Careershifters' 25 Top Tips to Kick Start Your Career Change

I was working before as a back office customer care executive in a BPO industry in INDIA. I left that job three months before and came to UK, because my husband is working here. now i am unemployed, looking for a job. I am facing problem to get a job because i don't have any specific experience to start my career here. because everywhere they are asking the same question have u worked before in uk. i am a very good typist. i have the basic knowledge of computer.i need a entry level job to get a chance ot prove myself. i only have back office exeperiece. i can speak english and hindi. i want to work in any type of official work like secretarial, administrative, typist work. can u pls suggest me how i will start my career and will get a good job? waiting for ur reply.thank u very much. bye bye.

I have been back & forth with the idea of switching my career b/twn going into the Medical Field as a PA or going into the Pharmacedical Field as a Sales Rep.

quick pros & cons to PA: Pro's it seems like PA's are in demand and later it would allow me to spend time with my future children while having a career, I really like people and helping them as well.
Con's: It will take aprox 2 years or more to go to school and recv. a degree, not to mention, prep work to even get into a school

Pro's for a Pharm. Sales Rep.: It has been a dream to want to be a Pharm. Sales Rep., I love people and the medical field and enjoy informing people about new and upcoming medicines which in the next 2 decades are going to be very exciting. I also like to put on lunch ins, dinners and give people things, goodies and trinkets, etc... Pens, all the fun things that a rep gets to do as part of their job.
Con's: My Bachelors in College is 360 degrees from the med. field, however, I did go to a tech. school in the medical field and had my own business for almost 10 years relating with doctors and had a wonderful reputation in my field. I also did all the marketing and managed people for my business and did all the sales as well, and ran the business, by myself.However, due to the injury I have there will be no more of this particualr job in my futre anymore.

I was severy injured in an accident(over 2 years ago) and the carrer I had(which I loved) will no longer be a choice for the well being of my health as I stated above. Plus waiting anxiously to get surgery to start my life new. At least this is how I feel. I have been unemployed for 2 years now and waiting for closure from the accident which has degraded my health, good thing I am an athelete, so I feel I will bounce bk quickly. Also an extreme optimist.

I want to be on my A-game when finally making the right choice for my new career which I would like to stay in for pretty much until I retire.

I would also like to move up in the company and I am a real people person. What is stopping me from the Pharm Sales postion really is I do not have the college background so to speak however, I do have the medical back ground after going to a trade school to become one of the top people in that particular medical field.

I am motivated and really want the Pharm. Sales Postion or a Postion where I would be trainning or Presenting (and this is where I realized the Pharm. Field would give me all of this and more satisfaction.

As I said however, my degree gets in the way when a person looks at it.

Can you suggest anything? I am not a spring chicken yet I am not in my golden years either and it is time for me to really shine and for me to do what I know in my heart where I would really excel.

I am excitingly waiting for a relpy with your intake on this in an honest form. Kindly thank you again, for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you.

I have a good BA English degree and a PGCE in secondary education. I have worked as an English teacher for the last three years but don't want to teach anymore. I went straight through from school to university to my first job so have never really known anything else. Any suggestions?

Hi,I am a 45 year old woman who was a qualified solicitor in her previous life. I took the decision to stay at home and look after my three children (the youngest has just turned six)

I have no desire to return to the legal profession and really don't know what to do. I need to do something for myself now but am not sure I can balance work and home life without adding stress to my life.

I am quite creative, love animals, enjoy being around people, can relate to people from all walks of life.

Do I attend Art College? Do I enrol on a Interior Design Course? Do I train to become a psychologist? (always fancied that!)If I take on any of the above how do I balance it with bringing up the kids without disrupting home life?

Hi there, I just wanted to post a quick comment for bhav above. Ive only now come across this site myself, but I think we are running on parallel lines of sorts. I too have trained in law (am 26), and due to cross qualify as a solicitor shortly, but I am overwhelmingly certain that I have no desire to remain in law, and feel frustrated that I dont do the things in life i actually enjoy.

I am also very creative, have thought about working with animals, and funnily enough am in the process of considering either the arts (design, fashion), or the psychotherapy route!! Isnt that funny!

So i just wanted to say that your not alone, and hopefully somebody can provide some advice/insight into this.

Thanks
Susie

Hi,

I am a experienced IT Project Manager working with a Global Financial Services Company for over 10 yrs. Over the last couple of years, I derive no joy /satisfaction from my work and get very stressed. I want to continue working but in a totally different field (creative / hospitality etc). However I need to continue earning a steady income to make ends meet. Pls. advise on how to go about finding a different job in a new field, as I have no clue where to start !

I know how you feel. I can't offer practical advice, but I can tell you what I'm doing and I hope it helps. I'm in a very similar position. I've been in IT for 12 years. I have a few ideas of what I want to do, but not sure (a) if they're right for me and (b)how to get to do them.

Last year, I finished a contract, did my house up and rented it out. Then spent 12 months travelling the world...it opened my eyes to a few possibilities.

My current targets for career change are photography, travel industry, selling coffee and acting, but also thinking of nutrition, psychology, even becoming a doctor (not ruling anything out at this stage). I'm also interested in film-making and becoming a dive-master.

That's a bit much to do all at the same time, so, I'm going to try things out, what I'm doing is this:
a) Getting a less-stressful IT job (contract) to bring in some cash. View it as short term.
c) Applying for training as trek leader and looking for jobs in travel industry that actually involve travel.
d) Phoning and emailing pro photographers to get assisting work.
e) Speaking to bank about starting own business.
f) Getting a Saturday job in a cafe (to see if I like selling coffee all day)
g) Finding an acting course - not acted since school.
h) Planning next trip to coincide with trekking season in Nepal to get involved with some treks (and possibly making a film about my adventures).

Training to be a health professional will take time, so I'm focussing on the stuff that's easier to get into at the moment.

While I might not be moving in the right direction, at least I'm moving in A direction. Also, although IT work can be unfullfilling, it does bring home the bacon and give me the luxury of considering an alternative career. If I were busier trying to make ends meet, I probably wouldn't be as concerned.

Hello,
I am currently a graphic designer but am thinking of becoming a carpenter, although my experience and skills are lagging well behind my desire for change. My ultimate goal is to be involved with the restoration of old buildings, or perhaps high end kitchen or flooring installation - I don't want to be limited to buiding site work.

I'd be grateful for any specific advice any members can give, such as what would be the best entry route into this field (eg carpentry and/or joinery courses, getting work as a 'trainee' etc.)

I don't have the means to complete a long full-time course - I really need a fast, intensive solution with the prospect of almost immediate employment. Is this perhaps too much to expect?!

Hello Badger,
My dad is a carpenter in a non-building site specialism, and he always complains when new trainees don't know their craft and think they know it all - he's at the top of his field, has done it for 30-odd years and still seeks out new info on tools, treatments, structures, etc. so my advice would be that if you're serious then get humble, be prepared to learn from the bottom on a day-release basis (so you can still work but get a good grounding in the skills you need). Otherwise if you know there's an area you are really keen on, like flooring or kitchens, contact the people that do that and offer yourself as a labourer - then they can train you on the job. Labourers who are good with clients and fast to learn seem to move up pretty quickly - and if you combine your graphics skills with learning technical 3D drawing then this will give you a big added plus point.
otherwise, if it's old buildings you're into then i know that some universities do post-grad courses specialising in this - i know oxford brookes does this as a part-time course, for example...
hope that helps and isn't too bossy! i know how frustrating it is when you want change NOW and can't afford the thousands of pounds to go and retrain as i'm in the middle of this myself - but heading frpm marketing to urban design/landscape architecture...

Hi all,

As many, I am at the start of the route to changing my career i.e. I know in my heart that I need a change but really do not know to what???

How have other people out there made sense of all the noise and blurred thoughts in their mind? I'd really appreciate any suggestions as I am really struggling to get past this.

I have been working in procurement for a large blue chip company since leaving university around six and a half years ago. My problem is that I have been sucked in to corporate salaries without realising that the world of powerpoint presentations and naval gazing really is not for me.

All I know is that I enjoy being out and about interacting with people and facing daily challenges. That unfortunately could be found in many places I imagine.

Thanks in advance for any responses.