[Closed] Career Change....what do you do for a living?? (me content)

i work in sales and i hate it.
but i reckon most people hate their job after doing it for a long time.

chin up...... 😀

What I actually do and what I actually want to do are two very different things.

I keep doing what I'm doing to pay the bills.

One day, when I figure out how, I'll be doing what I actually want to be doing...

Until then I just sup it up.

Back on the rock'n'roll currently.

Pay's not great, but it does allow you plenty of time to ride your bike.

Surprisingly more rewarding than a couple of my previous jobs too, now I've had the chance to get used to it, I'm beginning to consider staying on as a long term career choice!

😉

I used to work in sales and left before I had a complete meltdown. I hated it with a passion in the end.

I'm now 'in between jobs' and contemplating working in the care sector.

after a year of not being able to work I'm coding, been at it a month, hate it, less the job (which I'm ambivalent about) more the company, I had a bad feeling about this company and I was right.

I was an hgv driver for nearly twenty years, now a visiting community support worker, I had to retrain and start at the bottom in nursing homes for the required experience, and take a paycut, BUT and it's a big BUT, it's the best thing I ever did jobwise, I love it

I used to do defence stuff but now work in surgical equipment I distinct irony but far more gratifying.

Currently unemployed but for the past year worked in a media trading division of an accountancy firm, had loads of freedom and was near enough self employed. It was great but low paid and not enough work coming in so was pretty boring at times. I don't think I could hack a "normal" job, working with video, photography, graphics etc is way too much fun and can just about earn enough on to get by!

Worked in sales with idiot bosses, got out and taught English for a few years while dabbling in some small businesses, returned to the UK to start my own business back in a similar sector to my previous sales job. It's a little starnge, but I love it so far.

Used to be a buyer for IBM, had a revelation left and trained as a tree surgeon... cant even believe I used to sit in an office...

Have a good holiday and re think has Winter is on its way and draw up planes
and make your goals.
Unless its Winter season is where you want to start.

I have a brilliant job. Pay is OK, work with great people and get to use my very limited skills. Business Relationship Manager FWIW....and it's bloody ace.

Have a good holiday and re think has Winter is on its way and draw up planes
and make your goals.
Unless its Winter season is where you want to start.

I read posts like this and, rightly or wrongly, always want to give people a smack on the back of the legs.

It seems to be a peculiarly middle class problem, not having a fulfilling job...

The vast majority of the rest of the UK and an even larger proportion of the rest of the world just has a job, which is not fulfilling, not a joy to go to, not an exciting part of their lives, but it's what they have to do to get by, to put food on the table, to live.

If you don't like the job you do, change it, but don't agonise over it, don't try to look to work to be fulfilled, to complete you, just get on with it.

I apologise in advance if I sound harsh or a knob, but I see people everyday who have never had, and never will have anything like the choices that you have, and reading it on here makes me grumpy.

I used to be a sales rep, on the road every day and living out of Premier Inns. It was easy but I realised that I was spending some of the best time of my life sitting in a Mondeo. I resigned without anything to go to. I have now been a teaching assistant in my village primary school and I absolutely love it!

Don't waste your life doing something that you hate.

I apologise in advance if I sound harsh or a knob, but I see people everyday who have never had, and never will have anything like the choices that you have, and reading it on here makes me grumpy.

crikey, I agree mate. The number of people I share office space with who, when you ask how they are it's "not [i]too[/i] bad/stuck here/OK I suppose" etc

Here's a thought - **** off. Leave your 35 + bank days holiday, cushy environment and decent T&Cs and **** off down the road. I hate people that moan about [i]having[/i] a ****ing job. ****ing idiots.

It's the whole work to live not live to work thing isn't it. Considering how much time you spend at work, it would be a good idea to try and spend it doing something you like. I guess if you have responsibilities such as kids etc then it's a bit different but for me I can only do a job I dislike if I know it's only temporary.

...and if you've been through the British schooling system, had three children then your husband punches out all your front teeth on the night he runs away leaving you to bring them up by working 5, yes FIVE different jobs, you learn not to look to work to fulfil you.

...if you've been through the British schooling system but grew up in foster care, or a council care home, or had alcoholic parents, or ended up being the sole carer for your wheelchair bound mum, you learn that a job is what you do to earn money to survive.

...and so on.

These are not 'extreme' cases, they are just cases.

And that's where we'll never see eye to eye. Fortunately I've never seen these people who've come from these horrendous backgrounds do well for themselves, I guess we'll have to give up trying and keep the poor sods down.

crikey - Member
I read posts like this and, rightly or wrongly, always want to give people a smack on the back of the legs.

It seems to be a peculiarly middle class problem, not having a fulfilling job...

The vast majority of the rest of the UK and an even larger proportion of the rest of the world just has a job, which is not fulfilling, not a joy to go to, not an exciting part of their lives, but it's what they have to do to get by, to put food on the table, to live.

If you don't like the job you do, change it, but don't agonise over it, don't try to look to work to be fulfilled, to complete you, just get on with it.

I apologise in advance if I sound harsh or a knob, but I see people everyday who have never had, and never will have anything like the choices that you have, and reading it on here makes me grumpy.

People are just getting on with it that's the point. They are untitled still not to enjoy something and strive for something better. Are people not allowed to be unhappy if there is someone worse off than them?

Are you happy in every aspect of your life, never complain about anything?

crikey what is your point?

You've had and seen rough times and aren't interested in what you consider to be a middle class concern?

I'd suggest you **** off the thread, you're not helping anyone.

[i]you're not helping anyone[/i]

Neither are you.

But it is STW so all opinions are welcome.

I've worked in the Energy industry for the last 23 years and love it tbh. Changed roles every 2-3 years, which keeps it interesting mainly I&C / Commercial Analysis stuff. Now looking to future GB Energy Security position with growth in commercial renewable schemes etc.

There are some pretty extreme opinions on here about work and enjoyment Vs duty.

The way I see it, you spend so much of your adult life at work, or working, you may as well at least try to find something you enjoy doing rather than doing a job you hate.

Besides, life isn't just about existing, or providing surely? There must be some element of fulfilment and happiness in it surely? Either way, the happiest and most fulfilled people I know all have jobs that they love, and those that have jobs they hate are all pretty depressed on the whole. Read into that what you will, but I for one will not be rushing into a job I hate just to earn a few quid when I know that it directly contributes to my anxiety/depression/mental ill health etc...

🙄

I'm helping those that want to discuss the topic and not hear the whining of envy.

[i]There must be some element of fulfilment and happiness in it surely[/i]

No. Not surely, not at all surely. As I said above, the vast majority of the world works because they have to and do not have the luxury, and it is a luxury of being able to pick and choose what they do.

I also said this;

[i]If you don't like the job you do, change it, but don't agonise over it, don't try to look to work to be fulfilled, to complete you, just get on with it.[/i]

I've no problem with people changing jobs, but coming here and hand wringing about it strikes me as self indulgent.

[i]I'm helping those that want to discuss the topic and not hear the whining of envy[/i]

Whose envy?

I studied for a couple of years to get extra qualifications so i could apply for the job that i thought that i wanted to do. But its still the same crap every day, Management are complete tossers, penny pinching at every opportunity, whilst missing the bigger picture. Can't get the vehicles we work on fixed unless it's between 9-5 Mon to Fri. Staff get no support from managers, hauled over the coals if you have a certain amount of periods of sickness in a 12 month rolling period. They expect people to do courses in their own time, up to 2 weeks a year if you want to progress. I could go on... but i won't.
Now, a few years on, my old job doesn't look too bad after all, none of the sh*t i have to put up with now.
So think long and hard about a change, you might not like what you eventually get.
Oh...forgot to mention, i work for the ambulance service!

I just recently took a drastic bodyswerve out of finance- which was alright, mostly fairly interesting, but sadly seems to mean largely working for total cs. And into education (in a professional rather than academic role). It's not the best job in the world, much of the time it's pretty damn dull, but graduation days were *ing [i]awesome[/i]- I'm getting people into HE who otherwise wouldn't, so watching people pop out the other end put a smile on my face for days. Freshers week next week for some of the ones I've been working with which should be cool too... And so on.

The work I did before was productive and important but it wasn't the sort of thing that'd ever make you feel good- people missed it when it went wrong but they don't care when it works. And it does make a difference at the end of the day to be making such a difference for people.

If that's terribly middle class, I couldn't give a s*** frankly. I worked damn hard so as not to have to work for a minimum wage in a job I hate so you're damn right I'm going to make hay when I can. I didn't, for a long time, and now I can see that for the stupidity it was. You spend so much of your life at work, why be unhappy? Why work only for the weekend if you have a choice? There's legitimate reasons to do so but that's a choice not a sentence.

Maybe bitterness rather than envy.

I had a series of shite jobs til I was in my late 20s. Stuck in a rut and stuck in a shithole town in the north of England. So went to Uni and studied something I enjoyed. 6 years after I had a PhD and the beginning of a career I liked. I now live in a great place and enjoy my job. Be happy you have options and take some risks. Do something you enjoy.

I completely see where crikey is coming from. This middle-class angst didn't seem to affect our parents and grandparents and while we bemoan the fact that we are, as a nation, becoming more dependent upon the service industries, how many of us would gladly work down a coal mine or in a 1940s steelworks? For many folk, there's still no choice. A wage is a wage and work is a means of earning enough to feed ones family.

On the other hand, we will each spend a huge amount of or lives at work. There's nothing wrong with trying to make that as pleasant and stress-free as we can.

I like my job, pays not brilliant but work outdoors and got fairly decent T&C. Management are a bunch of cocks though, more interested in box ticking to get their PRP.

I work two days a week in a warehouse putting orders through the system. If I did it five days a week I would hate it but two days is great. I am skint big time but you live within your means and I get shite loads of time with my daughter and shite loads of time out on the bike. 😀
It won't last forever but I am planning to go back to school next year and get a few more qualifications behind me. What I will do with them is anyone's guess. I have absolutely no drive at all when it comes to a career. 😯

Ahhh...

It's not bitterness or envy, I have a job that I like and am good at, it takes a lot out of me physically and emotionally but I really, really like it. It pays OK too.

I'm trying to say what druidh alludes too; that choosing or having a job like mine is a luxury, a real 100% lottery winning luxury, and one denied to so many people.

I'm all for people trying to obtain it, I'm all for the folk who want to be happy and contented in their work, but just do it, don't come bemoaning the fact that your well paid job isn't making you happy when the rest of the world doesn't get the chance.

Maybe I'm not explaining it well, and therefore shall give over.

what if you're job is not well paid and makes you unhappy, they can we bemoan? 🙂 or 🙁 or something.

Thankfully we now live in an economy which allows one to change jobs if you have the get up and go to do so.

If you don't like your current role then explore other avenues.

I don't see what is wrong about wanting a role which you get some sense of fulfilment out of 😕

The thing for me is that I read these posts about once a week (don't think I'm exaggerating there...happy to be corrected) and I suspect that very few people actually bother their arses acting on the advice given. Which is why I don't bother telling my own (not particularly exciting) story anymore. I hate hearing people whinge when I think they're not going to make the change.

JFDI.

I use to work for my local council and use to tell people to **** off and find a different job it they don't like it. One day I caught myself bitching and moaning so I took my own advice and changed jobs 🙂

my attitude to work, rightly or wrongly, who gives a f*** what the work is, it is the people you work with that matter. What seems like the best job in the world will be hell if the people you work with are to**ers.

So yes look for a new job but always remember that work is but one part of the experience.

deadlydarcy - Member

The thing for me is that I read these posts about once a week (don't think I'm exaggerating there...happy to be corrected) and I suspect that very few people actually bother their arses acting on the advice given.

People ask for advice on stuff like this not because they want to be told what to do, but because they want to throw the decision they've already made up against some others and see what happens. 9 times out of 10, they then do what they were always going to do. The competing advice is just part of the rationalisation process. It's like tossing a coin to make a decision- as soon as the coin lands, you know one way or another what you actually wanted to do.

Either that or I just give rubbish advice 9 times out of 10.

My current role does not really stimulate me, but I get on well with my manager and other colleagues. My manager also says that I am performing well enough even though I feel that I am only working at 30% of my potential.

As much as I am frustrated I am happy because I can go into work and do my stuff and get paid enough to pay the mortgage and keep my family okay 🙂

I could do more and I have done more in the past, but I am waiting for the right opportunity to arise and then apply for that role and progress.

I have been in this game for long enough to realise it is a marathon not a sprint.

I've done interactive design and development for the last 12 years or so. Websites, cd roms , Rom cards, usb sticks and so on and now more social media stuff, Facebook apps, iPhone/ipad etc. All been in a sports based environment so have had the pleasure to work for ppl such as the rfu, ESPN and also sports sponsorship, e.g. HSBC's golf sponsorship, Wimbledon and the like. We are only a small company so benefits and pensions don't exist but every day has a new challenge and we have a right laugh in a laid back studio. Being based in Lexington means we are competitive against London agencies and our willingness to go the extra mile means we have strong relationships with our clients. Everyone has bad days but can honestly say I love my job 90 % of the time 🙂

Become a care assistant - among (many) other things, it might allow you the opportunity to work on Crikey's ward... 😀

Sorry, we don't have care assistants, more's the pity...

I'm feeling that I've come across all wrong, and I did say I would give over, but I'm not against anyone trying to have a fulfilling job. I just feel that the whole 'my job is really important and satisfying' thing is not available to so many people, so if you want to go for it, go for it, but appreciate that so many people never get the chance, so many people just work because they have to and never get the chance to think about a really good job.

I know what I'm trying to say but it's just not expressible... 🙁

I know what I'm trying to say but it's just not expressible

Don't worry - I know what you were getting at... not least that many, [i]many[/i] people don't have the luxury of deciding.

Care assistants: interesting - they've long been part of the critical care teams in the hospital I know best... mind you, the future clearly belongs to band 3/4s (aka the new SENs!). 8)

We've never had them on my ITU, but then again, we never even had a ward clerk; the nurses did everything, even some of the domestic stuff, and that historical legacy makes it really difficult to introduce them because every role is already done.

Anyway, I give up because I can't get across what I mean!

I hate my day job in a customer support role in a call centre, but have now gone part time so I can go to college to retrain.
I'm really close to jacking it in but as its the only regular wage at the moment with the wife also being a student, it's making things difficult, but the job is impacting in to my private life so I don't think I can stick it until the end of my course.

As a secondary job I work for a firework company and it's brilliant, but could I do it full time? I'm not sure it might take the fun and excitement away.

I think that both [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/career-changewhat-do-you-do-for-a-living-me-content#post-2917694 ]darrel[/url] and [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/career-changewhat-do-you-do-for-a-living-me-content#post-2917723 ]neilsonwheels[/url] would disagree that they didn't have a chance or choice. Exactly who are the people that don't have this same chance or make the same choice?

we never even had a ward clerk

Blimey...

I completely see what you are saying crikey.. anyone with a degree or qualifications has far more choice over what they do. Lots of people don't have that option, also having a partner to help take the strain if you chose to retrain, or family help etc, again some people just don't have that option and fulfilment in their vocation just doesn't come into it. At the end of the day the first and foremost is to keep a roof over your head and food on the table and we should sometimes take a moment to remember how lucky we are to sit moaning about job satisfaction on a forum, often on work time 🙂

Lots of people don't have that option

IT Manager here. 😉
Although I actually know IT so that probably makes me stand out a bit.
Moving more towards management now but I'm relishing the challenge and I'll always be getting my hands dirty. I'm particularly looking forwards to delegating all the long hours hard work to other people and taking the credit like half my previous bosses did. Pays OK too, I could earn a lot more in a different business but I quite like where I am now. Cycle commute 4-5 days a week, mostly my own boss, unfettered internet access.

So yep, I enjoy it.

What do you mean don Simon? it is neither insulting or patronising! 😯

I suspect I do the the same as petergriffin but I view the negatives he has mentioned as minor irritations. I've been in many jobs from sales through to management and running my own business. I'll never be rich but I wouldn't swap any of them for what I do now as the job satisfaction far greater.

Maxray, do you honestly believe that there are people in modern Britain who don't have the opportunity to free education and all that this offers them or that even if they don't take advantage of this opportunity that they can not enter further or higher education to further improve themselves? Of course there are chances and of course there are choices and to say that people don't have that option is quite frankly insulting.

What are you on?! :s lots of people are not academic, which limits their choices. Lots of people end up in life situations which forces their hand and they have to take a different path. You are trying to say that anyone could be a nuclear physicist? Frankly no. Was everyone in your class at school high achieves? Id wager some struggled in your year in school to get the qualifications they needed to have more choice in their line of work. It's not insulting, its just observing real life. Some people are good with their hands, others with their minds. Everyone is different. Tbh, suggesting anyone who hasn't got some high paid fulfilling job is because of their failure to obtain the right qualifications is pretty insulting! Go and have a word on your self.

. You are trying to say that anyone could be a nuclear physicist? Frankly no

Lots of people don't have that option

The only person removing the option of success in your life is YOU.

Computer stuff over here - I really enjoy it, as each day has a new problem to solve, and I am of an inquisitive nature.

I'm interested in the world of IT/tech as a hobby anyway, so I don't mind spending so much of my life awake working somewhere.

What draws you toward being a postie? Lack of responsibility? Being unaccountable for large parts of the day? Simplicity (you have your round, you do it and go home)?

I worked as a driver for ParcelForce for a year and really quite enjoyed it because of all the reasons above. But I guarantee that if you have half a brain (and it sounds like you do) you'll be bored to the point of suicide quite quickly.

If you're really suffering from the Sunday work-fear, then yes, a change of career is a good plan. But go sideways, not down. Or disappear at an odd tangent - I did and have never been happier as a full time wedding photographer.

Not knocking posties by the way - you can still lead a devestatingly, catastrophically interesting life away from work (Bukowski)...

I just feel that the whole 'my job is really important and satisfying' thing is not available to so many people, so if you want to go for it, go for it, but appreciate that so many people never get the chance, so many people just work because they have to and never get the chance to think about a really good job.

Millions of people don't even have a bucket to crap in. I will not feel angst when placing my Western aerse over some white porcelain later this morning. This is STW - people have angst over wheels FFS - the step up to a job (probably their biggest time consumer apart from sleep) is not much. You can be thankful for what you do have without wringing your hands and beating yourself with nettles every time you do anything.

Would you prefer ignorant over insulting?

It's not ignorant either.. you are like a dog with a bone with this one it would seem 🙂

I will try once more as you are struggling... not everyone has equal options in life. Your upbringing, things that happen to you or your family, the current areas of need within employment available to you and so on. Yes, choices you make take you down a path which opens, or closes doors but sometimes this free choice you so blindly seem to think is there all the time for everyone just isn't.

If you had to leave school at 16 to care for a parent or loved one for example, this is a choice that is essentially put on you and as such you may not get to go to uni, get that nuclear physics degree etc.

Maybe YOU have had a life full of oppurtunity and have made the most of it, if so fair play to you but don't presume that everyone in life has the same open access that you were lucky to have.

The only person removing the option of success in your life is YOU.

If you had to leave school at 16 to care for a parent or loved one for example, this is a choice that is essentially put on you and as such you may not get to go to uni, get that nuclear physics degree etc.

Maybe

Sounds like something Norman Tebbit would say.

Finance Director. I usually love what I do - I'm stimulated, well-rewarded, and mostly am allowed a great deal of freedom. Obviously we all have bad days, but there are not too many of those.

I've had to work extremely hard to get there, though I'm not entirely sure that I know how it's happened - there are many people who are much better than I am in a technical and managerial sense. I'm not a great political infighter, nor do I charm people particularly.

The only real downside is the workload, which is less than ideal from a work : home perspective. But I made this choice, I have no desire to change, and I'd be useless doing anything else. I'd hate to be a postie (as an example); I really need that mental stimulation.

Financial security figures highly for me, but you could double what I'm paid and it wouldn't alter my output. Probably the same if you halved it, to be honest.

I'm a Key Account manager and I you could say I have that 'middle class' problem with coping with the stress. After 3 years of earning great money i've decided its not worth the stress. I'm making a whole new lifestyle choice which will mean having to move with no partner to support me. The uncertaintities are causing me lack of sleep but I know that when its all over and i'm settled in another role/house/lifestyle that i'll be happy. With crisis comes opportunity someone once told me. Good advice. You have the power over your destinty...always.

nickf - do you need a very efficient strategic planner / analysis manager?

I used to be the Sales Director of a major company in IT/telecoms that effectively went bust (55,000 people globally to nothing in two years - pretty good eh?). I had a really bad time - making lots of people redundant, closing down operations, etc. I didn't know that it had an effect on my health until having a total breakdown a year or so after I left, whilst in my next job - which I also hated! I had a young family, bills to pay, and an expensive lifestyle.....then 6 months off work with serious depression, no money, etc....

What did I do..First off I went on a course with a psychoanalyst to understand more about what was wrong with me. Then, I followed a bit of a dream, which was to break out of the rat race and do my own thing; whilst realising that 6 months off with depression and a fairly nasty looking medical record had probably made me unemployable! I set up my own consultancy business and have been doing that for the best part of 10 years, and I love it! To be able to do it we have to make some shifts in lifestyle and expenditure but hey, it's only money!

I wish I'd done it years before and I absolutely wish I hadn't let myself get so wrapped up in the corporate world that I let myself get so Ill (I won't go into details but those of you with any empathy with this story may well know what this is like and where you choose to take yourself).

The lesson of my story is that you MUST find something to do that's fulfilling and is a good fit with your skills and aptitude.....if that means that you walk tomorrow, then just do it and make that change....

The upshot of this is that I can sit in fornt of my PC on a Friday morning on STW, ten go out for a ride, before my first client meeting of the day at 12:30! Life is now very good indeed!

(NOte - I have cut a VERY long story VERY short above!!!!)

Don Simon, the best predictor of a child's academic achievement in the UK is social class. Not pretty but it's true. Free schooling is not the be all and end all.

Don Simon, the best predictor of a child's academic achievement in the UK is social class.

I think the figures are that an average middle class kid overtakes a clever working class kid by 7.

You've about as much chance of dodging that bullet as taking up a different religion to your parents.

Not read all of the above (seemed to be going off topic a bit!!) but,

I worked as an electrical engineer for 25 years. I say "worked as" as I had no qualifications but was bloody good at my job and worked my way up. But I hated it. In the end I became very ill (other factors contributed) and couldn't work for a long time.

As I got better, I took stock of my situation. Decided I wanted to work with, and to help, people.
Looked at several NHS careers and decided on Occupational Therapy. Did a 1 year full time access course, and start a 3 year degree in 2 week's time.

Thing is, I wouldn't have done this without getting ill first. That re-set the clocks for me. I couldn't have imagined not earning for 4 years+ and then maybe not to get a job at the end of it.
BUT it can be done (a flexible mortgage helps).

If it helps I'm 42 years old, no savings, not much of a pension and definitely (and proudly) working class.

ps. completely disagree that everyone that goes through our education system has the same opportunities; privileged, blinkered and utter tosh.

I think the figures are that an average middle class kid overtakes a clever working class kid by 7.

I worked as an electrical engineer for 25 years. I say "worked as" as I had no qualifications but was bloody good at my job and worked my way up.

But I hated it.

If it helps I'm 42 years old, no savings, not much of a pension and definitely (and proudly) working class.

Stanley, its a pity you hated the engineering industry, electrical engineer is what i do (for the last 7 years....sparks for 10 before that) and I still pretty much enjoy it....reasonably interesting and challenging...not too stressful and for me pretty varied....office, site, survey visits, meetings in fancy architects offices and so on...I am due to be made redundant next week and have managed to get 2 firm job offers already and a third potential one if I and lucky, so for a trade or career I guess things could be worse....my wife works for the NHS and there's no way I could cope with her job.

You wouldn't want to do it (probably) but you asked...

IT. Batch automation specialist. Background in automated software distribution working for a couple of large banks in the north. Pays well, very stable job and since moving to my current role a year ago, I'm really enjoying work for the first time in years, helped by a really good bunch of people I work closely with and less of the red tape you have to jump through in the banking sector. See my boss once a fortnight or so and I'm pretty flexible where I work. 3 days in the office this week, sat at home today. Last week was the first week since the end of May I'd done a full week in the office.

In my experience, some IT roles are awful. I've landed on my feet with this one!

Can i add some Clash lyrics to this thread..."jack your useless employment in forever tonight, or shut your mouth and pretend you enjoy it"
Those lines always inspired me to do something about my crap jobs, being on the dole with no qaulifications, a bankruptcy, a house repossession. Made me go back to college and eventually qualify as a psychiatric nurse and now i work with young people and hopefully can make a difference, and apart from the politics of the nhs my job is great, most of the time.

Don simon,

You seem to think that everyone has to aspire to be "their best"?

What stopped me taking it further? I didn't want to. "Taking it further" was the last thing I wanted to do.

I didn't "push it further" as it was making me ill. Lots of pressure, bosses only in it for the money, back-stabbing colleagues, etc. What good can come out of that? Unless of course you only aspire to have a "top" job, a flash car and a stomach ulcer.

Hey Donks, the last 4 or 5 years of my previous career sounds similarish to yours. I was designing automation process control stuff- drives, plc's, etc. Was under constant pressure to pull in ~£60 per hour though. Felt like I was ripping customers off. No job satisfaction. Call-outs and long hours too 🙁
Had a few offers to go back to the industry, but NO WAY- not for me 🙂

daveyboywonder - has the "rationalisation" settled down yet? I still can't quite believe I got out/they let me go when they did 🙂

My dad's always said if work was enjoyable you'd be paying them. 😀