Career change - how did you decide what to do?

[D-C]

Evening all,

After several years of feeling utterly disenchanted with the world of banking, I've come to the point where I feel compelled to make a change and move into something that give me some sense of satisfaction.

My main problem is.. I have little idea of what it is i would like to do.

I'm hoping some of you, esteemed PFMers, have experience of making this sort of transition.
I'm keen to understand how you decided on your new vocation.

Did you suddenly realise your calling was to create miniture furniture for doll houses?
Or did you go through some kind of structured process to determine a suitable vocation?

I'm more interested in the latter as I doubt I'm going to be struck by the lightening bolt of professional calling any time soon.

Oh, and I'm equally interested in cases where making the leap hasn't quite met expectations.
Understanding the pitfalls of career change has just as much value in my eyes.

Any constructive input on this topic is gratefully received.

 

[mansr]

After several years of feeling utterly disenchanted with the world of banking, I've come to the point where I feel compelled to make a change and move into something that give me some sense of satisfaction.

My main problem is.. I have little idea of what it is i would like to do.

Have you considered lion taming?

 

[Darth Vader]

In 2 of my 3 careers I turned a hobby/interest into a job and then a career. You really need to do something that you love doing. At 10 years old I had a Chemistry set and that ended in me taking a degree in the subject and then teaching it up to 'A' Level. A big interest of mine was electronics and I built several computers and then left teaching and went into IT where I stayed until I retired.

You never know what is around the corner until you take a walk.

Cheers,

DV

 

[cutting42]

Evening all,

After several years of feeling utterly disenchanted with the world of banking, I've come to the point where I feel compelled to make a change and move into something that give me some sense of satisfaction.

My main problem is.. I have little idea of what it is i would like to do.

I'm hoping some of you, esteemed PFMers, have experience of making this sort of transition.
I'm keen to understand how you decided on your new vocation.

Did you suddenly realise your calling was to create miniture furniture for doll houses?
Or did you go through some kind of structured process to determine a suitable vocation?

I'm more interested in the latter as I doubt I'm going to be struck by the lightening bolt of professional calling any time soon.

Oh, and I'm equally interested in cases where making the leap hasn't quite met expectations.
Understanding the pitfalls of career change has just as much value in my eyes.

Any constructive input on this topic is gratefully received.

Some questions you need to answer (to yourself) mainly.

Are you looking at another career of say 15-20 years?
If so how much money do you need to make. Bankers can make very healthy salaries, you might struggle to match it.
Are you looking for an early retirement hobby/pin money
Of so, what do you like doing and can you persuade people to pay you for it?


I have always liked the idea of being a local handyman as I am quite happy with a hammer and a screwdriver, putting up shelves, fixing taps etc. Nothing to to with my current career. I also like model making, woodworking, music and racing RC cars. None of which I am talented enough to provide a reliable income with but I fully intend doing loads of it when I retire at around 60.

 

[Mullardman]

I spent 30 years as a fully qualified Careers Adviser and worked with all ages and all abilities at various points... but I am way out of touch with current practice after almost 7 years of retirement. And in any case, anything resembling a nationally organised 'proper' service was fiinally killed off by Gove.

First question. What do you mean by the 'World of Banking'. Are you a bank clerk or an International Financier?

What is it about banking that is putting you off?

What qualifications do you have and to what level?

Or did you go through some kind of structured process to determine a suitable vocation?

I'm more interested in the latter as I doubt I'm going to be struck by the lightening bolt of professional calling any time soon.

In my case, briefly.. a mix of structured thinking, with a bit of serendipity and sheer dumb luck.

I had failed to properly capitalise on a solid Grammar School Education and 15 years down the line was trapped in a cycle of unskilled jobs and 'last in-first out' redundancy. By then I had finally realised that my appalling maths was always going to be a stumbling block re: anything technical or scientific.. which had previously been my chosen routes. It wasn't so much that maths prevented understanding.. more the fact that there was always a maths requirement in any exams.

So.. I sat about and thought for close to a month. I concluded that I wanted to do something which might 'make a difference'. I wanted people, rather than 'stuff' to be my raw material. I was becoming increasingly politicised and could see the damage wrought by Thatcher.. particularly to young people.

I sought initial advice from the job centre who, to their credit, directed me to the local Careers Service, who agreed to see me though I was 31. It was agreed that any sort of training for 'a trade' etc., would be very difficult to come by and my adviser asked if I'd considered studying Politics at degree level. I didn't even know that was a possibility.. but not long after I was doing exactly that. I had no A levels, and talked my way in to what was then Manchester Poly. I didn't care much where I studied.. I needed BA or BSc after my name was all. Thing is.. back then I got a Mature Student Grant, which just about allowed for survival of my wife and kids while I was earning 'zilch'.

Of course my degree.. if I got it... wasn't going to automatically get me a job.. so some sort of post grad training was likely to be needed. So in what?

I looked into social work, teaching, etc.. etc.. and finally applied for a post grad Dip in Career Guidance. My first adviser in the local Careers Service became my boss and I was close to the top a few years later when stopped by health issues.. but that's nobody's fault...

I'd say this. Think about your qualifications and skills. Think about your financial situation and what that will allow you to do. Think about what you enjoy doing and what you hate doing. Ask yourself whether you want to use education/training to open doors..to some sort of recognised profession/trade. or whether you want to 'wing it' and launch into some venture direct.

Good luck!!

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

I was obliged to face this situation when leaving my last job. Things had come to an end (nothing bad, just an amicable disagreement with the MD about the direction of travel - we're still friends), and I had a barring-out clause so couldn't go to work for competitors (who were all based elsewhere anyway). I saw an ad for something in the local paper, decided it'd keep the bailiffs at bay while I took stock, answered it and had my first job interview in 20 years. Got the job (rather to my surprise) and, to my equal surprise, discovered that I actually liked it. It was nothing I'd even thought about, let alone actively set about pursuing.

That was 11 years ago and I'm still here, 2 roles further up the ladder, but the fundamentals are much the same.

I discovered that, for me at least, the most important things are the people you work with and the corporate culture. It also helps if the work is interesting, challenging and rewarding, which mine is, but from where I was before I joined, I'd never have known that from the outside.

So by all means look for something that piques your interest, but don't dismiss something you don't know about. And have an eye for the corporate culture and the people. That's key.

 

[James]

Find the perfect intersect with something you enjoy doing, which you are good at, and is in great demand. You must have acquired some useful and skills and experience in banking, so figure out if any of those are transferrable to another vocation that you have more interest in. I'm living my dream job, but how I got here is almost accidental. So luck will have a part to play too.

 

[Andrew C!]

I left as a serving police officer, at the rank of Inspector, after 30 years. Financially it was the right thing to do. Emotionally it was not. I was institutionalised, and leaving affected me more than I thought it would. On reflection I was not ready for leaving at that time. I should have given it 3 or so more years.

I went to work in a senior post in the NHS, but only lasted six months. The difference in culture between those organisations is stark. It was after leaving this that I realised I wasn't right, and went for counselling. Fortunately my anxiety was minor, and part of the received advice was that my coping strategies were solid and objective.

My friends suggested I should use my training/teaching background from within the police - so I've ended up becoming the senior DARE officer here: https://lifeskills-education.co.uk/

Teaching children is really good fun. I was also contacted by the police to return as a consultant to assist in developing newly promoted sergeants and Inspectors. Also very rewarding.

My thoughts are you have to be very wary of the grass is greener ethos. Speak to those who know you well, and gauge from them how such a change is likely to affect you. You'll also have an honest inkling how you'll react to such a change, but seeking feedback from others will not do any harm provided its taken objectively and in context.

Also have a plan A and plan B - I didn't realise I'd got a good plan b until colleagues who I had taught reminded me of my effective training and negotiating skills.

I'd also seek advice regarding your next job. It also might be worth writing a personal statement, so you can see in black and white what knowledge, understanding, skills, competencies and values you have. The Police have a very good Competency and Values Framework, should you need a pointer in this direction.

 

[Big Tabs]

I went from cancer/palliative care nursing to motorcycle journalist.

I did have an interest in motorbikes and writing, I had previously written for several skateboarding magazines.

My advice is to choose something you have an active interest in.

My brother-in-law was a city banker /commodity dealer.

He has chucked it in and has moved to Spain, and gently plays the stocks.

Maybe decide the minimum monies you require for a happy existence, then decide the minimum 'work' you need to do to achieve the Happy.

My wife has found great joy from volunteering for a charity at a school, helping children to read.
She found when working for the Red Cross that the way the charity was run was awful, so she left.

Realise that it may take you a few attempts to find your slot, and you need to kiss a few frogs to find the prince x

 

[Guest432]

I left as a serving police officer, at the rank of Inspector, after 30 years. Financially it was the right thing to do. Emotionally it was not. I was institutionalised, and leaving affected me more than I thought it would. On reflection I was not ready for leaving at that time.

Just push some random people down the stairs, should bring back the pleasant memories of being a rozzer

I had the same when I left the army, was surprised how much it affected me after, I still have dreams that I'm in and a few times it has taken a few minutes after waking up to remember it was just a Bobby Ewing moment.

 

[Dozey]

Structured thinking.
What are your most important values - what makes you angry?
What do you enjoy doing?
What are you good at? (Not always what you enjoy!)
For me - injustice makes me angry, I like fairness. I enjoy written communication and art. I am good at logical thinking and physics.
So I became a patent attorney. Required 5 years of exams and on the job training.

 

[Eyebroughty]

Hi,

Had a very well paid job managing a full real time manufacturing computer system for a large electronics company to getting taken over and made redundant.

It took nearly two years to find for a job, early 90's, in the last 6 months of searching, I wrote with the help of the then Job Club, some 1640 applications and cold calling letters and got four interviews.

I eventually got a job through chatting to someone at a New Year Party and was in a job within a month as a Training Manager running a centre for people who had suffered a major mental health issue, from stress, breakdown, drugs, drink or abuse, was quite a shock from what I had done before. So ask your friends or contacts you have to see if they know of any jobs available.

The job lasted nearly two years and I found out many things about all manner of things. I live in the country and had always put on my applications where I lived, when I was looking for a new job after this job finished I had been told by someone who came to teach in the centre to use an address of someone I knew who lived near the city or in the city, so I did, first week I sent 5 applications and got 4 interviews! So location is a part of what you have to take into account if you need to commute.

The salary I went from more than halfed and I did struggle to make ends meet at times, so don't expect to walk into a job paying the same salary if you leave your job.

That is the next point it is easier to find a job from a job rather than from a point of not having one, if you have not been in an interview for a while try a few applications and get a few interviews to see how you get on, an interview it is not as easy as it sounds, even if you have been doing the interviews.

I recall going for an interview where I was asked to give a powerpoint presentation, I was sat at a table with three people in front of me, the person in the middle stopped me before I started and said, we want you to do this presentation without using your slides, please describe what they look like to us, FFS that was something else. Or the person who leaned over to me and said, you interview well, but tell me why you don't want this job and are just wasting our time, they were right, I had only gone for practice. Life is hard out there and there are some right ***** interviewing so be prepared for all sorts of things happening.

When you do find a job you want and you get an interview do not be put off if you do not get it, there are a lot of clever people out there and jobs are hard come by now. just keep trying, you will get a job eventually. Having interviewed many times in my last job making people jump through hoops for a job seems to be the normal thing now and that is for a job not that well paid.

Think carefully about what you are about to attempt, better to have a job, albeit you hate, to having no job and few prospects of getting one if you have no job.

Be prepared, try and get a few interviews for all types of jobs, read up on what a job entails from job adverts in the papers or websites, that will give you an idea if you are suited. Look at what skill set you have, write all those down and see which of those skills are transferable to another job. Do your homework, don't go in cold.

I would say going from banking to another job you might need to initially look at similar sector, but you can always retrain in your own time in the evenings getting another skill.

So plan your future, don't jump, make sure you move smoothly, even for less money, your state of mind will be better for that.

Apologies if this reply is a bit long winded but what you are attempting is life changing so any help is better than no help.

All the best with your quest,

John

 

[Andrew C!]

Just push some random people down the stairs, should bring back the pleasant memories of being a rozzer

My memories are of much more interesting things than that...

I had the same when I left the army, was surprised how much it affected me after, I still have dreams that I'm in and a few times it has taken a few minutes after waking up to remember it was just a Bobby Ewing moment.

Yep - I have similar dreams about my previous job. However, at least now I don't wake up too stressed about either that job, nor the dreams, at 4am in the morning...

 

[Hiesteem]

Evening all,

After several years of feeling utterly disenchanted with the world of banking, I've come to the point where I feel compelled to make a change and move into something that give me some sense of satisfaction.

My main problem is.. I have little idea of what it is i would like to do.

I'm hoping some of you, esteemed PFMers, have experience of making this sort of transition.
I'm keen to understand how you decided on your new vocation.

Did you suddenly realise your calling was to create miniture furniture for doll houses?
Or did you go through some kind of structured process to determine a suitable vocation?

I'm more interested in the latter as I doubt I'm going to be struck by the lightening bolt of professional calling any time soon.

Oh, and I'm equally interested in cases where making the leap hasn't quite met expectations.
Understanding the pitfalls of career change has just as much value in my eyes.

Any constructive input on this topic is gratefully received.

Hello DC, I let go of my career 20 years ago, simply because I was tired of being in conflict and not being true to myself and realised I had an opportunity to develop a LIFESTYLE and was willing to take a risk given my circumstances.
I did not have a clear plan of employment but I did have excellent therapeutic support.
You see everything can be worked out on the inner with the mind to be able to evaluate and make informed choices that are not in conflict with what we know we deserve . It is our lives and any change brings up fear and doubt and so this is how I deal with conflict and lifes changes.
I am sitting here now in my kitchen listening to music and excited and comfortable with my life and I have been for a long time .
Good luck with your journey and remember change will always bring up fear. Just be true to yourself.

 

[Derek Wright]

Do a Google on "What color is your Parachute" by Richard Bolles - it is an excellent book to read while deciding what you want to do, it directs you on deciding what you want to do, how to go about getting a job. It is a good read.

 

[deanf]

I used to be a Global Deployment Manager for Hewlett Packard, everyone above a certain grade had to come up with a five year career plan, the company had some fancy software where you entered what made you tick, ambitions, hobbies, beliefs, etc. When my manager first told me about about it I said, "it's pointless, I already know I want to be a Project Manager", twelve months later on the final telephone call I told her I wanted to be a Social Worker. I swear her jaw hit the table, there was definitely a bump. She said, "we don’t have Social Workers in Hewlett Packard", I said, "I know, what do we do now?”.

 

[Tony L]

Did you suddenly realise your calling was to create miniture furniture for doll houses?
Or did you go through some kind of structured process to determine a suitable vocation?

I’ve basically had three stages:

a) Drop-out/counter-culture/muso etc (10 years).
b) Computing/computer-related (10 years).
c) Running pfm (20 years).

The clear thread here is I have never wanted ‘a job’, and even in section ‘b’ I contracted for a fair bit of it. The rat-race was always a living hell to me and I have never had the “normal” ‘family/car/house’ aspirations. Basically I just wanted to be left the hell alone to do my own thing in my own quiet way. As such I’m likely the last person able to offer advice!

By saying that the one thing that should be obvious to all, but seldom is, is to do your own thing chances are you need to radically cut outgoings. Get rid of the mortgage and clear any debt as a first priority, and from that position the opportunity to do really fun stuff that doesn’t pay too well opens up. In reality I could probably make as much stacking shelves in Asda as I make out of pfm, but what I make goes a long way as I have zero debt and very low outgoings, plus I have a healthy buffer amount in savings etc, so cashflow is never an issue. Get to this stage and hobby businesses are absolutely viable. Get off the rat-race and right out of that mindset, but clear all debts and build a buffer first!

PS Don’t be afraid to downsize either. I went from a very nice trendy modern city centre loft apartment to a typical 3 bed terrace in a Lancashire mill town as I had enough equity in the former to buy the latter outright (it was very cheap) and dump some cash in the bank. Without doing that running pfm wouldn’t have been an option.

 

[gintonic]

I went from school teacher to retraining because the government was paying people to retrain. With my current employer I have had three perhaps four quite different careers, which has kept my grey cells ticking over.

 

[i.j.russell]

I trained to be a Teacher of Mathematics. I spent quite a lot of time using computers for various parts of the course and decided at the end that I preferred computers to children. I've been a software developer ever since (over 25 years).

Until recently, I'd have happily recommended getting into IT but the change in Visas recently announced means that we are going to be flooded with (comparatively) cheap labour from India/China/Brazil/etc.

 

[PigletsDad]

I went from research to consultancy / software engineering in about 2000, as a sideways move in the same organisation. It was a bit of a struggle for the first year or two! This was possible because my old work had involved a lot of software development, so I had learnt by doing. Think about what transferable skills you have (e.g. numeracy) and which ones give you satisfaction in using. Retraining in something completely new is always possible, but building on what you have is worth thinking through. For example, would working in finance for a charity or in industry appeal, if the charity or industry interest you?

Think through if doing something different with your existing employer would scratch your itch, or if you want an entirely different culture. If so, most other employers will probably pay less, and you will have to find a way to make that work.

The other thing to be very clear on is why you want to move. With hindsight, a factor in my case was worry about my father, which I projected as dissatisfaction with what I was doing at work. The move worked out OK, even if part of the reason for doing it was wrong.