What else is there? 🤷🏻♀️
We recently had a company wide town hall that sent me into a tailspin. So I am hitting my 21 year mark in the field and guys I want to try and figure out what other opportunities (if any) we can slide into. Has anyone hit the same roadblock? Perhaps I’m just panicking. We are getting ready to do a MASS downsizing ($3.5 billion, respectively 🙄 EHS will be impacted) and I wonder if I’ve worked so hard to become an expert in my field that I’ve also pigeon holed myself at the same time. I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of area’s I could transition into or apply all this knowledge and experience to. I did consulting when I was younger but it became inconsistent. If anyone has any suggestions, comments…I’ll take any and all of them 🙂
Comments (9)
Well, Stacey,
I'm always a proponent of having a Plan A, B, or C lined up at any moment. I transitioned to the business side of EHS but know there are a lot of options and translatable skills. Definitely keep an eye on the job board too.
So are you wanting to get out of EHS altogether? Or just in a different industry?
I started out wanting to be a Personnel Manager, specifically I wanted to concentrate on Labor Relations (Union/contract Management). As a kid, both my parents were highly involved in the UAW and I had always been fascinated by the whole process. Working my way through college I was employed in UAW plants in the summers to see more, so I majored in it in school. In the mid-70s there were very very few Safety Programs and my large university only had ONE safety class, in something new, called 'OSHA." Did not sound fun to me!
Post college I kept being told I had no experience in Personnel and especially Labor Relations! Which begs the classic question was, "How am I suppose to get experience if no one gives me a chance to get it?!" So after a couple months I decided to do the next best thing, get related experience. So I became a Line Supervisor at a huge UAW Tier 1 Auto Foundry! What an experience that was! Exciting, dirty, high-paced, dangerous and often terrifying! I learned first hand about hard work, motivating employees, safety, keeping your eyes and ears open, making terrifying quick decisions even if you had no clue on what to do but yet acting like you did, and yup, real Labor Relations. I would be exhausted after every shift! Most exciting job I every had and the five years FLEW by! But finally after 5 years made it to Personnel! The job I dreamed about!
Look at a job in local government. or supporting the military on the civilian side. NAVFAC handles facility maintenance for the Marines and Navy. They have safety managers. Local governments as well. I work for a County Fire Department.
I have not been doing this nearly as long as you have but I too have considered a career change. My state has an alternative path to obtain a teaching license due to a short fall in teachers. I have also looked into other areas, such as building code enforcement for my local municipality.
I agree with Branden, I believe with have developed a lot of skills and knowledge that will transition well into other area.