Job search after nearly three decades! - Advice needed please!

lincroft1710

Klippety said:

DidleySquat said:

Klippety said:

What kind of work are you currently doing? Did you hold any other jobs before getting the job you are in? 

Hi:)
I'm currently in administration and I've had other jobs previously, also in office work.  I'm open to changing to do something else and not be chained to a desk anymore, as long as I can pay the bills.

Your experience of administration would stand you in good stead for a job in the civil service. They regularly recruit en masse and are less prejudiced against more experienced applicants. Have a look on www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk to see if there's anything that catches your eye. Good luck and well done for considering a change of scene. 

The only trouble with current CS recruitment method is that you could pass the interview but be waiting for months for an actual post and sometimes one doesn't materialise

twopenny

Check what the time you are given for fitting into the job. Also if you have enough money to keep you happy in your home if you were earning less.

And your pension. Have you paid enough, can you earn enough to make up the difference.

Decorating is a good job but often you need to find that sometimes you are overwhealmed with work and sometimes not enough so it's very different.

You are in a secure position right now and getting practise in checking out what is available and how it would suit your financially. Looking for other options will take the pressure off what you are doing now so use it to build up knowledge and your CV.

Now this is whacky compared to your experience now but have you considered VSO

https://www.vsointernational.org/about/careers

I looked at some of these but you do need to find a reality check. I looked at teaching in the Maldives but knew that travelling between islands in monsoon season and being isolated as a white english speaker wasn't for me. I was also offered a nature walker on a tropical island but living in a small building with a lot of youngsters was going to be my nightmare   

I did change jobs but it was out of the frying pan into the fire. I got a lot of interesting experience even so

Cherryfudge

I'm another who changed direction at an unconventional point - nearly 60. It's massive but I'm much happier and am discovering I have lots of transferrable skills. So in your current job I'm guessing you use Word and spreadsheets, answer the phone, keep track of the diary and so forth, but you are probably full of soft skills too. Dealing with a wide variety of people? Prioritising your workload? Flexibility? Willingness to learn? Keeping calm? Being objective? Etc.

Another thing is life experience. When I returned to work after having my children, I found I had confidence that was invaluable and which I didn't really have before. Life experience also helps you be objective: you are less likely to make a drama out of a crisis.

Would you consider care work? It can be physically and mentally testing, but a few decades of dealing with people are a big asset.

Do bear in mind you have to approach new opportunities with a positive mindset, or at least positive phraseology. Don't tell an interviewer 'I thought I might try this' if you can say 'When I saw this post advertised, I realised it could be an opportunity to use my skills in ... in a different setting, and the idea of working in ... really caught my interest'.

One word of warning: be careful you aren't taking your problems with you. I've seen people start a job and leave again a while later because whatever they were unhappy about hadn't been dealt with. For instance, they were bored/couldn't get on with colleagues/the hours were too long, and in the next job, exactly the same happened because the job wasn't catching their imagination/they didn't have the social skills or were themselves hard to get on with/they needed shorter hours.

But the world 'out there' is full of opportunities. Start pushing a few doors and see which ones might open a crack, and don't talk yourself out of something that excites you just because you've not done it before. Even if you aren't successful with things you apply for, ask for feedback and work on the areas suggested.

kimwp

Female handy person? You could sign up to fiver and job rabbit (or whatever they are called) and see if it's something you get along with.

DidleySquat

twopenny said:

Check what the time you are given for fitting into the job. Also if you have enough money to keep you happy in your home if you were earning less.

And your pension. Have you paid enough, can you earn enough to make up the difference.

Decorating is a good job but often you need to find that sometimes you are overwhelmed with work and sometimes not enough so it's very different.

You are in a secure position right now and getting practise in checking out what is available and how it would suit your financially. Looking for other options will take the pressure off what you are doing now so use it to build up knowledge and your CV.

Now this is whacky compared to your experience now but have you considered VSO

https://www.vsointernational.org/about/careers

I looked at some of these but you do need to find a reality check. I looked at teaching in the Maldives but knew that travelling between islands in monsoon season and being isolated as a white english speaker wasn't for me. I was also offered a nature walker on a tropical island but living in a small building with a lot of youngsters was going to be my nightmare   

I did change jobs but it was out of the frying pan into the fire. I got a lot of interesting experience even so

Thanks twopenny.  It's a lot to think about.  I am in a good position, too  comfy on a practical level which has made it too easy to not move over the years.  I fortunately, have all my qualifying years for the pension, I just can't access it yet   As for the VSO, without going into details, I'm sort of tied to stay in the UK.  I love the idea though

Cherryfudge

DidleySquat said:

As for the VSO... I love the idea 

I think it's worth looking at what sparks excitement. Perhaps there are UK opportunities similar to VSO?

DidleySquat

Cherryfudge said:

I'm another who changed direction at an unconventional point - nearly 60. It's massive but I'm much happier and am discovering I have lots of transferrable skills. So in your current job I'm guessing you use Word and spreadsheets, answer the phone, keep track of the diary and so forth, but you are probably full of soft skills too. Dealing with a wide variety of people? Prioritising your workload? Flexibility? Willingness to learn? Keeping calm? Being objective? Etc.

Another thing is life experience. When I returned to work after having my children, I found I had confidence that was invaluable and which I didn't really have before. Life experience also helps you be objective: you are less likely to make a drama out of a crisis.

Would you consider care work? It can be physically and mentally testing, but a few decades of dealing with people are a big asset.

Do bear in mind you have to approach new opportunities with a positive mindset, or at least positive phraseology. Don't tell an interviewer 'I thought I might try this' if you can say 'When I saw this post advertised, I realised it could be an opportunity to use my skills in ... in a different setting, and the idea of working in ... really caught my interest'.

One word of warning: be careful you aren't taking your problems with you. I've seen people start a job and leave again a while later because whatever they were unhappy about hadn't been dealt with. For instance, they were bored/couldn't get on with colleagues/the hours were too long, and in the next job, exactly the same happened because the job wasn't catching their imagination/they didn't have the social skills or were themselves hard to get on with/they needed shorter hours.

But the world 'out there' is full of opportunities. Start pushing a few doors and see which ones might open a crack, and don't talk yourself out of something that excites you just because you've not done it before. Even if you aren't successful with things you apply for, ask for feedback and work on the areas suggested.

Thanks for this -  Yes, I have the  standard office skills, though not a whizz on the old spreadsheets though (why does everyone else seem to be!),  but yes, I hadn't thought about the 'soft' skills of which I do have a few.  Really positive food for thought

Cherryfudge

It's worth googling for examples of transferable skills - most of them sneak up on you while you're doing other things and it's easy to miss things that could be of real value to an employer.

Rosa_Damascena

lincroft1710 said:

I think you first need to decide what you want to do and sensibly review if you have suitable qualifications. Start writing your CV.


Be aware that with a new job you will be in a very vulnerable position for 2 years, having minimal employment rights.

Not so, give it a short time and the Labour government will change that situation.

OP - you cannot continue in a job that is causing you such anxiety, but that does not mean that you need to make it easy for your employer IF this is something that was created by intent. Alternatively, is redundancy an option on the horizon?

One of my talents is matching people up with fulfilling work (a hobby rather than a career). This is a useful model to consider. At the moment you seem stuck in the profession segment, finding a similar role in the right environment could make all the difference to your quality of life:

Savvy_Sue

DidleySquat said:

Cherryfudge said:

I'm another who changed direction at an unconventional point - nearly 60. It's massive but I'm much happier and am discovering I have lots of transferrable skills. So in your current job I'm guessing you use Word and spreadsheets, answer the phone, keep track of the diary and so forth, but you are probably full of soft skills too. Dealing with a wide variety of people? Prioritising your workload? Flexibility? Willingness to learn? Keeping calm? Being objective? Etc.

Another thing is life experience. When I returned to work after having my children, I found I had confidence that was invaluable and which I didn't really have before. Life experience also helps you be objective: you are less likely to make a drama out of a crisis.

Would you consider care work? It can be physically and mentally testing, but a few decades of dealing with people are a big asset.

Do bear in mind you have to approach new opportunities with a positive mindset, or at least positive phraseology. Don't tell an interviewer 'I thought I might try this' if you can say 'When I saw this post advertised, I realised it could be an opportunity to use my skills in ... in a different setting, and the idea of working in ... really caught my interest'.

One word of warning: be careful you aren't taking your problems with you. I've seen people start a job and leave again a while later because whatever they were unhappy about hadn't been dealt with. For instance, they were bored/couldn't get on with colleagues/the hours were too long, and in the next job, exactly the same happened because the job wasn't catching their imagination/they didn't have the social skills or were themselves hard to get on with/they needed shorter hours.

But the world 'out there' is full of opportunities. Start pushing a few doors and see which ones might open a crack, and don't talk yourself out of something that excites you just because you've not done it before. Even if you aren't successful with things you apply for, ask for feedback and work on the areas suggested.

Thanks for this -  Yes, I have the  standard office skills, though not a whizz on the old spreadsheets though (why does everyone else seem to be!),  but yes, I hadn't thought about the 'soft' skills of which I do have a few.  Really positive food for thought

But a bit of googling would find you training and examples!