Every small computer repair shop I've seen in the past 8 years has closed down eventually. The reason is simple. New computers are so cheap/accessible now that when one breaks within the first year, they send it back to manufacturer/store they bought it from and get a replacement. If it's past its warranty/return period. People simply buy a new one and throw the old one out.

There are only a minority of users that actually need anything repaired. Shops, small businesses (without IT dept), stuff like that. So unless you got connections, you won't make any money because "walk-ins" will be vary rare and even then, are you going to quote someone $120 to fix a laptop that cost them $299?

Keep your regular job. Start an eBay or other online business during evenings / weekends and build it up to ultimately replace your job.

Do not confuse a hobby with making a living. Computers have a very limited (to no) future in the consumer space compared to tablets/phones. Also: big chains like Staples and Best Buy already have geek squads and sell computer components.

PeterLI wrote:

Keep your regular job. Start an eBay or other online business during evenings / weekends and build it up to ultimately replace your job.

Do not confuse a hobby with making a living. Computers have a very limited (to no) future.

Yeah, I know. That's why I've been looking for alternatives, I see the writing on the wall (perhaps a PC shop was a bad example, but that's all I know) and don't think there is much future in my career. I work frontline tech support for a financial services company, so everything has to be done right away (so there is never time to do proper troubleshooting, just bandaid it) and I get to deal with massive egos every day.

There is nothing to stop the inexorable outsourcing, the last several places I've worked have gone with cheap outsourcing outfits rather than onsite support. I have a broad background (some engineering coursework, certfications, a BA in a non-technical field) but often feel like what I do is perceived as snapping legos together (and not TOO far off point, for the type of solutions I have time to implement). There just isn't time to spend more than 20-30 minutes on a call, if something keeps coming up we dig into it or escalate to an engineer.

Not sure what I'm going to do. I don't think that anything based on consumer demand (services, new housing construction or repair/remodelling, etc) is going to be strong in the near future. I basically need to find a career where the product is something you can't live without (or is perceived that way), the product/service is consumed/destroyed and has to be provided repeatedly (such as food, for instance) and can't be outsourced.
So I guess if weed was legal in my stated I could open a combination smokeshop and 7-11, 🤣, but I wouldn't be contributing anything useful to society.

I just don't know what options there are. I suppose I could go to nursing school, there will be a huge demand for medical services what with the aging population, but I pass out at the sight of blood so not sure that's a good idea.

You seek advice on your further career or starting your own business at Vogons? Maybe you should instead ask someone who built a successfull career or a successful business.

bristlehog wrote:

You seek advice on your further career or starting your own business at Vogons? Maybe you should instead ask someone who built a successfull career or a successful business.

This was an ill-considered venue to air my existential angst. I'll keep future posts to technology or gaming topics.

I worked in IT support, then IT sales and I jumped ship in 2010. At least at our place, sales went down, we lost a lot of business to electronic chains who now sell notebooks, desktops, monitors and all the accessories. They have very good prices as well. IT support, at least at our place, grew, however we only hired juniors because of the cost. We had a notebook service department and did OEM repairs, but also out of warranty, re-installing Windows, data recover and all of that.

The thing is that everyone knows someone who is "into computers" and, nice how we are, help them for free or very little money. You don't need to be qualified or hold a licence like in other trades, so anyone can do it. International students fixing your computer for next to nothing. There are areas that do well, but to become skilled in those areas is a long road and often a catch 22 situation of, can't get the job without experience, can't get the experience without a job.

After a certain age, and no offence, I think most of us are in our 30s/40s, you simply don't want to, or can't, keep up with the latest or greatest. I certainly lost interest and what I found cool 20 years ago is now just another hassle and annoying. The thing is you still have 25 or so working years ahead of you, so plenty of time to re-train into another industry and jump ship. I recommend an industry that is regulated, with workers needing a licence and a few years of training. Health is very healthy industry and will explode in the future, I can tell you that. Plenty of jobs that don't involve seeing blood. I always recommend field-visits. Get into these industries, talk to the people, do not just do online research.

I went back to Uni in 2011 and it has worked out. Going into my third year in my new career and all the IT skills still come in handy but it's refreshing not having to fix anything anymore 😀

Good luck!

I've been considering my options too. I'm 36 and can't keep programming forever - a) I don't want to be sitting at a desk until I'm 65, and b) my usefulness is decreasing as I get older. I'm just not that interested in it anymore.

My one and only thought so far is that teaching I.T might be the way to go. Kids are being taught computers from the first year of primary school here, and the education sector isn't going away. I guess you'd have to like kids, but fortunately I do - they're often more honest and interesting than the "grown-ups" I come across in the corporate world!

badmojo wrote:

My one and only thought so far is that teaching I.T might be the way to go. Kids are being taught computers from the first year of primary school here, and the education sector isn't going away. I guess you'd have to like kids, but fortunately I do - they're often more honest and interesting than the "grown-ups" I come across in the corporate world!

Guess what my new career is 🤣

But my real passion in teaching, believe it or not, is Maths 😀 You can PM me if you are really considering teaching.

I thought I missed the boat when the first 3d blaster came out......

I watched an interview with John Carmack a while ago. At the time when id Software was coming together, he thought he'd missed the boat too.

To be honest, though, I feel the same way. I'm 21 and finishing up a computer science degree, but I spend all my free time playing with old computers because I like them better. The modern tech industry doesn't interest me anymore. I'll have plenty of options when I get out of school, but few that are genuinely exciting.

Guess what? I started my own business a year ago and it's a computer repair business/shop. After a year, I'm still not quite breaking even. Maybe January will be the first month where I make any profit. The rest was a pain and I spent 90% of my savings on keeping the business alive. The problem in my case is not so much that people don't need to have their stuff repaired. There are other things you can and should do as well like cleaning laptops and desktops, installing networking equipment, virus removal, etc.

The biggest problem for me is that I'm still not well known around here but I can't afford to advertise anymore.

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't entertained this idea myself - dare I say that everyone has? My idea was for it to be not only a repair shop but maybe have a few terminals set up for internet access, an "internet cafe." But I don't know beans about starting a business. I think everyone here has good points. No one gets computers fixed anymore. They have become disposable - you're expected to buy a new one every 2-3 years. The people I know who work in computers are looking to get out.

Learn a good trade like car repairs, blumping, roofing and so on. There is always work in those fields and the up front investment is pretty low. Pay can be decent to good. It all depends on your location and supply versus demand. 😀

Mau1wurf teaching seems to suit you just fine. Are you teaching to children or students?
I'm 20 and also studying Computer Science, which unfortunately isn't all that great. Computers are something you have to study out of curiosity and interest.

I wonder what it would be like to work in a recycling center (and specifically one that takes apart computers). Would be kinda neat to be able to identify precious pieces of hardware and resell them or something (btw this is just some weird fantasy of mine, I'm not even sure if such a job even exists).

Tetrium wrote:

I wonder what it would be like to work in a recycling center (and specifically one that takes apart computers). Would be kinda neat to be able to identify precious pieces of hardware and resell them or something (btw this is just some weird fantasy of mine, I'm not even sure if such a job even exists).

If you were working in this type of place, the pace would probably be so rapid you wouldn't have time to salvage anything even if you saw it. And your employer would probably not view it favorably (unless you were the owner, then you can do whatever).

In a previous job they had a division that recycles / repurposes / scraps / resells obsolete hardware (7,200,000 units annually). It goes very fast and there is no human decision making on the floor. All products have a barcode / FCC ID / model #: the resale value is in a DB. So when the workers scan / input it the computer will tell them how to proceed. There is no room for judgment. This makes sense because the only way to make $ is by fast processing with a low error rate and high recovery rate of recyclables / resale. You achieve this by standardization and computerization.

There are worse things than being a cog in a machine. It is said that a lot of the stories on http://www.clientsfromhell.net or http://www.notalwaysright.com are highly exaggerated, if not outright false, but if they reflect even a fraction of the reality of working in retail, I'll stay in my cubicle all day rather than deal with psychos who want Windows ME installed on their Playstation so they can play Halo and won't take no for an answer. Dealing with the occasional chucklehead on eBay is bad enough.

There's a place near me which does computer recycling as a non-profit charity. They take donations, use working parts to assemble working computers and recycle the rest (I think they send the rest out to the nearest reclaimer. Local "missions" take skids of the resulting working computers overseas to needy countries. Or at least that's their story.

Supposedly, they'll take volunteers to help scrap/recycle. You don't get paid, but put in 40 hours and receive a free recycled "Internet-ready" computer (not of your choice). So this isn't exactly high-paid work.