Stagnant IT "Career" - change paths or make the best of IT?

Gary1885

It didn't go up every year, and it was only £11k over 9 years so not quite £1,500 a year! In fact, it was a career graded post and I was stuck under a glass ceiling towards the end. It would've been OK if I'd started at maybe £20-25k in the beginning, but it didn't.

Gary1885

I used to do it years ago and achieved constantly good figures. I should have done it instead of IT, but I didn't. I don't want to be 39 years old and still in the same position now. Surely transferable skills come into play to accelerate my career in another field?

Gary1885

I've actually just moved from the north west to the south east.

Gary1885

As I stated, the only qualifications they put you through were ones to allow them to tick a box. Anything that was seen as personal development was not possible. I wasted 9 years of my life and I desperately need to catch up. I have a professional attitude, I'm articulate, good with people and very hard working, but none of this has got me anywhere.

Yes, I messed up even going to uni in the first place. I chose the wrong course for me and ended up quitting. I took an IT job and was given the impression that driving at it for a few years would mean good career prospects, but it just didn't work out that way and I couldn't be more disappointed in the way it worked out.

Yes, I am bitter and I will feel frustrated at starting out and doing the things I was excited to start doing 10 years ago but never got the chance. I cannot stand the thought of having to plod along for another 5 to 10 years and not know if it's going anywhere. To be perfectly honest I need to see results within a year so that I can decide whether to stick with it or just throw the towel in.

Ja7188

I used to do it years ago and achieved constantly good figures. I should have done it instead of IT, but I didn't. I don't want to be 39 years old and still in the same position now. Surely transferable skills come into play to accelerate my career in another field?

If this refers to your time in retail then you'll probably find that employers won't count it. What will accelerate your career if you do go down the sales route is getting stuck in putting several years' worth of strong figures behind you which will allow you to look at more senior roles. Whether or not some of the skills you already have will be transferable will depend on what type of sales role you go for - some will expect a high degree of technical know-how and others will be more around client relationships - obviously you have the former but will need experience in the latter to open up a wider range of roles.

I've actually just moved from the north west to the south east.

Probably a good move for someone in your field - despite the much higher living costs down here!

Ja7188

Yes, I am bitter and I will feel frustrated at starting out and doing the things I was excited to start doing 10 years ago but never got the chance. I cannot stand the thought of having to plod along for another 5 to 10 years and not know if it's going anywhere. To be perfectly honest I need to see results within a year so that I can decide whether to stick with it or just throw the towel in.

Lots of people change careers in their 30s - it's not unusual and not a bad thing - however, don't expect immediate results! If you throw the towel in within a year, what would you do next?

theoretica

Gary1885 wrote: »

It's a little upsetting to hear that achieving a reasonable "adult" salary within a couple of years - after all of those years working in this industry - is still not likely to be possible and I'll be starting at the bottom again. I know a lot of people who achieved much more than this in their twenties. At 34, I'm starting to feel embarrassed and frustrated at my salary and in particular the lack of progression. £25,000 isn't much more than £12 an hour. I could go and get a cleaning job on that rate, so why put up with all the stress of an IT role?

I think you need to be clearer headed about your salary aims - unless you are in London, £40k is definitely above average for a full time salary. Absolutely aim for a high salary if that's what you want, but to achieve an above average salary you will find it helps to be clear that you are aiming above average and it needs the associated effort and results. To progress, what are you giving your employers that you weren't a year or two ago? By calling or thinking of your aims merely as a "reasonable" salary I fear you may be sabotaging yourself.

Gary1885

Another way of looking at this then would be to say that many jobs, for example sales, seem to advertise 25k plus 8-10k OTE plus a car allowance.

Most IT jobs pay just the 25k, expect you to pay for business insurance on your own car and then pay you 40p per mile in expenses, which doesn't come close to covering the true cost of running a car for work's benefit.

I'm not saying that the commission is guaranteed in all sales roles, but the people I've spoken to in that field certainly seem to get it. I suppose as a TOTAL income, I'd be looking for that.

I do have a substantial income from the band already, but I need a career to fall back on for the future.

If I could achieve a minimum of 30k within a year, that would be ideal. I've just applied for a 2nd line job that I'm more than qualified for; 2nd line, Windows desktop and server, MSP etc. It might overpay but I need to try something.

I'm trying to balance still paying the mortgage for my home that hasn't sold yet, plus household bills, car expenses and cost of living. On top of which, I have to pay off some credit cards, so the more I can earn, the better.

One of my main concerns is that my pension on my old job went from a final salary to an average salary pension, so I lost out massively there. I don't want to continue losing out by continuing along this slow paced trajectory.

hyubh

Gary1885 wrote: »

One of my main concerns is that my pension on my old job went from a final salary to an average salary pension, so I lost out massively there. I don't want to continue losing out by continuing along this slow paced trajectory.

An LGPS pension is way, way beyond anything you could get in the private sector (it added at least 15% to your gross salary, more if you particularly value the guaranteed income in retirement). In addition, the move from final salary to CARE was probably in your interests, given the much better accrual rate, and likely definitely was, were you not to return to a public sector scheme and resume the final salary link.

Gary1885

I suppose it is, but with any pension, the less you're earning, the less you're going to get back!