Hate my job, feel trapped.

LegacyUser · 16-04-2014 11:28am #1

Hello everyone

I'm 31 years old, married with young kids. I'm the sole income, my wife was made redundant 3 years ago and decided to stay at home while the kids are young.

I'm currently employed with a multinational in the insurance and banking sector but the wages are very low and we rely on family income supplement to make ends meet. Needless to say, we've got no savings.

The job is literally mind numbing, I hate it. It doesn't suit my personality at all. I don't like the people I work with.

I have a Masters degree in community development, but there were no jobs. I graduated just as the economy crashed in 2008 so I took a job in a call centre to make ends meet and 6 years later, I'm still in the same company but in a different role. The thoughts of doing this kind of work for the rest of my life fills me with absolute horror

Last year I made a mistake at work which resulted in me going on a 'Performance improvement plan' and I changed to a different team with less responsibility. It feels like a demotion. As a result, I've lost all motivation in this job. My job performance is terrible, my concentration is terrible. Some days I do literally no work. (I do the work that is assigned to me, but some times of the month are slow when we are waiting for client files to come in)

I have been looking for a new job but I can't see anything that I would be qualified to do, and I don't think I'd be much happier in a different company doing the same kind of work.
I would love to just quit, but that would disqualify me from JSB for 9 weeks and we would also lose the family income supplement. I don't have enough money to support my family for this long. I would love to go back to college and retrain but I have a wife and young kids to support and I don't know how I could afford to do this.

Has anyone else on here been in similar position? How did it work out?

Mrs OBumble · 16-04-2014 1:18pm

What does your wife do? Is there any chance of her getting a better paying job, and you stay at home with them instead?

Scrag · 16-04-2014 1:21pm

Emigrate

LegacyUser · 16-04-2014 1:38pm

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

What does your wife do? Is there any chance of her getting a better paying job, and you stay at home with them instead?

Hi, Thanks for replying

My wife doesn't really have any marketable qualifications either. She was working as a deli manager in a shop before it went out of business and she was made redundant. She was earning barely above minimum wage.

Diziet · 17-04-2014 9:09pm

How hard have you actually looked for a job? Have you got a LinkedIn profile, have you talked to recruiters, read done career and interview prep books, done your cv and got it reviewed?
Looking for work is a bit of a job in itself.

It is much easier to get a job when you already have one.

InReality · 25-04-2014 8:16pm

I would spend as much time as possible looking for a job related to your masters.
Talk to everyone about your job search , as per the book "what color is your parachute", do a small bit of voluntary work , and give your motivation to all that.

My expectation is that you'll find something more rewarding, but it will take time.

greenbicycle · 25-04-2014 8:21pm

You need to be looking on www.activelink.ie full of jobs related to your masters

dd972 · 26-04-2014 1:02am

Bloody hell, that was painful to read, I'd give London or Canada serious consideration if you have transferable skills, I got stuck in a call centre for a comparable period, they're basically for kids looking to save a bit before travelling, slackers and morons.

Hate my job, feel trapped.

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