I’m after some advice/wisdom as there is a great spectrum of people on here when it comes to work.

I’m 35, a self employed professional drummer and drum teacher, and I’ve had enough of the late nights, disrupted routine and insecurity. Looking for a total career change! The problem is I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to pour my time into. When I get my teeth into something I’m quite good at geeking out (drums, music tech, Pa systems, Bikes!) but feel a little lost and uninspired at the moment.

I’m lucky enough that I can earn just about enough to sustain myself while retraining part time. I had a good go at ‘free code camp’ in lockdown, but failed to really get into it- I completed the javascript advanced algorithm module and then packed it in as I felt I was spending too much time in front of a screen, and it wasn’t really floating my boat.

So; any advice from people who have made big career changes is welcome, I’m also keen to hear about your work lives and positives/ negatives of the industries you’re in, as well as opinions on viability of career changes at my age (I feel old.)

I’m thinking along the lines of trades- electrician, plastering, joinery etc. but anything is on the table at this point. I recently moved to New Mills in Derbyshire and am very keen to stay fairly local- Commuting on a bike would be a dream to me having toured the country doing ridiculous miles in a van for the last 15 years.

I changed careers at the age of 33, having spent 8 years in financial services (pensions), I did a year as a delivery driver as a complete break, then started from the very bottom in IT support, in 2014. Now, 8 years later I’m earning well over double what I started on in IT, and double what I finished on in financial services.

Probably not the career you’re looking at but if you’re prepared to start at the bottom and work your way up then it can be done.

You are not old!

What about Painter/Decorator? Around us they are all saying they are booked until April/May next year. Relatively low cost of entry (don’t need masses of power tools). You can establish a reputation whilst still doing some music lessons so you are not forced to stop one thing before you start another.

Music and geek stuff stuff also sounds like a AV installer?

Well this is fairly mental:

I’m 36 years old. Full time guitarist/guitar teacher and I too am going to be doing a career change at the end of next year! My climbing partner lives in New Mills too!!

The late nights life style does grind you down….on balance I do like it though (suits me as my partner works in the wedding industry so does similar hours)

It’s the teaching/lack of stability and consistency in income that I’m done with.

I’m hoping to study an MSc in Sustainability and fund via still gigging at weekends. It’s a bit easier for me as I’m mortgage free, but can’t see myself totally giving up on gigs anyway.

Care work / nursing? Easy to get a taste of it by getting a job in a local care home which are constantly recruiting. a few months there in what is perhaps one of the worst careworker jobs will tell you if its something you want to do. You can start with zero experience without difficulty.

IME men of your sort of age often do really well and really enjoy it. if you don’t its only cost you a few months

Thinking of your sound / music:

One of my colleagues husband does sound engineer work for outside broadcast. Apparently they are always after sound engineers who don’t mind being outdoors and yet are also looking for more than a music concert roady style gig. He spent a lot of time working on documentaries, but has now gone into sports. The sports is a *lot* more travel and weekends, but pays a lot more. The documentaries were more reliable and UK based – so still travel, but less.

Similarly, my sister in law works in TV. She did it in England (started on Byker Grove), now in New Zealand. She basically plans what cameras and kit are needed for the director, and does all sorts of ‘what shot’ planning with scripts. It is mainly work from home, with monthly forays to studio or outside venue. Seems again reliable and reasonably well paid work.

I think OP and Tom-B might be allowed to join the jazz band I’m forming as a way of getting out of going to wok.

As dull as it sounds, the answer is probably IT. Always lots of vacancies and now more than ever WFH. Decent ££ and career security if not job security.

When you see an opening, just email them and say would you be prepared to take a Junior for less £££.

No commuting, no travel and lunch time bike rides in the winter.

I’ve gone from IT (££) -> Geologist (££) -> (stupid attempt at being a teacher (£)) -> IT(££££).

The issue with trades like electrician and plumber is that you’re effectively doing an apprenticeship, so 3.5 years at below minimum wage. Some mature apprentices struggle with learning a new job at the rate of a school-leaver. Key is finding a local employer whose prepared to give you a job in the first place.

Are you DIY-level handy? I think you can do pretty well in most places if you can do typical DIYer stuff for people not able or confident. If you’re polite, punctual and tidy up after yourself you can get a decent list of low hassle clients who need bits and bobs doing. Find a good local plumber and electrician to sub anything trickier to.

Else IT is a pretty broad field, it’s not all coding. Much of it has more to do with customer service, problem solving, budgeting, managing people and suppliers, etc than pure tech skills. The AV / home automation route as mentioned may be worth pursuing if you’ve got practical skills and an interest in technology.

I changed from oil & gas to trades after a medical event that prevented me working offshore. Retrained as a GasSafe heating engineer via the local college on a 1-year accelerated course and it was absolutely great. The money as a heating engineer was surprisingly good and I loved the work, coming home every day having achieved something tangible. Not a job to be doing if you’re claustrophobic and/or generally stiff (running CH pipework in a 2′ crawl space under floorboards is not fun) nor if you’re squeamish (you’ll inevitably get lumped in with the plumbers and end up elbow deep in drains every now and again), but I’d happily go back to it if and when my current job comes to an end.

Lorry driver? These seem to be getting quite a bit of a pay bump recently.

@nickc I think that you’ve got the wrong end of the stick here mate. Being in a jazz band is going to work (and normally about the lowest paid work in the industry 🤣)

Killing my dreams man 🤣

Ha @Tom-B I’d be amazed if we didn’t have some mutual friends. Must be a thing for muso’s at this age tho, I know two that have gone into coding in the last few yrs and are doing well for themselves. The ones playing in Jazz bands? not so much…

Thanks for the suggestions so far, definitely food for thought. With the IT thing, it’s so broad I have no idea where to even start. Also not sure I’d survive in the corporate world- only ever been self employed and not particularly tolerant of ‘business lingo.’

Look at apprenticeships for the likes of national grid, water firms, gas firms, network rail etc. Ok rubbish pay for first couple of years but will soon pick up.

And no, you’re not too old for an apprenticeship.

As someone who played in bands and almost tried to make a career of it, but then chickened out and when back to Uni this thread has provided me with some mild comfort.

It’s always been at the back of my mind what my life would be like if id had a creative career rather than being a creative hobbyist. Seems like the grass isn’t always greener.

Dog walking seems to be quite a nice earner round this way

@Blackflag or the grass IS always greener- I’m going to change career, F**cking hate it, and go back to music because it was just fantastic all along XD

Gardening/landscape work.
I’ve never advertised and regularly turn work down .plenty of courses available.

IT first line engineer for an MSP?

Mostly just taking queries / calls initially but you’d get to see all the other positions in an IT company, technical / mgmt / projects or otherwise, and have a chance to work out which direction you’d like to take from there, if any. A lot of this type of work is remote, i.e. from home, as well.

[MSP]

I’ve done all sorts over the years;

Degree in media / communication but started out on Barclays Bank’s grad scheme as a high-net-worth account manager.

Went back to uni after 3 years to do a masters in political communication because I wanted to be a political journalist / researcher.

Got sucked in by the academic lifestyle so decided to stay on and do a PhD in political comms, but took a year out first to teach English in South Korea.

Left academia after four years because it just wasn’t a good fit for me culture-wise.

Managed a wine shop for 4 years (fun times!).

Moved to Spain with the wife and taught English for three years.

Recently gone back to the political comms stuff and now do project managing / copywriting for a political report writing company.

I’m 40 next November. Still don’t really know what I want to do. 😀

@devash interesting career path mate, you’ve certainly been about a bit! I always find it impressive when people have the courage to just switch things up- as a generally anxious b**stard the idea of it majorly stresses me out.

Any Locksmiths in the house? Look like it could be fairly interesting, well enough paid and some variety in the job. And I already have a van XD

IT seems such a broad job card, where do you even start?

I’m in a similar, but not, situation. I’m 10 years older than the OP and have worked in outdoor education and outdoor activity leading for over 20 years. I’m currently enjoying a fairly new role and am leading e-mtb rides regularly as well as canoeing, coasteering etc. Full time job on a salary so not bad at all.
Problem is, I’ve had the best job in this industry but was made redundant after covid. As a result nothing else will match that job and I’m keen to not be wearing a wetsuit to earn a living when I hit 50!
NO idea what I want to do; something in sustainability and environmental awareness (I have an env sci degree) but opportunities are few and far between in this part of the world.
Watching this thread with interest for ideas!

EDIT: I’m pretty sure my future isn’t in ‘cyber’ 🙂

Early 50’s and in the last couple of years I’ve gone from company Director, to teacher, to civil servant. My old Cannock mucker TomB, drop us a line if you want some sustainability advice.

I’ve done a couple of complete career changes (and I’m also in New Mills, maybe there’s a common factor…!)

All due to redundancy along the way, the first of which was horrendous, the second two were actually good opportunities. Each time it was a case of taking transferable skills plus some “interests/experience” to other areas.

Worked out quite well but I’m in a totally different area now from my original degree.

Dog walking seems to be quite a nice earner round this way

A friend did that for a while and hated it. Obnoxious owners, badly trained dogs, a demanding but disorganised business owner who’d constantly be switching schedules or doing “can you just…?” requests.

Never told old to change careers, at 45 I went from being a service engineer to a self employed gardener I am always busy and turn work away.

It must be in the air 48 and looking to jump before being pushed.
My industry is a tech dinosaur or the part I’m in is anyway it’s got 5 years ish left before it’s all IP stuff.
Renewable energy is looking like it might take me to 65 if I move over

Care work / nursing? Easy to get a taste of it by getting a job in a local care home which are constantly recruiting.

this, but go the NHS route maybe, care homes are a bit grim and if you pick the wrong one it might put you off, nhs while underfunded, still sort of cares who they employ

i went from a local computer shop retail dogsbody to NHS Mental Health 15 years ago (mid 20’s) best thing i did, then did a sports science degree from 38-41 and now on msc dietetics (still 41), will graduate in september ’24, then who knows,

Changed career at 32 from a Cartographer to a Police Officer. Then changed again at 45 to become a train driver. Never too late. Railway is an excellent place to work

@timizere yeah I’d guess we know loads of the same people! I seem to have become a full time dep post COVID, so we could have even played together 🤣

@scamperjenkins how are you buddy!! Nice hearing from you…..I shall pop you a message over shortly.

thee Kato?

Aside from my stock response of check out What colour is your parachute…

A mate of mine ended up working as a music therapist – could be interesting?

It must be in the air 48

Is that a thinly disguised Phil Collins joke! If so, you should be ashamed of yourself!

As a glimpse into my rock n roll lifestyle…. I’ve done a full day of teaching today. Just arrived at Chester Racecourse for a gig that doesn’t start until 11! Probably be home around 3am, then tomorrow’s gig is a 2 hour drive and a 4pm arrival…..and I’ve got to learn the first dance for that!

I’m hoping to study an MSc in Sustainability

What it is you want to do with that?

I worked in IT, did an MSc in environment sustainability at 31, but an MSc is a bolt on to any existing qualifications in my experience. i.e.. presume you have an undergrad – is it related?

I finished mine at the time of the economic crash and there were no jobs unless you had experience or contacts. The question was always “so you want to work to green IT?”. NO  I want it of IT.

And now, I’m still working in IT (but have come to terms with it!).