptop because there are no lives on the line and whatever it is, it can most definitely wait!

THIS^^^^ Bears repeating.

Your college degree gets you your first job…the rest of your life is up to you.

[rockymouse]

OP, what if you looked into applying your accounting/bookeeping skills to a horse-related field? Like, for instance, getting into the admin at a racetrack or a high-end training/breeding institution, a feed manufacturer, a performance venue, a breed association, a busy large animal multi-vet practice and so forth? That way you get to be involved in the business of horses, and around like-minded people, but you’re not the one problem-solving the broken water line at 6pm on a Friday.

[PamnReba]

Have you thought of offering boarding at your own place?

[B-burg_Dressage]

@PamnReba

Have you thought of offering boarding at your own place?

Yeah, but we just bought it last fall and it still needs some improvements before I felt like it was up to par in charging someone to keep their horses there. It’s on the 3-5 year plan!

[HeyJealousy]

Just curious, OP…have you made any decisions? Your posts really spoke to me and I’ve been following the replies avidly.

[B-burg_Dressage]

@HeyJealousy

Just curious, OP…have you made any decisions? Your posts really spoke to me and I’ve been following the replies avidly.

I didn’t go for the barn manager job–the more I asked about it–the more it looked like glorified barn help and less of a “manager”. Which is fine, but not what I thought it was. Still glad I asked and found out more.

And I had my quarterly performance review today with my current job. Brought up wanting to be trained for field work and get some certifications for other things that would get me out of the office. My boss was really excited I was taking the initiative and wanted to help me work toward more of those things. So that should be something that will hopefully start in the 6 months (this is our busiest time of year so I can’t take on any extra training right now as we’re all already pulling OT).

I also talked to some of the conservation (NRCS and Soil & Water) offices about education and certifications needed to maybe get a job with one of them someday.

I’m really glad I started this thread, as it did help change my perspective that I’m not necessarily stuck one way or the other. And thankfully I do have a good boss who supported the idea of me getting out more to make me happier in my job. I’ve had experience where that isn’t the case, so I was nervous but the conversation showed promise at least.

[HeyJealousy]

@B-burg Dressage that is excellent news! Very exciting! Good luck!

[Bluey]

@B-burg Dressage

I didn’t go for the barn manager job–the more I asked about it–the more it looked like glorified barn help and less of a “manager”. Which is fine, but not what I thought it was. Still glad I asked and found out more.

And I had my quarterly performance review today with my current job. Brought up wanting to be trained for field work and get some certifications for other things that would get me out of the office. My boss was really excited I was taking the initiative and wanted to help me work toward more of those things. So that should be something that will hopefully start in the 6 months (this is our busiest time of year so I can’t take on any extra training right now as we’re all already pulling OT).

I also talked to some of the conservation (NRCS and Soil & Water) offices about education and certifications needed to maybe get a job with one of them someday.

I’m really glad I started this thread, as it did help change my perspective that I’m not necessarily stuck one way or the other. And thankfully I do have a good boss who supported the idea of me getting out more to make me happier in my job. I’ve had experience where that isn’t the case, so I was nervous but the conversation showed promise at least.

Could you talk to some of those running the NRCS office about their job and different opportunities?
Those in our local USDA office have always been very happy with their jobs.

[B-burg_Dressage]

Hey y’all!

I got a new job with a private company. So far I couldn’t be happier (unless someone paid me to exist). I get to pick my own hours. I actually get things like a standing desk when I ask for it. And so far there seems to be a lot less office politics.

I take a walk every day over lunch at the park across the street, spend time on my feet a lot more. Overall just a better environment. (And speak of environment, this job is in the recycling industry!)

I have more time to ride and exercise and I’m not stressed at the end of every day.

Still not working with ponies and being really active outdoors, but has enough other pros to outweigh those cons.

[Weezer]

This is great news! I have been working for 15 years now and I spent the first few years trying to figure out if my well-paying but slightly boring desk job was going to suck my will to live. I decided to stick with it because it affords me the lifestyle I want. The way I see it, you can have a dream job or a dream life but very few people are able to pull off both. For me, I get so much challenge and satisfaction away from the office that I don’t mind a little monotony in the office. Picture the life you want to live in ten years, then figure out how to get there. It worked for me, no regrets. Good luck!

[Emily_amp_Jake]

I think if you have more time to ride and exercise, then you are being quite active outdoors!!