Too many decisions !!
Options
Justjosh9
Posts: 5 Forumite
Hi there,
I’m 26
Currently work in the U.K as a team leader in a vehicle body shop earning alright money (34k). The trouble is I hate what I do for a living and decided last year I want a career in I.T specifically software development. I started a degree in February this year in computing and software through the open uni. Which will put me in good stead for a graduate job (in 5 years)
I now also have the opportunity to have a job with less hours from 50+ to 40. That’s more interesting and a lot less stressful. Working for a small company re spraying gliders for 25.5k a year. Another problem I have and can’t decide upon is that me and my girlfriend are saving to buy a place of our own. We aren’t that far away from having enough but if I take the pay cut for the easier job it has a big effect on how much mortgage we can take out. Which might not be a bad thing because when I take a graduate job I’ll be on even less probably about 20k for a while but this will rise rapidly back to 35+ once I’m established.
I don’t know what I should do. I feel like I should stay at this higher paying job and get a mortgage and ssave a load of cash for when I take my graduate job. But at the same time I hate it and would be happier and also have more time to do my degree at the other place. There’s also the option of getting a really low paid junior role in I.T now and moving back in with my parents. I feel like this is too much though and will strain my relationship with my girlfriend too much so I’m leaning towards studying and getting a graduate job. I just don’t know what’s best to do and it’s keeping me up at night at the minute !!
Thanks for taking the time to read and reply in advance
I’m 26
Currently work in the U.K as a team leader in a vehicle body shop earning alright money (34k). The trouble is I hate what I do for a living and decided last year I want a career in I.T specifically software development. I started a degree in February this year in computing and software through the open uni. Which will put me in good stead for a graduate job (in 5 years)
I now also have the opportunity to have a job with less hours from 50+ to 40. That’s more interesting and a lot less stressful. Working for a small company re spraying gliders for 25.5k a year. Another problem I have and can’t decide upon is that me and my girlfriend are saving to buy a place of our own. We aren’t that far away from having enough but if I take the pay cut for the easier job it has a big effect on how much mortgage we can take out. Which might not be a bad thing because when I take a graduate job I’ll be on even less probably about 20k for a while but this will rise rapidly back to 35+ once I’m established.
I don’t know what I should do. I feel like I should stay at this higher paying job and get a mortgage and ssave a load of cash for when I take my graduate job. But at the same time I hate it and would be happier and also have more time to do my degree at the other place. There’s also the option of getting a really low paid junior role in I.T now and moving back in with my parents. I feel like this is too much though and will strain my relationship with my girlfriend too much so I’m leaning towards studying and getting a graduate job. I just don’t know what’s best to do and it’s keeping me up at night at the minute !!
Thanks for taking the time to read and reply in advance
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Comments
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Nobody but you and your girlfriend can make these decisions. You have started listing the pro's and con's of the various options and you need to sit down together and work on those. Only then can you come to a properly considered decision.0
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Yeah I guess your right. Ultimately it!!!8217;s my decision but sometimes it!!!8217;s good to discuss options with people you don!!!8217;t know on the internet haha! Ideally I suppose I need to discuss this with a software developer!
In fact that!!!8217;s what I!!!8217;ll try and do0 -
From what you've said the only pros to taking the gliding job are more stable hours, the fact you want to get out of your current job, and that it may be more interesting (though i do question if the thrill of working on aircraft rather than cars would wear off after a while). With that in mind, could you not just keep looking for other work until something better comes up? It's also worth mapping out your transferable skills to see if you could step out of painting and into something that has a golden thread to IT - even if it is leading a team or working in office management/projects/design in a more office based environment. Just some food for thought, but I know sometimes when miserable we might tend to make rash decisions!0
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Do you have a flair for software development? It's a crowded market, a lot of offshore competition. What kind of development are you interested in? Long hours locked away in a room working to ever tighter deadlines isn't for everyone! I'm biased though, my background is IT services, I don't have the patience/personality for software.
Have you considered IT security? That market sector is growing and I believe there are a shortage of good security guys.
In your position if I wanted to be in IT I'd be looking at IT roles now, perhaps even contract work to get your foot in the door.0 -
I wouldn’t say I have a flair, not yet anyway. However I’m a very analytical/introverted type and programming really got me interested in a career in I.T. Everyone’s dream is to be a game programmer. Mine would be too but I’d doubt I’d beat the competition. I’ll aim for applications programmer probably with java and python but I don’t know yet that’s a long way off.
I haven’t really looked into another role in I.T because I’ve been so set on programming. However I will definitely take a look and do a lot more research now before I make my second year module choice.
Thanks for your opinions though ! I’ll look into security.
I wish someone gave me realistic opinions before I entered the motor trade after a levels , not having a clue what I was doing with my life! At least I’m not too old yet
Yes your probably right the interest will wear off quick on gliders just as much as it did on cars. I think your right any office based job would be beneficial to me for a career in I.T. After 7 years in a workshop my etiquette has definitely taken a turn for the worse :rotfl:
It’s just going to be a struggle finding a job with okay pay. As I have no experience in an office based environment. Especially as we are looking to buy a house and my girlfriend is 27 and getting broody :eek:
It’s now or never though0 -
Only thing I'd be wary of , is taking a paycut can often take a while just to get back to where you were before - if you can live with it and you'll be happier then do it, but you need to work out how much less you'll have each month0
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You are saving to buy, how much are you saving a year? More than the 9k pay cut you are considing?But a banker, engaged at enormous expense,Had the whole of their cash in his care.
Lewis Carroll0 -
No, we saved 6k last year but that wasn’t really budgeted. Still went on a few holidays.. But still if I took the cut now it would be a serious struggle to save for a house.. Which is why I’ll probably just stay on.. treat it as just going for work for cash and focus on my degree and probably not get anywhere with that after 5 years of slogging it :rotfl:
I guess it’s good to have options though ! Not all bad. In fact very positive but like for everyone it seems overwhelming at times:j0
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