Career change at 27 with mortgage

bodmil

Do you really need to do a full degree to move jobs? Could you get an entry level job and work your way up instead of forking out tuition fees and losing earnings?

Dunroamin

Why not start off with a 60 credit OU unit whilst carrying on working while you see how you get on with it? Also, I'd recommend seeing a Careers Adviser to discuss your interests.

National_Careers_Service

Hi

I understand that you’re thinking about a possible career change and you have a few things to consider before deciding whether this would be right for you or not. It’s a quandary that many people find themselves in - you are comfortable in terms of salary and your potential to cover bills and save for the future, but something is missing. Money and the security it gives is obviously important, but so is the need to be happy in your job.

You’ve probably got lots of questions at the moment – can I afford to change; will it be something I enjoy if I do; will it be worth it in the end; how long would it take me to be where I really want to be; and even where is it I actually want to be? Although you can never really know all of these things with absolute certainty, you can definitely be more informed/ more aware of your options and thereby minimise the risk associated with change.

You mention the fact that you’ve decided to do a Business and Economics Degree with the Open University, and you say that “hopefully it will open doors” – do you know what doors you’d like to be opened - do you have any particular career ideas at the moment? This degree could be a good option for many different careers, e.g. as an Economist; Business Manager; Human Resource Officer; etc. To find out about different careers If you do have any ideas about what you’d like to do next then you can explore careers - how to get into them, what the job involves, etc, check out the Job Profiles on our website.

Have you started to think about what it is you want from a job? It might be worth talking to a careers adviser – they will encourage you to think further about what the right career for you could be. I am sure that there are lots of different ones which would utilise your current sales skills and experience – they might not necessarily even need you to have a degree.

When thinking of career options it’s a good idea to consider what skills you have; what skills you’d like to have or to develop; what kind of environment you’d like to work in; what kind of tasks you like to do. Balanced against your ‘wishlist’ you will probably also need to consider what is realistic; e.g. how long do you want to retrain for; can you afford the training – is there any funding help for this; are there opportunities for the type of work you are looking at and in your particular area; etc.?

If you decide to do a degree, there are as you say two main options: study part-time for 5-6 years whilst continuing to work in sales; or to study full-time in a shorter period of time, e.g. 3 years. Have you worked out your finances yet, i.e. word out the figures in terms of what you might get money-wise from possible loans/ grants for Higher Education learning, both full-time and part-time? If not, it could be a good idea to work out the costs of learning in real terms. The following link may help you calculate this: HE Funding – this will explain the possible funding options which may be available to you if you do choose to study for a degree.

I hope that the information and advice offered so far has been helpful to you. Let us know a bit more about your ideas and any other concerns that you might have. In the meantime good luck with your research.

AutumnMist

Have you thought about another role within a dealership such as service advisor/ warranty department?

I used to work in an electrical retailer years ago as my first job. It was great, a really good environment to work in, and I enjoyed working with the public.

Then I changed careers to admin and stayed too long in the job. I hated it and was bored out of my mind. Day in day out, all the same dull work, with no challenge. And most of my day spent in the office myself, or with one other person.

I had a job in field sales for a while but it didn't last. The actual job itself was great, I really enjoyed it, I loved going out and getting customers and making sales.

So I'm unemployed now, went back to uni part time. I'd love to get back into a proper sales job but have little chance.

recruiter27

Have you considered being a Recruitment Consultant? It would use your sales skills but in quite a different environment?

Gentoo365

You can do the course in less years if you don't go out every weekend and spend a decent amount of time on it.

Also, from experience, you do not need to finish the degree before getting the benefits of studying. When you apply for internal jobs (or external jobs) you can list the modules you have completed and the degree you are aiming for and it will give you a slight advantage.