Changing career

[funkyrobot]

Anyone on here got to the point where they have been so fed up with their career, that they have stopped what they do and gone for something completely different?

I guess there is a pay cut to be considered, but learning something fresh and new could be great.

I'm getting to the point where I've had enough of working in IT/Systems and I fancy doing something completely different. Trouble is, I'm the sole worker in our house and I have a fiancee and two year old at home to support plus a mortgage. Anyone made the leap and made a success of it?

Fiancee will work if required, we've just been fortunate enough to manage on my wage for the last year or so.

[funkyrobot]

GrumpyTwig said:

It's possible to find work in IT you enjoy, it took me a while but for the most part got there. It's still hard, still stressful but it's enjoyable.

Maybe it's not a case of getting out of IT but finding the right path that fits.

I think this is what I need to do, find a part of it that I enjoy.

I guess that when I say I've had enough of the field of IT/Systems in general, it's probably related to the specific areas I have worked in.

I'll have a look and see if there is another field that interests me, rather than simply jumping ship to something different.

[funkyrobot]

hyphen said:

What part of it have you had enough of, and what would you like to do instead?

On reflection, it may be the jobs themselves. I seem to have made a bad choice and jumped from one bad thing to another. However, in my defence, pretty much everything I was promised at the interview stage has failed to materialise.

[funkyrobot]

In a way, I'm glad my situation isn't like yours. Have one old car between us, a two year old, a fiancée who isn't into material things and an eighty year old house.

Means I have a bit more room to change if I need to.

[funkyrobot]

hyphen said:

Have you discussed with your fiancé if you both want more kids yet? As she may have started to ponder this if yours is 2.

Yes. Been discussing it for a while.

I'm in the no camp, but she wants another. I can't see us having anymore to be honest. She knows how I feel about it as it isn't just my opinion. She is nearly 40 and is type 1 diabetic, so she needs to think of her health too.

[funkyrobot]

hyphen said:

Lets hope you get your way!

So any more thoughts on path/career change choice. Have you considered part time study for a qualification?

Thanks.

Looking at other things now. Bizarrely, I seem quite drawn to floristry. I'm quite creative and something about this really hits home for me. I've invested in some learning materials so will be doing a bit of that now. I also need to get my arse into gear with writing. I've had ideas and story plans for years, but never got into writing the damn stuff down. That is something else I need to devote a bit of time to.

Apart from the above, I've also been looking at something more sales based as a role. I did customer services and sales years ago and to be honest, I quite enjoyed it. I like the people interaction and love having a lot of knowledge about something that I can pass on to others.

Teaching is something I took a brief look at. Could be an interesting choice.

I've also been looking at mentoring youngsters. Unfortunately, that has stalled though as a charity I was supposed to be getting involved with seems to have disappeared from my local area.

I had another very long, very boring and deflating day at work again today. I simply cannot keep doing what I do at the moment any longer than I need to. It doesn't help when I seem to make bad choices and end up in crappy roles. Oh well, onwards and upwards.

[funkyrobot]

hyphen said:

So that's floristry, writing, sales, customer service, teaching and mentoring! Think you need to narrow that down to 1 or 2 pretty quick. What does your partner think?

Also, do you excercise? always a good idea to workout in some way if work is not going well. Will make you feel a whole lot better, and give you focus.

I know I need to narrow it down. Just things I'm considering at the moment.

My partner knows what I'm like. She knows I'll go with something.

Need to get back on the bicycle to be honest. As you say, will help me immensely.

[funkyrobot]

toon10 said:

Whilst I agree with that, these are all things in my control, I definitely do not want to drive an old banger, have a smaller house or make my son change his tastes in clothes. I'd rather put up with the daily grind and suffer a bit to provide my family the things they (and ultimately I) want than give it all up for a simple life and easy job.

In an ideal world, I'd love to change profession and keep my current lifestyle but like I've said, that's not going to happen

It's a very personal thing and nobody can tell anyone how they should live their life.

People are different and some would rather have a cheaper lifestyle than flog themselves at work.

I'm firmly in the camp of make the most of what you have. If you can't afford something, you can't buy it. The way myself and my fiancée think seems to be at odds with a lot of the world. Apart from our mortgage, we have no debt whatsoever. This helps us situations like mine because we don't have so many monthly commitments.

[funkyrobot]

I get depressed and fed up, but never hit the bottle. Ive never been a drinker and wouldn't want to use it to escape. I do drink single malt now and again though. Never go too far.

Get out if it is making you dependant on alcohol. Its a one way street to misery. I know as I grew up with an alcoholic father who became a real bd when on the juice.

[funkyrobot]

Good to hear it worked out.

I've been prompted for a change today due to a monumentally stupid morning at work already (and it's only nearly 11am).

I'm looking at other things and seeing what I can hop over to.

[funkyrobot]

bhstewie said:

I'm not sure it's so much a change of career that's needed so much as a change of employer.

I work in IT and of course there's the odd day when things don't go as planned or you get caught up in workplace politics but beyond that I basically get paid for doing a hobby - what's not to like about that?

I'm not knocking the idea of waking up one morning thinking "I want to be a florist" but I simply wonder how much of it is down to other factors.

Thing is, I do love certain aspects of the job. However, I have changed jobs three times in the last two years and each time, I seem to have ended up stuck in a rut. Could be my bad choices. However, after making the last two moves, I've noticed the job hasn't been as advertised. These are things you can't find out until you take the plunge.

If I'm honest, I think I need to go into a more specialist part of the role. I would like to get involved in the security side of things (antivirus, network security etc.). However, I would need to find a role that would allow me to develop as I have never done anything like that before.

At the moment, I think I'm rotting as I was told I was being hired to put a new ERP syestem in. In reality, I've been hired to monitor a helpdesk. I get bored and get depressed. I even asked on Friday about being more involved in the new system. I said I'm willing to pick up things my colleagues have been working on. I was told quite bluntly that there isn't anything for me to do in that respect.

[funkyrobot]

hyphen said:

Have you seen the user Oldbangers profile from your conversation with him earlier? He mentions the word 'autodidact' i.e. a self taught person.

Take a look at a jobsite wit security jobs, see what they ask for and make a list. Now you need to wake up in the morning and study, you need to use your lunch hour for study, you need to study on the commute to work, you need to study in evenings and weekends.

Then use that knowledge to demonstrate you are the person best suited to that entry level security role, take a qualification if needed. Your aim of finding the role first is not proactive enough.

Thanks. Will do.

Generally, I'm ok with teaching myself things. Currently rebuilding an old bicycle using online guides etc. May be attempting a bit of spannering soon too.

[funkyrobot]

Thread update.

Parked everything over the last few months as I've been dealing with a bout of general anxiety disorder (as diagnosed last month). Just awaiting a follow up appointment to see if I can get this sorted. I guess it doesn't help things when you are feeling rubbish about work.

I've been thinking about what I would like to do. It's quite a change, but one thing that is leaping out is bike mechanic. It's something I've been doing for a bit at home now and I'm really, really enjoying it. I like the technology side of it, I like the engineering and I like the exercise (been riding again since the end of December and I currently weigh over two stone less than I did this time last year).

I've had with the IT industry as a whole. I've taken a look around at various options, but nothing seems to excite me. The only snippet that I could think of is getting back into the data side of things, like I used to do with the NHS 12 years ago. That is long behind me though and things have moved on since.

I guess the next step is to look at bike mechanic courses and get some training done. Luckily, there is place not far from me that covers accredited courses. Not cheap, but worth it though I'm sure.

In terms of my current job, it's not nice. There have been a load of redundancies as of late. I am also part way through a grievance about my manager with my colleague.