Career Change

[Deleted member 51156]

For a number of years i have looked into changing careers completly ,currently working as an heating engineer/plumber ,but i've always had a longing to do something different and out of the building industry altogether .

Yes the money can be good but the travelling and constant slashing of prices as been getting me down and i've always felt a yearning to move on and try something else .

I wondered if anyone had a such a career change and had any advice putting change into motion.

 

[Accylad]

I used to be a plumber and decided on a change by applying for Building Control posts up and down the country.

I know it's still in the building industry but after doing it for over 30 years (now retired) I can recommend it as a very rewarding and satisfying career.

 

[gadget boy]

Neilios,

I have never had such a career change but I met a few at University who have.

Some have given up their jobs and gone to University to study something completely different.

Some have done the above but on a more gradual basis i.e. kept the job but gone to a variety of part time or night classes to see what piqued their interest.

In either case you have undoubtedly got a skill set which is unlikely to go out of fashion any time soon so you will have that to fall back on. As they say, they best time to look for a new job is when you've already got one.

Good luck with whatever you decide. It takes a lot of courage to do it but a bit of forward planning will make the jump less scary!

GB

 

[Deleted member 51156]

To be honest after 18 yrs i just feel like a change ,i had a good education at a local grammar school ,was expected to go to uni ,but never did ,as i thought it would be better for me to go get a manly job as such ,although i have always wondered what if ,and to be fair i no longer find the job mentally challenging or fullfilling .

I did take a couple of years out to open up an internet record store which i sold on as a going concern ,i enjoyed the fact i was my own boss and even the database work was interesting ,certainly less arduous than banging around in someones house miles away from home.

 

[lord-dudester]

i went through a major career change a few years back...

i worked my way up to store manager of one of the country leading electrical retailers flagship store in oxford street and served for a good through years, but the general pain of managing people, targets and all that rubbish really got to me and it was completely eating up my life. and as with all big companies, no matter how well i performed, it was never enough.

so i decided to call it a day, and i took a massive salary cut to work part time in a retail shop close to home and i got my head back in the books.

after being in sales all my life i looked at other areas of sales that i could try my hand to that i thought would differ to retail. i looked at car sales etc, but i ended up studying for a financial planning certificate to become an IFA. it took me about 18 months to get enough qualifications behind me to get a trainee role and ive studied consistantly ever since to become fully quailified (a long process)

it was far from easy taking a huge salary cut and lowering the quality of my life style for a couple of years, but now im coming out the other side it was worth every second...

now im my own boss pretty much, and i get rewarded well for my success...


if you're unhappy in your job, i'd thoroughly recommend chasing a new career, it's well worth it in the long run!

 

[shodan]

I went from office manager to policeman. Best career move I ever made!

 

[Nimby]

Have you considered teaching your skills to others at tech college?

 

[signs]

For a number of years i have looked into changing careers completly ,currently working as an heating engineer/plumber ,but i've always had a longing to do something different and out of the building industry altogether .

Yes the money can be good but the travelling and constant slashing of prices as been getting me down and i've always felt a yearning to move on and try something else .

I wondered if anyone had a such a career change and had any advice putting change into motion.

I went from office manager to policeman. Best career move I ever made!

My advice would be stick with what you know , but saying that your trade is in your hands . so it's something you could come back to at a later date , so good luck

Shodan ...what do your friends think ?

 

[Deleted member 51156]

Have you considered teaching your skills to others at tech college?

Funny that, someone else mentioned teaching the other day ,i'll look into it .

Thanks for all the replies though, think i,m just going through a bit of a moaning patch ,just had some good news which will enable me to take control of my future more ,looks like in 2 weeks i have secured 4 months work for me to go self employed ,better the money in my pocket than my bosses.
I think that is alot of the problem ,once you've worked for yourself its so hard to go back to the rigid routines of working for a company,i don't begrude anyone making money but i'd rather most of my hard work resulted in the profit going to me .

Plus the added bonus of working locally rather than the 800+ miles a week i spend on the m62 ,m1,m18 lol.

 

[shodan]

Shodan ...what do your friends think ?

Oh I don't have any now.....
















There was only one person who wasn't supportive because he thought he was a bit of a boy (when in fact he was a bit of a knob) so I just told him that if he didn't have anything positive to say to me about then I didn't want to talk to him about it. Mind you, he wasn't a friend to start of with!
I did it 5 years ago and they were having a massive recruitment drive (must have been desperate eh!) so a lot of people knew at least one or two people who were doing it or talking about it.

 

[domtheone]

I went from office manager to policeman. Best career move I ever made!

Shodan ...what do your friends think ?

Oh I don't have any now.....

 

[Toasty]

I went from greenkeeper to software engineer, oh how I miss tazzing around a golf course on mad mowing machines

 

[ChrisWV10]

i went through a major career change a few years back...

if you're unhappy in your job, i'd thoroughly recommend chasing a new career, it's well worth it in the long run!

I'd second that. I've been a systems programmer, assistant bar manager/licensee (good fun but very long hours and lousy pay) accounts assistant (did the Association of Accounting Technicians qualification) and now got a HGV licence. Still working in finance ('til Birmingham City Council make me redundant but that's a story for another thread!) but I think I've realised it's sitting in an office wiggling a mouse and tapping a keyboard that I don't like. So I'll take to the gridlocked roads instead

Personally I think there's nothing worse than dreading the day/week/month ahead when you spend 8+ hours a day at a job. Look at other options, see what takes your fancy and see if you can get on a course. I'm guessing university would now be out of the question?

 

[Dave]

I worked as an electrical engineer on overhead lines for 11 years before finally getting my finger out and changing careers, I'm now a Police Officer.

I didn't hate my job but knew I didn't want another 10+ years doing the same thing, I'm much happier now even though it meant a pay cut for a few years.

I've always got my old trade to fall back on as you have. Make the jump, life's too short to wonder about what if's.

 

[lurcher]

Did 30 years in the Police and then trained to become a driving instructor and do about 10/15 hrs a week , sometimes less as the wife works full time.
Wouldn"t like to do it as a full time job/sole wage earner tho as I feel I"d have to put a lot of hours in to make a good wage ( like the hrs tho ).

 

[JUS]

I've been thinking of doing a career change for quite sometime. A woman I've worked with over the past year has just handed her very well paid job to change from corporate middle management to a Yoga teacher.

I'm applying for Rock star jobs...first few interviews were less than insiring...they turned me down for being a fat 38 year old who couldn't sing or play an instrument. I'm sure I'll get something if I keep at it...if you don't first succeed..my momma used to say.