Stuck in a rut.
Discussion
This might be a long post, but please bare with me. I've included some back ground info, it may or may not be relevant. I wasn't sure whether to put this here or in The Lounge to be honest.
I am currently employed full-time in a job that I've really come to dislike and it is getting me down. I desperately want to change things but I'm not really sure how to go about it, or even what to do, or which direction I should go in.
It is a combination of both the job itself and the company that I work for that are the problem; there is about to be a new head of department put into place, who is going to be nothing but bad news (making things even worse), one of our biggest customers has just gone under (that's going to be around £250,000 a year not coming into the company. As much as they say this isn't a problem, I really think it isn't true). I get the feeling that my job - and that of others in my position - isn't safe. We had a round of redundancies 2 years ago when in a similar position.
I feel like now must be the time to sort this out.
I'm currently 28, and back living at home with the parents since my relationship came to an end. I've been doing this job for almost 7 years (with just over a year in the middle doing something slightly different) and for the last couple of years I've been promising myself that I am going to get out of it and sort my career out - but it has now come to the point where it's actually driving me mad, and something has to be done.
I did fairly well at school (to be honest I could have done much better though), with a couple of A grades and the rest being Bs at GCSE. I went to college to do A-levels for 6 months but since I had no real plan of what I was going to do afterwards, I foolishly packed it all in to get a job and start earning some money. I truly wish I hadn't done this, I think I should have gone to Uni and it pains me to think that my life might be better had I done so.
For the last few years I've felt like I'm not fulfilling my potential. I feel like my previously fairly sharp mind is turning into mush. I want to earn more money, I want to feel like I'm doing something meaningful. The monotony of my daily life is grinding me down. I've somehow ended up in a job that I had no intention of doing at any point, and I feel well and truly stuck.
Has anyone been in a similar position? How do you completely change things?
Do I drop it all and go to University? Do I do an Open University course at home whilst sticking with my job for the time being? How do you decide what course to commit to? It's a big decision that I don't want to get wrong.
Do I apply for any and every job remotely related to what I'm doing now, just so I can get out of my current position?
Has anyone ever started an apprenticeship in their late 20's? I'm aware that this would mean a pay cut.
My town is small and dead-end. There are no exciting opportunites here. Do I up-sticks and go somewhere else?
Should I just be grateful that I even have a job and get on with it...? Or do I just grab something by the balls and go for it?
I realise that I sound a bit pathetic, and your answer may be to man up and "just do something about it!"
, but does anyone have any experience of being in this situation? Are you in a better situation now?
Any advice or questions that might help me realise what I should do would be much appreciated.
I am currently employed full-time in a job that I've really come to dislike and it is getting me down. I desperately want to change things but I'm not really sure how to go about it, or even what to do, or which direction I should go in.
It is a combination of both the job itself and the company that I work for that are the problem; there is about to be a new head of department put into place, who is going to be nothing but bad news (making things even worse), one of our biggest customers has just gone under (that's going to be around £250,000 a year not coming into the company. As much as they say this isn't a problem, I really think it isn't true). I get the feeling that my job - and that of others in my position - isn't safe. We had a round of redundancies 2 years ago when in a similar position.
I feel like now must be the time to sort this out.
I'm currently 28, and back living at home with the parents since my relationship came to an end. I've been doing this job for almost 7 years (with just over a year in the middle doing something slightly different) and for the last couple of years I've been promising myself that I am going to get out of it and sort my career out - but it has now come to the point where it's actually driving me mad, and something has to be done.
I did fairly well at school (to be honest I could have done much better though), with a couple of A grades and the rest being Bs at GCSE. I went to college to do A-levels for 6 months but since I had no real plan of what I was going to do afterwards, I foolishly packed it all in to get a job and start earning some money. I truly wish I hadn't done this, I think I should have gone to Uni and it pains me to think that my life might be better had I done so.
For the last few years I've felt like I'm not fulfilling my potential. I feel like my previously fairly sharp mind is turning into mush. I want to earn more money, I want to feel like I'm doing something meaningful. The monotony of my daily life is grinding me down. I've somehow ended up in a job that I had no intention of doing at any point, and I feel well and truly stuck.
Has anyone been in a similar position? How do you completely change things?
Do I drop it all and go to University? Do I do an Open University course at home whilst sticking with my job for the time being? How do you decide what course to commit to? It's a big decision that I don't want to get wrong.
Do I apply for any and every job remotely related to what I'm doing now, just so I can get out of my current position?
Has anyone ever started an apprenticeship in their late 20's? I'm aware that this would mean a pay cut.
My town is small and dead-end. There are no exciting opportunites here. Do I up-sticks and go somewhere else?
Should I just be grateful that I even have a job and get on with it...? Or do I just grab something by the balls and go for it?
I realise that I sound a bit pathetic, and your answer may be to man up and "just do something about it!"
, but does anyone have any experience of being in this situation? Are you in a better situation now?Any advice or questions that might help me realise what I should do would be much appreciated.
I cannot offer you much in the way of advice on anything but the university thing. I am 20 year old undergraduate, studying an Arts degree. If you look at the graduate job market at the moment it is fierce. You will not get a graduate job if you do not have real world experience. Or, you will not get one if you do not have a quality degree, in a relevant subject area from a Russell Group Institution.
Before you consider university you must have a plan. That is the downfall of so many undergraduates. They will just go to university as a natural step of progression. Most will go for the social scene. You, I imagine will not have such troubles. Identify the area that not only interests you, but the one that will give you the best chance of getting something after it. You have the experience under your belt, which is 85% the battle.
However, perhaps you should be asking if uni is even necessary? Experience is really the most important factor and 7 years of it is probably more valuable to a relevant sector than, say an Honours degree. Depending which sector you work in, you may be able to apply for certain Masters programmes at some institutions? Or, if it is a formal, vocational qualification that you are after there may be a shortcut for obtaining that? Also, bear in mind that as mature student there are various sources of support from the weirdest of places. Also note the massive tuition fee hike etc.
Before you consider university you must have a plan. That is the downfall of so many undergraduates. They will just go to university as a natural step of progression. Most will go for the social scene. You, I imagine will not have such troubles. Identify the area that not only interests you, but the one that will give you the best chance of getting something after it. You have the experience under your belt, which is 85% the battle.
However, perhaps you should be asking if uni is even necessary? Experience is really the most important factor and 7 years of it is probably more valuable to a relevant sector than, say an Honours degree. Depending which sector you work in, you may be able to apply for certain Masters programmes at some institutions? Or, if it is a formal, vocational qualification that you are after there may be a shortcut for obtaining that? Also, bear in mind that as mature student there are various sources of support from the weirdest of places. Also note the massive tuition fee hike etc.
I jacked in my terrible job when I was 22 and with no A levels managed to get into uni on a foundation degree. I went on to do Mech Eng and graduated with a first. Having done a placement year in between my 2nd and 3rd years I managed to pick up a bit of experience and ended up getting a job working for a massive company making some quite impressive machines.
Granted it's still a bit dull at times, I am only on a grad scheme though and the money sure makes up for it (double what I was on before uni) but certainly my prospects are a million times better than they were before.
I'd say go for it but just make sure you pick a decent degree course and have a long term plan in mind preferably doing something that will hold your interest. I'd also move away from your area just make a fresh start somewhere else, you'll only regret it otherwise.
Granted it's still a bit dull at times, I am only on a grad scheme though and the money sure makes up for it (double what I was on before uni) but certainly my prospects are a million times better than they were before.
I'd say go for it but just make sure you pick a decent degree course and have a long term plan in mind preferably doing something that will hold your interest. I'd also move away from your area just make a fresh start somewhere else, you'll only regret it otherwise.
JeS10 said:
market at the moment it is fierce. You will not get a graduate job if you do not have real world experience. Or, you will not get one if you do not have a quality degree, in a relevant subject area from a Russell Group Institution.
OP, heed the advice that the job market at the moment is particularly "fierce".However, as a graduate entry level engineer who managed to land a job last october, I have to say I don't even have an inkling as to what a Russell Group Institution is, thereby bucking Jes's quite scary-sounding "trend"!
JeS10 said:
Before you consider university you must have a plan.
More good advice.For example, don't enrol on a Medical degree course if you can't stand blood or long hours....
Thanks for the replies and advice.
JeS10 said:
I cannot offer you much in the way of advice on anything but the university thing. I am 20 year old undergraduate, studying an Arts degree. If you look at the graduate job market at the moment it is fierce. You will not get a graduate job if you do not have real world experience. Or, you will not get one if you do not have a quality degree, in a relevant subject area from a Russell Group Institution.
Yeah, this is something I have thought about. My brother has gone the University route and he has found the very same thing. JeS10 said:
Before you consider university you must have a plan. That is the downfall of so many undergraduates. They will just go to university as a natural step of progression. Most will go for the social scene. You, I imagine will not have such troubles. Identify the area that not only interests you, but the one that will give you the best chance of getting something after it. You have the experience under your belt, which is 85% the battle.
Oh, I'm really not into the idea for the social scene at all, but I know that it is an attraction for many. The thing is, the job I am in is related to an industry area that I could go into, so it is definitely one route available to me. So I do at least have one potential degree plan. JeS10 said:
However, perhaps you should be asking if uni is even necessary? Experience is really the most important factor and 7 years of it is probably more valuable to a relevant sector than, say an Honours degree. Depending which sector you work in, you may be able to apply for certain Masters programmes at some institutions? Or, if it is a formal, vocational qualification that you are after there may be a shortcut for obtaining that? Also, bear in mind that as mature student there are various sources of support from the weirdest of places. Also note the massive tuition fee hike etc.
I do have 7 years' worth experience in my particular area, but there's not much more I could do with it other than progressing slightly further up a ladder that I don't want to climb. However, that experience might help me if I want to go further in the technical side of the industry.For what it's worth, I work in a blue collar job with limited room for improvement without going into the mechanical engineering side of the industry (or a related field). Doing that is an option though.
I'll look into the potential support from these "wierd places"
les3002 said:
I jacked in my terrible job when I was 22 and with no A levels managed to get into uni on a foundation degree. I went on to do Mech Eng and graduated with a first. Having done a placement year in between my 2nd and 3rd years I managed to pick up a bit of experience and ended up getting a job working for a massive company making some quite impressive machines.
Granted it's still a bit dull at times, I am only on a grad scheme though and the money sure makes up for it (double what I was on before uni) but certainly my prospects are a million times better than they were before.
I'd say go for it but just make sure you pick a decent degree course and have a long term plan in mind preferably doing something that will hold your interest. I'd also move away from your area just make a fresh start somewhere else, you'll only regret it otherwise.
Funnily enough, this could somewhat relate to my position. Mechanical Engineering could be a route that I follow and would interest me. I've been hands-on in a mechanical job of one form or another for almost a decade now, so I have experience in the area.Granted it's still a bit dull at times, I am only on a grad scheme though and the money sure makes up for it (double what I was on before uni) but certainly my prospects are a million times better than they were before.
I'd say go for it but just make sure you pick a decent degree course and have a long term plan in mind preferably doing something that will hold your interest. I'd also move away from your area just make a fresh start somewhere else, you'll only regret it otherwise.
Which Uni did you go to? And what kind of thing do you do now, just out of interest? I'd be keen to hear more if you wouldn't mind sharing.
Alternatively, I'm also open to the idea of doing something entirely different it's just the "what?" part that I'm unsure of.
Oh, and I have friends in Manchester who I often visit (my best friend used to live where I still live, but he moved there) and they keep saying I should go and live there. It's something I've considered.
Karyn said:
For example, don't enrol on a Medical degree course if you can't stand blood or long hours....
I have no intention of doing that! As the years have gone by I seem to have become more and more squeamish, there's no chance of me working with blood 
Thanks for the input.
If anyone else has any experience, please chime in.
Old Gregg said:
Mr POD said:
Google Adult Apprenticeship.
DSG (part of the MOD) in Telford took people off the shop floor as apprentices, as old as 40 plus years old.
Excellent, thank you. I'll pop and have a look.DSG (part of the MOD) in Telford took people off the shop floor as apprentices, as old as 40 plus years old.
There is a bit of maths in the college part of the course, but the actual job is a bit more hands on, and your skills are transferable shoreside or onto rigs if you find bobbing up and down on the waves isn't for you.
Try http://www.sstg.org/
http://www.clydemarinetraining.com/
http://www.careersatsea.org/ for a bit of basic info.
JeS10 said:
I cannot offer you much in the way of advice on anything but the university thing. I am 20 year old undergraduate, studying an Arts degree. If you look at the graduate job market at the moment it is fierce. You will not get a graduate job if you do not have real world experience. Or, you will not get one if you do not have a quality degree, in a relevant subject area from a Russell Group Institution.
This is not strictly true. Plenty of good degrees to be achieved from non Russell Group institutions.Taffer said:
You might want to look into Merchant Navy cadetships too - sponsored course, foundation degree and vocational qualification (marine engineering licence or officer of the watch ticket if you go the deck route), no age limit provided you are healthy (cadet of the year last year was a 40-ish year old ex-firefighter). I started the graduate conversion course at 26 (shortened course, as I had an engineering degree already), and qualified in December at 27 - the full course is about 3 years.
There is a bit of maths in the college part of the course, but the actual job is a bit more hands on, and your skills are transferable shoreside or onto rigs if you find bobbing up and down on the waves isn't for you.
Try http://www.sstg.org/
http://www.clydemarinetraining.com/
http://www.careersatsea.org/ for a bit of basic info.
Thanks Taffer, that's great. I will definitely read into that later on.There is a bit of maths in the college part of the course, but the actual job is a bit more hands on, and your skills are transferable shoreside or onto rigs if you find bobbing up and down on the waves isn't for you.
Try http://www.sstg.org/
http://www.clydemarinetraining.com/
http://www.careersatsea.org/ for a bit of basic info.
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
Thanks for this and the other reply/emails. Funnily enough, I've just emailed you before coming back to this thread. cazzer said:
Welcome to life.
Still, you'll be able to retire in about 50 years.
Thanks for that Still, you'll be able to retire in about 50 years.
The thought of even 10 more years of this fills me with dread...matthewg said:
This, +1 etc
Sure someone will be along soon to say he should feel fortunate to be employed...
To be fair, I did say that in my first post Sure someone will be along soon to say he should feel fortunate to be employed...
Old Gregg said:
Should I just be grateful that I even have a job and get on with it...?
Old Gregg said:
les3002 said:
I jacked in my terrible job when I was 22 and with no A levels managed to get into uni on a foundation degree. I went on to do Mech Eng and graduated with a first. Having done a placement year in between my 2nd and 3rd years I managed to pick up a bit of experience and ended up getting a job working for a massive company making some quite impressive machines.
Granted it's still a bit dull at times, I am only on a grad scheme though and the money sure makes up for it (double what I was on before uni) but certainly my prospects are a million times better than they were before.
I'd say go for it but just make sure you pick a decent degree course and have a long term plan in mind preferably doing something that will hold your interest. I'd also move away from your area just make a fresh start somewhere else, you'll only regret it otherwise.
Funnily enough, this could somewhat relate to my position. Mechanical Engineering could be a route that I follow and would interest me. I've been hands-on in a mechanical job of one form or another for almost a decade now, so I have experience in the area.Granted it's still a bit dull at times, I am only on a grad scheme though and the money sure makes up for it (double what I was on before uni) but certainly my prospects are a million times better than they were before.
I'd say go for it but just make sure you pick a decent degree course and have a long term plan in mind preferably doing something that will hold your interest. I'd also move away from your area just make a fresh start somewhere else, you'll only regret it otherwise.
Which Uni did you go to? And what kind of thing do you do now, just out of interest? I'd be keen to hear more if you wouldn't mind sharing.
Alternatively, I'm also open to the idea of doing something entirely different it's just the "what?" part that I'm unsure of.
Oh, and I have friends in Manchester who I often visit (my best friend used to live where I still live, but he moved there) and they keep saying I should go and live there. It's something I've considered.
les3002 said:
I was a car mechanic before I went to uni mate. I went to Liverpool John Moores Uni(Yep a poly!). I did a year working at Vauxhall in Ellesmere Port and I now work for a major defence contractor up in Cumbria.
Did you enjoy the course? Or was it more of a means to an end?matthewg said:
To be fair, to be fair sir.
I don't even know what this means.I did a Management course at uni and left in 2006. I got a job in a store with a view to getting onto the company's graduate training scheme. I've tried for it three times and got as far as the assessment centre but never succeeded in getting a position. They don't give any proper feedback either. The problem is they don't look at you as a person, they just have a ticklist criteria and look for you saying certain key words and doing certain things so they can put ticks in boxes.
I find the managers in the store where I work resent me as they feel I'm coming in with a degree trying to use it to go straight into a higher ranking position than theirs when they've spent years working their way up through the ranks. To apply for a better job within the company I work for I have to get my line manager to approve my application by signing the application form. Every time I ask I'm told that, despite my qualifications, I'm not cut out for the job or I haven't got the right experience, even though I do the job anyway.
I don't regret going to university for a second but it's an expensive game and it doesn't guarantee you a better job. You could try looking into jobs where education and a uni course is provided as part of your training. That way the cost is covered. I just wish the relationship with the rich Russian girl I met there worked out.
I find the managers in the store where I work resent me as they feel I'm coming in with a degree trying to use it to go straight into a higher ranking position than theirs when they've spent years working their way up through the ranks. To apply for a better job within the company I work for I have to get my line manager to approve my application by signing the application form. Every time I ask I'm told that, despite my qualifications, I'm not cut out for the job or I haven't got the right experience, even though I do the job anyway.
I don't regret going to university for a second but it's an expensive game and it doesn't guarantee you a better job. You could try looking into jobs where education and a uni course is provided as part of your training. That way the cost is covered. I just wish the relationship with the rich Russian girl I met there worked out.
les3002 said:
I loved every minute of it, some of the maths was pretty difficult purely because it's never been my strong point but other than that it was everything I expected.
If anything I miss it a little now I'm working, so much so that I've got work to sponsor me to do a MSc in October.
Interesting, thanks. Some food for thought there at the very least.If anything I miss it a little now I'm working, so much so that I've got work to sponsor me to do a MSc in October.
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