I agree with everything you wrote in this thread so far, just with this one I want to say that eg here in Berlin, there is actually a severe shortage of qualified baristas, and I’m not even joking. 
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Nice - Berlin is a cool city. I hope to visit again soon!
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Same here. My dream would be for my company to let me work from Germany for part of the year, particularly Berlin. I loved it there and one of the few places I could see myself outside of Tokyo.
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True story-
Have a friend who spent a lot of money and graduated from Full Sail, he’s been working in the industry (currently Universal) for the past 14 years…in the pay roll department, and only because his sister is married to a department head at Warner(his original employer). So take that as you will.
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previous ex tech employee here who just spent 4 grueling months looking for work. i decided i’ll try to make the coin and then eventually find something different. right now there’s too many variables w work and pay structures are entirely broken imo.
without saying too much, companies that use hardware devices still need people and are hiring. try hunting down the industry leaders in your area for that kind of thing and get a foot in the door. after 3 months of nothing, i changed my remote only nebulous wishes to local hardware and had 2 offers in a month
i’m not a high brow employee nor do i care to be. it’s do-able
my list changed to government, local hardware/software mixed (think big names that move slow), and local universities. the rest of the market, specifically tech, is hyper competitive and with ai supposedly on the horizon i literally lost a job to a position being pushed back by a year from a planning perspective.
good luck changing into something that suits you better.
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Hi @Roger.
It’s always difficult thinking about a career change but the stats don’t lie - most people don’t do one thing their whole life any more so don’t be disheartened. As @Jukka says you can talk to a professional about careers advice and if you can’t find or afford one then perhaps you have a friend who works in HR? They always have experience with hiring people ,dealing with people unhappy with their work etc so they have a lot to offer.
For context I’m a 43 year-old software developer and I work in a music industry-related company. I think we all know it’s a tough business and there aren’t exactly tons of openings to actually produce/make/perform music and make a decent living. Sometimes it’s enough to work in the right area/sector doing something other than what you had in mind (if that makes sense) so you can enjoy being in that context.
Any interest in being self-employed? If you already have skills could you sell them as a freelancer or a contractor? There are a lot of people working in the “gig economy” and there’s a reason that many music folks have a youtube channel or a patreon account etc so they can try to get income from various sources by selling knowledge, music, sample packs, whatever. Whatever skills or experience you have are no doubt worth money to someone.
If you REALLY love some particular subject then going back to school is one option but it’s a big sink of time and potentially money so just think about it first, there may be other avenues. It’s one thing to be a fresh-faced graduate at 22 and another to be a graduate at 40-something.
Good luck! There are always more options than it first appears, just take a little time to think about your options and do your research. Talk to your friends and family, they will have perspective about what they think will make you happy and what they think you’re good at.
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I’ve been around a lot of audio engineers and there’s a few routes. One is obviously studio or mastering, the other is live, and bread and butter routes are corporate, being the audio guy for a venue, theatre, or touring/on the road. With almost any of these you can expect to work nights. It can be hard work, there’s all the routing and setup to take care of and understanding all of that, for instance monitor requirements on stage, understanding microphones and wireless frequencies etc.
My advice would be it’s a tough slog, and heading into 40 is setting yourself up for a lot of work. While the subject is one thing, it’s also worth thinking about the environment and hours you want to work in, but also, what is the end goal? What is making you want to shift gears?
If you have the means, lay low and get some money together for a bit, this can build confidence and stability and get you poised for the next step. If you can keep building This buffer, then when you pull the trigger and switch, there’s less stress because you’ve got some support.
Sell some things, lean up, call a mate to hang out, work out a bit, get mobile. You might find out it’s not audio engineering, but something else. My advice would be not to jump into anything too quick, but give yourself some time with some paper and pen and try and work it all out.
I’ve been in this position and someways kind’ve am right now, but it’s always a balance of weighing up what you have and how much you feel like rocking the boat. Definitely gets harder as you get older, so I think the opportunities for a switch become less frequent.
Good luck in the search and don’t be too hard on yourself as you explore the process.
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Is the most Berlin thing anyone has ever said.
It’s a fair point though, I mean, look what happened to Shoreditch during the novelty breakfast cereal shortages. One week it was all tech startups and unicycles, the next it was like a scene from the last of us.
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Once upon a time it was
‘I work in a cafe’
Now its
‘I’m a barista’
Bollocks.
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qualified Barista actually.
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Huge difference… enormous
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For fear of being serious for a minute, OP, would you say that you are dissatisfied with your current circumstances, do you have itchy feet, maybe a touch of the old grass is greener on the other side or maybe the start of a bit of a mid-life crisis (which everyone takes the piss out of, but this shit is no joke, believe me)?
Whatever is driving your feelings of needing to make a change, it’s important that you try to nail down that part first, as it will have the biggest impact on the success/failure of any decisions. What I’m saying is there’s no point making big changes if you’re just gonna take all the same problems somewhere new. Try and think about exactly what parts of your life need to change and maybe build a bit of a list of priorities based on that.
I dunno, I feel you though, this part of life is pretty weird.
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Good luck with whatever path you take - a fresh start can do us all some good and this sounds like a more positive direction than buying a Harley Davidson.
I’d actually suggest that this might make it a bad candidate. If you already have most of the knowledge then you’re essentially paying for a qualification. It might also make it a bit boring. I’d be looking to extend your knowledge into a new and exciting area that could support this career path.
If I were going to get back into education today I’d be looking at AI, ML etc., personally. An interesting cross over could be software development (I’m thinking VST’s etc.)
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Sorry everyone, I’ll stop now.
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I’m no career counselor, but at that age (well, I’d say this to a 20 year old, too) if you don’t have family money id suggest you focus on a career you don’t hate that provides you with a comfortable living.
The “do what you love” thing is for people who have soft springy safety nets.
I’d echo what someone said above, hardware tech support (of some sort) will probably never go completely away - especially not if the tech skills of current 20 year olds are any indication.
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Underrated facts.
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I have a degree and masters in music production from one of the top universities in Europe, and it actually made everything worse. I did my masters at 35 and had a really good time but I now work in tech support and probably won’t ever get to use it in any meaningful way. Find something to study that’ll let you set your own hours and have plenty of time off while paying well is my advice.
Time is everything.
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I have picked up and moved to a different country a few times in my life. If nothing is holding you down, and you are able to get the paperwork, I recommend this. Good luck
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Focus with an utterly mercenary attitude on getting the best-paid job you can. It’s fucked up, but the better-paid the job, the better you’ll be treated and the more flexibility you’ll be allowed with your time to do more interesting things. If you can luck into some sweet contracting gig, just knuckle down for a year of tedious bullshit and you can probably save enough to take a year off.
Re: moving, it can be great, it can also destroy you with loneliness. If you’re already lonely, you have less to lose and more to gain.
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…sorry to say so, but there’s no real carreer waiting for u, once u achieved any degree in audio engineering…the leftovers of the recording studio biz are all pretty dead silent tiny, the music biz is a 5th gen zombie, 80% of all music gear brands only survive because of a hobby market on decline, while only thing to count on is that everybody is a dj these days…
if u got an artist soul, sonicwise, some experience already to live ur life as a recording and performing artist, u can still try ur luck…but u gonna need heaps of endurance, a truu vision, the will to depend on luck, luck, luck plus contacts, contacts, contacts and a sturdy hand for networking constantly…
any school of audio engineering that takes ur money in exchange, might be able to teach u some further essentials, but that money is usually way better invested in gear and diy…
don’t wanna sound like ur parents, but damn, why did’nt u finish any degree in first place…
sure, this is a world of endless plan b’s…but as already mentioned here…working with ur hands in a smart, not hard way, is getting hot again…brainy and arty jobs ain’t selling this year…
even if the whole fancy world keeps on telling u otherwise…
good luck, where ever it takes u…sorry again, for not having any relevant tips…
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