Career change post 30.

[mic_VR 3]

Evening all, after some opinions/experiences/words of wisdom.

 

I've worked in the same industry for the last 14 years and I've recently had a hankering to try something new. I feel like trying something less desk based and more practical. I'm able to turn my hand to most things and quite fancy working for myself.

 

Not all of that is relevant but essentially I'm wondering if anyone has made a move in career in their mid thirties or later? I've got 30 years left to work, not sure I see myself being stuck where I am all that time.

 

Love to hear what people think.

[Cressa 44]

If you feel like doing it, then go for it. If circumstances allow you to change then why not. If it didn't work out you could always go back to what you've been doing.

A change is normally for the better.

Good luck with your choice

Cressa

 

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[seanl82 23]

Go for it Mick! I'm leaving my current job the day after I turn 40 (5 years left of a 22 year career!), as I'm able to claim a full pension from that date. I'm looking at doing the same, and as you mentioned its a long time to carry on working so I don't see the problem at all in starting a new career. You obviously have to weigh up you options with regard to what you fancy trying your hand at, and the uncertainty surrounding self-employment for guaranteed work (especially around certain times of year!). Basically, its being able to afford to do what you set out to, and finding the right job that'll offer you an income that you are comfortable with when you offset against the quiet periods if you go down the self-employment route.

Good luck with what-ever you decide mate! :thumbleft:

[Tempest 0]

Made a career change when i was 45 (!!): Yes, it can be done!

 

Ran my own IT business for 15 years, got so fed up with it towards the last years, that I decided to go back to my roots of university education, and became a lecturer in electronics engineering/software/automotive networks/functional safety at an automotive oem. Loving it, needed the challenge.

 

Tempest

[Jim 2]

I guess the hardest thing is the risk to income, prospects, etc. I can't deny it's crossed my mind many times especially when you read about skills shortages for good plumbers, electricians etc - the thought of retraining and starting over is always appealing.

 

Would love to know what you come to decide to do / whether you take the plunge.

 

A friend of a friend was out of work for a while. Was an architect, but really skilled at lots of other stuff but hated the traditional office job. Was spending a lot of time drinking coffee in the local Costa whilst contemplating his future, became friends with the staff and ended up taking a job working there.. and is loving it. May not pay well but he gets tremendous job satisfaction. Something that's hard to find in an office job!

[Portent 0]

Life is short. I've seen too many people around me die and even been seriously ill myself in 2011 to not realise that you get one chance at this life. It's better to try and risk failure than to regret never trying it.

 

Go for it!

[delfinis38 1]

If the sums work out do it. I'm all for a happier less stressful life. I did it at 30. Manage to work only in the winter now and take the summer off.

[lilfuzzer 1]

It's certainly possible mate all depends on what you want out of it and hopefully not put yourself in a position of difficulty. The wife has just done it. I'll not mention her age😉 what she has chosen to do is work for herself. Good luckpal

 

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[mic_VR 3]

Cheers for the thoughts guys, I'm really really tempted and now my wife is back working I don't need to worry quite as much about money anymore. We do still have a small child so anything is a risk I guess.

 

Currently a qualified accountant but thinking I'd like to try a trade, either electrician or plumber grabs my eye. I've recently been restoring a house and I've enjoyed helping all the guys on the job, and I've always been very practical and hands on. Wanted to be an engineer as a youngster but kind of fell into accountancy.

 

Worried I was being completely mental just thinking about it, but looks like I'm not.... which is reassuring.

[Harrier 1]

I became self employed at 30, albeit in the same trade ( car mechanic)

 

I found knowing plenty of people in the trade helped and with a little bit of luck finding decent, cheap premises to work from I haven't really looked back.

 

If you are changing your line of work then I think that will be your biggest challenge

 

As said life is short, if you are confident you can make a go of it then do it :)

[SR_Neale 10]

Have you considered paintless dent repairs. There are plenty of courses and you could do it on the side till you have built up enough contacts to be able to go it alone. I'm saving up to do the course myself.

[seanl82 23]

I looked into a chips away franchise a few years back when I thought I would be medically pensioned off, and even went up for an open day/demo. They were pushing me toward Exeter and I managed to track down an ex franchisee from that area that warned me off of them (though I told him I'd be based in Plymouth). I figured you'd need to be in a slightly more affluent area to be able to make a decent living though, as the vast majority would just go through insurance or "live with" minor dents and scrapes.

[SR_Neale 10]

Chips away do what are called smart repairs which involves repairs to scratches dents and will involve painting where as pdr (paintless dent repair) doesn't require paint as the dents are pushed out from behind the panel with rods so the repairs are cheaper to customer. We sometimes use a pdr guy at my work (I work in accident repair) and he can come and go in an hour and earn over £200 a time. The other added bonus is no need for a big van full of tools like smart repair.

[seanl82 23]

Ah sorry, I mis-read what you put and jumped straight in. They are indeed smart repairs. PDR as you suggest can be good provided you have the network of local places like you who call them in. With this though, I think you need to be familiar with the trade and have a foot in, or have a bit more experience than someone just starting out for it to be so lucrative. That's not to say it can't be done, but it's less likely if you're a newbie!

[mic_VR 3]

Great suggestion but I'm not down with being a franchisee. I'd rather try to build my own business, the accountant in me says if I can be successful I could have a very profitable 'out' by selling or passing on a successful business.

 

I've sent some probing emails to some local training suppliers, hopefully I can talk though my ideas with them and formulate a plan and see how realistic this all might be. Talking to my father today he always wished he'd taken the risk and started his own business, but he did make one fair point... do I want to be on my knees all day squashed into a tight space wiring up a house, or have my arm round a u-bend etc when I'm in my 60's?! :lol:

[corrado wannabe 12]

Mic,

 

Your last post is the key for me. Like most people, I have a lot of mates that have trades, most have their own business and while they appear to be doing well, I cant help notice the physical toll it is now taking on them. (All in our mid forties now.) Most now have guys working for them and dip in and out. If it is a full on trade rather than a handyman, then that as your dad said, is a tough game as you get older.

 

If it is working for yourself that is the main drive, why not use your accountancy to set something up, either in an advice service capacity or doing stuff for local business etc.

 

That way you can work from home, and at your leisure, as and when funds require.

 

I am sure whatever you do, as long as you give it your best shot you will never know unless you try. If you have financial security just now though, it will make it all the more difficult to take any risk.

 

Best of luck, if you do take up a trade, for gods sake post through any quotes timeously...bl00dy impossible trying to get a quote from any my lot for an extension were looking to do!!

 

Dougie

[robrado974 1]

I can honestly say the building trade is a hard slog . I've been plastering far too long . I work on my own , so I do everything. I do a lot of damp proofing as well . The physical toll on your body is immense. I'm 47 , I have so many injuries, aches , pains . It's a young mans game .

[mic_VR 3]

Seems my Dad might be onto something here.

 

I had lunch with a friend today, he's an Electrician and general builder and said similar to the above. He's also suggested that he's been very lucky having a family business to walk into, and thinks I'll struggle to find someone to take me on as a trainee as they can pay a 16 yr old lad pennies. He caveated this with the fact I might be lucky and find someone willing to pay more as I could be deemed more mature and less likely to just mess around. But either way, it's essential that I find something as the course to learn to wire stuff up, and the practicalities/tricks to rewiring a house are worlds apart and not necessarily something you get trained to do at college.

 

Which does bring me back to using my accountancy for something else.... think I might need to whip up a list and start doing some research. None of this has put me off, if anything I'm getting more excited about the prospect of doing something myself the more I think about it.

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

Do it. I've just done something similar and it seems to be working! Life is too short and you don't ever want regrets.

 

That kind of shiiite eats you up!

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

hello mic, been a while, good luck go for it, you only live once.

 

I haven't changed career as its too lucrative and I don't want to start again, but hats of to you

[g0ldf1ng3r 15]

Seems my Dad might be onto something here.

 

I had lunch with a friend today, he's an Electrician and general builder and said similar to the above. He's also suggested that he's been very lucky having a family business to walk into, and thinks I'll struggle to find someone to take me on as a trainee as they can pay a 16 yr old lad pennies. He caveated this with the fact I might be lucky and find someone willing to pay more as I could be deemed more mature and less likely to just mess around. But either way, it's essential that I find something as the course to learn to wire stuff up, and the practicalities/tricks to rewiring a house are worlds apart and not necessarily something you get trained to do at college.

 

Which does bring me back to using my accountancy for something else.... think I might need to whip up a list and start doing some research. None of this has put me off, if anything I'm getting more excited about the prospect of doing something myself the more I think about it.

 

my dad is/was a plumber by trade - he always pointed towards jobs outside of a building site

 

mainly due to the uncertainty of the work available, he used to subcontract, the physical tole of it & the weather. as he approached retirement he did manage to be put on 'maintenance' work where he would correct things that had gone wrong but he had to shift to day rate pay as his speed slowed such that piece work was not good

 

but - although he slowed down in speed of work it did help him keep fitter than the average person

 

however, he is still bloody brilliant at everything house related! he built all but 1 of the houses i grew up in as a child, i will never forget sitting on the top of a roof helping him do the ridge tiles on the barns when i was barely in junior school & my mom shouting at him to get me down lol

 

he has also built a house in france & did everything except the electrics

 

& he is invaluable with the help he gives me refurb'ing my own house now - i just tend to do the heavy lifting etc now lol

 

i think it is horses for courses really. if you are in an office job you want an outside job, if you have an outside job you want an indoor job lol my mechanic always tells me to stay in the warm office when i ask how his work is

 

im 41, am currently being diagnosed with aspergers, work in IT spending a lot of time at work bored because its a ****e hole & am having many of the same thoughts as you Mic. i want some quality of life, not to spend it sat rotting behind a desk but the stability of a known income holds me back.

 

i have also had a job working from home in the past & TBH that itself can be quite a task to keep motivated & a touch lonely. i think many people underestimate how isolating a work from home job can be.

 

as per you also, it is thinking & deciding what to do whilst being able to minimise risk.

 

i was going to make a small investment in some stock for a mail order thing last year but glad i didnt as changes in the industry last year meant it would have been a waste of money & time

 

with you being a professional accountant i think i would try & do something along those lines but for yourself. if you can get that to the point of enough income whilst giving you plenty of free time you might find that fulfillment through being able to do other things

 

i know i would like to be working on my house or rado's or training my springer puppy rather than being behind a desk with a sore backside cause i sit down so much!! lol

[Jim Bowen 1]

I think we should all put our money together and start a Corrado Museum/Repair centre.

[g0ldf1ng3r 15]

lol life is a funny thing & quite bizarre at times

 

minutes after my above post i pop to a site ive been reading lately (i am trying hard to move myself away from mainstream media as i believe they only print what they are told to but that is another subject entirely)

 

& see this, excerpt follows:

 

"As a society in general we take life incredibly seriously here, working the 9-5 grind in jobs we don’t like, performing repetitive actions with very little meaning or purpose, all so we can earn a paycheque (so we can buy food, so we can keep on living, so we can keep earning to make sure we keep living). It’s an endless cycle. Does that sound right? Does that sound like what we are here for and are destined to do until the end of time… if that ever comes?"

 

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2017/01/09/these-209-seconds-will-make-you-question-your-entire-life-existence/

 

if you read it click on the 'discussion' thing at the bottom & read the post by Derryl - very interesting indeed!

[g0ldf1ng3r 15]

I think we should all put our money together and start a Corrado Museum/Repair centre.

 

now that i could go for Jim!!! lol

 

quite a few of us in this area & we all have many contacts for possible work from here lol

 

i used to love helping my friend with camper van resto's when i used to have more time.

 

i have even thought of asking the guys at the car restoration bodyshop i want to take my VR to if they have any saturday work i could do so as to learn better skills & get a foot in the door

 

anyone want to go 2's on a unit & start with weekend work? ;)

[mic_VR 3]

Do it. I've just done something similar and it seems to be working! Life is too short and you don't ever want regrets.

 

That kind of shiiite eats you up!

 

Did you do something completely different? I thought you transferred skills?

 

hello mic, been a while, good luck go for it, you only live once.

 

I haven't changed career as its too lucrative and I don't want to start again, but hats of to you

 

Hello Andy, long time! What is it you do, maybe I'll do that if it pay loads.... then I can spend more on the car! :lol: