Whoaaaaaaaaah…very interesting points of view everyone. It is mind blowing and incredibly eye opening reading everyone’s comments so far…I can say that I was not expecting what has been shared here.
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curious to know what the other passions are
connecting with my alumni association, alumni friends and profs is tricky…i went to school in the US and live in Canada. most of my friend’s connections are limited to the US.
i imagined working on mega civil projects and I really did enjoy studying soil behavior in uni…once i started working though (about 8 yeasr ago) everything changed…i saw the ugly side of the industry (ie the profit driven business side of it) and it was a huge shock. I hate how i have no input on what gets built on our planet and just have to work on whatever project my consulting firm wins and gets me assigned to.
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I spent an incredible and educational summer during college as a working student at a big A show barn. I’m so glad I did it, not least because it cured me of any ambition to make a career of horses. As other posters have noted, the work is physically hard, the hours are long, the pay is poor, and the pace is unrelenting. I personally found my experience to also be very rewarding–I enjoyed working with the horses, and learned a tremendous amount from the great employers who took me on the road.
But I feel really grateful now to have a desk job with a steady salary and good benefits–that I could keep doing if I fell and broke my leg tomorrow. I still get plenty of horse time, even if it’s not quite as much as I’d like.
I agree with other posters that you ought to think about how to improve your happiness in your chosen field.
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Um I hate to say it, but if this is what you’re struggling with, don’t get into the horse business.
The horse business, just like every other industry, is also a profit driven industry full of a lot of very negative things. There are some good people, yes, but there are many who are willing to do very unethical things, including mistreating horses or clients, in the name of profit. And just like in your consulting firm, you’ll be working with whatever horses or doing whatever chores you’re assigned, without any input.
Frankly, almost any industry or job has the elements you mention. There’s not a single industry exempt from the nasty profit driven side of things. Even the non-profit sector has some things most wouldn’t believe in its underbelly.
Perhaps a good nonprofit is the best place for you to look for something new and fresh.
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Since I was about 7 my favourite things to do were to curl up with a book and write my own stories.
I am now a college level English lit professor 
Perfect match, except for marking papers and having to actually leave the house
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I’m quoting this post because I wish I could like it 10 times.
I grew up with a bit of a skewed perspective on this because my parents both had jobs they were really passionate about (which of course had their down sides and moments of dislike), but Mac’s perspective is something my dad imparted on me and I am so very grateful. I now have a job with decent hours (mostly), the ability to take time off pretty much whenever I want, good health benefits, and a pension. I don’t love it but it’s usually inoffensive and I stick with it because it sets me up well for the future and allows me to do the things that are important to me (ride, care for my horses, travel sometimes when I can find someone else to take care of them!).
I’m glad that you are taking in all these comments as there is a lot of value in every single one.
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I agree with those who say you need to look for a new job either within your career field or related to it, or maybe go back to school to get some of those enviro classes you need to get jobs where you feel like you make an “impact.”
No offense but you sound very much like a millennial. I say this because I now train millennials and I actually did a lot of reading and studying on the younger generations in the workforce, and the City I work for now requires it for annual training for all employees. It was all, “they want to feel fulfilled” and “feel like they make an impact/difference.” Please. If you don’t like where you work, start looking elsewhere. But to throw away an extensive degree and experience for not even minimum wage to play barn rat? No. Such a horrible financial decision. Maybe you are independently wealthy and can do this, but if not it sounds foolhardy.
Find something else you like that will pay bills and allow you to save for retirement in some fashion.
As for passions and feeling like you are “making a difference,” I went the civil service route. But I’d also like Scribbler’s career too I think, since I started as an magazine editor and now I edit police reports in addition to all the other cool police stuff 
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Please don’t try to be a university professor. 78% of our jobs are now adjunct/contingent faculty. It is no longer a stable and comfortable career option.
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probably cause I am one!
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'bout time a generation stood up for the environment
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You just need a new job.
I was struck by the statement I heard once, “half your waking life is spent at work.” It made me realize how important it is to be happy in my job. Having said that, I have discovered that most work is the same and no matter where I work, I am the same worker and I put in the same effort whether I am paid well or poorly.
So the difference in jobs is generally not the tasks but the people. If you have a good dynamic with your coworkers and a boss you respect, you will enjoy going to work. Also, it’s important that your boss likes you. It makes a huge difference in how well you fit in and it affects your enjoyment of your work. If you fit in at work, you may not be jumping up and down on Sunday night with the prospect of getting up early the next morning, but you will have a level of contentment and satisfaction which will add to your life.
If you hate your work you don’t need to change careers, you just need to find another job.
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Hmmm interesting turn of a-historical events :lol::lol::lol: and that’s why even though it seems impractical to some I firmly believe in the importance of a classical liberal arts education. To avoid nonsense like this.
let me add take some history lessons to my earlier suggestion of take some riding lessons.
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Then go do what you will… Report back in 10 years.
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TheJenners hit it on the head. OP all the things you dislike about your job are very much apart of the horse world. It’s why many of us stopped being working students and got a career. You need to network and research other avenues for your career. Also, stop looking for the quick fix and realize if at every place you have worked you can’t get along with the people then it’s time to maybe look at what you are doing. I don’t say this in a mean way. I say this because I am not a people person and have to smile and play some level of politics all day long. It’s exhausting. But I love what I do. My sabbatical of sorts from work this month has been lovely and much needed so I can continue to ya know smile through it.
@TheJenners you really have training about working with millenials??? I’d lose my ever loving mind.
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Do it anyway. You might be surprised by who they know, they might find something for you in the States, they might have met just the right person at a conference last week, they might have a conference to suggest, they might have ideas for you knowing your strengths and of what kinds of jobs to pursue.
Remember that for every project you’ve worked on, there’s an engineer on the other side that decided whether or not you could do what you were proposing, and probably engineers working for advocacy groups that are opposing your projects. You could be those engineers, and possibly do it better because of your experience working on the other side of the desk.
Every company works for some money goal, even the best ones: that’s how they’re paying your rent. But you can choose a firm that values you and that works for general goals that fit you better. There are people making the world a better place literally all over the world, doing things thoughtfully. People need places to live and they need transportation and it can be done better or worse with respect to the environment. But there’s no such thing as zero impact.
Look as an example at Puerto Rico: they are rebuilding everything. There are people not only doing things the conventional ways but also people trying to buck the system to build better than they started, to add in a solar grid and create infrastructure that is more robust and more locally sustainable. Is that attractive to you? And there are other islands in the same boat (sorry).
With your degree you can probably shift gears a bit into a lifestyle that fits you better. If you know about soils, you can engineer drainages and the like to ensure that the buildings are safe in major storms and the water leaves clean and harmless. (In fact, my friend’s barn in Southern California was saved by just such a feat of engineering with a debris basin.)
You can also consider moving into teaching at any level, if something like that fits you.
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No offense but personal integrity shouldn’t be generational. Nor do I associate it with any one generation.
In fact to be a licensed civil engineer in my state, California, you not only have to show your personal technical skill but you have to have three professional references to your personal integrity and ethics before you can even sit for the exam. My engineering education was not only about how to solve problems, but whether to solve problems, and what problems to solve. Indeed, I was trained by the people who developed the atomic bomb and ICBMs and they felt this was a critical and core component of an engineering education.
There’s no reason a trained engineer should have to settle for work that is personally repugnant nor with sucky coworkers. It’s true that not every day will be unicorns and puppies but on the whole there are wonderful problems out there to solve that need someone to solve them. Even when the work itself may be tedious, there is the payoff in the end of a project that makes people’s lives better. For someone in the wonderful position of not being tied to a particular place or to a large compensation package, there are so many options, and I hope the OP will find one.
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Yes through the city insurance carrier too!! Believe that! Thank you Washington Cities Insurance Authority… It is all about “different work spaces” and making people feel empowered, valued, and saying “gee Ted, I understand what you are saying there, I really do, but maybe you can consider what Sally is proposing?” It even goes into people using other people’s parking spots and how that affects the whole “team” :lol:
@poltroon Uh no, you misunderstood… I meant her “everyone is mean and money hungry and I’m not making a difference” mentality. Not personal integrity, which was not a blip on the radar for me but obviously is for her because she pulled up on my “make a different/impact” statement and made it about the environment. I meant that she feels like a small cog in a big wheel, so while I may have mistook her intent, she mistook mine as well. Shrugs all around IMO.
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Oh.my.god. My SO still lives there, blew a gasket about his property tax hike, may have to tell him to make a ruckus. Lol. At least I only get talked to by one or two people not actual training.
@poltroon some people have a really hard time dealing with the fact that they have to get to a certain level before they get an opinion. That’s life. I feel the OP needs to learn that. Maybe teaching is a better fit.
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Also, OP, I do sympathize with why your feel stuck: engineering jobs are … weird… to apply for and get sometimes. But I promise you, from someone on the other side of that tunnel, there really are some great options out there. Be brave! If you were bold enough to get work in Australia I know you can find something awesome and someone who will really value you. Don’t lose heart.
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