Starting Again at 30 - What would you do?
Discussion
Steve Campbell said:
What sector of manufacturing ? What do you make ? Maybe a shift to a higher tech manufacturing base might bring your current skills to the party with an added focus on driving improvement or technology advances beyond turning the handle to get product out of the door.
What about Operational Excellent / 6 sigma skills : ie problem solving and business efficiency / effectiveness. Is that well embedded on your current work place and something to consider as those skills transcribe from Mfg to any business process and any sector.
fWhat about Operational Excellent / 6 sigma skills : ie problem solving and business efficiency / effectiveness. Is that well embedded on your current work place and something to consider as those skills transcribe from Mfg to any business process and any sector.
Edited by Steve Campbell on Saturday 29th April 09:17
k that. I'm a Chartered Manufacturing Engineer and Six Sigma Black Belt with 34 years post graduate experience.I'd rather be a Chartered accountant
DaveE87 said:
I switched from an IT role to HGV driving early last year. I done it because I enjoy driving and prefer to work on my own. Pulling a 5 metre tall trailer in high winds takes a bit of getting used to though. There's long delays too. This week I've worked about 48 hours across 4 days, but only about 26 hours were driving.
The money can be good but only if you put the hours in and make a lot of phone calls. Agency work pays best. A lot of permanent guys are only on £14ph, some on even less. Would you work an average 48 hour week for £35k gross? I won't.
Hello DaveThe money can be good but only if you put the hours in and make a lot of phone calls. Agency work pays best. A lot of permanent guys are only on £14ph, some on even less. Would you work an average 48 hour week for £35k gross? I won't.
Fellow IT bod here, and I've been looking into doing the HGV licence. One question though, do lorry drivers really earn 50k+? The average salary is pretty low according to Google and while I don't mind a pay cut, I don't want to go down to 35k if I can help it.
As for the type of work you do, is it mostly supermarket work?
A bit about me, I'm 35, not the most academic person in the world, but I'm good at talking and used this in my favour to climb the corporate IT ladder. I'm 11 years into IT now and it doesn't do it for me anymore. I feel like I need a break from endless projects and I'd like a job that gets me out every day.
Thanks
Networkgeek said:
Hello Dave
Fellow IT bod here, and I've been looking into doing the HGV licence. One question though, do lorry drivers really earn 50k+? The average salary is pretty low according to Google and while I don't mind a pay cut, I don't want to go down to 35k if I can help it.
As for the type of work you do, is it mostly supermarket work?
A bit about me, I'm 35, not the most academic person in the world, but I'm good at talking and used this in my favour to climb the corporate IT ladder. I'm 11 years into IT now and it doesn't do it for me anymore. I feel like I need a break from endless projects and I'd like a job that gets me out every day.
Thanks
You have to be thick-skinned in this line of work. Ruthless too. Agency work tends to pay better, but for some it's their recruitment tool and pay both temp and perm guys the same.Fellow IT bod here, and I've been looking into doing the HGV licence. One question though, do lorry drivers really earn 50k+? The average salary is pretty low according to Google and while I don't mind a pay cut, I don't want to go down to 35k if I can help it.
As for the type of work you do, is it mostly supermarket work?
A bit about me, I'm 35, not the most academic person in the world, but I'm good at talking and used this in my favour to climb the corporate IT ladder. I'm 11 years into IT now and it doesn't do it for me anymore. I feel like I need a break from endless projects and I'd like a job that gets me out every day.
Thanks
£50k+ is possible, I started in March last year and earned over it in my first full tax year. Most of that was with one employer doing a mixture of trunking and store work. They cut the agency rates though so I left. I've chopped and changed a few times since. Agency work is week to week so it gives that freedom.
So far I've done store deliveries, trunking, general haulage. Each has their pros and cons. Store deliveries have variety, each day is different. You quickly learn the size of the vehicle and how to reverse in urban areas with lots of obstacles. Load interaction varies from one employer to the next, with some you do everything (loading and unloading), with others it's warehouse and store staff doing the work at each end. Mostly box trailers which is ideal on a bay, but a graft if taking it all off using a tail lift.
Trunking is easy but can get boring, usually it's from one distribution centre to another and they usually have (but not always) plenty of space to manoeuvre. General haulage can vary, you might be delivering to factories or even building sites. Both of these are usually curtainside trailers which means securing loads and curtains in all weathers. Again, a bit of a graft but great for fitness.
Being totally honest here, it does appear to be more difficult now (but not impossible) to get in as a newbie than it was last year. If you're going to do it plan ahead. Scope out your area, check out the recruitment sites (Indeed and Totaljobs are best), get an idea of who might take you on. Applying online doesn't get you far, all the roles I've had involved calling first and speaking to the right people.
Apologies for the long post but hope this covers it.
DaveE87 said:
You have to be thick-skinned in this line of work. Ruthless too. Agency work tends to pay better, but for some it's their recruitment tool and pay both temp and perm guys the same.
£50k+ is possible, I started in March last year and earned over it in my first full tax year. Most of that was with one employer doing a mixture of trunking and store work. They cut the agency rates though so I left. I've chopped and changed a few times since. Agency work is week to week so it gives that freedom.
So far I've done store deliveries, trunking, general haulage. Each has their pros and cons. Store deliveries have variety, each day is different. You quickly learn the size of the vehicle and how to reverse in urban areas with lots of obstacles. Load interaction varies from one employer to the next, with some you do everything (loading and unloading), with others it's warehouse and store staff doing the work at each end. Mostly box trailers which is ideal on a bay, but a graft if taking it all off using a tail lift.
Trunking is easy but can get boring, usually it's from one distribution centre to another and they usually have (but not always) plenty of space to manoeuvre. General haulage can vary, you might be delivering to factories or even building sites. Both of these are usually curtainside trailers which means securing loads and curtains in all weathers. Again, a bit of a graft but great for fitness.
Being totally honest here, it does appear to be more difficult now (but not impossible) to get in as a newbie than it was last year. If you're going to do it plan ahead. Scope out your area, check out the recruitment sites (Indeed and Totaljobs are best), get an idea of who might take you on. Applying online doesn't get you far, all the roles I've had involved calling first and speaking to the right people.
Apologies for the long post but hope this covers it.
Thanks Dave, I appreciate the honesty and advice.£50k+ is possible, I started in March last year and earned over it in my first full tax year. Most of that was with one employer doing a mixture of trunking and store work. They cut the agency rates though so I left. I've chopped and changed a few times since. Agency work is week to week so it gives that freedom.
So far I've done store deliveries, trunking, general haulage. Each has their pros and cons. Store deliveries have variety, each day is different. You quickly learn the size of the vehicle and how to reverse in urban areas with lots of obstacles. Load interaction varies from one employer to the next, with some you do everything (loading and unloading), with others it's warehouse and store staff doing the work at each end. Mostly box trailers which is ideal on a bay, but a graft if taking it all off using a tail lift.
Trunking is easy but can get boring, usually it's from one distribution centre to another and they usually have (but not always) plenty of space to manoeuvre. General haulage can vary, you might be delivering to factories or even building sites. Both of these are usually curtainside trailers which means securing loads and curtains in all weathers. Again, a bit of a graft but great for fitness.
Being totally honest here, it does appear to be more difficult now (but not impossible) to get in as a newbie than it was last year. If you're going to do it plan ahead. Scope out your area, check out the recruitment sites (Indeed and Totaljobs are best), get an idea of who might take you on. Applying online doesn't get you far, all the roles I've had involved calling first and speaking to the right people.
Apologies for the long post but hope this covers it.
I've always imagined the industry would be very cut throat, every man for him self and all that.
If I'm totally honest with myself, I don't know what I want to do next. I'm so bored of IT, that I'd like to do something radically different for a few years. The thought of another office job isn't appealing, hence looking at a job that would take me out and about and is another life skill.
okgo said:
All the IT bods - what areas are you in? The numbers you hear of here are crazy low vs what I see in Cloud based software world..?
I'm in networking and have been for a 4 years. In that time I have doubled my salary (started on 33k). My job is very complex, tedious and I don't get enough social interaction.I've spent time learning cloud computing, programming etc but I find it all so boring these days.
Like everything, location does dictate salary, so I'm very well paid for where I live. I could add another 20-40k on top of my salary if I moved closer to London, but I would hate to live there.
Just to round this off.
I was off work at the time following a bereavement and felt like I needed something good to come out of something bad, I felt change was necessary.
I've now made an internal sideways move into a more technical/investigative role which im enjoying getting stuck into.
Sometimes a change is as good as a break.
I was off work at the time following a bereavement and felt like I needed something good to come out of something bad, I felt change was necessary.
I've now made an internal sideways move into a more technical/investigative role which im enjoying getting stuck into.
Sometimes a change is as good as a break.
gangzoom said:
What's the point of all that education if at 30 your aspiration is to clean windows and do gardening?
That is a question you could ask of many students that spend years at university doing all sorts of degrees etc, and end up working in a cafe.I personally know of a young lady that just done that. After 4 years of travel and study ( Languages), she has opted for ma zero hours contract job in a cafe
She was given the chance at a very good job in a prestigious vineyard in Northern Spain, but she just turned her nose up at that opportunity. You cannot apply for that job, it has to be offered to you as an exceptional circumstance.
She has made her choices after receiving a First in her studies. Waste of 4 years i reckon.
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