Looks like it’s my turn. I am on notice to be made redundant at the end of the month.

I’m not upset though. I was getting pretty bored of the job and after ten years’ service with the company although the payoff won’t be huge it’ll be useful. Enough to keep me afloat six or nine months before I need a job. So that’s a nice buffer. No need for any Facebook-esque “omg u ok hun xxx” comments !

So what shall I do ? I don’t really fancy being a Cost Engineer any longer. Anyone got any inspiring tales of reinventing themselves and being all the better for it ? The only thing that I think I’d actually enjoy is being a bike mechanic but it’s 20 years since I worked in a shop and I suspect it’s firmly minimum wage territory. It might be fun for a bit but I couldn’t do that long term.

Otherwise I’m a bit of an Excel geek, very logical and a bit particular, but ultimately found I cared more about my spreadsheet than what the spreadsheet meant. The project is £50k overspent this month ? Meh, not my fault. Spreadsheet total is a penny off ? I’ll spend the afternoon finding out why.

I need a job where I actually care about the outcome.

FWIW I have a wife & a young child, so pi$$ing off and spending the rest of the year on a solo world tour of awesome riding locations is sadly not an option 🙁

I’m currently on gardening leave and spending my time catching up with jobs on the cars, doing DIY around the house, and cooking. It’s all very pleasant tbh, this must be what it’s like to be retired !

Can you contract? give yourself some breathing space and flexibility.

Best thing that ever happened to me tbh. I don’t know about inspiring tales of reinventing, I did a career change almost by mistake which I suppose career wise isn’t really taking off right now in terms of money etc but has still been totally worth it- I do a job I enjoy and that I’m proud of with people I like, what are the odds, after 10 years in a bank being treated like shit by ****…

Been on some short-term contracts since redundancy last June, which paid more than my job did and were much more interesting. Still thinking about the career I’d like to have whilst freelancing, taking bits and bobs etc and generally feeling uneasy about our bank account. Moving house doesn’t help. 😯

I’ll be watching this thread for the inspirational tales you’re after. I could do with some myself!

OMG. You ok hon? Xxx

Best wishes Xxx

Well first off best of luck.

I’ve been through the ringer a couple of times and am currently contracting which did give me some room to breathe and also smooth the CV over a bit as I went from redundant to starting a new job and quitting in two months cos the MD was a $%$^.

Enjoy the time off – spend it well.

Try writing down your goals/expectations – like a roadmap might give you some perspective.

Freelancing is a great stopgap and you might find you like the freedom a lot more than working for the man. If you have some breathing space financially it might be worth giving it a go just to see how much work is out there or if there is a gap you can fill. From your first post it sounds like you would very much enjoy building a website to sell your services.

Excel spreadsheets eh? How about accounting as that sounds right up your alley? You could do your level 2 AAT in that sort of time frame (one night per week plus exams) and then get a job, a lot of places will then sponsor you to go further (some will even sponsor you through your level 2). My missus, who has a similar excitement for excel, just finished hers through Kaplan and there is plenty of full time work out there plus part time if that’s what you fancy.

I do a similar type role to you, estimating not cost engineering though, in general construction previously now for a consultancy firm and the change of scene has made the job much more interesting. I’m also in a contract position not staff and that little bit of freedom makes all the difference in my eyes to the extent that I would not consider a staff job anymore.

So I would keep an eye out and seriously consider short term contracts to keep some money coming in whilst you decide what you are going to do.

There is a surprisingly large amount of contract work (well rewarded too) for someone who knows his way around Excel with a bit of VBA thrown in – a programmer friend of mine has filled gaps in other employment like this for years (he prefers to be doing other stuff – but if you enjoy it and are good at it why not?) – I’m asked for resource by the business for this quite often.

I’m ACCA part-qualified, I spent years going to evening classes and I got as far as taking my finals about ten years ago but failed them and just CBA to resit them in order to get a job I’d already decided I didn’t want ! So accountancy is out unfortunately. That was the bit in my original post about caring about what the spreadsheet means; I didn’t. I ended up as a Cost Engineer, which is essentially accounting in an engineering / project management world. Not much different tbh but nobody expects you to be qualified & chartered like they do in strict accountancy roles.

Yep, chances are I’ll end up contracting for a bit, doing the same old same old, and that’s a depressing outlook. I want to hear some uplifting stories.

project management

Outcome focussed and rewards those who are logical and disciplined in their thinking.

Start by reading this book…

I was in your shoes. (I was a QS – Cost engineer in construction). I jacked in Quantity Surveying, put on the Toe-Tectors & became the most useless General Foreman the world has ever known.

7 years later I was project managing large projects. I found that having a proper understanding of Cost and Value was really useful as a PM.

Would this be an option? You’re building on skills and experience you already have.

Nothing useful to add but I’ve been made redundant twice, and I don’t regret either event.

Other people find it harder of course.

Frankly, if they offered it to me today, I’d take it again.

perthmtb – I’m not fat, and strictly speaking redundancy isn’t the same as being fired. But two out of three ain’t bad, as Scott Ian’s FiL once said.

ourmaninthenorth, blurty – I can see where you’re coming from with the PM angle, but I’m not sure I’m the right kind of person for that, and 90% of the PMs I’ve known have been *very* stressed individuals. Although to be fair that’s been in a fairly narrow area of work (buildings).

brassneck – that sort of thing sounds more up my street. I do tinker with VBA and non-Excel people always seem impressed but I’d never consider myself a programmer by any stretch. I’ll look into it though.

I don’t really fancy being a Cost Engineer any longer.

You mean that once you did! God it’s going to be hard finding anything that won’t overexcite you isn’t it. 🙂

What about lion taming.
[video]https://youtu.be/yVpKxPM-ZN4[/video]

Scott Ian’s FiL

Every day’s a school day 🙂

90% of the PMs I’ve known have been *very* stressed individuals

Stress is an attitude of mind. “Busy” is more likely a better description. Every PM I know (I work in telecoms, so we have lots) always has a lot on. The key is learning how to manage issues arising (because they will) – largely that’s through not solving every problem oneself.

In the world of work, there’s day-to-day and there are projects. Day-to-day has a lot of constants to it, projects are a bit more all over the place.

I prefer projects, so accept there’s always lots of unknowns and constantly moving parts. But it’s still just problem solving.

Might be worth investing in some career coaching to help you understand more of what you’re looking for so you can make some better informed decisions on next steps.

I’m not fat, and strictly speaking redundancy isn’t the same as being fired.

Meh – semantics!

Definition of redundant: unnecessary; dispensable, disposable, unwanted; useless; superfluous; idle; needed like a hole in the head 😯

Think I’d rather be fired – at least it sounds a bit more dramatic!

Seriously tho, it’s quite an inspirational book, worth a read even if you’re in your thirties, slim, and er… superfluous 😉

Semantics perhaps ! But “fired” tends to carry connotations of having made a monumental ****-up and that’s not the case here ! I was seconded to a client site, client decided to do some serious cost cutting and got rid of a few hundred (yes – literally) contractors at the start of the year. There’s 10,000+ people on site and this is just the start. No suitable jobs back with my employer so here I am. My first day of proper unemployment since 1997 !

I read that book and found it a bit of an anti-climax tbh. Some nice anecdotes and child-rearing tips along the way but I was expecting some kind of clever resolution at the end where he gets out of the rat race and re-balances his life. Instead he takes a job absolutely identical to the last one and apart from not being an alcoholic any more and knowing his children a bit better nothing has really changed ? He’s still in a high pressure job, working long hours and travelling loads. That doesn’t match my aspirations right now.

Anyway. Does anyone want a bike mechanic in the Swinley-ish area ? 🙂

Yep ! I only found out recently, it’s a lovely bit of trivia.

You mean that once you did![/quote]
It’s all relative, my life to date has been a classic case of path of least resistance. GCSEs, A-Levels, a degree, a couple of jobs, professional qualifications, a couple more jobs. All of them on the basis that it’s what I’m expected to do rather than what I want to do. I’ve never had a burning desire to be a <insert occupation>. Take the piss if you like, but that’s how it is. So I’m taking this opportunity to try and break that cycle.

Honestly, people who instinctively know what they want to do in life don’t know how lucky they are. Example – my best mate is a teacher. From the age of about 14 he knew he wanted to teach. He has followed that path and has been very successful with it. He’ll be a deputy head in the next couple of years and then a Headmaster. He loves his job. He is very lucky.

I read that book and found it a bit of an anti-climax tbh

Yeah I agree it was a bit of a cop-out him basically returning to what he did before. But now he’s on his third book so I guess in the end he did escape the rat race and became a writer!

So I’m taking this opportunity to try and break that cycle.

I don’t offer this as advice because everyone has to make they own way, but…

When I was made ‘superfluous’ from the finance industry in my forties I had the same idea as many do to make my hobby into my job – if I do it anyway, why not get paid for it – right? I’d always been into boats so I joined a small company in the marine industry. Had a ball at first, loved every minute of it. But then the cr@p salary and being taken advantage of precisely because I did it for the love of it, and the nature of some of the people in the boat business spoilt it for me and I left. They say turning your hobby into your job will end one of two ways – you’ll be the happiest person alive, or you won’t enjoy your hobby anymore. Unfortunately for me I turned out to be the latter.

I’ve since gone back to Uni as a ‘mature’ student and retrained in a completely different field, moved country, and am now plugging away building up my new career in my new homeland. It’s not been easy starting at the bottom again at my age, but the work/life balance is far better and I’ve learned a lot about myself and had some wonderful experiences along the way.

I could go on, but all I’d say is take a break and clear your mind, work out what’s really important to you in your life, and make a realistic plan to achieve it. This may mean going back into what you did before but with your priorities clearer, or it may take you off in a totally new direction… Good luck!

My friend was a project manager at a large IT firm. Hated it so went to work in a bike shop, then bought the bike shop and is doing really well. Guess what all the IT stuff works really well and he knows how to manage customers expectations.

Brennan – that’s exactly the kind of story I wanted to hear ! I’ll ask you more about it next time I see you. I was out on the Chilterns ride last week, I would have mentioned it then if I’d known.

(Steve, the quiet chap on a black Stumpjumper)

Become a champion cyclist.

Go to med school?

Teach I.T?