So I was working out yesterday, and was thinking about my recent promotion. I work for the United States Patent & Trademark Office, an agency in the Department of Commerce. I get a special badge and everything. Anyways, I just got promoted to a Primary Examiner. This iskind of a big deal, it’s the most senior position an examiner is allowed (GS-14), and so I’m given full signatory authority. What I say, goes. I don’t need any oversight, I’ve proven I know this stuff. So now, if I want to go to a GS-15 or SES, I will need to go into management or something like that. To be honest, I don’t know if I ever want to do that. For one, it might require returning to Alexandria where the office is located, and if my wife has a job elsewhere after she graduates from Duke I’m not going to make her quit her job so I can continue progressing.
The point of all of this, is that now I’ve basically climbed to the top of my career ladder, I find myself asking, “Now what?” I don’t know if I want to spend the rest of my 35+ working years being a patent examiner (although I would have a sweet pension by then). The unfortunate thing about patent examining is that the skillset you learn doesn’t really transfer to anything else. Basically, you have to start over with a completely different career. I know a lot of senior examiners are able to startup businesses on the side, while keeping their main job, but I don’t know how I feel about starting up my own company, I wouldn’t know where to start.
But if given the opportunity to start over, what would I do as a second career? I’ve been asking myself this question for a couple of days now, and one possibility came as I was working out in the gym: a strength and conditioning coach. I have no idea if I would like it, but at least it’s something I’d like to research further. I’ve found some excellent resources here, here, and especially here.
So perhaps someday I would be able to form Adam’s gym, of some sort. Who knows, this is all just conjecture because I am in waaay too good of a place right now with my current job. (To my boss, I know you read this so please don't worry about me leaving the PTO for like the next 10+ years.) For one, it has sweet benefits, allowing me to try all kinds of things in an effort to get better, which is what my next blog post will be about.
2 comments:
First, congratulations on the promotion! You might not want to stay a patent examiner for the government, but you could make a terrific living via any intellectual property attorney's office helping their clients file and defend their patents. You could even freelance for several attorneys while you build Adam's gym. Just a thought. (PS: I found your blog when I was searching for Euflexxa information. I'm having my knee injected in the near future.)
That is true I could enter the private sector and work as a patent attorney, or I guess work for patent attorneys as an agent. I should have said "patent prosecution" as the career path I'm stuck in.
But honestly I would rather just examine than write up stuff, I really don't like writing, at least when I'm not ulta passionate about what I'm writing about.
...Also, if I wanted to work "part time" I imagine I could just stop doing overtime. Last fiscal year I put in 2700+ examining hours (2400+ the year before that), and while with this promotion I won't be able to do as much overtime (I'm capped out) I imagine with the newly found free time I could start getting my act together for my second career. Heck I could probably try to get my degree online or something and then work part-time as a strength coach somewhere local and just do my patent work around that schedule (a nice perk of working at home.)
I take it you have some experience in the patent world. Are you an inventor, attorney, agent?
Also, really hope your euflexxa injections help ease the symptoms of your knee pain. They didn't really help at all with mine, but that's because the pain was muscle related, not joint related.
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