becoming a failure by leaving a good job

LegacyUser

i'v got what most people would consider a great job - well paid, permanent, flexi-time the works. ive been there for about 18 months now and iv spent that time time trying to shoe-horn myself into the job, but iv come to the conclusion that an office job is just not for me. i get stressed about everything so i cant even relax at the weekends or when im on holidays. instead iv decided to give retail a go (i used to work in a shop for a couple of years so i know i like it) but im worried people will see me as a failure for working for the minimum wage in a shop. obviously id like to work my way up into retail management ultimately. im also worried about letting down my parents as im sure they expect more given that i spent four years at college. has anyone else abandoned a 'great' job because they want to actually be relatively happy in what they do??

biko

If you really want to quit, then just quit. After all, it's your life and you should do whatever it takes to make you happy.

mikemac

If you're a graduate, can you not just apply for a graduate management scheme?
I don't see why you need to take a minimum wage job working on the shop floor.

Here's a link to Tesco
http://www.gradireland.com/Jobs/EmpVacancyView.asp?intVacancyID=10986&intCurrentPage=0&intPageSize=50&intAreaofWorkID=18&intAreaOfStudyID=0&intRegionID=0&strKeyword=&blnVacancies=1&intEmployerApprovedTF=1&intGTIApprovedTF=1&intAGCSIVacancyTF=&intActiveStatusID=1&strTodaysDateString=20070701&intEmployerIDSearch=0&intEmployerID=&strSPMode=

the_syco

Retail isn't all about shops. Look around for a manager postion, if it allows you to use your degree.

Oh, and have you looked into the Lidl or Aldi manger job program?

seven

I know exactly what your going through, recently got promoted and now I'm asking myself is it really what I want?? short answer Noooo... so I've made the decision to leave a good, secure, well paid job to do something that will make me happy. Try not to base any of your decisions on other people's opinion of you. Money & reputation mean nothing if your spending 7 days a week upset. good luck.

AngryBadger

The bottom line is that you're looking at settling for what sounds like a fairly unhappy existence if you stay in your current job. I don't know your parents, or what their particular history/expectations might be, but I'd imagine they mainly want you to be happy, (and reasonably successful!). Given that you have a degree already, and you have at least 18 months experience in your current job surely there might be other positions within retail that might suit you and would be slightly higher up the ladder?

I'm suggesting that purely because while money doesn't buy happiness it's an essential middleman, if I were in your shoes, (and I was as recently as the last month) I'd be inclined to look for a position that suited ME more, but which paid roughly the same as what i was used to.

Changing career shouldn't necessarily be a step down in lifestylel.

Elessar

If you are unhappy in your job, leave it. There is no point in being unhappy in a job. It will only make you miserable. If you know what you like doing, then go and do that. Being happy, or at least content in a job is in the long run far more important and relevant to anyone than money.

Marksie

sickofworking wrote:

has anyone else abandoned a 'great' job because they want to actually be relatively happy in what they do??

Getting ready too. Very similar type job. I came to the realisation that it wasn't what i wanted to do and have begun to lay plans accordingly.

Go for it OP, brush off your CV and start looking around, or work out exactly what you want to do and do it.

Sometimes getting things ready and the knowledge that you will go will make things a lot more bearable.

If you are taking work issues home with you at the weekend and evening, then perhaps you could loook at ways of reducing the stress, the ere are a wide variety of stress management courses available.

dame

I'm doing the same. I'm working out my otice at the moment and I'm just going to take a handy job for a few months to think about what I'd really like to do next. Yes, people do have expectations. Some of the late-middle-aged men in my place are almost insulted that anyone would leave a job like this, with good pay, pension etc. Mind you we don't have flexi-time which would be nice but I'd still leave. If a job is causing you so much stress that you can't enjoy your free time and dread going in, then who cares what anyone else thinks? As long as you're a hard worker you'll always land on your feet (I hope ).

Best of luck to you, me and Marksie (and anyone else in same boat)!

davyjose

I know that it's each to their own and all that, but I can't for the life of me see working on a shop floor as a better existence than that of working in an office.

Faraway hills are greener, and all that.

Jesus Wept

I think you should always find a job that you like first, if you are good at it and work hard, money will follow.

Geordie_Girl

davyjose wrote:

I know that it's each to their own and all that, but I can't for the life of me see working on a shop floor as a better existence than that of working in an office.

Faraway hills are greener, and all that.

I've a friend who did this and has never looked back. Worked in several great office jobs but hated them, left to work in a shop and loves it.

LegacyUser

thanks for all the advice guys - i feel a bit better about things now

kim_eire

Im in the same boat, i am in the civil service and i hate it, i would love to leave but on one hand i have a mortgage and bills to pay, every one thinks its great and keeps going on about how its great to have a job like it. what i am thinking of doing is taking a career break, would you be able to do this? and at least you will have something to fall back on if retails doesn't work out as you would like it to!?!

BackwardRussia

As the old saying goes:
"Find a job you enjoy doing, and you'll never have to work a day in your life"