Ok I have 20 years experience and no degree. My background is in network administration and all the desktop support that goes along with it and application support etc. My last job burned me out so bad I dont ever want to be the emergency room of the IT dept again. I now have a nice high paying software support job but it aint gonna last forever. Has anyone found a low stress niche in IT? Does it mean a big company? I might be able to go for a degree or some certs. I am just not willing to go back to being the guy who has to save the world if it goes down and you stay at work until its fixed (sometimes for days) and get called in the middle of the night. I want a max of a 45-50 hr work week with no emergency aspect to it.
My dream job would be to teach theology or something meaningful but teaching IT doesnt sound too bad. As long as its teaching and not doing demos to help sell widgets.
I wouldnt mind working for the gov or non profit as a pension would be nice too. I am 40. Do I have to totally change careers?
The other bad thing. I cant take much of a pay cut. I am just under 70k now. In a lower cost area I could probably go down to 50k but my debt is unbearably high.
I think I will end up leaving my work in a pine box if I have to have job that is anything like the last three I have had before this one.
Any advice.