Change of career advice needed

[Michelle James]

A main concern of mine for transitioning is my need to make a living. I am currently unemployed and can afford to take a little time to train for a new career. I need advice on what careers/jobs have proven to be the most TG friendly. I thought if I could figure out what that is I have time to take classes or do unpaid internship. The key is I have to do it as Michelle. I have found that in the happiness VS Money issue happiness wins, but I still have to pay the bills. Any input would be appreciated. I would also like to hear from others that have found employment as their fem self and any stories of how you did it.

[JenniferR771]

Question is broad. Can you give us an idea of what your skills and background are?
A tS friend I know is now a nurse. An FTM friend I know was a telephone catalog phone order-taker. Computer support by telephone is a possibility--or a call center.

Self-employment and home-based businesses have some distinct advantages. Can you cut hair? Tamara V seems to do just fine. If you have auto factory background--how about self-employed auto-tuneup technician? Truck driver?

[Melissa Jill]

I did some lab work for a hospital on my placement year for uni, it was about 80% female and 20% male staff

[tamarav]

For a lifetime career, I would look seriously at Nursing. My wife has been a Nurse for over 40 years and has never had any problems finding a place to work. Most schools have 2 year RN programs that will take a neophyte to a RN in just two years. The only Nurses that I know that aren't working are doing so because they don't care to work. In California my Daughter will graduate from a 2 year nurisng school and her lowest potential salary from any large hosptial is $55,000. That is with no experience as a RN! I do salary surveys to this day and these are accurate as of 2 months ago.

If you don't know it, about 11% of Nurses nationwide are males. Transitioning is not even a topic with Nurses, it is a fact.

The beauty industry in which I know work is not as fruitful. It cost me $6,000 to go to school for 18 months, take a practical board that 40% of the applicants fail the first time, and then got licensed by the state as a Cosmetologist. Cosmetologists are a dime a dozen due to so many girls thinking it is a cool career getting to "mess" with hair all day. It isn't. You can make your own type of fun, as I do, but the majority of hairstylists in Washington State earn less than $33,000 a year. Hours can be long and dreadfully boring if there are few clients, so you need to have an internal love of the profession to succeed.

You might also look at lab techs and Physical Therapy techs and those that require some technical training and then learn while on a job. I never worked in a hospital (and I did for over 30 years recruiting nurses and staff) that didn't have a shortage of all sorts of techs and Nurses. Strangely, the morgue never had a shortage, kind of makes me wonder about them.

Radiology techs, Physical Therapy techs and other similarly situated professions all have excellent starting salaries.

[StaceyJane]

You might also look at lab techs

Hey I'm a lab tech so I guess I'm all set up.

Actually I've been thinking about how to transition on the job. It would be tough but not impossible.

[Christina Horton]

I want to find a job that I could dress as Christina too. But the difference for is that
1) I'm not getting or want SRS
2) I need more money that trucking can provide.

And no Trucking is not easy to dress and drive. Why , well you sometimes need to get up on there ( That is the place your unloading at) Time clock which could be at like 3 am or so. Plus you have very little room in your truck so if you want all you need there it would be very cramped in the truck.

If you have a PHD or some education outside of high school your chances are better.

You could try driving a Limo , or work in a night club and see if they will pay for you to become a Bartender. Work in a clothing store or Bridle shop. Shoe store or any store that is a female dominated.

Just go on job interviews dressed and see what offers come in. Do what I did to get a job you want. (I did not do this dressed) You go in (in person) once or twice a week , Talk to the same person each time. Then after about 2 maybe 3 weeks go in every day....Then after about 2 weeks (if no job then) go in after every shift change and soon the person who's doing the hiring will hire you just to get ride of you.LOL. I have done this and it works.

[Karren H]

Coal miners make damn good money!! And once you get dirty, you can't tell the guys from the girls underground, in the dark... Lol.

[linnea]

I'm getting near retirement age, but I would like to continue working part-time after that. I'm hoping to find "at-home" work which I think is one of the best options for my transitioned self. I've also thought about interviewing with a temp agency to find possibilities. I've heard of some MtFs having good luck with the temp agency process because it basically screens the applicant and the potential employers so that you can find out up-front where the accepting employers are.

[Christina Horton]

Coal miners make damn good money!! And once you get dirty, you can't tell the guys from the girls underground, in the dark... Lol.

Ya sure if you want your dress to get all messed up!!!And your heals , hose , makeup getting caked with coal dust ETC. So ya you might make good money but you would have to buy new clothes every shift and that would not be cheep.


a temp agency to find possibilities. I've heard of some MtFs having good luck with the temp agency process because it basically screens the applicant and the potential employers so that you can find out up-front where the accepting employers are.

I never thought of that neat:)!

[Karren H]

Ya sure if you want your dress to get all messed up!!!And your heals , hose , makeup getting caked with coal dust ETC. So ya you might make good money but you would have to buy new clothes every shift and that would not be cheep.

The only hose you see underground are the 5,000 psi hydraulic ones... You only need one set of company supplied overalls which you wear every workday!!! And its dirty not dusty!! Big difference... I know some little petite women that work underground.... Its amazing how well they clean up on the weekends!! Lol

[Michelle James]

Coal miners make damn good money!! And once you get dirty, you can't tell the guys from the girls underground, in the dark... Lol.

i like you suggestion but I am hell and gone from the nearest coal mine.

[Cristi]

...And once you get dirty, you can't tell the guys from the girls underground, in the dark...

except by feel...

[Sophie_C]

The only fields where you have protection are either in the gay community (ran by gay people, gay health-related, rights, etc) or ones where there the demand for employees exceeds the supply (where they NEED workers) and there has been prior precedent of a trans person forcing a change in HR policy (at one time, nursing as an easy example of that, but even now they're having cut backs).

Generally speaking, unless something is FORCING a company to hire a trans person, they'll hire ANY other person for the position. It's too much of a hassle and risk for them. And, there are tons and tons of other qualified people ready and waiting, given how poor the economy is today.

Being fair, rare exception, being, if you are utterly passable (almost no one on this site is) and have a benevolent HR person who you keep your gender identity between you two.

The biggest issue with transitioning, for me, is that almost all people are fired from their job (they will find something utterly trivial to use instead, like going into work late one day, or an arbitrary performance review, etc) and there is no interest in any place to risk hiring someone, so you'll never get hired, either. At the minimum, you'll scramble for a very long time to find some scrap of a position, paying less and probably not even in the field you are looking for, and that's being positive about the whole thing. Many, many transitioning girls are living in poverty.

Think about it: Why do you think so many girls get involved in prostitution and pornography? They're given no other choice but that to do.

[RADER]

Karren, About how much is Good Money, I was just wondering if it a lot different than
Carpenters working on shoring for underground tunnels. Rader

[StaceyJane]

Coal miners make damn good money!! And once you get dirty, you can't tell the guys from the girls underground, in the dark... Lol.

Just wait... Cap and Trade will get rid of all the coal miners!

[eluuzion]

Let's see here...

http://www.sexyjobs.com
It is the gatekeeper to the adult entertainment industry. They have support roles that are non-sexual that can be done at home. If nothing else, it is a very entertaining job search engine to surf around on, lol.

Construction "flagger".
Pays about $11/hr and most flexible employment ever invented.

Buy/Sell antiques/collectibles online. (or any other products) There are people out there that actually pay $100 for a marble!

Start a home document business. (Typing tasks & basic computer work for small or self-employed people). Elderly people like my mom are always getting confused with basic internet/computer tasks.

Dog Babysitter or Dog Walker

Organizing Service
People will pay good money to have somebody else organize their garage or basement...polish silver, etc.

Just start making a list of things people hate to do or problems they can't solve. I started an "Ideas" file about 25 years ago. Everytime I get an idea for a product or a business, I jot it down and file it. That file is about 7 inches thick now. I have started businesses and projects from ideas in that file.

Best I can do off the top of my head...that is legal...lol

Good Luck
:love:

[DebsUK]

Certainly in the UK, the public sector is usually the most accepting, so local government might be worth a look. Healthcare might also be expected to be more tolerant, and the lab seems a good place to look (I work in the PAth lab at my local hospital too :) ). The role of lab tech can be pretty fulfilling and you don't have to have a Scrabble set of letters after your name to do that.

Otherwise, how is your writing? Maybe look at writing articles for your local newspaper? You might get something for documenting your transition. A lot of T-girls work in IT in some way, so if you need to retrain, that may be the area to aim for.

[gwenbeth]

I am currently trying to hire programmers and so long as I feel they can can to the job and fit in with my team, I will recommend to management to hire them. I have had such a hard time finding qualified candidates that I don't care how they dress. Plus the rest of my team is bunch of messed up weirdos so whats one (more) crossdresser