What are some good trans employment opportunities and careers. Any help or advice will be a help for everybody here.
I suggest the limitations are what you impose upon yourself.
Women work in all spheres. Most countries have laws prohibiting discrimination.
As pre-op but fully transisioned, it would seem to be how well you pass and your own self confidence.
Love your avitar by the way. I just want to cuddle you.
I know of at least three trans-women that work in the construction trades. Like spacial said the limitations are your own. Instead of trying to find a good career for a trans person I suggest you find something that you are interested in and like to do. It's much easier to get up in the morning when you excited about work than when you hate it. Trust me on that one.
Pick anything you want to do and just do it. I am self employed and very much enjoy the freedom it gives me.
Others have already mentioned that careers are what you construct them to be...and of course, we have no idea what field your present experience might be in or what your educational background happened to be.
Beyond the construction realm already mentioned, I knew a small handful that worked as correctional officers. Had someone in a local group with me ~20 years ago that worked for NASA. Some owned their own companies in a very high-profile manner.
I worked for a large State agency and continued in my very visible position and even continued to promote within the agency before leaving for the greener pastures of the private sector.
Seems like a lot of it has to do with your confidence and comfort level of who you are. If you just remain true to the person you are I don't think you find the overall treatment to be much different that it would be for anyone else.
Being very good (and very well trained) is far more important than who or what you are, and, as always who you know is also more important than who or what you are.
Ten years ago we used a crew of 12 to put on an average show, 6 of which would do the in/out only (8 hours because of mandatory minimums) and 5 would be on 'show-call', or on all day, about 12-18 hours (with 1.5 time after 8, and 2x after 12). I could afford to try people out, and even give shifts to the more marginal people who I really liked. Then we moved to about 8, with 4 on show call, and now we use 4-6 with 1 or 2 on show call. That means I can really only justify putting on the best people I can get.
The upside is that the few of us who still work, are making a lot more money.
I agree. Find something that you enjoy, get a little training or education as needed and go for it. In terms of trans friendliness, my gut feel is that government work might be friendly but I don't have any experience there so its just my perception. Good luck. :D
A more useful way to look at this may be where you work instead of what you do. I've been trying to get a city job for several reasons one of which is the legal protection. The state and city have non-discrimination policies on gender presentation. The city even has guidelines on transitioning on the job. While that's no guarantee I think my odds are better.
Tekla makes a very good point if you are good at your job the company wants to keep you. At every that I've worked for when there was a slow down and they had to let people go, they used it at an opportunity for get rid of the under-performers. It's much easier to be the best at your job when it's something you really like to do. If you find something you want to do you're less likely to switch careers and start at the bottom again.
Generally , states that don't have Right to Work laws are tough on Transgendered individuals within the private sector. Cities and State government agencies that actually have Non - discriminority polocies are a good bet also. Me, I became self employed years ago, I do it because of my dissability and the fact that what I do is not a widespread need , ( Meuseuiem exibit builder ). ellen
I've had issues with work forever and now that I'm post-op I have no idea what to do more than ever, I don't want to do any work I have no interest in anything but I need to find something. Having no skills kinda sucks as well. Hopefully I can convince an employment agency to find me something in government, like a mail room.. something easy and out of the way. I've seen a lot of people with special needs in these kinds of positions and I think I should qualify as special needs. At least in the sense of I need a job and I have no skills and every interview I go to is a disaster/waste of time! As they see me as being problematic or something. I have confidence in myself just not those that hire and fire, unless they are used to such situations. I don't even know if anyone could even tell... but I feel that it could come out eventually which would suck. I would hate to have to move around jobs a lot, I don't think I could work for someone who knew about my past. :/
I'm sure that isn't any profession that would be clear of any and all issues. I know everyone has already said it, but the right career is something that YOU want to do. From there, you can find employers that can and want to work with you. The right job goes a long way towards a person's happiness.
Quote from: Hannah_Irene on April 27, 2011, 11:41:25 AM
I know of at least three trans-women that work in the construction trades.
That's good to hear, since I'll be entering that field (or at least a similar one... architecture/engineering) next month. I've been a little concerned about how everything will work out.
Quote from: Hannah_Irene on April 28, 2011, 12:42:11 PM
A more useful way to look at this may be where you work instead of what you do. I've been trying to get a city job for several reasons one of which is the legal protection. The state and city have non-discrimination policies on gender presentation. The city even has guidelines on transitioning on the job. While that's no guarantee I think my odds are better.
Tekla makes a very good point if you are good at your job the company wants to keep you. At every that I've worked for when there was a slow down and they had to let people go, they used it at an opportunity for get rid of the under-performers. It's much easier to be the best at your job when it's something you really like to do. If you find something you want to do you're less likely to switch careers and start at the bottom again.
This is great advice. I recently joined a tech company late last year which had a good reputation of being stable, profitable but also very GLBT friendly. This was crucial to me as I am in early steps of beginning transition as MTF and wanted to make sure I couldn't just get ousted after I officially come out. During my interview (in boy mode) I made it a point to ask about diversity in the company and used an example of a Gay friend of mine who spoke highly of his company's tolerance.
Interestingly, being TS was somewhat behind a career change for me. For most of my former professional career, I had a very high-profile job that literally hundreds if not thousands of people knew me by either personally or by my name. Once I started to admit I may be transgendered, I was nervous about coming out to such a huge audience - especially since I had such a well known reputation as "him." I didn't want "her" to be judged in such a massive public forum in the industry I'm in.
Sooooo I started the steps just over 2 years ago to make a big jump, from one career to another, and Happy to say it's been 100% successful. No one in my new company knows what's in store for 2011, but I work with amazing people and they are sure to figure out something's up VERY soon. :)
i have been thinking about going through with the transition but what about if i am a sheriff or peace officer do you think i would get fired for going through a transition while at work? or lose alot of co workers as friends?
Quote from: hockeylove18 on May 11, 2011, 10:30:41 AM
i have been thinking about going through with the transition but what about if i am a sheriff or peace officer do you think i would get fired for going through a transition while at work? or lose alot of co workers as friends?
Those are multi-component issues. There are other LEO's who have transitioned in place, some very high profile. Years ago, there was a group called TOPS (Trans Officers Protect and Serve) [not sure if it is still around] that offered a lot of support to a very narrow demographic- I want to say it was Tony Nieto that created the group). Beyond the prospect of losing friends, a LEO also has to worry about response times on a 'needs assistance' call, and that is simply something that MOST people do not truly grasp. The closest some have come to seeing that sort of scenario is if they happened to have watched Serpico.
A lot of what you would expect to see is dependent upon the community and also the size of the department with which you work. It can be easy to be shunned or it can be easy to be accepted, depending entirely on the surroundings...one quick glance at how they have handled gays or lesbians on the force may give you the answer you are looking for.
Another consideration that you will potentially face that is not an issue for others is your testimony in court. It can be very difficult for a LEO to truly go stealth precisely because the old cases will potentially pop up on appeal or you may be cross-examined on certifications that might show the old name. Some of those issues can be resolved by moving to another agency but that is not always a feasible option...you can also speak to the licensing entity in your State to determine what they require to reissue older certificates or to make a correction to the records.
I can imagine the treatment of a trans LEO to be largely dependent on where the department is, and of course this would apply for other jobs. Areas more populated with LGBT individuals such as SF Cali, Madison WI, etc, will have more opportunities and friendlier work environments than "Small Town Arkansas".