Has anyone ever started afresh? | Vital Football

Has anyone ever started afresh?

DeanoVilla

One Bloody Number
Starting to look more and more likely that I might be made redundant in the near future, and so I'm begining to weigh up my options in terms of what I would do going forward.

A big part of me is thinking do i really want another 30+ years in IT? And i think the answer is no.

Had my job not been in jeopardy I think I'd have just carried on plodding along in a career I'm not completely happy with, but this might just give me a chance to do something new. Something exciting. Something I enjoy.

However, starting a fresh seems a very scary prospect to me.

I could probably walk into another IT job on a similar salary within a couple of months. However if I decided to try something new, I'd need to completely retrain, possibly using up all my redundancy money, and then I'd probably end up starting on the bottom rung of the wage ladder once again. That's a pretty scary prospect with bills to pay and mouths to feed.

Natalie works full time and has said she'd support me if I wanted to try something new, which is all well and good, i think we'd 'cope', but I don't want to cope, I want a nice new house, and potentially want to start a family of my own before it's too late.

For that I'm thinking we need my wage, and a good wage.

Also, it's ok saying I wanna try something new but I literally have no idea what. I like cooking. Maybe I could train to be a chef, but you don't see many chefs walking out of their pubs at the end of a night and getting into an Aston Martin. I'm guessing pay is poor and hours unsociable.

I'd also love to teach, maybe at Primary school level, but I'm told you need a degree, which I don't have. I'm intelligent enough (although i try to hide it on here) and am good with kids, but I think teaching jobs are quite sought after so thats not going to be enough.

And what if I spend all my redundancy to try something new and then 6 months down the line decide I hate it more than IT!? What a bad gamble that would be.

Head is all over the place at the moment. Really dunno what to do, so if anyone has ever experienced something similar and can offer some advice I'd be very grateful.

 
Maybe carry on doing some IT to pay the bills and train at night school or open university or something. Then you can focus on what you want to do long term without the pressure.

 
You would always have IT to fall back on, no matter what you decide. Walking a new path in life is something that seems scarier in thought than it is in practice.
 
I went from IT to training to sales. It combined my IT knowledge with a new career. My IT skills arew ay behind me now and the sales side has worked out well but I really enjoy it.

I'd look for an IT alternative and really work out what it is you want to do. Then as above get the training done while your IT job pays the bills.
 
Its a big plunge in my opinion. To big for me to take as I have considered it a few times , but I like stability and structure etc so not suited to my nature , but that's not to say it's not for you. A key question is , is the grass greener on the other side ?

Having said all that you could always become a cardigan maker , or tour manager for Blue.
 
I agree with BI and CH ideas. Why not go and talk to an agency in this field of retraining Deano. Up here it is called Future Prospects which advise and go through your options of how best to retrain and work at the same time. Both can be done.

It is possible to have the best of both worlds
 
If you were young free and single it would be simpler in my humble.

I had to start afresh totally but that was illness led so not really comparable experience. But it did take a massive re-think to come up with a new road to go down.

I'd grab the best wages you can and if that is IT then look at the extrinsic (outside of work) value the money brings as opposed to over worrying about the intrinsic (enjoyment at work) as most get bored of what they do, no matter how good their job is because whatever you do, it becomes repetitive.

You could do night school as Bikini says. Not sure you would be that comfortable having Natalie support you really dude, you aren't the sort? Plus teaching won't bring you riches !

I'd have a chat with Mr J Gee though, I did think there were some fast route qualifications to become a teacher now, although that might well be if you have a degree already.
 
Yes retrained in my thirties. Hard work but made easier with my wife's support. My advice, go for it, you only live once.
 
You'd walk into a primary school teaching role Dean, and your IT skills would be a big advantage.

I know a lad who has been accepted onto a in-school training programme. he'll be earning piss in an inner city school for two years, but at the end of it he'll be a qualified primary school teacher. He hasnt got a qualification to his name, and he is severely dyslexic (so bad he used to mispell his own name on our football teamsheet!). He's been working as a school assistant for a year which has got him a foot in the door, but he tells me that male primary school teachers are very rare and therefore sought after.

Like with chefs though, you dont see Primary School teachers driving Aston martins, and whilst the hours might be very sociable, the extra pressure on teachers is a big factor thesedays. I take the piss to wind them up, but another mate of mine has taken on a head of year role (secondary) and is hating it. He hardly ever teaches and when he does his mind is taken by dealing with social services, parents, violent kids, budgets etc....

I would always encourage anyone to follow their dreams - I know plenty who have done so and it's the best thing they ever did. I also know quite a few who realise now that the grass isnt greener.

Do your research, think long and hard, ask anyone and everyone their opinion and dont rush into anything.
 
Good post JF, I agree totally. We had two kids 1 and 4 when I was made redundant 2 years ago - from my jobs of 20 years (in the UK). We had the capital (redundo and house sale) to start a new venture, but in the current climate the risks were too big. We decided to try living over here in Belgium as the sector we work is going through the floor in the UK. I was a house husband for over a year and that was exteremely fulfilling, teaching could bring you the same. Now back in a regular job, but on my terms (4 days a week, car) - maximising our fun outside work. One cautionary note, in my experience home working or night school can be nightmare, you have to be extermely motivated.
 
My other half has done it, decided banking wasn't for her.

Has just done a year of an access to Higher Education Course and is off in September to Nottingham Uni to study adult nursing.

I think it's also possible (having read an aviation forum) to change at any age.
 
I`d been in the insurance industry for 12 years.At the age of 30 with one child and one on the way,I`d had enough of the pressure to mis-sell crap,so I resigned.I couldn`t find a decent job that suited me,but with a mortgage,kids etc I needed income,so I got a job on the factory floor earning a pittance and being in debt.I put lots and lots of hours in,climbed out of debt and ended up as night shift manager,so everything turned out ok,but through luck not judgement.
Lesson for you Deano :Don`t make any rash decisions.Talk,talk,talk.

 
I'm going to be made redundant at the end of June. I've lined up a new role starting in October, I will hopefully take on a contract or temp role in the meantime.

I hate being an accountant, the new job is as an accountant/finance manager. My attitude like Fear says, is that it pays the bills and allows for me and my family to enjoy a good life. I get my kicks outside work and am happy to do a job I dislike in order to do so. I realise many lucky folk do both - but I'm happy with my lot.

There are so many jobs that I would love to try, but I'm going to wait until my kids have left home, then maybe give them a whirl.

Is 60 too old to to join the circus?
 
Grass is always greener Deano.

Don't throw it all in.

I like the teaching option too at primary but will it pay the bills?
 
tarzan - 3/4/2013 13:07

Good post JF, I agree totally. We had two kids 1 and 4 when I was made redundant 2 years ago - from my jobs of 20 years (in the UK). We had the capital (redundo and house sale) to start a new venture, but in the current climate the risks were too big. We decided to try living over here in Belgium as the sector we work is going through the floor in the UK. I was a house husband for over a year and that was exteremely fulfilling, teaching could bring you the same. Now back in a regular job, but on my terms (4 days a week, car) - maximising our fun outside work. One cautionary note, in my experience home working or night school can be nightmare, you have to be extermely motivated.

I think You have touched on something there. I am trying to get out of the habit of thinking that career/job is what life is all about.

As someone else said,whatever you do becomes a job in the end, of course you need a good job and its great if you get something you enjoy. But your real life and what really matters is not work. It's the stuff outside of it.
 
Teaching though Deano you mentioned is no walk in the park. It looks good hours but it isn't. I know many teachers and you really have to have some dedication whatever there ages. The job doesn't finish when the kids go home and much of holidays are spent prepping for the next term
 
You could be come an international assassin. I've seen them in the movies, they make brill money.


 
I want to invent something.

I'm thinking like some kind of container or vessel, made of glass, that you can pour liquid into and drink out of. Not sure what I'd call it though. Probably a liquidatron.
 
I had to start again at the age of 40.

Imagine my surprise when I came out of the army to discover there was no demand for Armourers in civvie street.

I still haven't gotten over the shock :21: