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Leave a Safe IT Job for Music Tour?
DecisionTime asks: "In this US economy, it took me a whole year to find my current IT job, where I've been for less than a year. It's fairly dull, but pays ok, and I believe it is relatively safe. Now, I've been given the chance to use my talents and tour full time with a band overseas. With the corresponding drop in expenses, my net income on this tour would remain about the same as now. However, music jobs are inherently risky, yet the touring could become long term. On the other hand, I could potentially be IT job searching again within four months with a dubious hole on my resume. I'm single and have no kids or major commitments, but I do not want to destroy my IT career either for the future. I can't get unbiased advice where I am, so perhaps Slashdot can lend me some wisdom?"
Seriously, nothing these days is certian job wise. Just do what makes you happy in the near term. Cheaper than therapy later.
The Ro Factor - Jeep/Linux Weblog
Go and see the world while you can, because let me tell you once wife + kids + career job come along, you won't be able to pursue any of those opportunities even if they do come along, and you don't want to get to 40 with nothing but regrets to show for it.
I speak from bitter experience here man.
Get out and enjoy your talents while you can.
If the pay is the same, and you have no ties binding you down, think of this as a chance to see the country/world for a brief bit while still earning money.
It's not a hole in your resume, if you are doing similar work, and you have a few good stories to tell any potential interviewer who should inquire as to that period in your professional life.
Life is for living, but living takes money. If you can earn money, while making the most of your more valuable personal time, without suffering any loss of income in the near term, then why wouldn't you do it?
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
Go for the band. You will regret not doing it. IT jobs will be there in some form for a while. Have fun.
I probably have one of the most stable jobs in the music industry. I write music for TV. Music is fun, and you always meet interesting people. You might even meet musicians who need IT skills. Or, if you are brave, set yourself up with a DAW, Protools or Digital Performer and mix your skills.
You are involved in two industries that are very unstable. Go for what you want. Have fun. It is not a black mark on your resume, it is an "enhancing experience".
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
In all likelyhood, you won't get this chance again. I say go for it.
You're not very likely at all to 'destroy your career'. You may go broke, make little on the tour, and have problems getting a job when you get back. But that may happen anyway.
What's your worst case scenario? You get a job flipping burgers or move in with your parents or something. Big deal, everyone eats some shit once in a while. You're looking at a *paid vacation*. That's what you're getting.
Yeah, it may not work. But if it were me, I'd take it. Now, I have no responsibilities; no kids, no wife. I can *always* walk away anything until then, because I have nothing to lose. So you might be out a little money. If money's that important to you, I suggest you recognize that and deal appropriately.
You're an idiot if you keep working the day job.
I used to play in a band and had a ball, but I learned a long time ago that it is fleeting and the minute it becomes commercial the fun starts to slip away and it becomes a job.
Decide on a career, if you think Music is your career than go ahead. If you are realistic you will think twice and find another way to get the fix.
Boredom's not a burden anyone should bear.
Life is experiences, that is all you have. Rack one up and add to "lifes resume" instead of your "work resume".
Which would you rather tell a story about in 10 years, your 6 month tour overseas or the day they called you in at 3am without overtime to fix a nimda like worm?
Dude, if you don't go you deserve your crappy day job. I don't know how else to say it besides stop reading these posts right now, turn off your computer, pick up your shit, blow mom a kiss goodbye, get a 24 pack of condoms and run out the damn door.
Neck_of_the_Woods
#/usr/local/surf/glassy/overhead
"Find something you enjoy doing, and get someone to pay you to do it."
Easier said than done, but a worthwhile goal.
Q.
Insert Signature Here
I'm going to say a few things that most people I know might disagree with.
1) You only live once. This is so important I want you to read it again: You only live once. Regardless of your religious affiliation and life-after-death beliefs, nobody has any concrete proof that there is anything but limbo after we're gone. That said, there's no reason to allow yourself to make regrets in life, because there's no do-over.
2) Follow whatever dreams you have to the best of your abilities. I'm surprised daily that so many people don't even have dreams any more. The fact that you not only have one, but have the chance to make it a reality, is the confluence of a number of very rare events. This confluence should not be wasted.
3) With no wife or kids, you have no one to disappoint but yourself, and from the tone of your message it sounds to me as if you'd be very disappointed to miss this opportunity.
4) Even if you can't find an IT job when you get back, you could probably parlay your experience from the tour into, at least, gigs back home. It's a lot more work than an IT job, but you could be self-employed as a "bard" of sorts if you wanted, playing bars and festivals.
- Cloud
Man, I wish I could go on a world tour! I say go for it, friend! If you've got no commitments then you'll never get a better opportunity! Do it for me! =) I'm sitting here 30 something, married, and mortgage payment included so I'll never get that chance, plus, I suck as a musician. =) After all, you could spend four months hunting after it's all said and done, or it could become permanant. Taking a year off to do a world tour as a musician isn't the same to me as not being able to land a job... If you put it on your resume all us 30-something guys would understand right? Who wouldn't want to be a rock star for a little while? =)
I'd say go for the tour. I was out of work (dot bomb) and looking for something to do when I went on tour with some friends and it was one of the most rewarding expieriences of my life. If you really want to break into the music biz you're going to have to take some risks...sorry but that is the biz. Dont worry though, the IT industry is making a comeback so you might not have to wait that long to find another job. When I went on tour I drove around the states eating cheap PB&J sandwitches and drinking as much as possible and yet, met some extrodinary people (I was sober alot of the time -- someone had to drive). If nothing it will give you a feel for the industry and a load of contacts. If your band has a big enough name try getting on the Armed Forces Entertainment Network tours, they go all over the world and its all paid for, you get to see the sights and make some excellent contacts all on someone elses penny.
No amount of lucid, well thought out reasoning in favor of staying will ease the bitterness and regret you will feel ten years from now if you don't go. There will still be sterile, soul-sucking cubicles here when you get back, I promise.
Sorry to oversimplify a tough decision. All I can say is what-if's and if-only's can haunt like demons.
Bush is a cylon.
a "dubious 4 month hole in your resume" isn't going to ruin your IT career
Just want to second that opinion.
If I were looking to hire someone for an IT job, I would have no qualms about hiring someone who just took a half-year off to follow a dream.
You might want to see if you can just "take a leave of absence" from your current job.
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
-- Confucius
Buddy of mine was laid off a year and a piece ago. He had significant cash in the bank and the dole (FL style) paying out more than his mortgage.
He had always dreamed of hiking the Appalachian Trail. Come layoff, he freaked out. "Got to get a job got to get a job..."
Here's a guy with an annual salary in cash on hand.
Three months later he's working at a job paying quite a bit less. Why? They were offering to pay. That's it.
Moron. One of my best, smartest friends. Moron. Says it himself "Stupidest move ever."
Go travel. Run lean, and see what happened. I left college, took a gig halfway around the world for half of what my local offers were. Actually, I never figured that out until this week. 4 years ago I left the United States to seek fame, fortune and adventure. I spend two years making half of what I had been offered before I left. You know what? Best money I ever spent.
Have a wife? What does she say?
Have kid/s? STFU, and get back to work.
None of the above? Why aren't you packing already? You never, ever, ever want to look back on your life and say 'Why didn't I take the chance to...' Don't forget the old line about 'nobody ever died wishing they had spent more time at the office'.
You may think your job is secure, but unless you have access to the books, you have no idea. Even then, you might not know.
Get out. Live a little. There'll be some kind of cubicle waiting for you when you get back.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
I was in a similar situation several years ago.
The band I was in was playing in pubs several nights a week, and I was the only one working a normal job. It was great fun, but getting home all fired up at 2am made it tough to get up for work the next day.
We did some recording, then the other guys in the band wanted to go play around the country. They lined up gigs in several places with very little effort, so I had to choose between work and music.
I chose work.
My career was at the point where it was starting to get interesting, and I knew that I'd get some interesting job offers shortly.
The music had, to me at least, always been a fun thing and I'd basically played for beer money while the rest of the guys split the bulk of the loot between them. That wasn't exactly a fortune, but they needed the cash more than I did. I'm pretty sure none of us actually thought we'd get a music career out of it, but suddenly it appeared like it might be a goer.
In hindsight, I don't really regret it. Although the other guys were a bit upset when I pulled out, I'd always made it clear that I had a "second life" outside of music so it was OK. I found another group that was more "work friendly" with very little effort and played with them instead, while my original band went out without me.
In the final washup, they decided that a life in music wasn't really what they wanted. They had a bit of fun, but got stiffed by club owners more than once and found that all of them sharing their lives 24x7 wasn't really that great. Steady girlfriends got put on hold; strangely no GF wanted to tag along with 4 other guys and no other women! There were a few sexual encounters, but none that probably wouldn't have been on offer if they'd stayed at home.
If you think this band is really gonna make it big, or if you really really enjoy playing with them, by all means go for it.
If music is basically just a fun thing with a few mates, then why not just enjoy it for what it is and leave things as they are? If you're an OK muso, you'll always find another group of guys to play with.
I've done a lot of stuff and ultimately failed at nearly everything I've tried. And yet I only seem to regret the chances I didn't take.
unemployment after quitting? what state do YOU live in?
Nobody ever said at the end of their life that they wished they had spent more time in the office.
Truisms, gotta love em.
Go find a single philosopher who said anything remotely similar. Cash is not what counts. I'm not going to pretend that I know what does count, but it certainly is not cash.
I used to work for IBM in a job I liked, except that I had to travel. The hours were not that great either. I didn't love the job at all, but it wasn't bad at all. The traveling on the other hand was just too much for myself and my new wife and family (consists of 2 dogs and 2 cats). My brother gave me some advise. He said: "Nobody on their death bed has said, 'I wish I would have worked just one more day.'" And I listened to this advise and quit my job for a shittier, lower paying IT job so I could stop traveling and spend more time with my new family.
Although you are right about just about everthing in your post, cash is not what counts...Please mod parent down.
In 1987 I was offerred the opportunity to play bass for a nationally recognized folk performer. I had just started at my first software job a week before, but would have to go on tour a month later if I took the offer.
I said no.
I regret the decision to this day, despite being pretty successful in software.
Don't be an idiot - grab your dream job when you can. It's a lot better to be able to fail and say you tried than regret that...etc.
Peter