Not sure the work did just dry up... you say later on you're not so good at the sales/opportunity management bit. This is probably because if you've been perm at high level corporate all your career, you've never had to seek out the work - so your skills are undeveloped. The solution is therefore easy, learn how to sell yourself - if your average salesperson can sell, so you can you.
It's about deciding what your proposition is to potential clients, communicating that clearly to everyone, making sure everyone knows you're available for work, keeping in touch with people and most of all, creating the opportunities by spotting problems people have that you can solve, and developing the skill of spotting opportunities and turning them into work. This might mean working outside your core skill set and comfort zone at times but these opportunities merely expand your skill set and comfort zone and make you an even better proposition long term.
I think you are bang on the money. Would you have any recommendations in terms of resources, articles, tools?
Cheers,
J
I think you are bang on the money. Would you have any recommendations in terms of resources, articles, tools?Cheers,
J
PM me and we can have a chat. Email in profile.
Do you have any friends/trustable colleagues who've gone self-employed who can share their experience with you? I can talk you through my experience. IME new business comes less from 'selling' and more from leveraging and building on your reputation for being good at your job, being client-focused and being reliable and just good to work with. Personal recommendation goes a very long way as it reduces the risk for a client of ending up with a lousy supplier.
Linked In is the best online network for keeping in touch with people.
There's plenty of contractor forums where you can get advice from experienced people. There'll be loads of people willing to offer advice on new business generation.
If you know any friendly accountants, speak to them about the costs you'll have to pay for and the taxes you'll pay. Ltd company and you'll pay less tax for a given income than PAYE which means you don't need as many days work as you may think to take home the same money.
If you know any friendly HR people (in-house, not recruitment sharks) have a chat with them about likely day rates. Advice from one of my best mates who's an HR Director was that there's no rule of thumb, it's what you can negotiate for yourself and supply/demand. Don't price too low though, it suggests you lack confidence.
One good client/assignment is all you need to get yourself started...
[url= http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21637355-freelance-workers-available-moments-notice-will-reshape-nature-companies-and ]The future of work - Economist article[/url]
Don't worry nipper we'll be looking to bring the tourist ££££'s in.
brooess, thank you very much! I will drop you a line tomorrow and leave you in peace tonight!
friendly HR people
Anyone else thinking that if you removed just one of those words you might just end up with a plausible scenario?
I feel lucky reading this in that I still have the chance to avoid the managerial route, I'm seriously considering applying for a position (once I complete my degree) that would be a serious pay cut in the short term and limted job security beyond 2 years (in Switzerland no less) but the opportunity to get my foot into the door of something great is too much to ignore. Not sure if I'm upshifting, sideshifting or what but I'd like to think I'd be doing something that I feel I'm making a valuable contribution to with greater job satisfaction.
I'd like to think I'd be doing something that I feel I'm making a valuable contribution to with greater job satisfaction.
Good for you. Focus on that and hang on to it! Don't let your grip loosen for anything.
In the process of doing this now. Jacked my job in back in August and am having a year off,going to spend my time riding my bike, walking, camping and generally enjoying life. Going to get the house sold and then find something new to do. What that'll be I don't know. Be interesting though. I decided life's too short to keep doing a job I was bored brainless with. Also want to move to a new area for new places to explore. Too many people just spend their whole lives in the same small area. lots more to see. It may all go wrong but if you don't try you'll never know.
@jamj1974 - if you haven't already, I'd be looking into paying for some coaching. I suspect it may help you understand what makes you tick and what the next step is.
My experience of that world has generally been very positive. Given where you find yourself in career/life terms, I think it would be a great opportunity for you to invest in yourself.
(Though its value is heavily disputed, I have found Myers Briggs and the like useful tools to help me understand my strengths and weaknesses during my career change.)
Must be a January Blues thing, but I spent all last week thinking I couldn't take a full week at work (after 2.5 weeks off for Xmas / NY). Didn't help having a stinking cold last week....
I'd love to go down to 4 days per week but still keep the same pay!
its an interesting thread, makes me think about my own life, about what I'm doing and where its going, is the destination really where I want to go. Hmmm scratching chin. don't have an answer.
is the destination really where I want to go.
I think the idea is to enjoy the journey, then it doesn't really matter where you're headed!
"I'd love to go down to 4 days per week but still keep the same pay!"
id take 4 days pro rata right now .... ill be honest , but since some of the world seems to think im on email call 24/7 that doesnt seem to be possible.....
A friend of mine packed up a corporate role, sold a small London flat for a healthy profit, moved to a little town in Scotland and bought a four bedroom house outright. He then joined the fire brigade / became a postman he seems enormously happy with the move, who can blame him. He's better off, less stressed, sees his kids more and lives near some of the best riding in the UK.
I'm jealous.
Just following the thread really as in a similar position (as said previously, something in the air/water/weather?)
Definitely something in the water. I've spent the last year evaluating life and sorting through the bullshit in my head. Got to a position now where I don't have any debt other than a relatively low mortgage (decent equity) and could happily live on half my salary and still be sole household earner, although we would need to cut back on some of the luxuries.
I'm fortunate that I have a good job, a great boss and work for a good company, but still get frustrated and never feel settled. I've come to the realisation that the issue is with me and that to be happy I need to sort myself out. Work/life balance is definitely getting addressed this year to help this.
This seems to be a pretty cathartic thread, so thought I would stick some words down and it might not help you OP, but might help me some more. Definitely 1st world problems.
I blame the internet for a lot of the unrest. Before you had a job, you went to work and your friends and family did the same. You weren't really aware of what else was out there.
Thanks to everyone who's posted - I appreciate you taking the time. It's all helpful and I will be bearing some of it very strongly in mind.
@jamj1974 - if you haven't already, I'd be looking into paying for some coaching. I suspect it may help you understand what makes you tick and what the next step is.
I've had some coaching before and it has been very useful. It's definitely in my plan for the next couple of months.
A friend of mine packed up a corporate role, sold a small London flat for a healthy profit, moved to a little town in Scotland and bought a four bedroom house outright. He then joined the fire brigade / became a postman he seems enormously happy with the move, who can blame him. He's better off, less stressed, sees his kids more
This is very appealing - but probably not realistic for me...!
and lives near some of the best riding in the UK.
This would be good but not as important as above!
Great thread. I remember a quote from somewhere which read something like:
"the greatest freedom a man can have is to be in control of his own destiny"
I remember reading that a few years back and then 6 months later quit work and went self employed as a freelancer, performing the same job but working less days and earning more money than I was in my old role, with none of the stress or corporate BS and ladder climbing that comes with being employed in a big company.
Don't regret it for a second and I still see my old work colleagues from time to time, stressed, tired and going through the motions of the 9-5 grind.
Now I'm self employed there's a different kind of pressure, there's more choices in life, a pressure to use time in a more productive and fulfilling way, working hard when I have to and taking time off whenever I can. It's a nicer kind of pressure to have though as it's all self-inflicted. If I decide to work hard and put in extra hours then I'll get paid very nicely for that. If I take some days off at short notice to go biking then I'll just go without having to okay it with the boss first.
Have read through this thread with interest as although I dont really have the most stressful job in the world - site based electrical engineer contracted to a large well-known cereal producer with a small team (3-8 depending on workload) under me - I never ever wanted to spend my days working in a factory (been there 4years now) and have spent more than enough years working away from home which is the alternative within my current company to know thats not what I want either (although I did enjoy the two years I spent in aviemore 😀 )
While I dont particularly hate my job, I just dont find any fulfillment in it and today had my final medical assessment to join the fire service (part time) which will hopefully be enough to cover our small mortgage and
bills and allow me to go self employed and let me do more of the things I want to do (Ride bikes!) I also completed my level 3 Mias mountain bike leader award last year and possibly have the opportunity of doing some guiding around our little corner of Wales. Am genuinely looking forward to where this year takes me!
Very pleased to hear that some of you have made a positive change. Brilliant stuff!
It's definitely in the air with mates when we talk, must be my age, winter blues after Xmas break, just getting over man flu, thinking not another year of the same etc. One thing I would say that working for a charity (I do) isn't always an answer, yes you do get job satisfaction seeing the benefits your work directly brings to others but it's still a place of work like any other with the pressure to make money to stay afloat and sometimes internal politics / ****s you have to work with etc like any other business. When you get to an age and see friends/family members dying, that cliche about life being too short, seize the day etc rings true. Good luck OP in your quest, hope something works out for you and don't leave it too late.
Hi brooess, I've dropped you a line.
J
Brilliant thread, thanks for starting OP.
I quit a decent paid job when I was 37, took what was supposed to be a gap year & yet to go back to anything similar 12 years later. Catalyst for me was getting my baseload costs (housing, food, car, hobbies etc) covered by sustainable passive income (rents, dividends).
Figured then if it all went tits up at least I had somewhere to live/enough to eat etc. In fact quite the reverse has happened, income has increased & costs stayed level. Bought all my bikes off here instead of new & shop wisely, few luxuries (thanks if you were the seller, they are being well used & looked after).
Good luck with whatever you decide, I have no regrets whatsoever with my decision. If I had a pound for everyone who says 'is that all you do' I'd be v happy, in fact, I still smile & have to pinch myself it's all real.
Catalyst for me was getting my baseload costs (housing, food, car, hobbies etc) covered by sustainable passive income (rents, dividends).
I would love to be in that place Poolman - passive income would be fantastic. I just don't have the capital to invest that would let me do that TBH!
but I'm sure poolman has no kids/dependents as this is when it gets 'awkward'...
What you need is 20y as a dinky couple with decent salaries. Do the maths, just about anyone can retire early if they make the "right" choices (not implying other choices are wrong per se).
I retired very early and am bored out of my mind - bad move! Beware the lure of "green grass" OP.
I retired very early and am bored out of my mind - bad move! Beware the lure of "green grass" OP.
Unless my numbers come up in the lottery - that's not going to happen! Even if they did, I'd be back to university and doing voluntary work.
