Career change

[benjii]

Who's done it?

 

Are you glad? What did you do and what do you now? When did you do it? Has anyone gone from working in a "professional" (suits in an office) environment to something else?

[NorthamSteve]

I'm leaving my dull office pile of arse, going back to Uni at the ripe age of 29.

 

I earn enough I just hate it. I'll keep you informed on how it goes!

[Crab Lungs]

Dipped into affiliate/internet marketing after doing a number of (mainly) office jobs throughout my life. Going pretty well so far, though I won't be drawing a full time wage until around 6 months time from it. I'm pretty happy though as I have one of the shortest commutes to work in the world (10 seconds) and I'm doing something essentially enjoy.

 

However, it wasn't easy learning and setting everything up though!

[Master Bates]

I worked in offices for 10 years and now i'm a chef/microwave technician since October. Didn't have a choice but no regrets.

[Lighthouse]

I could never work from home, it would drive me around the bend. Being stuck in the same building would start feeling like a prison in the end, no matter how nice my house was. Each to their own I guess, I know that's some people's idea of heaven, especially if they have kids.

[Crab Lungs]

I could never work from home, it would drive me around the bend. Being stuck in the same building would start feeling like a prison in the end, no matter how nice my house was. Each to their own I guess, I know that's some people's idea of heaven, especially if they have kids.

 

That's the joy of working remotely through the internet. I can change my backdrop every day, though I have to admit, I am spending most of my working day at home. Might have to venture into to town and spend a day fawning and posturing in Costa Coffee at some point though

[bridge too far]

Worked as a professional dancer / dance teacher / dancewear retail outlet owner. Dancers have short professional lives (especially female ones).

 

So went back to college then worked for the NHS as a Project Manager and then Project / Contracts auditor.

 

HUGE change of direction lol

[suewhistle]

Yep. Used to be a systems/business analyst for a large company: got bored like many others there when we outsourced the interesting development work, and volunteered for redundancy. That was a great relief! Did bits and pieces before discovering I liked language teaching and ended up here in Italy teaching English part-time.

 

I could have gone skiing today but I'm fussy these days: I wait for fresh snow. If a potential new contract turns up trumps I might be able to afford a weekend trip for the Walsall celebrations (I pray!).

[saint_stevo]

Worked as a professional dancer / dance teacher / dancewear retail outlet owner. Dancers have short professional lives (especially female ones).

 

So went back to college then worked for the NHS as a Project Manager and then Project / Contracts auditor.

 

HUGE change of direction lol

 

Did you ever do topless dancing?

[Crab Lungs]

Did you ever do topless dancing?

 

I preferred the original question

[bridge too far]

Did you ever do topless dancing?

 

No, I was a properly trained professional dancer. Properly trained professional dancers, generally speaking, don't have much topless to shake about because they don't have any excess fat.

 

HTH

[saint_stevo]

I preferred the original question

 

Edited!

 

No, I was a properly trained professional dancer. Properly trained professional dancers, generally speaking, don't have much topless to shake about because they don't have any excess fat.

 

HTH

 

Fair enough, it needed clarifying so we all knew just how different the new job is!

[Lighthouse]

That's the joy of working remotely through the internet. I can change my backdrop every day, though I have to admit, I am spending most of my working day at home. Might have to venture into to town and spend a day fawning and posturing in Costa Coffee at some point though

 

Ah, now that would distract me too you see. I could spend all day sat in Starbucks and every time a nice bit of crumpet walked past the window, I'd completely lose my chain of thought. What with that and Saints Web, I'd never get anything done.

[Crab Lungs]

Ah, now that would distract me too you see. I could spend all day sat in Starbucks and every time a nice bit of crumpet walked past the window, I'd completely lose my chain of thought. What with that and Saints Web, I'd never get anything done.

 

Tbf, I'm struggling to get anything done at the moment... too interested in watching "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations"

[bridge too far]

Edited!

 

 

 

Fair enough, it needed clarifying so we all knew just how different the new job is!

 

WAS - I've retired now (although I suppose I've changed jobs yet again cos I look after my grandchildren two days a week).

[benjii]

I'm leaving my dull office pile of arse, going back to Uni at the ripe age of 29.

 

I earn enough I just hate it. I'll keep you informed on how it goes!

 

How are you financing uni then Steve? What are you going to read?

[benjii]

Worked as a professional dancer / dance teacher / dancewear retail outlet owner. Dancers have short professional lives (especially female ones).

 

So went back to college then worked for the NHS as a Project Manager and then Project / Contracts auditor.

 

HUGE change of direction lol

 

That is quite a change indeed!

[mightysaints]

I changed from being a sparky to Ski instructor a few years ago but now work as an M/E QS

[NorthamSteve]

How are you financing uni then Steve? What are you going to read?

 

Saving, borrowing, working part time.... I might whore myself out.

 

I'm doing Music Performance, and Music tech. The tech side will cover things like sound building (for example making TV studios sound systems work) and the perfomance is mainly focused around drumming, which although my be seen as a bit pointless, I love it.

[LGTL]

I've gone from Insurance to Construction and from September i'll be back to my degree roots training to become a PE Teacher. Needless to say I can't wait.

[scotty]

WAS - I've retired now (although I suppose I've changed jobs yet again cos I look after my grandchildren two days a week).

 

Did you ever work in woolston? Just asking

[bridge too far]

Did you ever work in woolston? Just asking

 

Nah - I left Southampton in the late 1960s. I worked (as in danced) all over the place, mainly London, but I taught and had my shop in Buckinghamshire.

 

Why?

[benjii]

Saving, borrowing, working part time.... I might whore myself out.

 

I'm doing Music Performance, and Music tech. The tech side will cover things like sound building (for example making TV studios sound systems work) and the perfomance is mainly focused around drumming, which although my be seen as a bit pointless, I love it.

 

Well, good luck with that.

 

I couldn't possibly face going back to uni again - too many overheads now.

 

I am weighing up a career move which would require me to drop down to about £10k p.a for a shortish training period (less than one year) and I'm not sure that is feasible. It certainly isn't without seeking rent free accommodation from the family!

[Turkish]

I could never work from home, it would drive me around the bend. Being stuck in the same building would start feeling like a prison in the end, no matter how nice my house was. Each to their own I guess, I know that's some people's idea of heaven, especially if they have kids.

 

I work from home and have done for 18 months, in a sales job. Although i am often (sually 2 days a week) out at meetings with customer it does drive you round the bend. Some weeks, particularly in the winter months you might not see anyone else for days and get bad cabin fever. Sometimes it's great to be able to roll out of bed at 8.45 and switch the lap top on the minus far outweigh the pluses. My head office is in Cheshire though so a long commute, time to find something else i think.

[benjii]

I work from home and have done for 18 months, in a sales job. Although i am often (sually 2 days a week) out at meetings with customer it does drive you round the bend. Some weeks, particularly in the winter months you might not see anyone else for days and get bad cabin fever. Sometimes it's great to be able to roll out of bed at 8.45 and switch the lap top on the minus far outweigh the pluses. My head office is in Cheshire though so a long commute, time to find something else i think.

 

Have you got past the wan-king stage yet?

[Turkish]

Have you got past the wan-king stage yet?

 

Yeah, that wears off after about 3 months. Apart from fridays when it's Suzannah Reid o'clock on BBC Breakfast, that makes up for the rest of the week. Phone goes to voicemail as i am busy doing "administration" friday mornings. Sky plus was invented for moments like that.

[benjii]

Yeah, that wears off after about 3 months. Apart from fridays when it's Suzannah Reid o'clock on BBC Breakfast, that makes up for the rest of the week. Phone goes to voicemail as i am busy doing "administration" friday mornings. Sky plus was invented for moments like that.

 

I can understand that.

[Thedelldays]

I fancy a career change (dont actually like my job)...anyone wanna give me a chance..?

[Smirking_Saint]

Changed from working as an IT technician that moved into quality control (though was mainly office based) and moved into what i do now working in electrical distribution as an (almost) 11kV Senior Authorised Person/Project manager.

 

Loving the new job and it has opened so many doors, crazy how many different directions I can go now that I am qualified and its great as I move from office to site visits when i see fit and within reason i manage my own time as long as my paperwork etc is all in order and the staff don't need sorting (they are pretty good at sorting themselves out). Basically means if the weather is drab i stay in and catch up and days like yesterday and today i get out and about.

 

I would hate to move back into an office and f*cking can't stand IT any more.

[Jonnyboy]

Well, good luck with that.

 

I couldn't possibly face going back to uni again - too many overheads now.

 

I am weighing up a career move which would require me to drop down to about £10k p.a for a shortish training period (less than one year) and I'm not sure that is feasible. It certainly isn't without seeking rent free accommodation from the family!

 

Whats the opportunity?

[Barney Trubble]

Yep. Used to be a systems/business analyst for a large company: got bored like many others there when we outsourced the interesting development work, and volunteered for redundancy. That was a great relief! Did bits and pieces before discovering I liked language teaching and ended up here in Italy teaching English part-time.

 

I could have gone skiing today but I'm fussy these days: I wait for fresh snow. If a potential new contract turns up trumps I might be able to afford a weekend trip for the Walsall celebrations (I pray!).

 

Sue, if you get time could you email me about something, it's nothing dodgy but I can't PM you on here. My emails dellboy07@yahoo.co.uk - thanks

[hamster]

Never got a decent education never had a proper career type job but had quite few none the less. Like to add that I've not been out of work for more than a few hours in my whole life.

CV:

Machine operator (deburrer)

 

Postie

 

Supermarket fork lift driver

 

Car parking man at posh pizzeria (once caved in the side of a 1 day old Scirocco)

 

Antique reproduction hand-made roof tile maker (Kent-pegs, valleys and bonnets then 'promoted' to fancy ones with finials).

My handiwork can be seen on numerous historic buildings throughout East Kent.

 

Lorry driver (meat)

 

Airport security

 

Social Services

Current and best by a million miles

Edited 22 March, 2011 by hamster

[maddog]

I have been thinking about a career change for a while now, work in IT at the moment, been in the industry for 10 years but its doing my head in now.

 

Trouble is its a big leap to take the pay cut, im guessing im gonna have to drop 10k in salary to change career and taking time out of work to do training etc is the killer. Been thinking about taking up teaching but to take a year off unpaid is just a no go for me at the moment so im stuck really!

[skintsaint]

just quit my office based job for a career in surveying. Start Uni in a few months at the age of 32. Should be good, but will be hard living on part time wages for 4 years.

[NorthamSteve]

just quit my office based job for a career in surveying. Start Uni in a few months at the age of 32. Should be good, but will be hard living on part time wages for 4 years.

 

Ah, living up to your name at last! I'm with you there, beans for dinner for 4 years.

[benjii]

Whats the opportunity?

 

Well, it's a bit random but I quite fancy being an Air Traffic Control Officer!

 

You are paid to study for around a year (the £10k bit, although I think it might be more like £11k actually). After that you train on the job for two years and you qualify at the start of your third year. Once qualified, the money is comparable to being two or three years qualified in a regional firm doing what I do now (I am currently 1.5 years' qualified).

 

So basically, I would be taking a pay cut for three years to get back to what I am on now. But, the thing I don't like about my current job is that it can follow you everywhere. You sometimes have to cancel plans, you have to work evenings for no extra reward, you might have to work to the small hours then be on a train to London the next day at 07:30 and you don't get any real reward for doing those extra hours. You might get a bonus at the end of the year but once the tax man's had his 40%, the NI has been taken off, the student loan company has had their cut.... the reward is outweighed by the effort and the risk of not hitting targets anyway. The major plus about my job is that after about ten years, if you're doing well, you have the potential to earn anything from £150k-£2m p.a. But, in the current market, career advancement is difficult without lateral moves which carry their own risks and are harder to achieve at the junior level.

 

The major plus of the Air Traffic Control job is the regular hours and the fact that when your shift is finished that's it! You can make plans, you will not have a Crackberry winking at you from the corner of your lounge... etc. You work 6 days and then have 4 days off and of course the main control centre is in Swanwick so it's convenient for the Saints. I am seriously thinking about it. I think I will stick with my current job until late summer and reassess then.

[benjii]

I should probably add that my current job required me to do two more years at uni and incur some hefty debts so it will raise some eyebrows if I do quit but my view is that it's better to waste two years that have gone than waste the next 35-40 years that are coming!

[bridge too far]

A friend of mine is an ATC. She works at Heathrow.

 

It's a very stressful job and I think sometimes the shifts can be unsocial - I guess that's why the money's good.

[LGTL]

Getting into ATC is EXTREMELY difficult and competitive, the Maths and Spatial Awareness test even at the very first interview to weed applicants out must be past A Level standard. Understandable really seeing as you're in charge of the skies. Good luck though, it'd be a fantastic job. I got to the final stage of recruitment for ATC training a few years ago but failed at the final hurdle.

[benjii]

A friend of mine is an ATC. She works at Heathrow.

 

It's a very stressful job and I think sometimes the shifts can be unsocial - I guess that's why the money's good.

 

Yes, I think the standard shift pattern is two mornings, two afternoon/evenings, then two nights. But then 4 days off (which I like the sound of).

 

I only encounter stress when my work messes with my life outside work. I am happiest when I'm working in a fast paced and intense environment so if I could do that but have the certainty that I will be going home at the right time then I think I would thrive.

[benjii]

the Maths and Spatial Awareness test even at the very first interview to weed applicants out must be past A Level standard.

 

Sorry to hear it didn't work out.

 

That's interesting because academically all they ask for is 5 GCSEs. If the maths test is really that stiff then you wonder why they don't save themselves some time by asking for people with mathematical A-Levels?

 

I have Maths and Physics A-Levels but, blimey, if I sat them now it would be a horror show!

[LGTL]

Just incase you weren't aware, the ATC section on http://www.pprune.org is a great resource, with practice papers, hints, tips etc etc.

[Hatch]

I am currently undergoing a gradual 'on the job' career change.

I was originally employed for my firm involved in buying big commercial properties, but as the market is dead these days and the boss ( who is extremely wealthy ) interest is wavering , i have more and more become involved in looking after his art collection.

Started about 6 years ago, 100% property, 3 years ago it was about 90% property 10% art, in the last 6 months it has become 80% art and 20% property.

 

I know f-all about it, but still have to go to to galleries and places like SOthebys and Christies to discuss purchases and sales.

It's interesting and different to anything I have done before, so I don't mind at all,

 

Still picking up the same salary as well, despite doing a lot less pressurised and time consuming work.

[Weston Super Saint]

Well, it's a bit random but I quite fancy being an Air Traffic Control Officer!

 

You are paid to study for around a year (the £10k bit, although I think it might be more like £11k actually). After that you train on the job for two years and you qualify at the start of your third year. Once qualified, the money is comparable to being two or three years qualified in a regional firm doing what I do now (I am currently 1.5 years' qualified).

 

So basically, I would be taking a pay cut for three years to get back to what I am on now. But, the thing I don't like about my current job is that it can follow you everywhere. You sometimes have to cancel plans, you have to work evenings for no extra reward, you might have to work to the small hours then be on a train to London the next day at 07:30 and you don't get any real reward for doing those extra hours. You might get a bonus at the end of the year but once the tax man's had his 40%, the NI has been taken off, the student loan company has had their cut.... the reward is outweighed by the effort and the risk of not hitting targets anyway. The major plus about my job is that after about ten years, if you're doing well, you have the potential to earn anything from £150k-£2m p.a. But, in the current market, career advancement is difficult without lateral moves which carry their own risks and are harder to achieve at the junior level.

 

The major plus of the Air Traffic Control job is the regular hours and the fact that when your shift is finished that's it! You can make plans, you will not have a Crackberry winking at you from the corner of your lounge... etc. You work 6 days and then have 4 days off and of course the main control centre is in Swanwick so it's convenient for the Saints. I am seriously thinking about it. I think I will stick with my current job until late summer and reassess then.

 

I'll send 'wheels' a text to look at this post on here.

 

He is a big wig at ATC in Whitely and [used] to deal with the recruitment - not sure whether that sort of thing is below him now he's been promoted

 

Either way, I'm sure he can point you in the right direction....

[benjii]

Just incase you weren't aware, the ATC section on http://www.pprune.org is a great resource, with practice papers, hints, tips etc etc.

 

Cheers. Like I said earlier, I don't intend to apply until later in the summer, if at all, as I don't want to rush into something but I will certainly bookmark that.

[benjii]

I'll send 'wheels' a text to look at this post on here.

 

He is a big wig at ATC in Whitely and [used] to deal with the recruitment - not sure whether that sort of thing is below him now he's been promoted

 

Either way, I'm sure he can point you in the right direction....

 

Thanks, there is a clear application process on the NATS website so I think I know what I need to do. They go into a reasonable amount of detail about the various stages of the process.

 

Another big plus is that the college training courses they run appear to start at several different intervals throughout the year so there is no time pressure to meet a 2011 deadline which means I can really mull it over for a while.

[benjii]

 

I know f-all about it, but still have to go to to galleries and places like SOthebys and Christies to discuss purchases and sales.

 

 

 

Let's hope he doesn't read this then!

[Hatch]

Let's hope he doesn't read this then!

 

LOL , he knows I blag it. Its the contemporary art world!

 

I just have to stand there stroking my chin, saying ummm and aaaah a lot.

[benjii]

LOL , he knows I blag it. Its the contemporary art world!

 

I just have to stand there stroking my chin, saying ummm and aaaah a lot.

 

I've been to the Tate Modern a couple of times. Some of the things in it are great. Most of it is utter turd (sometimes literally).

 

Give me a Caravaggio or a Velazquez any day.

[Swansea_Saint]

Career change here too. Currently in test engineering straight from uni but want to move into design or qualification engineering which is actually alot harder than anticipated, quite a few people see test engineering as the bottom of the pile.