UPDATE: Planning on a career change, your input is welcomed!

daniel_b

UPDATE on Page 2.

Guys,

serious topic here :?

I've worked in IT for around 11 years now (31 years old, 32 in July) and last Novemeber my company announced that our department was being outsourced - oh good.
Anyway, as of recently, I am now no longer employed by the previous company, and am now an emplyee of the outsourcer instead - bang goes my loyalty.

Anyhoo.

I've been thinking for a while about making a change of career, as if I'm being 100% honest, IT doesn't really do anything for me, it just happens to pay well, and I know the subject matter pretty well.

So I have been thinking about using the next 18-24 months to train up as something else, so was after some sensible (!) ideas, and maybe if some of you out there have gone through the same process.

My thoughts so far have been relatively limited, and I haven't spoken to a careers adviser or anything.

So far, my initial thoughts were along the lines of training to be an electrician or a plumber, but I've always had an interest in finance, so my current thought is about taking some financial exams (AAT/ACCA), and then finding a company to take me on, and train me up, as part of the deal, apparently a lot of companies do this, and I might even be able to get a role with my original company to boot.

I would need to take a paycut, but we have a healthy cushion of savings, together with a fair amount of shares that my previous employee has gracefully (!) given me, so it wouldn't be impossible. Oh and my gf should be earning a fair bit more soon as well, so that would also counter balance it to some degree.

I'm thinking the financial route would take somewhere in the region of 5 years to train up for properly, so I would hope to be qualified by the time I was 37.

So what do people think, am I insane?
Should I stick to what I know?
Are there any other suggestions?

I've thought about the 'starting a business' idea, but to be honest I wouldn't know where to start, or what product/service to sell.

Thankyou for reading, and I look forward to your inciteful comments

Cheers

Dan

robbie the roadie

Hmmm tricky but at least you have realisitc expectations about possbily having to take a pay cut whilst you retrain. As for your inital thoughts about getting 'a trade' are you happy to work evenings/weekends?

Just beware that the grass might not be greener on the other side and speak to the careers advisors and good luck.

Harry B

Dan

I started to plan a career change at about your age. But due to professional qualfications it took the best part of 10 years (studying all hours of day and night) and about £20k in fees to get the necessary qualifications. I don't regret it for a minute. I'm doing more interesting work now and my prospects are much better.

If you can afford to take the temporary drop in salary go for it so long as the family (if you have one) agree, you'll need their support. If you don't give it a try now you'll always wonder what would have happened if you had.

Would it be possible to keep you hand it the IT world as you go through the process?

Good luck to you.

daniel_b

Thankyou both for your helpful replies.

Robbie, the current plan is to take on a part time course for a year, from september, this would involve studying 2 nights a week until 9.30 pm likely, so I would stay working where I am for that period, and only then once qualified to a basic level look to make the change, and move wholly into a new environment.

Harry B, can I be nosey and asked what you changed your career from and to?
No worries if you would rather not divulge, or if you want to let me know privately, and not publicly, feel free to pm me.
I think your right though, at my age, if I am going to make a change, then it has to be around now, or pretty soon it would be too late.

I have a lovely girlfriend of 8 years, but no kids, and no plans for kids either, so that helps on the money front a lot, less demands on our incomes.

And yes, as I mentioned above, I was planning to study part time for the first 18 months to 2 years, so carry on working at my current rate, and then look to make a change after getting qualified.

Cheers

Dan

Harry B

Dan, have pm'ed you

SunWuKong

Dan

I too currently work in IT and I am also switching. This September I am going to start an Osteopathy degree. It is a bit of risk in financial terms and will be hard with a baby, mortgage, etc. But I know I will be much happier in my new career in, qualify 5 years.

So I suggest go for it.

My wife is an accountant and enjoys it, she did AAT and then went on to do CIMA took a long time to get there and it's hard to study and work. But you seem to have realistic expectations.

daniel_b

Thankyou Harry, and thankyou Sun,

goodman, is that a full time degree, or are you doing it part time whilst still working?

Good to hear your wife is in the same industry, and enjoys it - always good to hear :-)

Cheers

Dan

Slow Downcp

Good luck with whatever you decide to do - I've been thinking of doing similar as it's got to the point where I hate my chosen career (accounts as it happens), but can't bring myself to take the plunge. Having spent 18 years doing the job (without ever doing the exams) and currently FC of an International Plc, it makes it difficult to justify with a family. You need to be 100% sure in your mind that it's what you want to do - you will have to study more than two nights week until 9.30 though.

chopper1

I've just started working for the RBS group (Royal Bank of Scotland, Natwest), they send you on an expenses paid 2 week training course, and is great for racing, as most are on bank holidays, and working in a bank....!
You can also get a discount (large one for an expensive bike) on a bike, as long as its from halfords, got boardman bikes now, which is good.
If yopu get a job with them, let me know and i'll give you some money, as they'll give me some if you let em know it was me...

andy81

Dan

I've PM'd you

SunWuKong

Dan

Part for me. Just can't afford to go full time although it would make it lot easier to study and I wouldn't have to travel. As there is a full time course at Leeds Met.

markos1963

Go for it. I was 41 when I decided to give up 25 years of retail management experience and become a train driver. I had to take a 50% pay cut and start working shifts but it has been worth it. 31/2 years on I am qualified, on reasonable money and free of the management ratrace that I was in. The first step on any journey is the biggest and only you can decide to take it. Its easy for me to say do it but I don't know your circumstances, at your age what have you got to lose? Its only time in the end.

gkerr4

hmmm

don't write of the outsourcing company or see that your loyalty has to go 'bang'

if it is a big one (CSC / EDS / IBM etc..) then you may find there are other opportunities which use your subject matter expert but challenge you in different ways - perhaps less technical but more commercial or within client relationship management - try to look for the opportunity - it might surprise you too!

dennisn

Not so serious an answer(or maybe in reality it is). I was once told to "Find something that you really, really, love to do, then find someone to pay you for it".
Good Luck. Hope things work out for you.

Dennis Noward

guinea

I got bored at work as a software engineer a while ago and decided to make the transition to management. My job doesn't really do it for me but the hours are (mostly) the ones I choose and I earn more than enough to keep my hobbies up.

If I was to retrain I'd have to start at the bottom and would not have the kindo of cash I have to buy stuff and go on holiday. Since my personal time is far more valuable to me than my work time, this balance works.

My job has never stayed the same for more than a year, so unless you really feel the need to change consider hanging around - the oportunities will come around.

vinylmonkey

The finance route may not be such a bad idea especially if you enjoy it and it is defintely a job that you can use your IT skills with as well as lots of small FDs managers oversee IT as well.

I maybe biased but why ACCA as opposed to CIMA?

daniel_b

Hello all, and thankyou very much for all your responses, and the PM's I have had.

I thought this would be a good diea to post on here, as in my eyes cyclists tend to be the doers as opposed to the people who talk about things, but never get off their @rses.

Vinyl Monkey, the only reason I mentioned ACCA, is that I spoke to a guy at my previous company who is in finance, and that was his suggested route into the world of finance.

I had seen CIMA mentioned on some website, but don;t know how it balances up against ACCA< or if one is more valued, or harder to study for/pass than the other. If you wish to share, I am all ears - or eyes I suppose on this forum.

Cheers

Dan

michaelm

Chopper, do you want to recruit me?

synchronicity

I studied at uni 10 years full time in Sydney. The aim was to be a research scientist... After struggling through my doctorate for many years, I was fed up with it all & unknowingly depressed. Then I came here & now I'm working on my passion! :shock:

All the simultaneous sudden changes have been a further major struggle, but more rewarding this time. Yes it's a completely different career change. I'm much worse off financially speaking, but a happier healthier person as a result of my decision.

Roger_This

hi Daniel, you have my sympathies, I went through exactly the same thing a few years ago with IT outsourcing, then would you believe it, insourced again.

I stuck with the IT because I still enjoyed it, but it changed my attitude to employers totally - no more 'loyalty', it became an entirely professional contract; 'I provide a service, you pay me'.

Funny thing is, I seem to get treated with more respect that way...

daniel_b

Hello all, not sure how many posters who posted on this thread are still around, but thought I would update anyway just in case!

Hopefully if anyone is thinking about a career change this might help give a bit of motivation.

So my job was far more rubbish, than I could have imagined, it truly was the pits, but after speaking to friends, and after some helpful posts and PM's (Thankyou all!) on here, I enrolled in the first 3 modules of the ACCA course, and somehow managed to pass them all before Christmas, bloody hard work, but I got there eventually.

In the interim, work suggested that voluntary redundancy was on the table, I applied twice and was rejected twice

Then it came back, and finally I managed to get it, not ideal, as from finding out I only had a week to go before leaving (End of November), but whatever, I had 7 years service, so the payout was welcomed.

December i was studying, and clearly the job market is dead, and January is also dethly quiet, and then with the current state of the ecconomy I was thinking I might have to go back to IT for a short contract, I really didn't think I would get a sniff of an interview even.

Then Monday I saw a job on Reed, it was a temp contract role, but back where I used to work, and I knew someone who could recommend me.

Duly applied and mailed this person my CV, and Wednesday I had a call from the agency to say it was all sorted, and today the paperwork arrived.

It is less than half what I was earning, but still a bit more than I had hoped for, and as it is 2 miles away travelling expenses are zero, so an even bigger bonus as I get to cycle commute again :-)

So bizarrely, 11 months after this first post, and with the interim pits of despair, I will be starting a new job in finance.

I'm excited and nervous about it, and dearly hope it is the right thing for me, but we shall see.

I have also payed for the next 2 modules in my course, it's going to be a long road, as I expect to be studying for a further 3 years.

So that's it basically, just wanted to post it in the hope it might help someone out there, and realise that if you really do want to do something, or change it, you can do, it's not easy, and it may take a while, but you can get there.

Cheers

Dan

snakehips

I missed the first part of this thread but have just read through it.
Well done , glad you have got back in to work at this difficult time.
Good luck for the future

Stewie Griffin

You are bored with IT and wish to become an Accountant :shock: The only help I can be is by advising you that EDS (someone mentioned them earlier) are the worst large Company I have ever worked for. They lost the Accounts, thank God for TUPE.

Im glad I was able to get away from my original career choice too. Well done.

pneumatic

My advice to anyone in this situation (and I've been there myself) is to find out as much as you can about your motivation. In early career, we mostly take the jobs that land in our path and make the most of them. Later in life, some of us get very itchy feet and a growing feeling that we could be doing something else.

I would recommend doing as many of those horoscope-style psychometric tests as you can. Most employers will pay for you to do them as part of your development. If not, they are relatively cheap to do for yourself. Don't just do one, do loads of them so you build a more reliable picture of yourself, your capabilities and your preferences. Knowing all that stuff really helps, both in surviving in the "wrong" job and in finding the "right" one.

For example: Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Belbin Team roles, McGann Margerison somethingorother (sorry, can't remember the title), Gallup Strengthsfinder, Insights and, particularly for career choices, Schein's Career Anchors questionnaire. There are many others, besides.

nolf

From a purely economists point of view now is actually an excellent opportunity to retrain and take extra courses. Once you finish the economy will be recivering, and so long as you can find part time work to fund yourself, you'll be in a better position than most people.