So I really need a fresh start.
I am a 39-year-old college dropout thinking over the possibility of going back to school. Maybe audio engineering since I already have maybe 50% of the knowledge.
I like to think I’m seen on here as a helpful contributor, so now I am asking for help. I need to get out of the years-long downward spiral I’ve found myself in. The problem is where to go. Open to ideas. Nothing tying me down.
What are you effing crazy?! Don’t do that! HAVE YOU NOT SEEN THE MEMES?!
Is community college an option? Then transfer to a four-year school? Do you have any credits you can still use/claim?
I’d advise not going to a for-profit school; if your community has resources, then maybe you can use them and not end up in a lot of debt.
I dropped out of university, went to three different community colleges, and then one state school, and finished more than 20 years after I started. But I also worked at various schools/universities during that time, had a life, etc. It’s possible!
I filled that gaping hole in my self esteem and wiped a failure away with a success and it was not easy working full time and going to school… but the experiences I had, the people I met, and the things I learned well into my twenties/thirties were very constructive!
what are your likes and dislikes besides music, because while you handle the music in your life everything else in your life is going to try to handle you… likes and dislikes about places to live + priorities
Abstractify what you enjoy about the concept of audio engineering and see if you can tap the same satisfaction centers in the work that you do.
If you really care about audio engineering, then learn it as a hobbiest.
The biggest thing would be to study EQ, train your ears to hear the EQ. Its the most powerful tool in your arsenal.
Maybe try to collab with people to learn different techniques. But don’t blow thousands of dollars on a career that will, at best, return a fraction of that
I do not recommend spending any money learning audio engineering. It can be self-taught and its very tough to earn money consistently, from my experience.
I’m sure others can chime in but my two suggestions are learn to code or learn to edit video. It’s not too late for either.
Tech industry hiring dropouts is a meme, but also true. It’s also true that if you land a job, you will work your butt off. Privileged folks will complain that the industry is abusive. Games and music definitely are, tech is mostly cushy, or at least pays well while they overwork you.
I’m a tech guy with substantial education and resume, so that’s an obvious bias. But I’d recommend looking for well-funded startups in the audio space that are riding the AI meme-wave and apply to them ASAP. They won’t care if you have an audio engineering degree, but will care if you can get on Zoom and have a chat about doing audio stuff. It helps to have basic people skills too.
I don’t think I have any specific connects to offer, but do feel free to DM me with any questions.
Edit: legit tech jobs always pay. Media jobs generally require extensive unpaid “interning”.
If you know anybody looking for dropouts with prior tech job experience. Hook a brother up(me)
Check out Crunchbase to see who is funded. Be willing to wade through the shit that is Hacker News. Strike up conversations with people on Twitter. There is a fair amount of legwork to be done, and you will need to develop a bullshit filter.
Culturally speaking, the kind of people launching startups are substantially similar to people hanging out here.
Don’t take a job for equity only. Do act thankful if you are granted equity, but privately treat it as worthless until the company is public (10+ years in the future). Get paid cash money that will allow you to live in modest comfort with appropriate taxes paid.
Don’t pay money to go to conferences (beyond taxi / bus fare). Don’t talk to recruiters who want money from candidates. Legit recruiters get multiples of your salary from the hiring company.
I’ve never heard of this! I’ll go through their offerings tomorrow.
I’ll message you in the midst of my wading for further advice on constructing an adequate BS filter
We’ll focus on a low pass filter 
I think living abroad is an experience that will change your life more than anything else. I’m not sure if you are wanting to chase a lot of money or not, but one idea would be to get a teaching degree and head overseas. Lots of people teach in Asia (Korea, Japan, etc). I did it when I first got out of college (even with no teaching degree and no language experience). That won’t make you rich, but many people find new opportunities after that (I’ve been in Japan for 20+ years and only taught the first couple). It can be a good springboard to see the world and have a lot of adventures. Visas will typically require a 4-year degree though.
Just to add a word of caution to this… I work(ed) in tech, got laid off late last year, and still haven’t been able to land a new job… with 10 years of experience.
Tech can be an awesome field, but with the glut of layoffs over the past 12 months, it’s savagely competitive right now.
…fuuuuuuuuuuuuu
…ck
Tech….ugh.
Everyday I pray for the EMP to hit.
Absolutely valid. I’ve found it easiest to get hired early and late on my career. Mid career can be tough when you are almost but not quite top-tier talent.
If you focus on companies that recently announced funding rounds, your odds will improve as well.
Learn a trade that everyone needs, no matter their personal interests, age, gender, class, country etc
Make yourself valuable to society as a whole, not just a tiny niche bunch of nerds.
Not to mention, being an audio engineer- if you have a clientele that pays, then you’ll probably be making more than them.*
And that’s not a healthy market to be in
*- ie they’ll most likely be paying you more than they’ll make from the work
Indeed – though also extra challenging in the current high-interest-rate environment with less capital flowing to startups.
This was one of my motivations for finishing my degree.
SMPTE time code.
Er, I mean, water desalinization.
True, but there is a waterfall of money flowing into AI startups, and so much negativity about AI that you can probably find an angle where you flatter them and they pay you a silly amount of money to work on their doomed-to-fail idea. Unless you are extremely senior there is very little shame in working on a stupid idea that pays the bills and lets you buy all the new Elektrons you want. 
Also: if you want the easy immigration path, you work for a tech company for a bit, finish a STEM degree of any kind and suddenly you are at the top of the heap for most pleasant countries. Everyone has a surplus of local baristas.