What trade/niche to retrain in

BoBoDobie

I don't know if I'm having an early mid life crisis or its the current state of the world but I'm thinking about retraining for a new career.  I do admin, I've always done admin and whilst I don't dislike it, it doesn't pay well, I get just over £20k and I'm at the top of my pay scale at that.   The lack of earning decent money has always held me back in life regards not being able to live how I'd like to live ie move house for one thing  - my wages mean I live pretty much within my means but not much, if any, left over at the end of the month.  So I'm thinking about retraining but I don't know what, I'm the wrong side of 40 and I don't know if its too late? 

I've always been good with my hands and think I'd like to do something practical like a maybe a trade.  The idea of not working in an office is appealing.     Looking at the trades I know about, I don't fancy plumbing its too much heavy lifting and too mucky,  I'd thought about being an electrician but after speaking to my brother who is a sparkie, they don't get paid as much as I'd thought (he's done the whole spectrum of running his own business as domestic electrician and now works commercial for someone else) and if I'm going to dedicate 3 or 4 years to training I want something that's worthwhile at the other end.  I thought maybe locksmith sounds interesting.  Joiner/carpenter I'm not interested in.  Digger driver maybe?    I know once I get my teeth into something I'll be driven to see it through but I'm missing that flash of inspiration as to what I can do.

I know money isn't everything but its a motivator for me to want to better myself and my life for my young daughter.  I want something that's going to be in demand and a job I'll enjoy doing for the next 25 years or so.  I've looked online for help and I did the governments career quiz (fairground ride operator apparently lol) but I'm not having much inspiration.  Any pointers please?

moneysavinghero

Have you considered Office Manager type jobs, these would allow you to use the skills and experience you have built up but would pay more than just general admin roles. Or are you set on a total change of direction?

Maybe an office manager role at a builders where they will also train you up on the diggers so you can earn and train at the same time.

AskAsk

wrong side of 40, i am assuming late 40s.  in my opinion, you are a little bit too long in the tooth to be considering a career change at this stage of your life and if you are, it would only be possible if it was related to your existing career, where your existing skills are useful for the new career.

what about getting an admin job with the public sector?  they may pay no more than the private sector but i believe there is less pressure and you get the public sector pension, which for someone in their late 40s, would be significant value.

a public sector job would also be a lot more secure.  so you could look for vacancies with the council, schools, universities, colleges and the NHS? and other public bodies?

Malthusian

BoBoDobie said:

my wages mean I live pretty much within my means but not much, if any, left over at the end of the month.

This is your biggest problem with changing career then, as the first step is to accept that it will probably involve a - hopefully temporary - drop in income until you have trained up. If you are earning £20k you have relatively little to lose (depending on where you are in the country). But you seem to be saying you can't afford even a little drop in income.

A "side hustle" is the obvious solution to that problem, as it would bring in more income instead of less - at the expense of having less free time. If you're good with your hands could you offer some kind of creative / maintenance service that you could do on the weekends or evenings on a self-employed basis? Once you had enough business and enough spare income saved up you might be able to transition to doing it full time.

The main obstacle is whether you have enough energy to work two jobs. (And whether your current employer would be happy with you moonlighting. Generally a self-employed "hobby business" isn't going to be a problem unless it starts to impact on your ability to do your main job.)

How did the people you do admin for (your line manager and others on the rung above you) get into their position? Could you follow the path they did? In my industry it's not difficult for an administrator to take the step up to a more technical support role and from there a senior fee-earning position if they have the ability and inclination.

BoBoDobie

money.moneysavinghero said:

Have you considered Office Manager type jobs, these would allow you to use the skills and experience you have built up but would pay more than just general admin roles. Or are you set on a total change of direction?

Maybe an office manager role at a builders where they will also train you up on the diggers so you can earn and train at the same time.

Thanks but I've no interest in being an office manager, its a thankless task for not much more money.  I want a change of direction, something I can train for a feel like I've achieved something.

BoBoDobie

AskAsk said:

wrong side of 40, i am assuming late 40s.  in my opinion, you are a little bit too long in the tooth to be considering a career change at this stage of your life and if you are, it would only be possible if it was related to your existing career, where your existing skills are useful for the new career.

what about getting an admin job with the public sector?  they may pay no more than the private sector but i believe there is less pressure and you get the public sector pension, which for someone in their late 40s, would be significant value.

a public sector job would also be a lot more secure.  so you could look for vacancies with the council, schools, universities, colleges and the NHS? and other public bodies?

Thanks I'm 43 and I work in the public sector.  I get the pension sure its secure and I don't dislike the job, my colleagues are great but I want a change of direction.  I want to wake up feeling enthused that I'm training for something that I'm proud of doing.

Waunakee

AskAsk said:

wrong side of 40, i am assuming late 40s.  in my opinion, you are a little bit too long in the tooth to be considering a career change at this stage of your life and if you are, it would only be possible if it was related to your existing career, where your existing skills are useful for the new career.

 What an insulting response! 
 I opted for a total career change at 41,which I suppose could be considered the wrong side of 40 but certainly not long in the tooth!
New career (supply chain management) is totally unrelated to my old one (nuclear medicine) and was the best move I have ever made.
Happier,very well paid and no longer time poor!

BoBoDobie

Malthusian said:

BoBoDobie said:

my wages mean I live pretty much within my means but not much, if any, left over at the end of the month.

This is your biggest problem with changing career then, as the first step is to accept that it will probably involve a - hopefully temporary - drop in income until you have trained up. If you are earning £20k you have relatively little to lose (depending on where you are in the country). But you seem to be saying you can't afford even a little drop in income.

A "side hustle" is the obvious solution to that problem, as it would bring in more income instead of less - at the expense of having less free time. If you're good with your hands could you offer some kind of creative / maintenance service that you could do on the weekends or evenings on a self-employed basis? Once you had enough business and enough spare income saved up you might be able to transition to doing it full time.

The main obstacle is whether you have enough energy to work two jobs. (And whether your current employer would be happy with you moonlighting. Generally a self-employed "hobby business" isn't going to be a problem unless it starts to impact on your ability to do your main job.)

How did the people you do admin for (your line manager and others on the rung above you) get into their position? Could you follow the path they did? In my industry it's not difficult for an administrator to take the step up to a more technical support role and from there a senior fee-earning position if they have the ability and inclination.

Thanks I do a 'side hussle' as you say already.  I have shops on Etsy and Ebay where I make and sell things, i've done this for about 15 years.  It helps bring in some extra income but its not scratching the itch so to speak about my career.    I've no desire to get higher up in the path I'm in.

BoBoDobie

Waunakee said:

AskAsk said:

wrong side of 40, i am assuming late 40s.  in my opinion, you are a little bit too long in the tooth to be considering a career change at this stage of your life and if you are, it would only be possible if it was related to your existing career, where your existing skills are useful for the new career.

 What an insulting response! 
 I opted for a total career change at 41,which I suppose could be considered the wrong side of 40 but certainly not long in the tooth!
New career (supply chain management) is totally unrelated to my old one (nuclear medicine) and was the best move I have ever made.
Happier,very well paid and no longer time poor!

Thank you, what is Supply Chain Management and how did you come to decide you wanted to do it ?  

Tammykitty

BoBoDobie said:

Malthusian said:

BoBoDobie said:

my wages mean I live pretty much within my means but not much, if any, left over at the end of the month.

This is your biggest problem with changing career then, as the first step is to accept that it will probably involve a - hopefully temporary - drop in income until you have trained up. If you are earning £20k you have relatively little to lose (depending on where you are in the country). But you seem to be saying you can't afford even a little drop in income.

A "side hustle" is the obvious solution to that problem, as it would bring in more income instead of less - at the expense of having less free time. If you're good with your hands could you offer some kind of creative / maintenance service that you could do on the weekends or evenings on a self-employed basis? Once you had enough business and enough spare income saved up you might be able to transition to doing it full time.

The main obstacle is whether you have enough energy to work two jobs. (And whether your current employer would be happy with you moonlighting. Generally a self-employed "hobby business" isn't going to be a problem unless it starts to impact on your ability to do your main job.)

How did the people you do admin for (your line manager and others on the rung above you) get into their position? Could you follow the path they did? In my industry it's not difficult for an administrator to take the step up to a more technical support role and from there a senior fee-earning position if they have the ability and inclination.

Thanks I do a 'side hussle' as you say already.  I have shops on Etsy and Ebay where I make and sell things, i've done this for about 15 years.  It helps bring in some extra income but its not scratching the itch so to speak about my career.    I've no desire to get higher up in the path I'm in.

What about taking this one stage further and actually open a shop (Not the best to it now though)
Its never too lake to change career - consider what is out there - even without retraining, what about factory work or a non skilled building site work?

or if retraining - consider taking a course in something you are interested in while still in your own job

Although do think about it logically if going into manual work - your own job you will be able to do when older, manual work will be more difficult..

Indigo_and_Violet

Are there any things you do like about your current job? What sort of salary are you targeting? Beyond wanting to work with your hands, do you have any thing else you're looking for in your new career? Would you be happy to work outside in all weathers? What is it about joinery/carpentry that you don't like the sound of? What conditions would you be willing to accept to re-train (e.g. would you accept having to do a degree first? An apprenticeship on a low wage?). Would you be willing to relocate? If not, a good start would be to consider what the labour market is like near you - are there any big employers and if so what professions are they employing? 

Within my family I've got people working as engineers for OpenReach (plenty of overtime available to bump up basic wage, good training but outside in all weathers) managing road building sites (might not be ideal at 40 as they started at the bottom as a labourer and worked up), at hydroelectric plants (a good high-skill apprenticeship but quite tied to the location), managing grounds (low pay for a long time until recognised as a high-skill employee, now better pay but very early starts and again, location dependent) plus in public services (ambulance now needs a degree which is hard to get on to but lots of overtime available once employed, police still accepting non-degree but not sure on age limit). My understanding (and its not my field so I am happy to be told I'm wrong) is that things like digger drivers/forklift operators do get paid well but often follow a similar career to my uncle on the roads - employers will pay for training but only after you've paid your dues with a stint at the bottom of the ladder with some hard physical graft. This might not be the case if you're willing to pay for your own training. 

It seems like you have given it a lot of thought and have some quite clear ideas about what does and doesn't work for you which is a great place to start. Once you get some other ideas of jobs then there's loads of folk on these boards that I'm sure can give you the inside details on what is and isn't so great about different roles.