Stressed and overwhelmed about transitioning

 Jg, I have been thinking how I could help you here.  The best I could come up with is the link bellow, which is an inspiring talk by tal golesworthy, a Boiler engineering who was able to work with a multidiscplinary team to create a new treatment to repair A life threatening problem with his Aorta.  I see tremendous value in the input people from different industries can bring to the table.  The trick though is that they must know a bit about the new industry to talk in the same language and get acceptance from that industry.  So I guess my advice to you really is: don't get hold back by people asking for experience in that industry apply anyway for the position but you will need to be able to demonstrate, maybe on a cover letter, how your prior experience can be of use in that industry.  You will need to find the similarities beyond the major differences everyone sees.  You will need to do your homework, if you cannot demonstrate that, it probably means you may need to accept a different role in that industry before you can actually assume a more leadership role there.

You are young and by no means you are stuck.  Listen to Steve jobs talk on stanford graduation, I think it is on YouTube.  "You cannot see the dots connecting into the future, but from the future you will look to the past and see how the knots are really connecting.". I worked in the petrochemical industry, in the commercial area, then I did a phd in reology of thermosets, a post doc Forrest a project in the food industry, then ended up working for an engineering company which designs pipelines for the mining industry,  I am still in this industry but moving into human resource development and social responsibility, and I can now see how each of the experiences have shaped me into what I am doing today.  A year ago though I was so stressed out I thought I had chosen the wrong career.

There is another inspiring talk on Ted:  "education is nonlinear and we tend to think at it as linear." your life will twist and turn but have a vision and hold on to that, you will get to where you want to be even if now you can't quite see it.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/tal_golesworthy_how_i_repaired_my_own_h...

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolutio...

Good luck,

Nara

 I'd echo Naraa's sentiments above, and add that I also feel your exact same fear. I am a recent graduate, 22 years old, and thought just embarking on my career I'm worried that wherever I turn I'll pigeonhole myself into that, and not have the skills to bust out and do other things. One thing I've realised about myself is that I do just enjoy managing great projects, rather than any specific field. I'm a high D high C, and I thrive on taking over systems and moulding them, but I'm not quite C enough to really enjoy any particular technical field for the sake of it. And so I know your fears.

But I'm still a young pup and really can't counsel you with any advice. All I'll say is that I, personally, trust in my abilities and that others will see them. That if I work hard, and work hard to show people my accomplishments, I get my face out there, talk to people, enrich their lives and produce things that make things better for them.... I just trust that, in the end, it'll all work out, no matter where I direct my energies. It'll all integrate over time.

Here's the Jobs video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

And the transcript:

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

And, here's a little video I love, just to pick you up a bit, as you're thinking about starting on a new path:
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYlCVwxoL_g

 Rdhodgson, I really enjoy the little video you love.  

I like this forum as it give a very good insight into the mind of the young generation.  And it confirms what manager tools advocates and highlights quite strongly on the two recent podcasts on performance is aggregated behaviour, that one cannot judge intent by performance, that by doing that, one is usually wrong 70% of the time.   A comment I hear often about the new generation (the milenium generation, or generation Y) from more senior managers (and I have concluded that too sometimes) is that this generation gives up too easily and expect to be rewarded before putting in the effort.  The video you posted shows how difficulty it can be for you to deal with criticism and the insecurity of not knowing whether you are going to get there or not!  I guess we too feel and have felt the same way probably stronger when we were younger, but we just have had no options so we have had to endure, the younger generations has more options and doesn´t endure it as much.  It comes across to others as lack of persistence.

I think you may like the book Outliers, the story of success, by Malcolm Gladwell.  I hope you see the book from a positive perspective validating what you are saying that success is a result of hard work (the 10.000 hours you need to put into something to become really good at it), and that it doesn´t come alone, you will need other people to help you out towards success.  So do surround your self with people that will give you that support (you can be certain that you can count with this forum to add up to your efforts towards):

"My wish with Outliers is that it makes us understand how much of a group project success is. When outliers become outliers it is not just because of their own efforts. It's because of the contributions of lots of different people and lots of different circumstances— and that means that we, as a society, have more control about who succeeds—and how many of us succeed—than we think.", Malcolm Gladwell. 

http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html

Nara

 Oh tell me about it! I'm a big believer in that idea that you're the average of the people you choose to associate with. If there's something I'd stress to anyone my age it's that it's all about *relationships*. Don't fret so much about "skills" and "being better than everyone else" is what I'd say to people my age. I used to worry so much about whether I was better than everyone else, and I thought my success in life depended on just being "the best". And... I mean, yeah, it matters that you try to be the best *you can be*. But what matters more is how you treat other people in achieving those reuslts, how you learn to work with, alongside and for other people. If you want to do awesome things in life, it's about getting out there and doing things the best you can do them, but working to position yourself to be doing those things with people who matter to you, who push you and enable you to do great things, who can tell when you're veering off-centre and are supportive of you when you mess up. And you're only gonna find those people by being magnanimous and gregarious (and, of course, *good at your  job* also!).

As regards to my generation and why they/we are that way, I think it's the result of two things:

(1) As you say, a multiplicity of choices, which creates a kind of paralysis and fear, as well as a resentment that, although the thing we want to do is *right there* and exists and is a real thing (e.g. creating video games, producing awesome bio-tech, or working for Facebook or Google) we can't just go out and do it

(2) A certain resentment towards the elder generation who only taught us that we have to study really hard and work really hard and we'll just get those things. The older generation.... we hear how they dropped out of college, or never went to college, or completed but had minimal debts to pay off, and they are running the world today. And what they've told us is, "Well, geez... I never went to college but I still made a success of my life, so if you go to college, why, the world should just open up for you!" And so most of us spend something like 15-20 years of our lives going through each stage of education. And we're not afraid of hard-work: we understand you work hard at each level, do the assignments, put in the shifts, and work up to the next level. But at the end of it, we expect a job should then be handed to us - and why not! We did what we were told: we kept our nose to the grindstone for 15+ years, working part-time jobs while at college, doing homework for hours every night when we were at school.... we feel like, wow... we're ready for a job now, right? That's the next stage.

What I'm getting at is that the way the world is set up for us today, we've been told that life is just a linear progression, and particularly one *just* of work: that all you do is work, work, work and get to each level. Again: we're *not* afraid of hard work. What we *are* afraid of now, because we've been trained in this idea of a linear path, is the real world, where things are totally non-linear, and *don't* just rely on hard-work. They require us to engage with other people, to learn to do things without a structure, to act on our own initiative and learn how to valuably serve one another, rather than just acting out the minimum of our job roles. 

I will... cut this post short there, before I derail this thread into my stock rant which I give, three pints in at the pub, about how modern education has ruined a generation of students, and start channelling HL Mencken and his advice to burn down the schools and hang the teachers! 

Also, that Gladwell book is on my list! And... it's a long list. :D It's on there with 'Talent is Overrated' and 'The Education of Millionaires'. 

Rdhodgson,  

Wow!  I like to share with you a personal story.

I am 38.  Last year I ended up at the emergency room, I had a nervous breakdown for so much stress, too much work and too little time with my kids (5 and 3 years old).  As a friend of mine, also the same age, sometimes say: "why did my mom make me so responsible?"

I changed.  It still is a struggle sometimes, as the work work work tendency is still there, but I can be both productive and I can spend time with my family.  

So if at age 38 I was able to recover and to recover the joy for work.  By no means your generation at 22 is ruined.  You already know what the problem is and what the solution is, so just go ahead and implement it:

"engage with other people, learn to do things without a structure, act on our own initiative and learn how to valuably serve one another."

...and you will find a life which will perhaps be more meaningful than your only study study study, structure structure structure life as a student!

When I was burned out, completely unstable emotionally I used to think: "What is the point of having worked so hard (me too, I work since I was 15), of having a lot to offer for the development of the world, only to burn out at age 38, and perhaps never again work in engineering?"

to me, what really saved me (and by saving I mean that I could find joy and satisfaction at work again) and mantain me "sane" in an "insane" world is meditation.  

You will not find the answers you are looking forward through reasoning.  You will find them within your inner self.  And you will not find happiness in the future, you will find it now.

You cannot see it now, but the frustrations you are facing now is an important part of your growth as a person.  Today I am so so thankful of having gone through the crisis I went through at age 38, rather than 50.  I can assure you though, it was not pleasant!  So for you to go through all of these questionings at age 22 is a blessing!  Look at it the positive way, imagine if you were on a job working 50 hours a week, only to burn out at 38 and realize you are following through a script without enjoying life?  Much better to have the time now to slow down and decide for yourself the script of your life.  ¡Life is a blessing and happiness is when you can connect your mind with the action your body is doing right now!" 

I like that saying: "you are the average of the people you associate with".  I use a different version which is: "I want to work with people smarter than me!"

It got a bit too philosophical...

 Nothing more to add myself, except "I hear ya!" :)