Totally agree with the OP - I have 16 years in the ad industry and was made redundant a year ago. Worked in a couple of agencies since then, but the current one bores me to tears. I feel like as a senior figure I am getting nudged out due to age, and I would love to do something different. Issue is with a stay at home mum and two kids to support I just dont have the financial flex
For someone with a head full of dreams, pocket full of fears and a proverbial jockstrap lacking cahones, this thread is a fascinating (and somewhat envious) read
After 40 odd years in The City and then suffering a very bad stroke I didn't think i would work again. Luckily I too have a wife in a great job and we are reasonably secure but I needed to do something. I was lucky that someone asked me to help him and I haven't looked back. I enjoy what I'm doing, it is fun, its completely different and I'm learning new things all the time. I think I'm adding value not just in the business but to the future of families. The main upsides though it is keeping me mentally fit and all those around me tell me I am rejuvenated by having something to work for. If only they'd pay me!!! So the main bit of advice to definitely do something and the other is take your time and talk to people as you will be surprised at how many people need your help.
Couldn't agree more.
Surprising how many idiots we probably all come across on a daily basis and yet we feel we are tied to what we are currently doing and couldn't possibly change. The skills you have may not always seem much but might be just what the next person actually needs
As someone who has done the career change thing I am all for it. Financially we took a hit when I did (my first take home pay was less than I used to lose in tax in my previous job). You will be amazed where you can make savings on things like food shopping, tv subscriptions, holidays etc. This needs the rest of your household to buy in to your desire for something new.
How you decide what to do is less easy. I guess talking to as many people as you can. Think about what interests you. What news stories you read may be a useful guide as to what you may like to do. Don’t underestimate the skills you have acquired in your current career as you will be able to make use of many regardless of what you choose to do.
All very interesting comments above, some seem positive some seem negative - but at least most have taken that huge decision to break out of the shackles of what seemed to be a boring/aimless/uninteresting 'career' to try to break into something that would provide them with a happier life and possibly lifestyle. I commend you all.
My situation is, as per the other thread, that i have decided this is my last year in doing what i do, high pressured IT Contract work, stress like you cannot believe, and attempt to be with my children in South Africa permanently. No longer can i hold off the 1) age element 2) constant need to learn 3) young guys coming out of Uni WITH the desire and 4) Cheap Indian imports. So, purely by a chance meeting with a German guy in a pub in Luxembourg in the middle of last year, we are going to set up a subsidiary company in Cape Town selling the products his company makes in Germany - totally and utterly different sector, in a sector i know knew nothing about. Am currently going through the analysis and research and feasibilty to see if there is a market in CT and further afield, and looking to start in earnest mid to end 2019. I am hoping to have enough money by that time to keep me going for a year to see if i can make it work. My view is , if i dont try, then i will never know .Even if it fails, i am hoping to have made enough contacts to enable me to branch off on other related products. Really excited about this, as essentially i will be my own boss, working from home, and looking after the whole of Africa !
For someone with a head full of dreams, pocket full of fears and a proverbial jockstrap lacking cahones, this thread is a fascinating (and somewhat envious) read
Gambling with your future when you've got younguns is probably not a good idea but i've always admired those families that buy a yacht and sail round the world for a few years.
Just persuaded my missus to hand in her resignation and go self-employed, she’s been shitting herself about it but today her phone has been ringing non-stop with people offering her contracts
If the finincial side isn’t a worry for you, just find something you love doing! Whatever that may be.
I’m the same age as the OP, I think about this on a regular basis, I enjoy 70% of my job but the other 30% does grind you down after a while, it certainly feels as the years tick by ‘I’m to old for this’. I’ve probably got another 5 years and I’ll jack it in, if they don’t jack me in first!
Then I’ll be doing the same, but god knows what to be honest, probably something a few days a week and the rest volunteering at one or two charities.
For someone with a head full of dreams, pocket full of fears and a proverbial jockstrap lacking cahones, this thread is a fascinating (and somewhat envious) read
Same here. Have never had a clue what I fancied doing for work and now I have a few ideas I've got a mortgage and you get kids and couldn't afford to retrain.
Best of luck KA, hope you find something you are passionate about and love doing!
I'm 44 now, been commuting to the City since I left school at 17 and spent the last 25 years in insurance. Absolutely hate travelling into London each day, but have a good/flexible job, nice salary and comfortable life at home which lets my wife work PT 2 days a week and look after our kids.
Would absolutely love to do something different that didn't involve getting a train every day and be more local (I have no idea what though) but it's the financial side that prevents me and I reckon I'm stuck here for another 20 odd years......unless that lottery win comes about !
Don't knock it mate, had a great job at 40, been with the company for 20 years, quit to buy my local pub - biggest mistake ever - luckily out the other side now, time again ? - plod on
I went from being a successful highly paid IT contractor of 27 years to nervous breakdown to separation to loss of my beautiful home to therapy and a couple of brushes with the notion of bye bye planet earth to teacher training whilst volunteering in the mental health sector to working for a charity educating "naughty" kids locally in Chatham on a pittance...
I went from being a successful highly paid IT contractor of 27 years to nervous breakdown to seperation to loss of my beautiful home to therupy and a couple of brushes with notion of bye bye planet earth to teacher training whilst volunteering in the mental health sector to working for a charity educating "naughty" kids locally in Chatham on a pittance...
And do i miss three grand a week in the City?
Of course i do, i am not a div you know!
Soapy, can understand exactly where you are coming from. Cant understand your username though !
Totally agree with the OP - I have 16 years in the ad industry and was made redundant a year ago. Worked in a couple of agencies since then, but the current one bores me to tears. I feel like as a senior figure I am getting nudged out due to age, and I would love to do something different. Issue is with a stay at home mum and two kids to support I just dont have the financial flex
Spent 20+ years working for ad agencies and 3 years ago aged 46 after a serious illness and 4 months off work went back in and thought feck this, ageism is an issue in the industry and I was made to feel a bit past it when I returned. Anyway I quit and started my own graphic design business from home. It has its challenges, finding regular work, getting people to pay you and sometimes a lack of interaction with colleagues. But the freedom it gives me to have dinner with my kids, go watch my son play rugby etc is worth it. I used to work ridiculous hours before. I'm lucky that I have a skill that I can get paid for on this basis and technology has made it easier to work for anyone anywhere in the world. I've also used Reach Volunteering that someone mentioned and do regular work for Make-A-Wish that I found on there.
I've known a couple of people who have made shedloads from digital printing, one has a room full of large format inkjets that are going all day and the other did those digtial prints onto canvasses etc of your photos. Not sure what I'd do with a total blank sheet of paper though, what about franchises? Good luck with whatever you decide.
I went from being a successful highly paid IT contractor of 27 years to nervous breakdown to seperation to loss of my beautiful home to therupy and a couple of brushes with notion of bye bye planet earth to teacher training whilst volunteering in the mental health sector to working for a charity educating "naughty" kids locally in Chatham on a pittance...
And do i miss three grand a week in the City?
Of course i do, i am not a div you know!
Soapy, can understand exactly where you are coming from. Cant understand your username though !
Was "Derekhales" on the old board. There were few of them, go figure! I took a straw poll at the time and somehow... Steve Jones' nickname was soapy.
I gave up my City job 5 years ago last week after 27 years in the Money Markets and 30 in banking as a whole. I was only 6 months in to a five year very lucrative contract but it suited me and my company to go. I’d signed the deal 2 1/2 years earlier when my market was buoyant everyone was doing well. It had got to the stage where I was doing nothing all day. Absolutely nothing and however much you are being paid you cannot carry on like that. I had an epiphany in May 2013 and the timing was perfect. 30 years of commuting had also taken it's toll. Ironically the next 3 years rail travel from SE London to the City were the worst on record due to the massive overhaul of London Bridge Station. Everything of course is now sweet on South Eastern Railways! You poor sods. So I took the plunge at 48 and did my own thing. My wife thought I was crazy but I won her round. We’ve just had our 5th Christmas at The Long Pond and I wouldn’t change a thing.
I left uni with a masters in engineering and went straight into structural engineering as that was the job that was expected from the degree rather than actually thinking about what I would enjoy.
2 years later I'm in the process of changing role towards something I'm really interested in and that would give me more flexibility between industries in the future. Currently applying for a part time (even MSc which I'm really excited about.
I know I don't have the responsibilities that many do but I can understand what feeling trapped in a career is like and good on everyone trying to change that.
I've got nothing but admiration for anyone who has an epiphany and goes off on their own path and makes a success of it
I've got a couple of ideas in my head that hold the potential to make me pretty wealthy but it isn't just the idea is it, the reality of making a massive leap from a decent job, allbeit one that pisses me off to something that could end up losing me everything. Nah, I've got a strong work ethic but gambling without the capital neither of my ideas can happen.
Right now is a bad time for anyone looking to walk away from something secure because of all the jiteerbugs over the UK leaving the EU.
Besides that, I'm a dreamer. My business is awesome when I dream about it every night!
I left uni with a masters in engineering and went straight into structural engineering as that was the job that was expected from the degree rather than actually thinking about what I would enjoy.
2 years later I'm in the process of changing role towards something I'm really interested in and that would give me more flexibility between industries in the future. Currently applying for a part time (even MSc which I'm really excited about.
I know I don't have the responsibilities that many do but I can understand what feeling trapped in a career is like and good on everyone trying to change that.
It’s a lot easier to do up North though isn’t it with the cheaper prices.
About 2 years ago I got approached to be moderator on here and I gave up my job as soon as I’d finished messaging AFKA back saying I’d accept the role. I couldn’t be happier. I’ve no income, my only social interaction is with a group of people I’m unlikely to meet in person and I survive on a diet of crab sticks.
A huge thank-you to everyone that has taken the time to respond to my original thread.
It really is extraordinary that so many strangers would take time out of their lives to share their story with someone that they have never met - such openness and kindness is really wonderful to receive.
I suppose the key message is to to take the time to really find out what you would love to do, be totally committed to it, but also be prepared that it may take trying out a few things before you hit the jackpot!
Just to confirm that I wasn't suggesting that teaching is an easy, or soft option, more that I know quite a few people that have taken that route, and haven't always found happiness, in what can obviously be a very difficult profession.
Good luck to all of those that are going through something similar to myself, at the moment I have had my in-laws over from the UK for a month, and have another month to go, so if any of you have a business idea for getting in-laws to fuck off home, then I would be a grateful first customer!
Comments
Surprising how many idiots we probably all come across on a daily basis and yet we feel we are tied to what we are currently doing and couldn't possibly change. The skills you have may not always seem much but might be just what the next person actually needs
How you decide what to do is less easy. I guess talking to as many people as you can. Think about what interests you. What news stories you read may be a useful guide as to what you may like to do. Don’t underestimate the skills you have acquired in your current career as you will be able to make use of many regardless of what you choose to do.
Whatever you decide, good luck.
My situation is, as per the other thread, that i have decided this is my last year in doing what i do, high pressured IT Contract work, stress like you cannot believe, and attempt to be with my children in South Africa permanently. No longer can i hold off the 1) age element 2) constant need to learn 3) young guys coming out of Uni WITH the desire and 4) Cheap Indian imports.
So, purely by a chance meeting with a German guy in a pub in Luxembourg in the middle of last year, we are going to set up a subsidiary company in Cape Town selling the products his company makes in Germany - totally and utterly different sector, in a sector i
knowknew nothing about. Am currently going through the analysis and research and feasibilty to see if there is a market in CT and further afield, and looking to start in earnest mid to end 2019. I am hoping to have enough money by that time to keep me going for a year to see if i can make it work. My view is , if i dont try, then i will never know .Even if it fails, i am hoping to have made enough contacts to enable me to branch off on other related products.Really excited about this, as essentially i will be my own boss, working from home, and looking after the whole of Africa !
If the finincial side isn’t a worry for you, just find something you love doing! Whatever that may be.
Then I’ll be doing the same, but god knows what to be honest, probably something a few days a week and the rest volunteering at one or two charities.
Best of luck KA, hope you find something you are passionate about and love doing!
And do i miss three grand a week in the City?
Of course i do, i am not a div you know!
I've known a couple of people who have made shedloads from digital printing, one has a room full of large format inkjets that are going all day and the other did those digtial prints onto canvasses etc of your photos. Not sure what I'd do with a total blank sheet of paper though, what about franchises? Good luck with whatever you decide.
Maybe do a voluntary job somewhere.
Learn as you go.
Do you like science?
Natural history museum perhaps? If so.
Then gradually build it up and get paid to work.
I'm heavily considering and enquiring working at the caves in Chatham. Fort Amherst.
Looks great.
2 years later I'm in the process of changing role towards something I'm really interested in and that would give me more flexibility between industries in the future. Currently applying for a part time (even MSc which I'm really excited about.
I know I don't have the responsibilities that many do but I can understand what feeling trapped in a career is like and good on everyone trying to change that.
I've got a couple of ideas in my head that hold the potential to make me pretty wealthy but it isn't just the idea is it, the reality of making a massive leap from a decent job, allbeit one that pisses me off to something that could end up losing me everything. Nah, I've got a strong work ethic but gambling without the capital neither of my ideas can happen.
Right now is a bad time for anyone looking to walk away from something secure because of all the jiteerbugs over the UK leaving the EU.
Besides that, I'm a dreamer. My business is awesome when I dream about it every night!
If I had my time again I wouldn’t change a thing
It really is extraordinary that so many strangers would take time out of their lives to share their story with someone that they have never met - such openness and kindness is really wonderful to receive.
I suppose the key message is to to take the time to really find out what you would love to do, be totally committed to it, but also be prepared that it may take trying out a few things before you hit the jackpot!
Just to confirm that I wasn't suggesting that teaching is an easy, or soft option, more that I know quite a few people that have taken that route, and haven't always found happiness, in what can obviously be a very difficult profession.
Good luck to all of those that are going through something similar to myself, at the moment I have had my in-laws over from the UK for a month, and have another month to go, so if any of you have a business idea for getting in-laws to fuck off home, then I would be a grateful first customer!