Career Change, 50+ Engineer

Evening all,

I am considering a career change in my 50s and would be ridiculously grateful for advice / experience from those who have done / considered similar.

I am a very experienced, Chartered engineer with experience in multiple companies / industries . My current role is very interesting but also very stressful and in an sector I would ideally like to leave.

My thoughts are to try and move into the green / low carbon sector in an engineering / support role in Scotland. This is a sector I have significant interest in, commitment to and knowledge from changes made to my home, car and lifestyle over the years.

I would probably undertake some online / in person sector specific training from the Renewable Energy Institute or similar prior to trying to move and I am fortunate to be able to accept a drop in income. My main concern is whether I may be considered too old to start on a new path.

Has anyone else made a similar move after 50?, all advice / experience would be gratefully received.

That doesn’t sound that much like a career change, more like a similar job in a different sector. Do you have enough transferable skills to just apply for jobs in that sector without much training? Should be possible especially if it is more of a management or overseeing role.

Just get your CV out there if you’re after it, there appears to be loads of opportunities, and in most instances, they tend to have engineers doing more project management, so transferrable skills if you can work the usual software packages (MS Office, MS Project, etc.

Have a few mates who do technician roles (sometimes called engineers), but probably not what you’re after, nipping up wind turbines to fix them and the likes, a lot of companies on linkedin covering this, and the usual suspects in Scotland like SSE and so on.

All sorts of careers in forestry, industry is quite open to new entrants with different experiences and Scotland has a lot of it.

Nursery, mapping, processing, planting, transport, harvesting, for nature, for investment – that is barely scratching the surface for roles.

I’m not sure going from 50+,desk jockey into the practical forestry is going to happen, or be very easy.

But decent engineer and project managerinto renewable energy , yes, very possible

I have worked for SSEN for 7months now. Renewables/transmission/Distribution is a massive growth sector and screaming for solid, reliable people. And the organisation has a massive presence in Scotland. Within SSEN there is potential to move around within to try new things. Feel free to reach out and I can likely find someone you can talk to

I would suggest getting in touch with these people

Home

They run postgraduate courses in sustainable energy, and are very knowledgeable and passionate about it

This company seem pretty well regarded and seem to always be growing and looking for people

https://www.naturalpower.com/uk/careers

Have no connection or experience, they just have their office near me.

Similar to you I left an engineer role when realised had lost the feeling of purpose in sector to outweigh the stress and travel. So understand the motivation, however left engineering entirely

I have worked for SSEN for 7months now. Renewables/transmission/Distribution is a massive growth sector and screaming for solid, reliable people. And the organisation has a massive presence in Scotland. Within SSEN there is potential to move around within to try new things.

This, I know several people who have changed tack to go work for SSEN.

With decarbonisation (which in Scotland pretty much equates to electrification) and a 2045 Net Zero deadline it’ll see you ‘out’ 😉

@wbo there is a lot more to forestry than just cutters ?

A lot of mechanisation, robots, drones and AI used to plan, research, design, recreation, transportation, market uses, and the occasional bit of harvesting.

Ability to apply standards and management processes are quite transferable skills.

Not Scotland, but see https://bc.bangor.ac.uk/products-and-services/forest-products/
Or Timber Development UK if structural engineer as timber in construction is a big goal for decarbonising that industry.

This is something that’s been on my mind for a long time, although I’m a structural engineer, and suspect my skillset is limited to foundation design!

I like the idea of spending the last 20years of my working life helping establish a greener future, but that fear of jumping keeps holding me back!

@shermer75 thanks for that link, really interesting.

I retired a couple of years ago after many years in IT, would love to do something along these lines part time.

Have you ever considered teaching/lecturing? Many colleges are crying out for experienced engineers to teach apprentices and other students. In many colleges you can train for your teaching qualifications as you go. It’s a good way to access other (renewables) training too to broaden your industry skillset.

It is difficult for the education sector to compete with industry in terms of salary but the pay is decent, the pension/holidays are generous and it’s an extremely rewarding job.

I should caveat – I only have knowledge of the Scottish sector.

How about river restoration/flood risk management.

Send me a PM if you are interested and i’ll tell you where to look.

That goes for you too @twistedpencil

That doesn’t sound that much like a career change, more like a similar job in a different sector. 

This.

Just apply for jobs, see where it gets you.

DM’d you. But as an experienced engineer looking to do similar work just in a different sector you should have little problem transferring.