What would you do if you could change direction?
Discussion
okgo said:
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
Of course they are...but it's been thus for a generation.
They aren't though, if you do a good one at a good uni. Going to a good uni doesn't exclude you from having pissed up fun as per your post. The difference is it likely gives you far more options at the end of your years there.That would be my only advice (I didn't do go college or uni) to my son, 100% do it, but if you're going to, and you'll inherit the same debt whether its Cambridge or Bolton (maybe, but it's not just good unis charging 9k per year), so may as well make it count eh
te at maths and was probably missold the degree thinking back..... “ohhh we’ll teach you the maths you need to know...” Just thought “I think I want to be in the City, so better do an Economics degree,” and didn’t set myself apart from the rest. Now that’s down to me, but I was in the wrong degree. Anyway, as we know, degrees mean f all unless they’re specific.From your historical posts I think were near enough the same age in the same part of London doing similar work .... but you didn’t have the £30k debt haha. So what was the point, apart from the fun and games (which were good.)
Hoofy- I think that’s the underlying issue here..... the “itch.” Also, I do OK, but part of me wishes I was really really good as something worthwhile, something to be very proud of. Extracting money being a half decent salesman (of decent stuff that goes in products that make a difference admittedly) ain’t making me proud these days!
For context I am in my late 30's.
Came from a financially not so well off background but was fortunate to be able to go to one of the best schools in our area/region..not through any academic prowess I should add..more through parental expectations. I was never academic, bumbled my way through school but enjoyed the benefits and privileges that a good school brings with it. Went to uni albeit not a good one per say..most of uni was a blur fueled by fags and booze.
Somehow I ended up in the city, some luck involved and I think during my time it was easier to get a job (pre financial crash era) and I am still in that same industry albeit not fulfilled.
I always had an interest in sciences but wasn't sure what I would do, grades were never good enough for medicine so the default was financial services.
In hindsight should of made better use of my degree as a springboard (IT related degree) but never really had the interest to follow it up. What I've realised now is that you don't need to be very technical or a v good developer to do reasonably well in IT but it's a bit late to try crossing over now for me (IMO).
As one poster suggested earlier one of the things I will try to do is find what works/interests me and then target a job/industry that encompasses some of those elements..easier said than done!
Some of the earliest advice in my career that I thought was also the most useless was "do what you are good at"....and if I don't know..oh sorry can't help then! For those who identify their career choice early respect to you but for me personally its needed a few years to help identify it and still not there fully...the other challenge was that certain career paths didn't exist when I was at uni or graduated..and in other cases I wasn't aware of some career paths.
WFH certainly hasn't helped with motivation, much easier to get distracted and procrastinate..not sure if anyone else has found that issue but I certainly have.
Came from a financially not so well off background but was fortunate to be able to go to one of the best schools in our area/region..not through any academic prowess I should add..more through parental expectations. I was never academic, bumbled my way through school but enjoyed the benefits and privileges that a good school brings with it. Went to uni albeit not a good one per say..most of uni was a blur fueled by fags and booze.
Somehow I ended up in the city, some luck involved and I think during my time it was easier to get a job (pre financial crash era) and I am still in that same industry albeit not fulfilled.
I always had an interest in sciences but wasn't sure what I would do, grades were never good enough for medicine so the default was financial services.
In hindsight should of made better use of my degree as a springboard (IT related degree) but never really had the interest to follow it up. What I've realised now is that you don't need to be very technical or a v good developer to do reasonably well in IT but it's a bit late to try crossing over now for me (IMO).
As one poster suggested earlier one of the things I will try to do is find what works/interests me and then target a job/industry that encompasses some of those elements..easier said than done!
Some of the earliest advice in my career that I thought was also the most useless was "do what you are good at"....and if I don't know..oh sorry can't help then! For those who identify their career choice early respect to you but for me personally its needed a few years to help identify it and still not there fully...the other challenge was that certain career paths didn't exist when I was at uni or graduated..and in other cases I wasn't aware of some career paths.
WFH certainly hasn't helped with motivation, much easier to get distracted and procrastinate..not sure if anyone else has found that issue but I certainly have.
Edited by VR99 on Tuesday 16th February 22:35
I am 38 this year and have been considering a total change (albeit having discussions as per my other thread in here)
Possibly medical Dr. also considered Teaching but there are lots of horror stories about why people escape teaching ... plus the money is rubbish.
I do fancy a change but am very 'niche' in my current role so there is demand.
Possibly medical Dr. also considered Teaching but there are lots of horror stories about why people escape teaching ... plus the money is rubbish.
I do fancy a change but am very 'niche' in my current role so there is demand.
Smokysour said:
Chainsaw Rebuild said:
I am seriously reconsidering retraining and joining the merchant navy.
That's what I did in my mid/late 20's. Glad I did as I enjoy what I do, money was crap while doing the cadetship though!If I could change anything it would be to have started earlier and work harder to gain my tickets faster!
Chainsaw Rebuild said:
Smokysour said:
Chainsaw Rebuild said:
I am seriously reconsidering retraining and joining the merchant navy.
That's what I did in my mid/late 20's. Glad I did as I enjoy what I do, money was crap while doing the cadetship though!If I could change anything it would be to have started earlier and work harder to gain my tickets faster!
Smokysour said:
Chainsaw Rebuild said:
Smokysour said:
Chainsaw Rebuild said:
I am seriously reconsidering retraining and joining the merchant navy.
That's what I did in my mid/late 20's. Glad I did as I enjoy what I do, money was crap while doing the cadetship though!If I could change anything it would be to have started earlier and work harder to gain my tickets faster!
Lots of people on PH seem to be in IT.
Most seem to make a good living out of it, including the option of consultancy work.
As someone who has no experience of this career, I'm interested to know what, exactly, those jobs involve?
Are you all programmers?
Are you all selling hardware?
Do you sit in an office watching network traffic?
Most seem to make a good living out of it, including the option of consultancy work.
As someone who has no experience of this career, I'm interested to know what, exactly, those jobs involve?
Are you all programmers?
Are you all selling hardware?
Do you sit in an office watching network traffic?
Chainsaw Rebuild said:
Smokysour said:
Chainsaw Rebuild said:
Smokysour said:
Chainsaw Rebuild said:
I am seriously reconsidering retraining and joining the merchant navy.
That's what I did in my mid/late 20's. Glad I did as I enjoy what I do, money was crap while doing the cadetship though!If I could change anything it would be to have started earlier and work harder to gain my tickets faster!
I don't know how old you are but be prepared when you go to college you will be surrounded by teenagers and sometimes their attitude/work ethic may not aligned to yours if you've already been working a few years!
rog007 said:
PopsandBangs said:
...the majority of us are doing OK but in professions that are completely unrelated to our degree.
This is normal. Getting your degree however allowed you to have that level of choice. Few are lucky/privelaged enough to be able to have a vision of what they really want to do in those formative years.
That's not to say the lack of a degree makes someone any less successful in the long term but that brings us to the point about holding a degree offering possibly more lucrative roles (moreso in the earlier part of the career?)
I admire any teenager with a vision of "I want to be a..." and achieves it, but I reckon most of us navigate a career path less focused than that.
For me, I was an '80s computer kid which led to an IT career of 30 years. In the end, I had my time in IT and I'm now working for much less money in an entry-level DIY hardware retail job. That interest came about from the car and DIY hobbies I developed in my '20s and '30s. Do I regret ever going into IT instead of what I do? Nope. The time was right then to be in IT, and it led to being rewarded decently enough that I stumbled into a late career that suits me.
Life's a journey (dancing or skating in a reality TV show is not
)rog007 said:
I know a few quite unhappy medical professionals,
I know plenty too, but for me I cannot believe how lucky I am to have work in the profession. There are literally so many options and avenues of work am currently struggle to work out what parts of work I want to drop so I have time to do more, but I also enjoy everything I do so I don't want to drop anything. Coming up to 40 it feels like my career is only just starting, am actually more excited about going to work now than I have ever been!Me and my wife was actually talking about this the other day, as we both sat there at 10pm busy working on various projects. When so many people don't seem to enjoy their jobs, we just feel lucky we are doing jobs we love and getting paid a more than decent salary for doing it.
I applied to medicine on a whim because our careers advisor at 6th form told me I was too dumb to get the grades needed........Looking back it was probably the best careers advice I had ever been given
.I've managed to hold down a job in oil and gas while everyone around me has been laid off. But I'm missing out on my girls growing up as I'm away from home a lot. I want a job where I'm home more, but I'll never find a job that pays like this one and although seeing more of my family would be good, I need to provide for them.
I've always wanted to do physio therapy. I'm 45 though, so probably too late now.
I've always wanted to do physio therapy. I'm 45 though, so probably too late now.
gangzoom said:
I applied to medicine on a whim because our careers advisor at 6th form told me I was too dumb to get the grades needed........Looking back it was probably the best careers advice I had ever been given
.
Grass is always greener. I've never really had a boss, but always envied those who work as part of a team with more experienced mentors. If current gig falls through, I'll probably look in that direction.
I fancy a complete change too, however I do not even know where to begin as I have a good job, good salary etc but the last year WFH has been the dullest and least rewarding point in my working life. Now I know a lot of other jobs have also shifted to WFH but it does make you evaluate the value, your worth etc. Be interested to hear from anyone who has made the change and how they kept the plates spinning
rfisher said:
Lots of people on PH seem to be in IT.
Most seem to make a good living out of it, including the option of consultancy work.
As someone who has no experience of this career, I'm interested to know what, exactly, those jobs involve?
Are you all programmers?
Are you all selling hardware?
Do you sit in an office watching network traffic?
Ir35 killed off consultancy for the indvidual, you can work for a bigger firm get charged iut at 2k a day....you won't get that but the partner will take a big chunk of it.Most seem to make a good living out of it, including the option of consultancy work.
As someone who has no experience of this career, I'm interested to know what, exactly, those jobs involve?
Are you all programmers?
Are you all selling hardware?
Do you sit in an office watching network traffic?
I work in the city, did my degrees in economics with masters focus on financial markets. I was i think 10 years out before i actually used my degree before then its all pretry much learn a process etc. Hence i went down the consulting route. While this year with ltd blanket bans the money had fallen, there is still the upside of avoiding much of the corporate bs.
But if I had my time over, probably a mechanic as i truely find i produce data, documents that take weeks to pull together, are looked at for 5 mins an never looked at again. Its all so meaningless. Building, restoring etc would have been better.
We were skint growing up so I just wanted something to make me financially secure and be able to support myself on my own.
When I was 17 I found a trainee job, worked away Monday to Friday and eventually moved away for work. It's a hands on role with occasional thinking required, and I've got to work for some cool companies and worked for the best teams on the F1 grid, but ultimately it's factory work and I'm bored to tears.
Not sure where to go next, I've tried a few times to side step in to the office, take on more responsibility, but it doesn't always come with fulfillment or money and I'm just generally done with the whole industry. It involves working long hours and commuting generally, and health wise pretty bad for various reasons.
I've put the wheels in motion for the class 2 HGV licence just to see if I like it. It might not be as glamorous as some jobs mentioned in this thread but I'm happy with my simple life in the countryside!
When I was 17 I found a trainee job, worked away Monday to Friday and eventually moved away for work. It's a hands on role with occasional thinking required, and I've got to work for some cool companies and worked for the best teams on the F1 grid, but ultimately it's factory work and I'm bored to tears.
Not sure where to go next, I've tried a few times to side step in to the office, take on more responsibility, but it doesn't always come with fulfillment or money and I'm just generally done with the whole industry. It involves working long hours and commuting generally, and health wise pretty bad for various reasons.
I've put the wheels in motion for the class 2 HGV licence just to see if I like it. It might not be as glamorous as some jobs mentioned in this thread but I'm happy with my simple life in the countryside!
A very apt thread for me.
For the last 12 years I’ve been a support worker, a very fulfilling job but the pay is rubbish.
Last year has been tough, with isolating clients the hours have been tough. Coupled with co workers who hate each other and I’m desperate to leave.
113 hours is my record for a shift, from start to finish including sleepovers.
So I want out.
However, I’ve just bought a house, so that’s thrown a massive curve ball into the mix.
Trying for my class 2 for a change but with lockdown not being lifted in the banana republic of shortbread for another 2 months. It’s a long wait.
Also considering learning a trade.
I prefer working with my mind and hands, not sitting down in front of a desk.
For the last 12 years I’ve been a support worker, a very fulfilling job but the pay is rubbish.
Last year has been tough, with isolating clients the hours have been tough. Coupled with co workers who hate each other and I’m desperate to leave.
113 hours is my record for a shift, from start to finish including sleepovers.
So I want out.
However, I’ve just bought a house, so that’s thrown a massive curve ball into the mix.
Trying for my class 2 for a change but with lockdown not being lifted in the banana republic of shortbread for another 2 months. It’s a long wait.
Also considering learning a trade.
I prefer working with my mind and hands, not sitting down in front of a desk.
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