Here’s my situation: I’m somewhat advanced in my career. I’ve been working in media for over a decade. I’m currently unemployed and looking for more work, but I haven’t been finding a lot of success. And the truth is that most of the media jobs available to me are deeply uninspiring: the kinds of producing/shooting/editing roles that I’ve done for a long time, and that no longer bring me joy.
But there’s one thing that HAS gotten me excited over the last few years: Learning more about self-hosting and FOSS. Since ~2021 I’ve been on a journey, building my own computers, setting up my own home server, changing my workflow over to FOSS apps, and slowly moving more of my devices to Linux. I love the idea of using my skills to break up the power of tech giants and their consumer lock-in. This is political for me, and I love it.
Is there any way that I could transition my career to something along those lines? I’m not experienced or knowledgeable enough to be a systems admin. But is there some role I could perform that would let me pursue this passion, learn more about it, and get paid?
A good starting point for people coming into the industry is usually tech support (L1). Maybe you can find a position in a company where they use many FOSS applications (they are quite widespread). From there you can specialize yourself and transition into a system admin.
But keep in mind that “breaking the power of tech gigants” will most likely not pay well (unfortunately).
Edit: depending on your degree you might also fullfill the criteria for graduate training programs. They will usually put you in a higher ranking position in a shorter period of time.