| Career Advice 14:13 - Apr 5 with 2501 views | JDAndCoke |
Looking for any help/advice/opportunities anyone on here is able to offer...
I'm currently in a very mundane, corporate role working for a very large organisation in which I don't enjoy, don't feel valued and ultimately struggle to get motivated for every day (this is draining and is getting worse by the week).
I'm still young (30) but having always worked similar kinds of jobs I feel now is the time to look at a completely new pathway. Without a degree, opportunities are always somewhat limited and being genuinely open to almost anything, I'm at a stage where I'm not sure where to even start! This is the daunting part.
Would appreciate any help, encouragement, words of wisdom etc. Possibly someone has been in a similar position and can share experiences? |  | | |  |
| Career Advice on 15:06 - Apr 5 with 1975 views | Mookamoo |
Never too late to retrain. Is there an opportunity from within your current work? For example, I spoke to a junior marketing bod yesterday who has no degree and limited qualifications, but is putting in the hours to get their CIM accreditation, at their own cost and in their own time. Thats going to open a lot of doors for her.
Do you work with clients/suppliers? Is there an opportunity to jump over the fence and work for a related business?
Are you just bored? Are you sure its the job and not that something else is missing from your life that will still be absent even with a new career? Try volunteering and see if that fills a need. Maybe look to do something you are passionate about and see if there are career opportunities there later.
My other half was a radiographer for many years and retrained as a wellbeing practitioner and is now moving into CBT. Lot of hard work, but is very fulfilling. |  | | |
| Career Advice on 15:16 - Apr 5 with 1941 views | Darth_Koont |
All comes down to passion x ability in the end. Both your enjoyment/sticking with it through training and a decade or two after that as well as whether it’s a successful career and you’re better than the competition.
But ability can be learnt and developed. So really it’s about your passion and interest for the general area, job or sector.
You’ve got another 40 years of work ahead of you possibly so it’s insane to do something you don’t enjoy or that doesn’t feed into your own and others’ sense of your value. And “mundane jobs” will soon be at risk from AI, automation as well as a developing world ready to do these jobs for less. The passion jobs will also be the ones that are much more secure from this. |  |
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| Career Advice on 15:56 - Apr 5 with 1853 views | ElderGrizzly |
All i'd say, is a degree is irrelevant to me when I recruit once you have 7 - 10 years experience. Don't let that limit your search, even if an advert might ask for it. Most of the time, certainly in the civil service, we have to put it in as a requirement but the reality is we ignore it.
Same when I was in a Management Consulting firm. Experience is key, not the piece of paper.
I'm buying the work experience and achievements, not the piece of paper you got when you were 21/22. |  | | |
| Career Advice on 16:40 - Apr 5 with 1749 views | Lord_Lucan |
I think the first thing you should ask yourself is - What do you WANT to do. |  |
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| Career Advice on 17:07 - Apr 5 with 1726 views | J2BLUE |
| Career Advice on 16:40 - Apr 5 by Lord_Lucan |
I think the first thing you should ask yourself is - What do you WANT to do. |
Then immediately forget about it if you don't have experience.
I'm stuck in customer service because it's all i've ever done. |  |
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| Career Advice on 17:15 - Apr 5 with 1699 views | footers |
| Career Advice on 17:07 - Apr 5 by J2BLUE |
Then immediately forget about it if you don't have experience.
I'm stuck in customer service because it's all i've ever done. |
Thought you were really liking your new job, buh? |  |
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| Career Advice on 17:17 - Apr 5 with 1696 views | footers |
Depending on what you want to do later, it may be worth checking if your company offers any free training in certain areas. I know many large corporates will offer courses like this so their employees can move up/sideways in the same firm, but if they're offering it for free maybe take them up on it if you find some courses/qualifications that suit.
You're never too old to change paths. But the most important thing is that you're passionate about what you do. If you can find a hobby or interest that you can make into a career, all the better.
Good luck, dude. | |
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| Career Advice on 17:20 - Apr 5 with 1680 views | J2BLUE |
| Career Advice on 17:15 - Apr 5 by footers |
Thought you were really liking your new job, buh? |
Just having a bad day. Will likely be redundant within 6 weeks and absolutely dreading having to go back to one of the sh1t CS jobs i've had in the past. | |
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| Career Advice on 17:23 - Apr 5 with 1660 views | footers |
| Career Advice on 17:20 - Apr 5 by J2BLUE |
Just having a bad day. Will likely be redundant within 6 weeks and absolutely dreading having to go back to one of the sh1t CS jobs i've had in the past. |
We all have those! Hopefully it's not the case, but on the bright side a nice fat redundancy cheque always sweetens the pill a little... Plenty of remote positions available atm so no reason why you can't cast your net a little wider than before :) | |
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| Career Advice on 17:29 - Apr 5 with 1633 views | DanTheMan |
| Career Advice on 17:20 - Apr 5 by J2BLUE |
Just having a bad day. Will likely be redundant within 6 weeks and absolutely dreading having to go back to one of the sh1t CS jobs i've had in the past. |
Sorry to hear that, hope you bounce back quickly if it does come to that. |  |
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| Career Advice on 17:42 - Apr 5 with 1576 views | Lord_Lucan |
| Career Advice on 17:20 - Apr 5 by J2BLUE |
Just having a bad day. Will likely be redundant within 6 weeks and absolutely dreading having to go back to one of the sh1t CS jobs i've had in the past. |
Chin up J2
Hope it works out | |
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| Career Advice on 18:06 - Apr 5 with 1546 views | factual_blue |
Since the massive retraining in cyber initiative, there's a shortage of ballerinas. |  |
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| Career Advice on 18:23 - Apr 5 with 1503 views | Fenoit |
| Career Advice on 17:20 - Apr 5 by J2BLUE |
Just having a bad day. Will likely be redundant within 6 weeks and absolutely dreading having to go back to one of the sh1t CS jobs i've had in the past. |
Question for you, have you ever considered trying to switch from Customer Service to Customer Success? It's an area of the market that is undergoing huge growth, specifically in tech SaaS companies. There are a lot of similarities in the role, customer facing, requires strong communication skills (written english), and a need to be slightly tech focussed (some companies also require more commercial experience than others).
I work for a company rapidly trying to grow, so if you'd like to take a look at some of the vacancies drop me a DM. |  | | |
| Career Advice on 18:39 - Apr 5 with 1458 views | wkj |
If I could give my younger self advice, it would have been do an OU degree on a very part-time basis whilst engaging in the grind. 1 module suggests around 10 hours a week, and after a few years you've got work experience and you have knowledge in a field that interests you.
I hit 40 next year and will be starting my final year (level) of study, all with the desire to break out into a new career for my final 20-30 years as a productive member of society.
I was stuck in a very similar hole to what J2 was describing with work - it sucks, but sometimes you have to create your own carrot and dangle it in front of your own face, see where it takes you. |  |
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| Career Advice on 18:44 - Apr 5 with 1435 views | chicoazul |
| Career Advice on 17:20 - Apr 5 by J2BLUE |
Just having a bad day. Will likely be redundant within 6 weeks and absolutely dreading having to go back to one of the sh1t CS jobs i've had in the past. |
Good luck brother. If you’re willing to start at the beginning there are a lot of jobs in the NHS and emergency services open. No they don’t pay well but you get unrivalled T&Cs and plenty of scope for promotion personal development etc
OP this applies to you too! Good luck to you both. |  |
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| Career Advice on 19:16 - Apr 5 with 1380 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
F#ck it all off for a bit, get the social to pay your rent and take drugs while you figure it out.. you can still do that can't you?
Or same as above but with a student grant....educate yourself get a balanced perspective on the world and then figure out where you fit in....surely that's still an option too! |  |
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| Career Advice on 19:22 - Apr 5 with 1363 views | Lord_Lucan |
| Career Advice on 19:16 - Apr 5 by BanksterDebtSlave |
F#ck it all off for a bit, get the social to pay your rent and take drugs while you figure it out.. you can still do that can't you?
Or same as above but with a student grant....educate yourself get a balanced perspective on the world and then figure out where you fit in....surely that's still an option too! |
And if that fails, become a gardener. | |
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| Career Advice on 19:23 - Apr 5 with 1353 views | ArnoldMoorhen |
| Career Advice on 19:16 - Apr 5 by BanksterDebtSlave |
F#ck it all off for a bit, get the social to pay your rent and take drugs while you figure it out.. you can still do that can't you?
Or same as above but with a student grant....educate yourself get a balanced perspective on the world and then figure out where you fit in....surely that's still an option too! |
Student grant? Where have you been for the past 30 years? There were riots over tuition fees and everything! It's very much pay to play in Higher Education. |  | | |
| Career Advice on 19:24 - Apr 5 with 1349 views | Dubtractor |
If you don't mind indulging me, I'll share my personal experience.
First off, I have no degree and pretty (very) mediocre A level and GCSE results.
Aged 33 I got made redundant from a half decent job (at a former ITFC sponsor), but one which I had no real engagement with and just coasted through the weeks.
I ended up applying for a job at a similar salary at my current employer, which wasn't remotely related to my old role, but for which I had enough transferable skills to tick the boxes on the 'essential skills/experience' criteria. Crucially though, the job subject matter was something that interested me, which massively helped me in the interview.
Fast forward 13/14 years and I'm in a much more senior role, earning double what I started on, and doing a job that I find genuinely engaging (despite my misgivings every Monday morning!). The key point here is that if you are a motivated person, and it sounds like you are, then if you end up in a job or organisation where you buy into what you are doing each day then there is a good chance you'll progress. If I can do it then anyone can!
Others have touched on it here, but qualification requirements are often put in job descriptions as much as anything to filter out applicants rather than with a real expectations that everyone MUST have them (obviously excepting some role specific qualifications). If you can demonstrate the skills you might pick up doing a degree through your work experience and application then that will get you over the hurdle a lot of the time. Speaking for myself, I only look at the qualifications of applicants after I've already read the rest of their application and made my mind up. For me the written part of an application is the most important part - I want to see someone show how much the role appeals to them as much as I want them to trot out their last 5/10 years of work activity. Obviously it is important to sell yourself - but do it in the context of the role you're applying for. That sounds obvious, but so many applications I see fail badly at doing just that.
So in summary, don't worry about your lack of degree (this goes to J2 too), find roles that appeal to you where you think you have the skills and experience to tick off 70%+ of the requirements, and then get your applications written. |  |
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| Career Advice on 19:27 - Apr 5 with 1337 views | Doug_The_Jug |
I hit this point at age 39. After many (wasted) years of working 9 to 5 in the civil service and never having the motivation or passion to gain promotion or forge out a career I decided to hand my notice in and do something I am passionate about.
I opened a burger takeaway about a year ago. It was something I have wanted to do for many years but as an overthinker I had always put it off. It has taken my wife to give me to push to go for it and I haven't looked back. Its been the hardest but most rewarding year of my life. The business is growing and making money. Although, for me the money doesn't really mean anything and is a by-product of doing something I love and am truly passionate about. I love what I do and wouldn't change it for the world. The old 9-5 will always be waiting for me if it doesn't work out.
I guess the point I am making is to take a risk and do something you can really get behind. The opportunities are literally endless. | | | |
| Career Advice on 19:39 - Apr 5 with 1302 views | Lord_Lucan |
| Career Advice on 19:27 - Apr 5 by Doug_The_Jug |
I hit this point at age 39. After many (wasted) years of working 9 to 5 in the civil service and never having the motivation or passion to gain promotion or forge out a career I decided to hand my notice in and do something I am passionate about.
I opened a burger takeaway about a year ago. It was something I have wanted to do for many years but as an overthinker I had always put it off. It has taken my wife to give me to push to go for it and I haven't looked back. Its been the hardest but most rewarding year of my life. The business is growing and making money. Although, for me the money doesn't really mean anything and is a by-product of doing something I love and am truly passionate about. I love what I do and wouldn't change it for the world. The old 9-5 will always be waiting for me if it doesn't work out.
I guess the point I am making is to take a risk and do something you can really get behind. The opportunities are literally endless. |
We need details Doug!
Where is your burger place! | |
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| Career Advice on 20:07 - Apr 5 with 1261 views | Plums |
At 30, get yourself off to University. I did it at 24 and never looked back. Went from a brickies labourer to what is now a senior role in a global organisation. There are loads of opportunities for mature students and whilst you’re at it, you might work out what you want to do. |  |
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| Career Advice on 20:49 - Apr 5 with 1159 views | factual_blue |
| Career Advice on 20:07 - Apr 5 by Plums |
At 30, get yourself off to University. I did it at 24 and never looked back. Went from a brickies labourer to what is now a senior role in a global organisation. There are loads of opportunities for mature students and whilst you’re at it, you might work out what you want to do. |
'a senior role in a global organisation'
Surely this is calling out for a MacDonalds burger flipper joke? | |
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| Career Advice on 21:29 - Apr 5 with 1090 views | Plums |
| Career Advice on 20:49 - Apr 5 by factual_blue |
'a senior role in a global organisation'
Surely this is calling out for a MacDonalds burger flipper joke? |
Do you want fries with that joke? | |
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| Career Advice on 22:02 - Apr 5 with 1029 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| Career Advice on 19:22 - Apr 5 by Lord_Lucan |
And if that fails, become a gardener. |
Only after he gets his Geography degree!  | |
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