Anyone swapped careers/professions in the past?

[Dappa D]

warning this is a bit of an essay...apologies


am curious to know if anyone has swapped careers and what the experience was like.

my reasons/story..

im 27
i earn less now than i did when i was 18-22

i work in sales (B2B selling on the phone, ive had enough of sales)

best future if i stay put is I get promised directorship in 2 years - at that point id get 18k basic (less than i earn now with bonuses) plus 33% of my papers total profit at the end of each year. pah! so if after a few yrs the paper that i set up was successful and say i made 200k profit...id only get 60k of it...feck that, i could realistically set up a company tomorrow to compete with who i work for now and keep all the profit. but im tired of sales and dont have the enthusiasm to do it, nor do i believe in what im selling:rolleyes:

we own a flat at the moment - we want a house with garden for lil un. and i want a garage!

my mrs earns more than double what i do, although she does have 5 years on me ;) but has now gone part time since arrival of our son ( and STILL earns more than me)..and i hate it...not in a sexist way but in a i want to provide for my family way.

so...

current economic climate suggests stay put for the time being...with all the job loses etc and my job is reletively secure...

but ive had enough and gonna do something about it, im looking at trainee jobs starting around the 18k - 22k mark, not sales, maybe technical drawing, CAD, Engineer etc something like that, but something that could lead to other things in the future. (ive got lots of business ideas, and have owned a successful company at 21, but shut up shop to work abroad, so i know i can implement them well, i just dont have the funds or financial security)

so....has anyone a story to tell about changing careers? good points/bad points? would be interested in any advice.

Thanks in advance

Dappa D:smt035

[timwilky]

the problem you will have is getting yourself qualified for those jobs you want.

Yes you can go on a course and learn how to use a CAD package etc. But sorry you are useless unless you know the subject you apply the CAD to.

for instance HCV, Structural steel, cabling etc. In other words, you need the professional qualification/experience etc first.

Drawing/CAD doesn't pay well, unless you are in a niche such as aerospace, Petrochem etc.

I gave up being a research/development engineer 25 years ago to write software instead. However, I have always worked in engineering companies as I speak the same language. For instance my first major projects were stress calculations and fluid dynamics etc. You had to be an engineer to understand the customers requirement

[_Stretchie_]

Mate, I don't think you'll ever know if it's a good move/risk until you've done it unfortunatley.

I'm down in Bristol by accident. At the end of 2005 I quit my job on a weeks notice to attend a 3 week course in Ascot, stayed at my sisters near Weston Super Mud in the weekends between. Because it was easier then travelling between Ascot and Manchester. At the end of the three weeks I went back to my sisters and been down here ever since.

It was a gamble, I wasn't happy up there, didn't like the job and felt I REALLY NEEDED to do something else. The gamble paid off, I'm currently on alot more than I was on back then and happy in my life.

Although I just took nearly a £5k paycut into the job I'm in now compared to what I was on just months ago.

Again, a gamble, I could have taken a job that was a slight pay increase BUT I believe (and hope) that the experience I get from this job may mean a considerable paycut now, but will increase my earning and development prospects no end.

Good luck to you mate in what ever you decide to do. If you've had the idea, you are now knackered, maybe you will go for the change and wish you hadn't, but if you don't you will always think 'What if?'

Hope to meet you soon fella

[Quedos]

not as bad - but an industrial accident forced my to leave the career that i had trained and qualified in (now making my degreein Hospitality/licensing worthless)
dropped about 5K to get another job and off jobseekers then dropped again to become a civil servant (and get shed loads of training)
since then took the gamble to get out Central and into Local government as now project development Officer with young people.
but getting shafted again - i'm biding my time till ic an get nough funds to set up my own business

you'll never know till you do unfortunately - if you gut instinct is telling you to go for then do! It ain't normally wrong (though the dropp in wages and the clim back up is always harder than first thought)

[Dappa D]

thanks guys....

im definately jumping ship soon......if i live to regret it so be it ill just move on...as said rather than "what if"

im prepared to start at the bottom....one im looking atm is trainee engineer in local exhaust ventilation (LEV),

on site training in scaffolding, MEWP, Abbrasive wheels, electrical installations, and HSE P601 and P602 qualifications...

the way i see it this could lead to being a designer of LEV systems and bespoke packages to suit manufacturers (if theres any left in this country in 10yrs!), schools, hospitals etc as they all NEED them. or could lead into airconditioning etc in a different country..who knows....im gonna call them...

[Stig]

I've changed career 4 times so far.

From criminal to Military.

From Military to Cable Installer.

From Cable Installer to Fibre Optics Engineer

From Fibre Optics Engineer to Projects Coordinator and now at the age of 40+ looking to change career again.

A bit of hard work, studying, a nice piece of luck and some good interview techniques. All these worked for me.

[Balky001]

I changed career when I was 30. I worked for a foreign exhange bureau, run a couple of shops in Holborn and Islington. The money was poor. The job was OK but the people I worked with were pretty young and had no motivation, mainly due to the management/company being dreadful. I tried for an FX trader job in-house, came 2nd out of 150 applicants but there were no more opportunities to try there. I thought 30 was too old to get a decent City job but I got in to one of the largest asset management houses, just doing customer services and then dealing with complaints. Got in to compliance, changes jobs a couple of times to get more cash (I started on more or less the same money as my original job although overall package was good) Did lots of courses and a couple of exams. I didn't have a degree so held me back initially but now I earn OK and am a Operational Risk Manager. It's a bit stressful at times but I wouldn't change it and I work with a lot of bright and enthusastic people as well as the obligatory moaners, but it is a good mix. It was a big change for me at that age but something I'd never regret doing. Pays OK too. I do miss the client contact but then they could be a nightmare some of the time.

[kitkat]

never really had what you could call a career. left school and started working in a solicitors office, worked up to PA to partner, left and joined navy, left and got married and dropped a sprog. had various jobs including care worker in old bags home, creche assistant, nanny, bhs sales assistant, various clerical jobs, before getting divorced and starting work as a classroom assistant.

my OH was a driver and did his hgv. he decided to retrain as a plumber - on last week of training now. It has cost a fortune to do the training though (about £6k i think) end is in sight and hopefully a job too.

I think its healthy to keep moving and not let the grass grow under your feet but a bit scary too.

good luck with all new career moves

[Dappa D]

thanks all for advice...

called the LEV job just to enquire, didnt mention I had no experience etc..didnt get that far..the job had gone

but ill keep looking!

[SoulKiss]

never really had what you could call a career. left school and started working in a solicitors office, worked up to PA to partner, left and joined navy, left and got married and dropped a sprog. had various jobs including care worker in old bags home, creche assistant, nanny, bhs sales assistant, various clerical jobs, before getting divorced and starting work as a classroom assistant.

my OH was a driver and did his hgv. he decided to retrain as a plumber - on last week of training now. It has cost a fortune to do the training though (about £6k i think) end is in sight and hopefully a job too.

I think its healthy to keep moving and not let the grass grow under your feet but a bit scary too.

good luck with all new career moves

That looks like a career to me


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[captainsmelly]

not exactly a career in my case, but used to be a parts adviser for a jag delearship, moved to mitsi doing same thing. hated my job and my boss so became a postman. went from 12k, to 20k overnight which was fun! and loads of overtime pushes it to about 25ish. and its the easiest job imaginable. boring as hell though

[Mr Speirs]

Used to be a Warehouse Manager in Tesco at the age of 18. Found it funny that they would pay an 18 year old almost £20k a year. After I realised that I was drinking around 110units of alcohol a week because I was so miserable at work I decided to pack it all in.

My dream was to work as a Live Sound Engineer so went to Uni. Through which I started my first job unpaid as an Engineer.

A year and a half later I am now working for one of the Smallest Large PA Companies as pretty much the main man after the Owner who is famous within the Industry. Also get to work behind the scenes of high profile touring Artists

So it is possible and I absolutely dread to think of where I would if I didnt have the balls to quit my job.

[Dangerous Dave]

Went from a furniture repair lad, to a bike mechanic, to a marine.

[Dappa D]

Used to be a Warehouse Manager in Tesco at the age of 18. Found it funny that they would pay an 18 year old almost £20k a year. After I realised that I was drinking around 110units of alcohol a week because I was so miserable at work I decided to pack it all in.

My dream was to work as a Live Sound Engineer so went to Uni. Through which I started my first job unpaid as an Engineer.

A year and a half later I am now working for one of the Smallest Large PA Companies as pretty much the main man after the Owner who is famous within the Industry. Also get to work behind the scenes of high profile touring Artists

So it is possible and I absolutely dread to think of where I would if I didnt have the balls to quit my job.

any jobs going? (one of dream jobs)

[dirtydog]

my OH was a driver and did his hgv. he decided to retrain as a plumber - on last week of training now. It has cost a fortune to do the training though (about £6k i think) end is in sight and hopefully a job too.


That'll be then ;)

Started working in a chippy when I was 16 was manager at 17 packed it in at 21 and took a driving job which went from driving transits, doing my forklift test then my LGV2 then was made a supervisor now working for myself while i do my training as a plumber and there is light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!
As for costing £6k well not even close to what it's cost ;)

[Dappa D]

That'll be then ;)

Started working in a chippy when I was 16 was manager at 17 packed it in at 21 and took a driving job which went from driving transits, doing my forklift test then my LGV2 then was made a supervisor now working for myself while i do my training as a plumber and there is light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!
As for costing £6k well not even close to what it's cost ;)


still looking ok for plumbers with all thats going on? building sites mothballed and that?...ive thought about that route..but fear i missed the boom as it were...im sure itll pick up again especially with word of mouth if you go self employed/director of ltd company route...

[thedonal]

Yep. Worked in shops til I was 27 (BHS for a Sat job then HMV for 7 years hard labour).

Quit that, thinking I would hang myself if I did another Christmas in the place. It's hard work for little cash and (most) shop managers are R.Soles.

So- spent a few months bumming about and thinking I could easily get a job in the magazine industry, doing page layout and that- but no experience and qualifications didn't get me far. Ended up getting a job in a call centre for a couple of years doing support on mobile phones, faxes, TVs and the like.

I then got a customer services job for a specialist pharmaceutical importer/exporter [insert gratuitous drug dealer joke here]. Turned a bit salesy (I"m not at heart a salesman, so it started going not so well). Then I got headhunted by our Pharmaceutical Services team to deal with the regulatory side of things.

So now I'm a regulatory affairs officer for a specialist pharma trader. It's a job I've learned as I went along (again no qualifications), but as it's related to unlicensed medicines distribution, there's no-one else (probably in the world) who have the knowledge and experience of my team. Which feels pretty good.

Pay could be better though- £25k at the moment- I'd prefer to be on £30k but we'll see. The company is starting to recognise the importance of the regulatory team as a tool (rather than just be sales focussed) and I'm making impressions in contributing to other parts of the company too. This is good, after a couple of very stressful years in the job. I'm also lucky enough to be in a team where I can grow both in my job and as a person- it's been a lot of learning and I've grown up a helluva lot in the last couple of years.

Ideally, I'd be working in something musical- and I'm working towards that at the moment again, having met a few people who will help and be part of something that may lead to session work in the long run. I'd love that. I'm also starting to write again and a friend has started a company providing music for the media- so it could pay eventually too.

So- another possible career change coming.

I've found myself learning to believe in myself more recently and take up a few opportunities which are allowing me to see and realise some of my potential- I reckon the next few months will be very interesting and exciting for me.

Good luck Dappa. You'll sort it.

[gruntygiggles]

Ok, this opinion is based on a succesful b2b sales career followed by the past four years in the recruitment industry as head hunter. Although I was dealing with positions at £80k+, most of the advice is transferrable.

To start with and this might be seen as quite brutal honesty, but if you have lost your passion for sales, do not start your business again until you get it back. You need to be on absolute top form to get out there, market and sell your new offering, be it a product or service at the best of economic times.
Right now, you will have to put additional effort in. If you are thinking of employing someone to do the sales and marketing for you, outsourcing will cost the earth and employing an in house sales/marketing professional will be very difficult. No salesman/woman worth employing would work for a start up company in this climate as you will be able to offer no job security.

If you begin to think about something you want to do on your own and only if your passion is ignited again, with your wifes support, get all the ground work done and start up part time while you are still working. It's much easier to do nowadays with everyone being online and you can mitigate the risk by maintaining your income.

Sticking where you are until the economy improves would give you the most security at the moment, but if you want to go out and set up on your own and you've been successful at that in the past, then go for it. As in the last paragraph, I personally would keep working until the new company could support me, then pack in the job and commit yourself to your new company. It is soul destroying watching someone else get rich off your work in sales. I don't mind so much at the moment, but when it comes time that children are in the mix, I'll look to set up on my own.

I've written too much now and can't remember all of your post.....let me go back.

Oh, if you want to stay where you are and don't have to stick to a written or advised pitch, let me know as over the last few years I have developed my own sales technique that has allowed me to do better than I ever did before. If you PM me, I can give you details and explain it to you.

Hope you can come to some decision soon as I know how horrible it is feeling in limbo. Two weeks ago I started a new job after almost a year off and have just been made a much better offer, so not sure what to do myself yet. Stay with a company that gives me a good package, but being on the road 3 days a week and working 12-14 hour days just to get the admin done or........take the risk of the other offer which is an incredible package, european travel meaning Stretchie will have to look after the dogs on his own up to two weeks out of each month, but have my time at home as mine and the finances for us to forget money worries. Never an easy decision, but I've made drastic decisions before and honestly, all but one of them paid off no ends!

Good luck mate
x

[Lou M]

I changed 3 years ago from Admin to Accountancy. My salary was high, but I took a 7k drop to go and study.

Have now qualified and my school has given me a huge promotion, and my term time salary is now the same as my full time in Admin.

The 7k drop for three years was well worth it. And now when my daughter finishes school in 3 years I can go full time, thus raising my salary even more!

Go for it! I'm so much happier now.

[Mej]

the problem you will have is getting yourself qualified for those jobs you want.

Yes you can go on a course and learn how to use a CAD package etc. But sorry you are useless unless you know the subject you apply the CAD to.

for instance HCV, Structural steel, cabling etc. In other words, you need the professional qualification/experience etc first.

Drawing/CAD doesn't pay well, unless you are in a niche such as aerospace, Petrochem etc.

I gave up being a research/development engineer 25 years ago to write software instead. However, I have always worked in engineering companies as I speak the same language. For instance my first major projects were stress calculations and fluid dynamics etc. You had to be an engineer to understand the customers requirement

To be fair if you understood Buildnig Regs and cad fairly well you could earn a nice bit of cash with give away about £15,000 worth of work because we dont have time to do it.

[Lozzo]

I've made a career out of changing career..

Apprentice Vehicle Mechanic in REME at 16
Apprentice Electrical Maintenance engineer at 17
Royal Marine at 18
Self employed kitchen fitter at 21
HGV driver at 22
uPVC window maker at 23
Car alarm installer at 25
Manager of car alarm and car accessories depot at 27
Sales rep in car accessories trade at 29
Sales rep in car leather interiors trade at 32
Sales manager of US and UK sales offices for large leather trim firm at 33
Self employed owner of leather trim firm at 35 (sold business for profit to next employer)
Manager of leather trim firm at 38
Area sales manager in bike accessories trade at 39
Manager of Hein Gericke shop at 40 (2 shops)
Area sales manager for bike clothing company at 43
2 years semi-retirement at 45
Currently surveyor for medium sized cavitywall and loft insulation firm at 47
Various periods of temporary van/car driving, labouring, sales, warehouse, admin in between jobs.

I'm lucky in that I can turn my hand to virtually anything I choose to and still make good money, and I'm really good in interview situations.

[Mej]

Royal Marine at 18


I see you were in the marines, fair play. It was what i wanted to do until i did my knee in, and told to come back in 3 years. Any good?

[plowsie]

and I'm really good in interview situations.
Teach me, teach me :smt083

[Mej]

Teach me, teach me :smt083
To be fair i would say thats a quality i posess, i have never had a bad interview. The marine was pretty intense, but not bad.

[keith_d]

I did a degree in chemistry, then worked in:

Laboratory robotics
Automation & radiochemistry
Oil economics software consulting
Data storage systems support

No career progression in any of 'em, but I've worked with some great mates and not had many days when I really didn't want to go to work.

Keith.

[Baph]

OLD THREAD. :D

But something I haven't seen anyone comment on, so I thought I would. :)

If anyone is considering changing careers, my advice would be to plan your steps very carefully. Plan 3-4 career steps ahead of where you want to be.

I started off working as a Software developer whilst I was still at school. I was working two jobs (both writing code) whilst at college, and earnt enough to be a student whilst running two cars at the time.

My problem back then, was that everyone in the office earnt more than I did, as they were qualified. Yet I did the same work. So off I went to uni to get qualifications. Uni was boring (sucking eggs), so I quit. Then I couldn't get a job in the area of the industry I wanted. So my greed had gotten the better of me. :(

At that point, I started working in pubs to pay the bills etc. The hours were crap, the money wasn't much better, but it was a good laugh.

From there, I worked my way through the ranks to eventually becoming a restaurant manager for a hotel. The hours on that were stupidly horrendous, and my main reason for leaving. This is where I started planning properly.

My plan, was to trade catering for sales, then work through technical sales & back to IT.

I went from restaurant manager to "spotty oik" in Maplin, and quickly moved to tech sales (where sales statistics didn't matter!). From there I started my own business & got enough money together to buy a house, pretty much smack in the middle of the property boom a few years back.

When we bought the house, the business I was running wasn't really do-able. So I moved into IT support. Quickly up the ranks there, and back over to development.

Now I do a mix of IT support & development work, which is where I started out. It's taken a hell of a long time to do it, but I've seen lots of the world, had some life changing experiences & made life what I want it to be.

So like I said, make a detailled plan of where you want to go, and be prepared to be flexible for knock backs. :)

[plowsie]

But what is the advice for some 'getting older' person, that still has no clue in life what he wants to do, but needs to keep a good level of income?

[Holdup]

Ive decided to change my career before ive started it :(

Just coming to the end of my 2 year ICT course at college and i dont think i want to do ICT no more :(

So now im looking for mechanics aprenticeship as ive decided that i like tinkering with cars / bikes as my car always needs some sort of repairing doing to it and also why i bought my FZR so i can tinker and learn a bit more, i also enjoy the electrical side and think i should be good at it as i studied electronics for GCSE

[Mej]

I was focuse on joining the marines when i left school, i could have gone to college as i got accepted to 2 and good pretty good grades, but i wanted to join the marines, i couldnt see myself anywhere else.

Well after training and doing all their selection test i got told to go away and come back in three years due to an overuse injury in my knee.

So then i worked a load of crap jobs,

Hand Wash at 15

Pizza hut 8 months at 15-16

Agency work, Makro and a Landfill (*worst job i ever had, 1 day)

Barclays Bank for 7 months 16-17

I was a postman at Royal Mail for 9 months which wasnt actually bad money (220 a week at 17) just in my opionion a sh*t job, 17-18

then another 9 months building furniture in a cabinet shop for Willerby Homes, got made redundant along with 170 other staff. 18-19

I then worked at Blockbusters part time which was easy stuff, 10 free rentals a week but money was sh*t, alongside that i worked as an arcade attendant in Slots which was probably the most boring job i have ever had. 19

Now i am training to be a building surveyor and have been for the last two years, now the money is good, the hours are long 60+, but its my first job that is going somewhere, i am aslo studying distance learning in the evenings. Problem is i would like to leave england one day and there are not too many places you can be a building surveyor abroad, Hong Kong is the only real place i know of.

I am still trying to get to Diving Instructor level, and i would also like to learn something like carpentry or motorcylce mechanics as at least that way i can use those skills abroad.