Career at an end, what now?

[V8mate]

As you've resolved that your career is over, how about local government and similar public sector bodies?

They chew through marketing and PR staff at a rapid rate of knots as most can't handle the frustrations of a political environment. But the pay is good, especially away from London, and there are always opportunities for promotion and diversification due to the churn of staff.

[Undirection]

DSLiverpool said:

Discussed this weekend, order for stock placed, website being built by herself with banner help from our designer as a favour. They have 800 facebook friends and a product under £5 that anyone would want, if 200 friends share the new website and those friends share it to 10 more friends etc etc - it will work for her, its an item she loves using and is already preparing a you tube channel now.

It really depends if you HAVE to be earning full wack right now - if so trying your own path isnt for you, I am 6 months in to my new venture and its not covering the school fees (yet) but it will and very soon ...... but 6 months of not much isnt for everyone.

Well I don't but I also want to earn something otherwise I'll have been out of work for a long time and the longer is goes on the worse it looks in my CV. I already extended my last role's finish date and put the first 5 months of this year down as a career break..

[Undirection]

MrOrange said:

"digital marketing" is massively in demand at the moment in and around London.

But you don't need to work in an office - you can work from home/digital nomad. Nor do you need to be employed - £50 a hour seems to be a starting rate for freelancers in that space, book 15hrs a week and that's £36k per year ... for a part-time job.

Are you referring to anywhere specific for these roles?

[PoleDriver]

Undirection said:

I need to be realistic about how far I can travel.

This is your problem!

I've moved 6 times during my working life to secure the job I wanted!

[Undirection]

AndStilliRise said:

tumble dryer said:

battered said:

Bullst. You're 48. You're as good as you were a year ago and better than you were as a youngster. Get out there and pitch. Your skills are needed somewhere. Find out where and nail it.

MTFU.

1. KeepFighting

Thanks for the positive thinking but after 1 year it does wane a little!

[Undirection]

Foliage said:

Marketing Expert, but failing to sell ones self, interesting.

Seriously though, just keep at it, the right position will come along, try a different tack, agencies are awful, try approaching some companies directly.

If your not already doing something with your time other than looking for work perhaps consider charity work or a part time job (try to keep it relevant), just for something to add to your CV.

Yep, ironic isn't it! I am looking at p/t work but there's little/nothing marketing related and what there is is focused on young/new starters to marketing.

[chilistrucker]

Undirection said:

Thanks for the positive thinking but after 1 year it does wane a little!

It does indeed, 2 years is worse
Good luck and never give up even if at times you want to.

[Undirection]

chilistrucker said:

Undirection said:

Thanks for the positive thinking but after 1 year it does wane a little!

It does indeed, 2 years is worse
Good luck and never give up even if at times you want to.

2years??

[Dejay1788]

DSLiverpool said:

Test yourself - go on AliExpress spend a little bit on something you are interested in and set up a shopify doing the social media stuff. Blunt and simplistic yes - could be the best thing you will ever do. I have just advised a friend to do this with a total budget of £1k and time, ability and a real interest in the item they will sell.

I second this. I was stuck in a dead end retail job and started my own Shopify store. Best thing I ever did and I had zero knowledge when I started.

[MrOrange]

Undirection said:

MrOrange said:

"digital marketing" is massively in demand at the moment in and around London.

But you don't need to work in an office - you can work from home/digital nomad. Nor do you need to be employed - £50 a hour seems to be a starting rate for freelancers in that space, book 15hrs a week and that's £36k per year ... for a part-time job.

Are you referring to anywhere specific for these roles?

Specifically:

• Any digital agency within your commuting range
• Any client-side business over, say, £10m turnover who are active marketing
• Any foreign business, agency of client side who is trying to break into the UK
• Any startup who is bootstrapping the marketing function

I'd approach companies that you want to work for first, then less desirables close to you, then move on down the funnel. Or you could start pushing directly into the freelance space. Google and LinkedIn are your friend - add me on LI (https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dower) and you'll have an other 600 or so second degree contacts to chase down.

• As someone noted above. Your might need to rethink YOUR digital marketing

[blindswelledrat]

Undirection - what is your specific role/job title?

I simply cannot believe that there are no jobs out there for you. The economy is strong and the marketing industry isn't going anywhere any time soon and you have decent experience.
Possible reasons you aren't getting a job:
1) You are restricting criteria of what you will do
2)You are restricting your criteria of where you will work
3) You are interviewing badly for some reason

I realise your recent experience of hunting is a bit gloomy but to suggest your career is over is just wrong.

[Undirection]

blindswelledrat said:

Undirection - what is your specific role/job title?

I simply cannot believe that there are no jobs out there for you. The economy is strong and the marketing industry isn't going anywhere any time soon and you have decent experience.
Possible reasons you aren't getting a job:
1) You are restricting criteria of what you will do
2)You are restricting your criteria of where you will work
3) You are interviewing badly for some reason

I realise your recent experience of hunting is a bit gloomy but to suggest your career is over is just wrong.

Ok, I have been a Marketing Manager for leading SME businesses and the rest of my work has been within blue chips (plus last 3yrs agency). I completely get what you mean but I am at a total loss tbh. I get 3-4 calls a week from rec agents which is 99% of the time: Would you be interested in this role, Yes it looks good, Great I'll come back to you, Silence/Nothing/Bugger all.

I've got a great CV I think, great results, experience and skills. I should be being snapped up. I think that most of the jobs I have been interviewed for possibly weren't a great fit, but I could have done them all easily.

So far I'd say feedback (which you almost never get) is 'Great guy but not the right fit' or 'Probably a bit over qualified'. My salary is around £45k (has been for last 5-6 years). Perhaps I am aiming too low in sub £50k. Anything sub £40k is just way to junior for me and companies wouldn't even consider me.

In terms of your points:

1) I have a very wide ranging skill set and experience and have been as flexible as it is possible to get but often companies only want people with their industry experience such as education or IT.
2) I've been fairly flexible and looked at areas with relatively long commutes.
3) Maybe but the feedback I have had has been good so far. I think I am pretty personable but feedback is often fairly unspecific which doesn't help.

[blindswelledrat]

I feel awful for you. It must be unbelievably frustrating.
And you then have the problem of starting a career change equates to very low paid jobs (I think we all get trapped by this!)
Wish I could suggest something a little more constructive.

I think in your shoes I would simply reset my search and look anywhere in the country (there is absolutely no doubt you would find work in London easily for example) I realise it would be far from ideal but you could rent a room somewhere to start with and go home at weekend - just basically get back into work. The old adage is always true that it is far easier to get work when you are already working. And as others mention, there are lots of jobs where working from home is possible once you have your feet under the table.

Anyway, good luck, I really hope you turn a corner and would be interested to hear the outcome of your search

[ChasW]

Undirection said:

blindswelledrat said:

Undirection - what is your specific role/job title?

I simply cannot believe that there are no jobs out there for you. The economy is strong and the marketing industry isn't going anywhere any time soon and you have decent experience.
Possible reasons you aren't getting a job:
1) You are restricting criteria of what you will do
2)You are restricting your criteria of where you will work
3) You are interviewing badly for some reason

I realise your recent experience of hunting is a bit gloomy but to suggest your career is over is just wrong.

Ok, I have been a Marketing Manager for leading SME businesses and the rest of my work has been within blue chips (plus last 3yrs agency). I completely get what you mean but I am at a total loss tbh. I get 3-4 calls a week from rec agents which is 99% of the time: Would you be interested in this role, Yes it looks good, Great I'll come back to you, Silence/Nothing/Bugger all.

I've got a great CV I think, great results, experience and skills. I should be being snapped up. I think that most of the jobs I have been interviewed for possibly weren't a great fit, but I could have done them all easily.

So far I'd say feedback (which you almost never get) is 'Great guy but not the right fit' or 'Probably a bit over qualified'. My salary is around £45k (has been for last 5-6 years). Perhaps I am aiming too low in sub £50k. Anything sub £40k is just way to junior for me and companies wouldn't even consider me.

In terms of your points:

1) I have a very wide ranging skill set and experience and have been as flexible as it is possible to get but often companies only want people with their industry experience such as education or IT.
2) I've been fairly flexible and looked at areas with relatively long commutes.
3) Maybe but the feedback I have had has been good so far. I think I am pretty personable but feedback is often fairly unspecific which doesn't help.

OP, I have been following this thread with interest. Like everyone has said your career is far from over. In reality you're possibly just past halfway. Many of us will have to work until we are 70. I wan't to keep working even though, at a push, I could retire now. From what you have shared your background is not that dissimilar to mine. My personal opinion is that it's hard, but far from impossible, to get generalist marketing manager jobs at your stage. Have you aimed higher and applied for "Director" level jobs in smaller companies? Another thought is interim roles. I see quite a few agencies seeking interims at anything from £250 to £400 per day. Often what they are looking for is an immediate start. You have to be quick off the mark with these as sometimes the jobs are posted for less than a week.

[AlasdairMc]

Undirection said:

I've got a great CV I think, great results, experience and skills. I should be being snapped up.

Sorry to say this, but if you're not getting interest from your CV, then it isn't fit for purpose. Are you on LinkedIn with a massive network and loads of endorsements? Do you have a set of skills listed in your profile that are essentially clickbait for recruiters?

I've done nothing on my LinkedIn profile but still get regular approaches from recruiters despite not even looking for a job. If you are being approached but not progressing, two things are at play here: either the recruiter can't see you as being suitable for the role, or they do see you as being suitable but are put off by the salary expectations.

[battered]

ChasW said:

I see quite a few agencies seeking interims at anything from £250 to £400 per day. Often what they are looking for is an immediate start. You have to be quick off the mark

This rate is typical for middle management, often more. If you are unemployed, why not? Set up cost is nil if yuo have a phone and a computer, off you go. I've been an interim for 5 years now, it's great. Just don't make the mistake of saying "300 a day, 52 weeks x 5, wow I can earn £75k a year" because you won't. You are likely to average 1/2 to 2/3 of your theoretical maximum depending on how good you are at filling the order book. After all, a plumber can get £50 an hour. Does he earn £2000 a week, every week, £100k a year? Probably not.

[ChasW]

battered said:

ChasW said:

I see quite a few agencies seeking interims at anything from £250 to £400 per day. Often what they are looking for is an immediate start. You have to be quick off the mark

This rate is typical for middle management, often more. If you are unemployed, why not? Set up cost is nil if yuo have a phone and a computer, off you go. I've been an interim for 5 years now, it's great. Just don't make the mistake of saying "300 a day, 52 weeks x 5, wow I can earn £75k a year" because you won't. You are likely to average 1/2 to 2/3 of your theoretical maximum depending on how good you are at filling the order book. After all, a plumber can get £50 an hour. Does he earn £2000 a week, every week, £100k a year? Probably not.

I was not thinking about the absolute sum that might be earned but the path back into employment for the OP.

[Undirection]

AlasdairMc said:

Sorry to say this, but if you're not getting interest from your CV, then it isn't fit for purpose. Are you on LinkedIn with a massive network and loads of endorsements? Do you have a set of skills listed in your profile that are essentially clickbait for recruiters?

I've done nothing on my LinkedIn profile but still get regular approaches from recruiters despite not even looking for a job. If you are being approached but not progressing, two things are at play here: either the recruiter can't see you as being suitable for the role, or they do see you as being suitable but are put off by the salary expectations.

TBH being approached by recruiters is the easy bit. I get approaches 3-4 a week. I've had my CV rewritten by a professional and I have a good LI profile with lots of endorsements.

[Undirection]

battered said:

This rate is typical for middle management, often more. If you are unemployed, why not? Set up cost is nil if yuo have a phone and a computer, off you go. I've been an interim for 5 years now, it's great.

This would work for me but are you known for interim work now or do you apply for interim roles or do you just have you CV on all the main sites with 'looking for interim contracts'?

[battered]

All of the above. I started interim after a serious RTA and 18 months out. Rang round the usual agencies, one came up with a plum. Needed food technical skills and French speaking. That's me. Now find another. Off I went to France, 3 months, never looked back. I now have a track record of delivering what's needed all over Europe. When I am out of contract I sell like a bd. All the agencies, all my contacts. Linked in, the works. I'm good at selling a d I have a great product, if I say so myself. Out of 5 years I've had 1 lean year, 2015. I was unlucky with clients and made some bad choices, so I had a few voids. But otherwise it's all good and I won't go back to PAYE for anything. Well, never say never. Director position, maybe. So I'm happy. PM me if you want further details.