Not sure where to start, firstly in looking and current situation. I work in retail, contantly getting screwed over for promotion. Now im too old/wrong sex/wrong ethnic group etc etc just got to the point where enough is enough.

Qualifications i have a few gcse’s, hnd in computing, some work based qualifications NVQ’s. I have 15 years in retail management. Currently doing a job i took to gain promotion but that backfired as usual, boss won’t or can’t allow a move back to my previous dept/job role.

I could demote myself but thats a 10k pay cut, i could get by but it would be very tight money wise.

I could stand it out, but that could take time and doing a job i don’t particular enjoy or want to be doing.

Tough decisions, as a new career haven’t got the foggiest where to start, i know 1 thing while in this mess need to start saving money big time.

Great… is there a question related to this?

Well yep, not sure what to do? Was after some unbiased advice

decide what you want to do. do it.

Gambled a desk/office job recently because when they moved me to a new and farther site they start making me work on some weekends and odd hours just to show up to check on something (like driving an hour for a 2hr checks) ..messed up my cycling days.. Took the redundancy money and started a new job robot welding stuff 😯 paycut is is significant.. Enough to buy me 2 yeti 575 XT every year … Happier on the new job now (i think) adjustment on money is not easy … 🙁

Well given your experience is in Retail – your buggered. You have next to no qualifications – your buggered.

Ive been in situations like that before, I managed to change by blagging an interview via a recruitement consultancy who never asked to see my (non existant) qualifications. Got the job and they never asked.

Then, after working in that industry for years I got the experience which made future job hunting eaiser.

But……….you need to decide what you can do and would like to do. Make a list of your likes and skills, then look for work that matches them up.

Then the hard bit is personally going to those companies, handing them your CV and asking to start at the bottom.

Ive done that and its worked several times. We are in a recession, so going to an agency or applying online will be sole destroying. You need to stand out and show some initiative.

But first figure out what you like and can do.

Switch retailers and change roles after 12 months?

There are a lot of smaller retailers that will be keen to nick a bit of big retailer know how as they grow…

What are you good at and how brave are you. With few qualifications you might not get a traditional job, but you might have the right skills to run your own business. If you don’t then a franchise might give you your own business plus some good support to get up and running.

Have a look – http://www.franchisedirect.co.uk/

Switch retailers isn’t a bad option, technically switched before when one supermarket sold a store to another and I went, still have some contacts, might be worth a move, was looking at jobs on the railway, same sort of money and sort of role.

Ive been in situations like that before, I managed to change by blagging an interview via a recruitement consultancy who never asked to see my (non existant) qualifications

This got me thinking, trimix shouldn’t have blagged but clearly it worked for him because, despite paper certificates, he had an aptitude and/or passion for the work at hand, he proved it and it worked out in the end.

You just mentioned some jobs on the railway, is this something that interests you? Or maybe there’s something else, but either way, if there’s something that you actually have some passion for, do whatever it takes to get working with it

Open a bike shop?

What’s the link between retail management and the rail industry – specifically, you describe it as “the same sort of role”. How so?

I moved from retail management to work for the Environment Agency.

Most people think you are thick because you worked in a shop even at management level but in all honesty I would interview anyone who had been in retail successfully as the skills you acquire can be pretty top notch. Pity people don’t see that.

If you move to most other jobs you’ll be amazed at how slowly everyone does things!

I went through ALL the things I was good at and picked out what transferable skills I had to promote those to a new employer. It amazing what you can pick out to fit to another job.

It might take time, but put in some groundwork and hopefully you’ll get something.

I ended up moving from being an Operations manager in charge of a small team and £2m of stock, responsible for all cash/loss accounting/stock control/deliveries/security/pricing compliance to being an Environment Officer with 50% pay INCREASE and a free lease car. And EO’s don’t get paid much – everyone who started at te same time as me in the EA took pay cuts to join – I was laughing!!!

Don’t listen to the lies inside you saying you are qualified. You could probably teach a thing or two to a lot of people in a lot of jobs, you’ve just got to figure out what you’ve got to offer.

Could I suggest the following website……

Careershifters.org

Going to one of their workshops on Monday. Really looking forward to it. Hopefully should get lots of ideas.

It is always possible to switch jobs but i would not want to do it presently tbh as there is a massive pool of highly qualified, highly experienced and un or under employed folk you would need to compete with

Do you want to employ someone with 15 years in the construction industry and some NVQ’s in that to work in your retail environment?

Well done junkyard. Sounds like you are well suited to staying in your little box. Others want to spread their wings a bit. Chapeau to anyone who has the get up and go to make scarey but ultimately positive changes in their lives. Sorry junk but not all of us want the career equivalent of staying in to watch The Voice every Saturday night

first, your a long time dead.
second, if you hate your job why waste your life.
third, the hard bit, what do you want from a job.

Sit down and think what your job actually means, what does it involve. Don’t worry about what bits of paper you have. Have a think about what you can do, are there any skill gaps.

Above all do not give up, it is hard, there are more people than jobs. just keep on applying asking around and something will happen.

decide what you want to do. do it.

This and always this. If you after a few years decided that you no longer want to do what you’re doing at that point change again. Life is too short to be unhappy at work.

Fly your wings then it is a great time to change jobs what with all the abundant economic opportunities out there I dont see how you could fail especially if you pay a company to inspire you. Seize the day this time next year you could be a millionaire
Is that more accurate and more helpful? That will be £75 please
I can sugar coat it with jargon and buzz words and success stories to get you to attend the next level workshop if you wish
The best thing about IAG is you can ignore it even the free stuff 😉

Out of interest why are there so many unemployed if it is so easy to switch career using transferable skills , no experience of the industry and no qualifications?

Look at glupton went to uni and retrained to get his job – yes it can be done but not easily or I could end unemployment tomorrow

Junkyard…seriously mate….WTF?

I would interview anyone who had been in retail successfully as the skills you acquire can be pretty top notch. Pity people don’t see that

This is very true…

If you are the wrong ethnic origin, you could try blacking/whiting up as appropriate.

Retail experience and you’re on a bike website, so I assume you like/know a bit about bikes? How about checking this place out?

Jobs

Id go with the change to bike related retail, there is such a surge in the industry at present. I guess with your bit of computing and retail worth an interest in bikes you could sell yourself to either shops or internet based companies.

Yes it may be a difficult time for some industries but doesnt stop you jumping in the direction of one thats on the up 😀

Junkyard…seriously mate….WTF?

OK I will simplify

1. LMI – Labour market information – most areas dont have vacancies/recruitment problems as they have a large pool of qualified job seekers who are looking for work therefore it will be difficult to change jobs as you will be amongst the least qualified in this pool. ie it is both risky and difficult. It is unlikely your transferable skills ALONE will get you employment as I can have someone with those skills, vocational quals and experience or you. If I pick you it will be riskier. lots of people currently unemployed from say construction or retail are trying to change careers using transferable skills , it is not easy. It is probably easier whilst employed as it will look like a genuine rather than forced choice but you will likely need more than this

2, The company you are seeing make money by selling “careers information” [ I do it for free as do other reputable providers of IAG [ Information advice and guidance or careers advice as it would be known by most] so of course they have a product to sell. How good they are I have no idea but they dont have matrix certification [ industry standard required for all IAG] on their website so they are not professionally recognised to do careers advice and it reads more like coaching to me tbh.
i am not personally a fan of coaching tbh but it may work for you

It is not up to me what you or the OP do i would only hope you do it with your eyes open

I tend to stay out of these threads as you get well meaning but IMHO unhelpful insights

I am not sure my sarcasm helped much either to be fair

Whatever you choose good luck

My e-mail is in profile should you choose to ask me some questions

Railways, runs in the family, we have all worked in that industry except myself. But a couple of the jobs i have spotted one was a data anaylst and securty which i have the skills for and would be very different to my current role but put some of my skills to better use. The other was platform support and shockingly it pays more than my current role, but its outdoors ish and again the customer facing role which i currently do.

I would love a job with Environmental Health one of there auditors, i did apply before but was rejected on qualifications they admitted i had everything else from skills and process knowledge of supermarkets which they lacked but wouldn’t take someone on without a degree relevant to there field.

Im in my mid 30’s and it scares me i could have this current job for another 35 years!

Top of my list is a good work life balance, currently its crap and thats putting it politely, weekends off not a requirement but a set day off would be better than the current, mon early, tues off, wed late, thurs early, fri mid, sat late then a completely different set of shifts the following week.

Working within the bike industry again would be a great job it combines my interests with work which would make work more enjoyable.

Biggest goal is to actually enjoy work, i know most don’t but would be great to get some job satisfaction.

Junkyard…… Nope….. Still don’t get what you are on about. You are right. Best if you stay out of these type of threads where positive comments are needed. I’m sure there will be a “what tyre for Swinley” type thread along soon. Maybe you could help with that one instead.

Again, Hats off to anyone making big changes in their lives. They need to be strong. Especially if the reaction from some on this forum is anything to go by.

Thanks for offering to answer my questions by e-mail but I seriously doubt you could offer any valuable assistance. On the other hand, if you do ever work out what tyres to use……now that really would be useful info to have.

I would have thought the good bike chains are recruiting right now.
Failing that, this book is great:

John Lees How to Get a Job You’ll Love

And good luck, it takes balls to make a big change in your life, lots of people chicken out…

Oh and re job satisfaction, I solved that one after getting signed off with stress which was entirely self-induced by wanting a brilliant job and not getting it – I’ve just stopped expecting too much from my job and I focus on getting happiness from all the other parts of my life instead…

Good luck LMT.

I’ve just recently “jacked it all in”, handed my notice in on a relatively secure and relatively well paid job because I couldn’t stand it any more (or the people who manage me). I have a plan of what I want to do, just need to execute it. There’s a hefty amount of risk involved and year of no pay with no guarantee of work at the end.

Thanks for offering to answer my questions by e-mail but I seriously doubt you could offer any valuable assistance.

I think we have all established you dont want to listen to an actual careers adviser on advice about careers and instead you have chosen to pay to have career change advice from an organisation not accredited to do careers advice but who will be positive.

Hope that works out for you

Junk….. Really. Try saying this yourself once in a while…..”I don’t know all the answers all the time.”. Thank heavens not all careers advisers are like you.

Again, for the hard of thinking… Hats off to anyone brave enough to make changes to their lives. Well done, OP. Don’t let the haters get you down.

@LMT – is it an option to work part-time in your current job while you check out other options? It might be all the balance you need. It’s an approach that’s working for me right now.

@Hammerite – would be great to see how you get on in a year’s time. You could blog about your progress. Might help you keep focus on your goals.

Good luck both.

LMT – Railway options are a good call. I worked in the industry for 10 years (on the IT and Engineering side for NR) – certainly on the TOC (Train Operating Company) performance management and retail sides of the business there are lots of transferable skills from what you do currently.

In some parts of the country they struggle to fill some vacancies since the rail industry, for a number of mainly historical reasons, is not seen as a desirable employer outside of the traditional engineering and operational roles. My experience was that if you’ve got a bit of nous about you, there are loads of opportunities to learn and progress.

I’m not sure where in the country you are looking but NR in particular is going through a huge transformation at the moment with a lot of offices relocating and centralising – this has actually led to a bit of glut of vacancies as a lot of folk have chosen to take early retirement / redundancy. Worth a look perhaps?

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/10846.aspx?JobSearchCriteria=%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c0%7c%7cFull+Time%7c%7c

gritty – thanks, a blog sounds a good idea. Although I’m told by people who have done similar things that I’ll barely have time to wipe my own backside (if I get a place)!

I think I’ll see how I cope initially before starting a blog.

Junk….. Really. Try saying this yourself once in a while…..”I don’t know all the answers all the time.”. Thank heavens not all careers advisers are like you.

I dont have any answers as it is not my decision – your ignorance is only matched by your positivity 😉 I provide Information advice and Guidance, I have said that before. I dont provide answers the person does- this is pretty basic stuff really.
This is why I stay out of these debates you always end up having a “debate” with someone who does not even understand the first thing but has a very strong opinion anyway. It is not helpful to the OP

Again, for the hard of thinking… Hats off to anyone brave enough to make changes to their lives. Well done, OP. Don’t let the haters get you down.

Wow straw mans ,ad homs ad naseum and positive as well AWESOME I take my hat off to you for that.

I am not a hater – I could use some big words and references to explain what I am doing [ its basic stuff tbh] but what would I know about this compared to positive you.

Probably best to let the OP have the thread back and they can decide whether to take the “positive “advice or the “haters” and make their own decision. You can attend the coaching session knowing they dont do careers advice but coaching but they will be positive which is what you want,

FWIW I am also a qualified coach 😛

I have often wondered why there are always so many unemployed, even in a boom. Not any more.

Junkyard….. Seriously though…. What on earth are you trying to prove?

Didn’t think my rambling a would go this far!

Another lousy day of fun !

What on earth are you trying to prove?

I remain positive that you will get it as apparently that is all that I require

This is why I stay out of these debates you always end up having a “debate” with someone who does not even understand the first thing but has a very strong opinion anyway. It is not helpful to the OP

He’s saying if you’re seeking advice on a career change, don’t visit one of the thousands of “life coaches” (who all claim to be successful coaches, whose ‘clients’ have gone on to earn millions) – do it properly, and find a registered/regulated information advice service.

I’m sure there are government funded organisations who will offer advice for free, instead of writing a blank cheque to.

If you can’t be motivated to listen to the free ones, why do you think spending money will work??