After some time finding my feet in the Army then as a Maintenance Manager (Gardening) I ended up doing security work to get out of the hot Queensland summers, after a while it became fairly responsible security and not just patrol or door work. The hours were ok for a young fella in my 20's and the pay was reasonable too. I had to ask myself:
"Can I see myself doing this with a family or even in my 40's or 50's".
There are not a lot of old security guards around and those that are in my view are not effective at what they do. I suffer from a mild form of perfectionism when it came to my security work and left nothing to chance. So I quite literally whet back to year 12 in a school in Central Queensland and worked nights training officers and weekends in the mines doing vital asset protection and executive protection when the 'powers that be' flew in.
Some people here would remember this, especially Dooghan but 12 months later in a different state, different city and into a different job I continued the nights and weekend but put myself through Uni and here I am. After a total of 10 years doing security I climbed my way up the ladder and had a bloody good position and skills portfolio. The ironic part was that at the end of Uni once I had got my degree the company I was then working for offered me a full-time job with less hours and a 50% increase after tax on what I would be earning gross as a new teacher

. I guess they appreciated what I did but I really really needed the change.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you do a little planning before throwing your job in you can work your way towards a more more appealing situation instead of just taking what comes along. Thats ok for a while but one the debt accumulate or the mortgage is too scary often your "locked in eddy" and I didn't want to be in that position.
Good luck with the job search Ranger. Let us know how you get on.
Bronze.