I need a career change, serious-ish thread

[Stryker]

For 10 years now I've worked in I.T, in everything from support, to server admin, to development, to networks and comms and so on.  I do pretty well for myself but by God I'm bored!!

Did some reading today and was suprised to find I was one of a majority of the population who at some time of their life feel a strong drive to make a change..... so much so you can even find consultants who specialise in carrer change.

So

1) I'm an I.T speciallist.
2) I can't afford a gap in my earnings.
3) I'm 31 and want a change!
4) I need constant challanges and really need a environment that provides daily change!

Suggestions?

[Anonymous]

project management?

[Armitage]

I changed career at 31. I work in the Print (in prepress) from school and found myself bored with the same out routine. So I did some Microsoft exams and moved over to service and support. Still in the Print industry, so I didn't waste my 15 years of experience. but a complete change in job. I did take a drop in wage. lost about 15k a year. but it soon bounced back. now I have just started my own business. earning more money than my old job and a lot happier.
I think you have to ask yourself, what makes you happy. Have you got any hobbies that you can turn in to a career. Maybe working for yourself we make your old career  more interesting. as for not taking a drop in money. my experience is that the further you move away from you existing career the bigger the drop. anyway how much does an IT specialist earn

[Stryker]

armitage, I think IT has to be the easiest career to move into as its used to some extent in every line of work out there..... moving out I fear will be much harder.

I took a look at the technical crimes arm of the fuzz.... but got the impression I'd need experience of working as plod for that....  I'm not against that but west mids police are not recruiting......

[sheepy]

Im doing somthing similar at the moment as well.
 
Im bored, but that has more do with being **** on in my job.
 
Im looking for jobs traveling at the moment, spend a couple of months traveling around posibly. at the moment im trying to get out to the ski slopes for a bit.
 
When ive finshed with that then I will probably be looking in to actually getting a career, no idea what I want to do tho.
 
At the moment im thinking of going in to polotics, do begger all and get paid a sh!t load.

[Armitage]

not sure politicians earn that much. not unless you count the brown envelopes:g:
 
A guy I used to work with joined the met in Jan. pay is not the great. Out of London starts around 24k. 29k in London,  Hours are crap, a real marriage wrecker and you have to be a bobby for 2 years before you can specialise (met anyway).
 
What about sales. good money, freedom to do what you want (as long as you hit your targets )

[Blunt]

I would've recommended the fire service...until Prescott wrecked it:sad:

come to think of it, if you didn't know what it was like before, you wouldn't know any different.

It helps if you are a female or from an ethnic minority though...I've seen you so I know you're not...

they like gayers too, so maybe you do stand a chance:narnar:

best of luck:thumbsup2:

[Le Rouge]

So
 
1) I'm an I.T speciallist.
2) I can't afford a gap in my earnings.
3) I'm 31 and want a change!
4) I need constant challanges and really need a environment that provides daily change!
Suggestions?

Have you bought CS:S already? Haven't seen you on :-)
 
But seriously, I think the best suggestion was to go and for indepedently. I ledt my previous (very prestiougs) firm and started a new one with a friend and we are very happy. Some months we earn more and some less, but everything is more interesting when you are diong it personaly for the client and not because your boss sent you to do it.
 
A friend of mine has a same career as yours. He was an instructor, now he works for a company that supply net services for many clients so the work is diverse and he travles a lot in the country. Anyhow, he got an offer from one of the clients to work inhouse. These alone are three different points of view - for the same career...

[Penfold]

Certainly joining the Police and doing the technical side would be interesting, but as Armitage says you'll need to work as a PC for a minimum of two years - and a friend of mine says that actually it's more like 5 years realistically.

How about an intelligence analyst for MI5 for similar. ?
https://www.mi5careers.gov.uk/

They have loads of job vacancies in various fields
eg

IT: https://www.mi5careers.gov.uk/job.aspx?jobid=48
Network specialist:  https://www.mi5careers.gov.uk/job.aspx?jobid=20

You're not going to earn a fortune but it'd be different....

PEN

[Armitage]

bizarrely another guy has just left my old place (not many left now and now works for GCHQ in the IT sector. looks like he will be doing some interesting stuff. but the office is in Cheltenham.

[Stryker]

I've worked in cheltenham before.  Its a 60 mile commute each way.  As far as money goes I'm happy so long as I can live on what I'm paid.... I think its more important to enjoy what you do.

Gay female fireman sounds interesting blunt, but you never said if that meant I'd be giving it or taking it..... makes a big difference to me, only one I think I could live with :roflmao:

[sheepy]

What about sales. good money, freedom to do what you want (as long as you hit your targets )

Do you know any sales jobs like this?
If you do can u hook me up? Im a salesman, fully trained and experenced in technical sales, Ive never been able to do what I want.
 
The only people that get to do what they want are R&D / research.

[Benny]

I think everyone who does IT wants out after 10 years. It gets stale, there are a million propellor heads being turned out of university that aren't jaded by corporate stifles (What a great word).

I'm in the same boat, got bored with hands on tech and the management side of that, moved away and am now ....deep breath.... a manager. The worst kind, middle management, but it's a means to an end. It should open some more doors.

Ideally I'd be off doing what the rest of the world wants to do, property development, but I'm in a wage trap, 4 kids and an expensive mortgage...so for now here I am.

Good luck chief, I genuinely feel for you. I think you either need to make a huge jump, or suck it up and get on with it. Your kids ((if I remember correctly) are young enough to move without too much upheaval, so maybe now is the time.

I'll go back to watching 'Place in the Sun' and 'Grand Designs' and getting annoyed with the  cowboy bastichs that appear to be involved in every aspect of the building /  labour type roles, then I'll dream of how I could do better.  I'm heading home tonight to tile my kitchen floor. Rock and indeed, roll.

Can't be arsed to spellcheck the above.

Sheepy, you are young enough with few enough ties - again  unless I'm wrong - get out there and live some. Local sales jobs are crap, think big.

[suicidal_monkey]

The only people that get to do what they want are R&D / research.

...only if you can persuade someone to fund it!

...on that note if anyone knows of any R&D type positions suited to an almost-finished electronics PhD who is in need of a job I'm looking for something like that at the moment within an hour or so of Kings Cross. Wireless/audio/video/etc. So hard to think of good companies as many of them aren't in the mainstream jobsearches and don't advertise jobs much beyond circles of contacts...

Best I've found so far is out nearish Heathrow but the commute to the interview took almost 2 hours...:doh:

[Penfold]

Hard going from DINK'ers  SITCOM'ers innit?

i.e.

Dual Income No Kids
to
Single Income Two Children Oppressive Mortgage

:doh:

PEN