Need advice on next career

[thalberg]

Okay, so I have doctorate in piano from a conservatory and now I want to change careers, but I don't want to go back to school.  So should I be an insurance salesman or a mortgage broker?  I have possible offers in both fields.  Don't laugh, I'm actually serious about this.

[tds]

i've said a similar thing to myself. and i used to advise myself to consider becoming a truck driver. but one time i drove on a wrong direction on a major road in a city. i did die or anything. but so then i said to meself perhaps something else?

keep thinking, and rejoice in the while.

tds

[elspeth]

Good luck!

However, without getting re-qualified (even if by eveng classes ratherthan full-time college) or going self employed, I think you might find it tricky getting entry-level jobs. People will read your CV and get scared of how over-qualified you are for a lot of jobs.

[living_stradivarius]

Being a mortgage broker SHOULD be easier on your conscience. Less stressful too.

[molto-marcato]

Choose that one which leaves you more time for yourself, family and music.

[dnephi]

Can you get a job at a university as professor?  At least a part-time job?

[cmg]

Well, anyone who can go from Old Arpeggio, to a food, and back again, shows adaptability in my book!
 
I'd try whichever switch yields the most money for the least effort and see if you can stand it.

Had a friend who got her doctorate too.  She tried all kinds of stuff -- and, I mean, ALL kinds of stuff -- and then finally said to hell with it and got a university teaching job in some small southern state.  Now she's got tenure and a nice little life. 

(She's glad she gave up streetwalking, by the way.  Too hard on shoes, she said.)

[lichristine]

truck driver
bartender
real estate agent
military
stripping
chicken ranching
modern artists
whatever makes you happy

[thalberg]

Wow, thanks everyone!  You were all very nice about this.  Some good ideas--and accurate ones, too.  I saw a career counselor, and he said to leave my graduate degrees off my resume, which I've been doing (of course, this makes for a dull and empty looking resume).

Anyway, the mortgage thing is looking pretty good because the guy who would hire me is willing to train me.

The insurance people seem to want to hire me, but I've heard it takes forever to get a client base.

It's cool though to know that other people like me have tried to change careers......