Advice please, running out of ideas :(

2budgeteers

Please be kind
So looking for some advice as really feel at a lose end with this.
Situation: husband is in early 30s been working in hard landscaping for a good few years now (supposed to be temporary but the years roll into one!). Works mostly for tiny family firm and it is going knowwhere. Clearly no plans to upscale (easily could), wages are low and the manual side will easily catch up with age.
Has extensive volunteering experience, events, confident speaker, interpersonal skills, environmental knowledge and holds a geology degree.
Desperate to get out, get paid a decent living wage for the south, utilise brain power (landscaping is very repetitive and no room for real personal development).
It is really starting to affect both of us, there is no budging on the current job situation, family anti change/trying anything. Have tried for five years now and it's time to throw in the towel.

Have tried:
Uploading CV onto websites, LinkedIn, applying directly for managerial environmental sector jobs to no avail.

Struggling to work out where/what to apply for as he is looking for office/hands on mix.

Matched pretty much every box on last couple of applications and they went internal/to someone known, an insider told us the environmental trust/charity/sustainability jobs nearly always go to people known to them, sometimes family but they have to put adverts out for 'fairness'

Ecology, environmental jobs always want set experience and won't take knowledge and skill set.

Have tried thinking about agricultural sector but no idea where to start

Has anyone got any ideas? What can we do? Where do we look/ideas of where to apply?

Les79

No idea, but I would recommend that he re-trace his steps from his geology degree if he wants to stay within that sort of area....


Where might he have gone with such a degree had the current job not materialised?


Could also try another landscaping role as they may be more willing to listen to his ideas.


Aside from that, it could potentially be a case of either re-training in another field or taking a hit on the money to get a more entry-level role in another line of work and work your way up.

jonnygee2

He works for a small business that could expand but doesn't. Why doesn't he set up his own business and expand into the space they are leaving? ��

theoretica

Has he looked at the Environment Agency and whether any of their roles might suit him? https://environmentagencyjobs.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/mobile-0/appcentre-1/brand-2/xf-abb420a3ccea/candidate/jobboard/vacancy/1/adv/



What would he need to set up on his own? Take on the more interesting and planning bits and hire or subcontract younger muscle? Any environmental trusts he could get known to before they next advertise?

JayRitchie

Hate to say this but I think he needs to not focus too much on ecology type jobs - other than the Environment Agency as suggested above. Far too many people want such jobs which gets very incestuous.

I'd look into less 'cool' areas such as quantity surveying, working at managerial level in a grounds maintenance firm, even some entry level IT work.

How much does he earn at the moment? Might that be a problem retaining his current income?

theoretica

Also look at the type of jobs water companies have on offer.

2budgeteers

It is a family run business, as in his own family. Dad went from intentions of growth and thinking outside the box to not even holding conversations, not even on future plans for retirement (or not)

2budgeteers

Re ecology keep hearing to stay away, and we did ring up an ecology membership thing and they basically said no chance without a degree, or at least it is hard to get into and progress and is very very susceptable to construction industry up/downs and very seasonal

nicechap

2budgeteers wrote: »

Please be kind
So looking for some advice as really feel at a lose end with this.
Situation: husband is in early 30s been working in hard landscaping for a good few years now (supposed to be temporary but the years roll into one!). Works mostly for tiny family firm and it is going knowwhere. Clearly no plans to upscale (easily could), wages are low and the manual side will easily catch up with age.
Has extensive volunteering experience, events, confident speaker, interpersonal skills, environmental knowledge and holds a geology degree.
Desperate to get out, get paid a decent living wage for the south, utilise brain power (landscaping is very repetitive and no room for real personal development).
It is really starting to affect both of us, there is no budging on the current job situation, family anti change/trying anything. Have tried for five years now and it's time to throw in the towel.

Have tried:
Uploading CV onto websites, LinkedIn, applying directly for managerial environmental sector jobs to no avail.

Struggling to work out where/what to apply for as he is looking for office/hands on mix.

Matched pretty much every box on last couple of applications and they went internal/to someone known, an insider told us the environmental trust/charity/sustainability jobs nearly always go to people known to them, sometimes family but they have to put adverts out for 'fairness'

Ecology, environmental jobs always want set experience and won't take knowledge and skill set.

Have tried thinking about agricultural sector but no idea where to start

Has anyone got any ideas? What can we do? Where do we look/ideas of where to apply?

If he has a geology degree he should be able to apply for all manner of jobs. Teaching, local council and civil service executive officers. If he wants to work for a private company, many need environmental managers which his work experience and volunteering skill set would help him with. Jobs rarely come to you so it can be a question of scanning wide and sending his CV with a targeted letter to any employers that take his fancy.

Good luck

2budgeteers

Just read through everything again and thanks to all. Have a bit more confidence that what we are doing is right, we just need to keep trying and eventually it will happen.

We are ramping it up as of next week and trying to ring round companit speculatively, before we have kept being hung up/transferred as they think you are an agency but we will keep on, even resort to email or Twitter.

Does anyone have any ideas on agriculture? Estate management? That kind of thing? That appeals to him but that area we can't even work out where to ring let alone where they advertise other than agri jobs.

lindens

Something like estate/land management might suit. The Lady often has jobs at "big houses" around this type of thing