jspeed: I would never buy any of the no-name POS rice items you see online. There are vendors online selling all the 'good' shifters at competitive prices, Id pay up for them.
The job: I was in IT consulting for 2 years out of school. Made good $$$ but hated it. I was also a marketing major, so I decided to get out of IT and pursue a sales/marketing job. Im on the wrong (east) coast, and didnt even think an 'automotive aftermarket' job was attainable. In SoCal, such jobs are dime a dozen.
I lucked out, and found this job online. They are out there man...you just need to dig