NON Office Based Jobs, any ideas?!

Matt16v

Hi All,

I'm 28 years old and i currently work as a Marketing Assistant for a fairly large company supplying to the Education market. It's a pretty good job and all but after doing this job for 2 years and my previous job for 3 (purchasing assistant) i've come to realise the glaring fact that i am not cut out for office work!!! Sitting at a desk in a small stuffy office, in a little cubicle, with my manager sitting right opposite me breathing down my neck every 5 minutes giving me grief, staring at spreadsheets all day is literally starting to drive me mad! I'm just so bored of it. I want to do something different, something where i feel like im actually contributing to something, something where at the end of the day i feel like ive actually achieved something, but what?!?!?

You go onto these job sites like Monster, Reed etc and its all 'sales this' and 'marketing that' and thats just not what im looking for anymore. Has anyone got any ideas at least where i can start looking for jobs that dont involve sitting at a computer screen all day?!? I've even thought about something within the police force or a firefighter (the mrs is not too happy about that idea! And it would be a tough one, but im a fairly determined type of guy!), car valeting even, im open to the idea of almost anything.

As i said im 28, works out a fair amount, didnt do amazingly well at school and have got the job ive got now through nothing other than hard graft and working upwards, on 20k per year which isnt a huge amount and i couldnt really afford or want a pay decrease, im just so stuck for ideas on this one!

Help meeeeeeee!!!

Matt

ESKIMO

Hi Matt,

Go for it. Just get out there and do it. Although i would suggest to keep your job 'safe' for the moment (you might not enjoy it but at least it's paying all the bills right?)

Generate and develop a Plan of Action, bullet point what you want, where you want to be in a year, 2 , 3, 5 years down the line etc. - It's effectively a late/early New Years Resolutions list.

Just sit down and brain storm it all.

Maybe even consider writing a business plan?

You'll make the right decision either way. Best of luck.

teabelly

There are loads of non office jobs. Many are construction related like being a plumber, electrician, carpenter, brickie etc. Bin man?? Less dangerous than fireman or police officer

Savvy_Sue

So what skills do you have? Would you feel happier in a better office? Or working for a 'better' cause?

paulwf

Sales doesn't have to be stuck in an office all day looking at excel spreadsheets. You could be an account manager or agent for a company or group of brands.

I used to work in a bike shop and we'd make the reps a cup of tea, chat about whatever for a few minutes, they would then show the latest products and sort out any queries with our account then take an order.

It's long days if you are on the road but the face to face contact and building relationships with shop staff must make it a much more rewarding job.

Matt16v

Just checked back on this, thanks for all the replies guys! Some good advice there.

I have thought about field sales and that type of thing, and i think i would be good at it as i can talk to and get on with and find common ground with almost anyone, so its worth considering sure.

As for skills, the skills i have are the ones i've learnt through working experiences really. I didnt go into further education when i left school (i would do if i could go back and do it all again!) so ive been working for about the last 10 years and you do pick up a lot in that time. I can fly around pretty any computer system, pick up things extremely quickly, good eye for detail, good marketing knowledge, that type of thing, as well as 4 years logistics experience. Maybe as has been said i just need a change and a job in the same profession would be fine, but i guess only time will tell if that turns out to be the case.

The search goes on!

I guess i should count myself lucky really, i mean i do have a good job and its not like im out of work and HAVE to get a job to pay the bills next month. There are people far worse off than me and im fully aware of that!

Matt16v

Oh, i also seriously considered a pumber too, but have you seen how much it costs to train as one?!? Certainely through the companies i was contacted by (all of whom mentioned somewhere around the figure of 5 grand!), of course it owuld be cheaper to go directly through a college i would have thought, but then the courses are usually full time and im in full time employment.

highguyuk

I have a not to dissimilar situation to use, although I have been made redundant rather than looking for something else whilst still in work.

I use to earn an amount close to yours, but when looking at other careers from scratch when you have no experience in the field it is very hard to apply for a position offering similar money. The more you move up one ladder, the harder it is to get on a different one on the same rung.

I'm currently trying to use my skills that I've got in my previous job and apply them to other positions. You have experience in Purchasing and Marketing, so think how you could write a CV or a covering letter using your skills on another position. The obvious one is of course sales!

Matt16v

highguyuk wrote: »

I have a not to dissimilar situation to use, although I have been made redundant rather than looking for something else whilst still in work.

I use to earn an amount close to yours, but when looking at other careers from scratch when you have no experience in the field it is very hard to apply for a position offering similar money. The more you move up one ladder, the hard it is to get on a different one on the same rung.

I'm currently trying to use my skills that I've got in my previous job and apply them to other positions. You have experience in Purchasing and Marketing, so think how you could write a CV or a covering letter using your skills on another position. The obvious one is of course sales!

I think that is a very good and well made point, and is something I've certainely found whilst looking for jobs in a different profession! Thanks for the great advice re the covering letters etc, its something i have been doing. I have my cv laid out as if applying for a marketing position but it's always worth re-looking at this if applying for a different type of position and maybe re-word accodingly as you quite rightly say.

highguyuk

Matt16v wrote: »

I think that is a very good and well made point, and is something I've certainely found whilst looking for jobs in a different profession! Thanks for the great advice re the covering letters etc, its something i have been doing. I have my cv laid out as if applying for a marketing position but it's always worth re-looking at this if applying for a different type of position and maybe re-word accodingly as you quite rightly say.

I had my CV all laid out a few months back before I was made redundant and was reasonably happy with it.

Then I had a chat with a careers specialist that my employer brought in, had a few chats and thought - eeek! :eek: My CV sucks!

After many many hours I'm back to a template CV I am happy with if I were to apply for "my old job" so to speak. It really is the case though as people say on here that you need to adjust your CV to the application.

I've received notification today of an upcoming interview. For this position, I reworded several lines and job role descriptions to echo the job requirements and show I could do the new job role even though my knowledge is in a completely different field of work.

You have a strong advantage that your still in work. You sound like you've done well for yourself. So you can take your time, apply for the jobs you really want and work hard on your CV/application form/cover letter for each application. Hopefully ... the work will pay off in the end. :D:D

Proppo

I'm a multi-skilled tradesman, basically that mean's I can do anything in your garden, brick work, timber work, paving etc...

For me it's a hugely rewarding job, but again it has it's downsides. The weather basically, having to work in the poaring rain can make it a bit miserable and very muddy but with a pair of water-proof's it's not a huge problem.

Obviously, you won't be able to start off on that type of work, you would have to either do a course, or start of as a labourer. I was fortunate in a way, that since I first left school I started working alongside my dad, who'd had 25+years experience in the same thing. So I started off labouring for him and overtime developed some very useful skills.

I personally think that Math's is one of the most important skills of the trade, it helps from working off the plan, to knowing exact timber measurements etc.

But for me, you not only see customer satisfaction, you also get a huge sence of self-achievement. One of the jobs I had taken on a few months back involved several circular/curved walls, all infiled with a random pattern of slab which were all cut perfectly to match the curve. I have plenty of photo's of it aswell. The more skillful, the greater the sence of achievement.

Not sure if that helps at all, just thought I'd give my views on the type of work that I do.