The basic flavor of this goal is as follows: I need to transition to a less specialized career that has less on-call, less intense ongoing education required, and is less impacted by the global and local economic trends such as outsourcing and the crappy tech job market in MA. The goal relates to shoring up financial security for the family, and providing a career role change to allow me more dedicated time with the family.

I have been working through some major career issues the last couple of years. Basically, I make a good living working as a computer systems engineer in a Pharma company but I have gone as far as possible in my current career path. As a Lead Engineer, there is ony one way to advance my career: Manager. Unfortunately, I do not want to become a manager since I do not think that career path would be a rewarding one for me personally. There are too many poor managers out there already who got there purely by seniority and I do not want to join those ranks. Unfortuntately, I do not want to continue along the purely technical path since it is demanding due to the rapidly evolving technology landscape and always-on-call job expectations. I've been doing this work ten years and it's time to explore a different path. I am starting a family soon, and I need to maintain my income level, but protect myself from outsourcing, dependence on specific technology, the crappy technology-based job market in Mass, etc etc.

So what does this have to do with a goal you ask? I have committed myself to becoming a professional project manager. I have already taken a project management class with BU, and I am scheduled for the PMP (Project Management Professional) exam in late Sept. In addition, I'm going for a new position in the company which will take me away from some of my operational responsibilities in favor of a more project-based role. My new role would put me in charge of the company's storage architecture, and would require a lot of rapid learning to come up to speed on the technology. Getting this position would allow me to run at least three high visibility enterprise-level projects in the company over the next two years. I believe this new role will still allow me to be involved in technology to utilize existing skills/knowledge, and will open a whole new set of creative outlets in the form of new technology, logistics, managing people (as resources), etc. all the while allowing me to protect my income. Longer term (2-3 years), I plan on getting a job much closer to home in a purely IT project management role.

Sounds like I am headed in the right direction right?

My problem historically stems from completing these sorts of transitions. I will get 95% there and drop the ball. I still have to prepare for and pass the exam (It's a grueling 4 hour deal), convince management to allow me to transition into a new role, and then go up the steep learning curve in the areas of project management and enterprise storage architecture, all in the context of expecting a child in February. I feel like I am doing well, but I worry about that last 5% of the transition.

My plan to handle this "unable to finish phenomenom" starts with letting everyone know what I am doing. I am also asking my wife to help me track and complete specific tasks on a published timeline. We will be doing periodic, scheduled reviews of the tasks required to make the career transition. I am also giving myself (and my wife) an incentive if I complete the transition successfully, which should provide some additional motivation.

OK, my stake is in the ground. At the end of September I will have taken and passed my PMP exam. Come this time next year, I will be in a new career role in my company getting away from operational responsibilities and focused on new technology implementation and project management. Three years from now I will be working as a pure project manager, closer to home, with less ongoing job-related education requirements, and no on-call responsibilities.

If you got through all of this, congratulations and thanks for listening!

Hey Let's Hang! Thanks for sharing your goal and your own challenge, something I bet a lot of us face, the "unable to finish phenomenom". ( UTFP - I think we may have uncovered our first syndrome ).

You certainly face a great deal of challenges and changes to your life in the next year. I think it's great that you are working through it with your wife. Communication is an excellent tool to manage the stress you will both deal with in the coming months.

Have you discussed your career goals with your manager or HR department? You may find that they will champion your efforts.

Keep us posted. Way to THRIVE!

You know, I was amazed today.

I thought through all of the possible responses I could get from our management team and had well-prepared answers for any concerns they might have. I made my proposal, and everyone I spoke with was extremely supportive. I expected a little bit of a fight and all I got was understanding, accomodation and support. It's basically a done deal!

I'll keep posting updates on the rest of the transition, but this is a huge first step.

Sounds like you've got some THRIVIN' karma!

You have a great plan, someone to keep you focused on it, and a reward when you complete your goal - in addition to knowing you made it 100% of the way there. I suffer from UTFP at times, too, and letting other people know what I'm trying to accomplish certainly helps me stick to it.

Looking forward to hearing about the inbetween parts. Good luck on the exam!

OK, so just to loop back with the whole discussion, I just got a new job as an IT project manager. The job is very close to home and has no on call responsibilities. Basically, I've been able to make this transition in a couple of years which is better than I had projected. Now I just have to prove myself in this new role.

Anyways, now I have a new goal: with some of the extra time and energy I now have each day, I want to finish up my 4 year degree so I can move on to grad school.

Gotta keep moving!

Congratulations on the new job! You've been in it for a few months now - are you finding the time and energy to work toward your new goal of finishing your degree?

I took a class at a large institution over the summer, hoping to further my education and did very well, but the school was horrible. The students and instructors were substandard in relation with the premium they were charging for credits. I bailed out of the program and had to look for another that was more suitable.

I have applied to a new school, and have been accepted into a management program at Fisher College. I've transferred in over two years worth of credits and will be starting classes at the end of Oct.

My new job is extremely challenging, but I find myself more optimistic than ever with more energy available to me. Spending more time with the family has a way of recharging the batteries, and reminds me daily why I go to work.

Thanks for the update, LH.

It sounds like you've managed to rack up success with your original goal, overcome the UTFP, and make a new goal. All while finding a better quality of life with some work/family balance.

Awesome! I think we need to give out some kind of High THRIVE! award or something.

Thanks for sharing your positives. We're preparing to tackle some work/family balance challenges in our house, and it helps to hear when others are succeeding. I look forward to telling our own success stories in the near future...

Working out the career/home balance is indeed an ongoing battle. In the perfect world, home and work priorities align but I have yet to meet anyone who actually pulled it off completely. I look forward to hearing your experiences.