LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

Good and Bad wanted

Has anyone personally completely retained in their career and taken a different path? - if you have what made you do it? any obstacles you had to overcome?

Reason i ask is i'm contemplating retraining to do a trade and looking for inspiration

Matt

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

I guess i would count here.

Left uni as i wanted to do what i wanted and was fed up.
Bummed about working at Asda until i was 24. p/t £400-600 per month tops.
Fucked that off and got a job in a freight forwarders as assistant transport controller. It was only 12.5k p/yr but at the time i was happy. Looking at it now it was ridiculous as wtf is 12.5k job going to get me!

Was offered a chance to apply for my current job in the oil industry and with a stroke of good luck i got the job. 4 years on i make very good money and have a wife/3kids/big house/toys etc

It pays to take a chance and better yourself

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

fair play to you! - what exactly do you do in the oil industry? not many oil rigs in swindon for me mind! lol

panelbeater

not really retrained career wise but i was getting really pissed off doing my job as it was all rush rush rush, everyone wanted quality but no-one wanted to pay for it. so i posted my cv on monster.com and accepted a job in oz doing quality work and i love it again.

PeterD

At the risk of boring folk here's what I'm doing....

I was in financial services as a credit manager to small to medium businesses (invoice, asset finance, Invoice discounting etc etc) went as far as I could then went out on my own as a credit consultant which wasn't too bad as I got a lot of experience in helping to set up small co's, credit crunch kicked off so business tailed off with people not having money to spend on outside help, started working with welcome finance, credit managment again but this time domestic and sub prime with the project of obtaining a banking licence on the go, and that fucked up too, thing is I hated F/srvs and couldnt really throw myself in. once the recession kicked in I took my chance and applied to Uni.

I study software engineering and I'm a creative guy so I'm really enjoying it, I'm second year now and I learn amazing stuff, a project I led in the early part of the course (to teach a basic grasp of unix) was picked up when our lecturer demonstrated it at a teaching conference and I've been approached by the Uni to build it as a learning tool for their overseas students to learn english, even been offered a payment to produce it, turned the money down though lol. In july 2010 I go awayto somewhere in europe, could be anywhere for a year as part of my degree for work placement and two thirds of the students don't come back after that, the courses are finished on the job, result.

The motivation was that when I started on my own and it became clear It wasnt viable at the time, all I knew was credit management and those jobs were dwindling fast. To be reasonable indespensable (to an industry if at least not to an employer) I needed a skill that couldnt be brought in and trained up within a couple of weeks, no matter what happens I can now find work or produce something myself so in my opinion gaining skills and capability is the most important reason to retrain and that in itself will yield opportunity.

Best of luck mate

Pete

(btw I now work all weekends and most week nights, no social life, no RS, gave up my flat and I'm skint constantly, but dont let that put you off because its only temporary)

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

PeterD; what a great success. Take my hat off to you!

Matt

RS Grant

iTrader: (1)

I need a stroke of good luck just now, gizza job Chop.


Cheers,
Grant

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Drilling Fluids Engineer mate.


Deposit 5k in used notes in a brown envelope and deliver to the adddress i PM you and i'll sort you out

gus

iTrader: (1)

i wouldnt mind going down a different path but i have no idea what i would wanna do


i would love to work somewhere in motorsport but as i aint got a clue about anything i couldnt afford to go down to the bottom run and learn, not with a house and family to look after

one of those viscious circles i guess

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

i think that puts alot of people off, inevitably people have to take a pay cut to retrain which most cant afford sadly

mackers

Fair play PeterD! I am a fully qualified electrician, this recession has hit me very hard. I have been out of work for basically a year with only small bits of work. I have taken this opertunity to retrain as an electrical engineer, hoping to do be in design of new electrics in buidings. First year over and going well, only another 5 to go!!! LOL!!

RSandy

iTrader: (1)

i completed university and gained my qualification in engineering design, but when i left i struggled to find any sort of role along these lines, as nobody wanted to take on anybody with no experience. ended up doing various roles including quality inspection etc

got made redundant from what i considered a dead end job end of 2008, took my class 2 HGV course, and now im earning 23k starting salary driving an 18t lorry

kind of a world apart from the office environment i trained to work in still, id sooner be an over-qualified lorry driver doing a job i enjoy with plenty of freedom, than spend my life struggling to find that elusive engineering design job that wouldnt even necessarily earn me much more money

ronf42

iTrader: (2)

When I left school in 1995, I took an apprenticeship as an electrician. After 2 years I was paid off as the ompany was going down the pan. I was unable to get another placement and ended up in a factory until 1999. I left and went to Business Express doing catalogue deliveries and left in 2002. In 2002 I joined coca cola in East Kilbride filling vending machines which I stuck out for 6 years. Last year I left before I was sacked and got a job doing ventilation commissioning. I have went from £19k a year down to minimum wage.
I have started my grade 1 training, so hopefully in a couple of years I will be at grade 3 of 4 .
All the while when I am doing this my wife has started uni as a student nurse so she has another 2 1/2 years left to do.
I am 31 and my wife is 34. We have 2 kids and a mortgage and I have a convertible in my garage that wont see me driving it ever again.
My dream over the last few years has been to emmigrate, but not having a trade has always held us back. My wife and I may qualify in a few years time making the dream become a reality, if we cant move to Oz, then we still have our respective careers that we worked hard to achieve.
I say that if you can afford to take a pay cut and do something that you have always wanted then go for it, dont hold back.

ESCYSCOTT

iTrader: (1)

i'm currently in the process of selling my profitable business which is a Fish & Chip shop to retrain to be an electrician!! It's not all about how much money you earn tbh as i'm desperately unhappy working my business now as i've been in the catering business since I left school 20 years ago and working nights for that long gets to you a bit!!!!!

I am gonna start a fast track training course after my holidays and I'll hopefully will have completed it within 6 months with hard study and practical assesments then i'll set up on my own again and see how I go really.

RobL

thats cool mate, did you have to pay for the training what you are doing?
im wanting to go down this route myself,being out of work i dont mind working for minimum wage if im gonna benefit in the long run. all the courses ive been looking at cost more money than i can afford at the minute

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

6 months

i thought you have to do city & guild 2356 before you qualify? can that really be done in 6 months?

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

I had to leave my last career as a Naval Officer/Submariner on almost £50k, and after being out of work for a while retrained successfully gaining my SIA license to be a security guard on £14k

hardly a success story

Although im going to uni in september studying combined honours in psychology and abuse studies which opens up lots of avenues within healthcare, social services, police etc.

YOREVOL

I left college in '92 with no qualification bummed around for 18 months then job centre told me to go on a course so i went on motor vehicle course became a mechanic in '94.
After being in and out of work since i can honestly say it was the worst thing i have ever done i hate it all rush rush rush.
Last time i was unemplyed i asked to retrain only to be told nothing was available apart from full time education which would lose me my jobseekers allowance and therefore my mortgage protection.
Just got another job on the spanners but i hate it and i dont start till next tuesday.

EssexMikeSi

iTrader: (3)

thats exactly what im experiencing. I would love to train to have a different career but i couldnt not earn money now really.

One regret i have is not learning a trade.I left college and just got non skilled jobs ever since. My current job pays ok considering i stil live at home but its not going to get me a house unless i rented and wouldnt have much money left, and theres no where to progress to in my job as its kind of place where no one leaves as people in positions higher than me earn a good wage.

Shings

Again,.. at the risk of being boring.

Left school - spent 7 years at Carphone - retail management, they re trained me as a vehicle install engineer.

I fucked that off almost 3 years to the day and went to uni.

I am now about to start the last year of my degree and start my apc (chartership) to become a chartered quantity surveyor. I also work in the M+E sector which is very lucrative.

Double my salary more or less in 3 years, bigger and better prospects and life is ok.. and that is much better than it was.

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

sad but true; i'm the same, i wish i had done a trade from school but i settled for jobs which didnt require any great skill

to be fair my job isnt that bad pay; but i know its probably the most i can earn in my field, and at 29 i think i've left it too late to retrain maybe?

although some people above seem to be retraining which make it more positive for me

Matt

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

so how did you go about this? study part time?
dont you have to be very good at maths for this?

CossieRob

I'm just in the process of retraining as a domestic plumber, should be all done by November, then out on my own (with some guidence of two very experienced plumber friends!) then once my NVQ2 has been gained and i've got about 6 months under my belt i aim to do Gas and solar/renewable energy. So far i absolutely love the training and am one of the top of my class in both practical and theory. I know experienced tradesmen criticise fast tracking, but at 31 no-one is willing to take me on as an apprentice. tbh when you pay out of your own pocket to retrain you'll find everyone wants to be there so it's an excellent learing enviroment, and compared to the apprentices my mates have taken on most of us have a plan and know where we want to be in the next year or two! oh yeah and still geting used to the whole class turning up, sat down, books out, ready and waiting before the tutor turns up (and he's always on time) want to get our moneys worth!

Only do it if you can afford it though - i cleared all my debt a year ago, then recently work dried up so moved back to my mums for a bit (free lodgings) and used savings to pay for the course. I'm lucky i managed to get my monthly out goings down to £120 a month including petrol! but then again i rarely go out at the mo and am just focused on my goal, which hopefully will pay off in the long run !!!

Shings

You need to find a course that will take you as a mature student or a student with no grades, assuming you have none.

Its not difficult.

The degree (try and get on RICS accredited) will take 5years part time @ 1day a week and 3 years full time @ 2.5 daysa week.

With no construction experience, but a very practical and capable mind I did the first year full time to get me through the door of the interview and got employed on day release. 3 years ago this was easy to achieve, although more difficult at the mo due to construction industry issues.

Good QS's are hard to find, even within the QS world- my company struggle and they have some experienced people who have worked with a lot of guys who they wouldn't recommened. I come up against loads who are useless - which makes my job easier.

Yes some maths are envolved but to be a good QS you really need to understand commercial and contract law. You need to be good at negotiation and know when to say yes or no, you need to know when to lie through your teeth and when to lay your cards on the table.

You also need to be able to understand technical drawings - but thats something you pick up depending on what field you go into.

ronf42

iTrader: (2)

RobL

It costs around £1200 for the distance learning course I am on, but my work is paying for that.
Keep on trying and smething will come up

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

Interesting

good on ya fella

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

bump;

any updates on the people who were retraining? be interested in finding out where everyone is at

CossieRob

I got my city and guilds in October as i flew through my course and finished a week before the others, something clicked and it all fell into place, really enjoyed the course.

Now i'm working with one of my best mates and also completed a BPEC in unvented cylinders in Dec. When i started out with my mate it was a real eye opener!! so different to the course and it really helped having someone telling what went where, but now my opinion on jobs is listened to and have learnt a hell of a lot more than at college. Every day some new situation arises and compared to my previous jobs it's never a chore to get up in the morning or to work late!!

Now have a couple of my own Jobs lined up and now do the maintinence contract for my girlfriends old man who has quite a bit of property in London and is currently building some luxury houses. I now wish i'd done this years ago rather than have a full time and part time job and scraping by!

Go for it - lifes too short to spend it working in an unrewarding chore of a job!

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

To give you more hope....

My story has now lead me to Africa where i'm moving along in the world within my company

Stick in mate and good luck

Dangerous Malcolm..

Very interesting read this because I'm desperate to retrain or find a job with better prospects. Heck, I'd even settle for just job satisfaction!!

Drunken Master

Out of interest what qualifications did you have before applying and did you just post and application or did you need to meet etc before hand.

Thanks

Shings

I actually have no qualifications apart from my GCSES - I'm 29 and left my A levels as I couldn't be ass'd.

Everything else I have done or do is either self taught OR trained on the job and I have gone on to become better at it those things through experience.

Basically I was poached from CPW to work for another mobile phone company who offered the world and gave me fuck all - I literally woke up one morning and thought fuck this... I'd been looking at being a QS for a while.

I searched local uni's and found both Cov and UCE (now BCU) take mature students with no relevant experience or qualifications.

I rang up UCE on the 29th of August and was invited to an interview. ( I was 25 at this point )
Interview was on the 4th which consisted of making sure I wasn't some spotty idiot with no life experience. Took 10 mins tops - was told to go and get funding and come back on the 18th for Enrollment. I quit my job that afternoon.

The problem you have at the moment is quite considerable.

Firstly - the economic down turn will make university places more heavily competed for this year - hence the UCAS points requirements (just look at the funding fiasco for student loans who couldn't cope with this years applications) - I don't know anything about UCES though sorry (ref your pm) But as for applying through UCAS - unless you're 18/19 I wouldn't bother takes too long - just ring the uni direct and apply to a course that takes mature students.

Secondly - Do you / Can you do it full time or part time... you obviously need some money to support yourself - the quicker you can get part of the course under your belt you will become more attractive to an employer... I did my first year full time - fully intending to go part time on day release for the remainder.

Thirdly - there aint no jobs.... Its bad out there for QS's - loads in my class at uni got made redundant and couldn't find work. Having said that now is a good time to get into it if you can - as you're gaining experience/part of your course the construction industry will be coming out of recession and the trainee/graduate opportunities will become greater.


If I can help any more let me know.

Jake

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

well im actually doing the degree i was planning. in theory everythings in progress but if we are brutally honest, the job market is getting worse not better and it is likely only going to be in "recovery" to a new lower "normal" economic level this country is going to have post recession.

so its going to be even harder for graduates to find work comensurate with thier qualification as all the graduates from the recession still need to find work as well as new graduates, so its important to stand out. at the moment im doing lots of volunteer work in sector but even thats not likely to count for much so im going to have to do some evening/distance courses in year 2/3 to ensure ive got the quals to mean i can walk into a job fully qualified. a lot of graduates still need a lot of training to meet thier potential and companys just dont want to spend money on it!

On a side note does anyone here actually know (and i mean people who know not speculate) how long does it take out of work (or out of work relevant to degree) for the degree to become useless for the subject it was in? Ie for example say you got a degree in psychol or mech engineering but due to recession ended up in supermarkets for a couple of years, how long would it be before effectively in this country that for applying to psych or engineering jobs you might as well rip up the degree as they wont recognise it for being too old?

Shings

Warren.

Depends what its in.

In QS/Construction it doesn't seem to make much difference- only laws and regulations change.

Medicine is different though.

Depends on your field.

Toe Knee

iTrader: (2)

Well i left school training to me a mechanic, due to health problems i couldnt complete the 2nd year and ended up working in a supermarket full time. I worked my way up from saturday assistant to supervisor within a year! Then got moved to a bigger store as duty manager/grocery manager and was there about 3yrs till i had a car crash and ended up being signed off work cos they treated me like shit after. Was off work a few years the retrained as a paint sprayer on an intensive course. Luckly for me my tutor knew someone who was in HR at McLaren Automotive and got me 2 weeks work experiance and they took me on full time after that. Been there 5yrs in april.............jesus 5yrs

Was good up untill this year as althou its all good with the new car and new factory their building etc unfortunatly its going the same way as aston martin/rolls royce etc and will turn into a full on mass production line which isnt as skilled as what we have been doing with the SLRs the last 5yrs or so But hey ho its a job, and not many people get to meet people like lewis, ron dennis, whitmarsh etc at their work place

Drunken Master

Basically, I'm 24 and work in the building trade already. Got quite good GSCE results but have only got 2 A-levels at C grade which isn't exactly great. Was planning on doing a degree in Architecture and was planning to spend another year to bring my A-levels up to grade. But got a job in the summer and basically 6 years later I'm still here.

Since work has started to take a bit of down turn I thought it might be a good route to take. Was looking at part time although 5 years does sound pretty off putting but 1 day a week doesn't exactly sound stressful and it would allow me to hopefully fund most of the course and still live.

If I did take it on full time which quotes 2.5 days a week on the website I would probably still have to work to a certain extent. I'm just worried I would end up getting buried under and I'm aware although you may only spend 2.5 days at uni you would still have to put alot of time in at home.

Thanks for all the advice though as I will contact my local university and find out my options as you said I'm probably going about it in the wrong way going through UCAS and I have too many commitments where I live to move to a different town if I'm honest.

Any advice you could give would be appreciated.

Thanks

Shings

Stay away from Architecture.

You do an Architectural Technician degree for 3 years and then the Final Architects bit is another 4 I believe... AT's dont earn a shit load to be honest.

With back ground in building trade I'd say you have a good foot in the door anyways, have you talked with your employers?

To give you an idea - although I think the course structures have changed now - in my first year.

Semester 1 - 2.5 days a week. 11 Weeks. 5 Subjects. 13 Pieces of coursework and 4 exams.

Semester 2 - 2 days a week 11 weeks 5 subjects, 9 pieces of coursework and 3 exams.

I also worked my ass off for the rest of the week to pay for it all.

Gotta be honest Warren unless you're prepared to work fuckin hard to change your career I wouldn't bother - a half hearted attempt wont get the results.

Drunken Master

Basically I work for someone who mainly renovates properties so don’t really work on big sites so it's not going to work hugely in my advantage.

How are you finding working and doing a full time course at the same time? Are you working weekend/evenings?

Thanks for the advice.

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

i dont have a choice!

sadly theres only one royal navy in this country and i cant imagine many foriegn navys taking me on as a comissioned officer considering i got med discharged here

H7 CYA

iTrader: (3)

Im 22 and left school with good GCSE results but jumped straight into a job that at the time was thriving and was exceptionaly good money for my age etc. Been doing it for 6 years for three different companys although have been made redundant twice. The most recently being in early december last year.So thats it im looking for a complete different path Re-training, i know the economic climate isnt great at the moment but i no longer want a dead end job that gets me by. I want to do something i enjoy. I have a flat to pay for so its a little difficult as i need a steady income.This thread is very interesting and i will update if or when something arises.Regards.