At 38 years of age I have come to the conclusion that electronics in general is a shit profession. I won't go into my current situation other than mentioning that I am thoroughly over the lack of appreciation and remuneration for services delivered in the neglected technical stream in which I am stuck.
The problem is, besides a side job as a Chinese takeaway delivery driver when a high school student and a brief run as a RF products production assembler for my first full-time job, I've never done anything else.
I'm not a psychopath, a conniving Yes Man and I have a profound aversion to arsehole-licking. So that rules me out of any kind of competitive environment such as corporate or even much lower-level management. Trust me, I've worked in close enough proximity to that side of business for long enough that my cynicism with regards to the necessary prerequisites and personal qualities is now unshakable.
Don't sell yourself short. The contempt and lack of empathy for others you display suggest that you too can be a psychopath! You just need to figure out what it really is that is holding you back!
Or, perhaps better for (almost) everyone, if you find another way out of your current conundrum.
I'll suggest that you start by reconsidering your cynicism, and the path that led you there. I obviously haven't had your experience, but consider that someone who seems conniving could be forgetfulness (leading to saying one thing and doing another), or to constantly adjusting to new information in pursuit of a high level goal, rather than sticking to an old plan that will ultimately lead to failure. Consider that arsehole-licking could be a way of avoiding misunderstanding in the present, and making sure that any future misunderstanding isn't catastrophic.
Also consider that naked self-interest, while it can be offputting, is often easier for others to deal with than simmering resentment.
I'm not dismissing your feelings here. I think I've had similar feelings.
I think that I would derive a lot of personal satisfaction from contributing in an occupational role to something worthwhile like a charity, but I'm not a lovey-dovey people person, so I can't imagine in what capacity.
So what have other electronics geeks out there (if any) who have suffered from a similar pre-mid-life crisis moved on (found their general demeanor and skill set transferable) to?
I'm not an electronics geek. I was more a software and services project/product manager. My own mid-life crisis has actually led me to electronics, but more from the point of view of gaining skills to make me more self-sufficient for my own projects/products.
I may well end up returning to doing similar work to that I was doing before, but if I do, I still think I'll have benefitted tremendously from making a change for a while. Its helped me gain perspective on a lot of my frustrations in past jobs, the scars they left, and about my own strengths and weaknesses, including strengths that had languished and atrophied.
One thing I've realized, is that even if I end up taking another full time job, I'll never let myself get in a position where I'm just working for the next paycheck - I'm either working towards a goal, or, I'm containing my risk. No more sticking stuff out for 6 months in hopes it will get better. Either I make the job better, i'm banking money/experience for another purpose, or I start looking for a new one. If I'm ever wondering what the upside is, or wondering when the downside is going to hit bottom, I'm overdue for making changes, either in the job, or into a new one.
So, I heartily suggest that you try making changes. Before I ever left my job, I started going to meetups/meetings/conferences on subjects that had some interest to me. A few months of learning new things, meeting new people, all helped me see a path out of a job I'd felt stuck in for over a year.
Whatever you do, I think you'll do yourself good by reconsidering your relationship to your work, your co-workers and managers. Without that, I think chances are good that you'll quickly come to feel just as frustrated and disillusioned as you do now, in any job.
Oh, some little thought exercises:
If you were doing what you are doing now, in the same sort of environment, how much do you think you'd have to be paid for you to be happy when you head off to work every morning, and when you get home every night?
If that's hard to do, think of the worst job you can think of, say cleaning public toilets, then figure out what your price is to be happy to do it.
Think of one thing, which, if it were changed, would make your present job and compensation bearable.
What kind of job would you be happy doing for 75% of your current compensation?