Changing career

mru

I’m 30 and have a relatively well paid job in the financial services industry. I’ve been in the industry almost 7 years.

The problem is, I’ve never really liked what I do. I know a lot of people don’t like their jobs – and there are very few / lucky one’s who are employed in their dream roles. Which is fine – I’ve always dealt with this problem with the rational that there are many out there who don’t have jobs and I consider myself lucky. Until recently (last 2 months). I’ve started to feel anxious at work. When I get home from work, I find myself thinking about my “to do list” for tomorrow morning. I worry about mistakes that could be made. I feel stressed – and as a result my performance at work begins to suffer. Some nights I actually dream about situations at work. Some nights I don’t get too much sleep at all. There have been occasions where I’ve cried because I’m so frustrated with the situation. It’s bad enough at the moment that I’m considering speaking to a doctor about the way I feel under pressure / stressed.

I’ve thought about it for 2 months now, and finally I handed my notice in on Friday. I ran the decision by my fiancé (who is just worried about my health) before I handed my notice in.


I've always been interested in media (in particular production). I’ve been thinking about registering for a night course to get an industry recognised qualification. I realise by retraining that I’ll be starting off with a clean slate and will need to build my cv up again – so I guess my question is: is there anyone out there who has encountered and overcome a similar situation (completely changing careers) and could give me any advice



Thanks for listening – it always helps to write it down!

mikemac

www.nightcourses.com, one stop shop for courses in Ireland

I'm going to assume you are in Dublin if it's Financial Services and Ballyfermot college and Tallaght IT are well known for media courses.
http://www.bcfe.ie/

I only know this as my sister is doing something similar.

The theatre group are a rowdy crowd! :P
But stroll along for a night and you'll meet similar people

Tuvok

I was in a similar situation as yourself up to a few months ago. I worked in financial services since I left college but never really liked it. It had started to get to me in the last year or two but I left the industry and really glad that I did. There is no point working in a job that stresses you out as it takes over your life and affects your health. Well done on handing in your notice - I bet you that it's a relief now!

Take a bit of time out to think about what you would like to do. As you are unemployed now I think you are eligible to go on FAS courses for free. IADT (http://www.iadt.ie/en/) have lots of courses that you may be interested in as well. A lot of the courses will be starting in September so you don't have to make an instant decision and you have plenty of time to research the various options. Lastly, stay positive and think of this as a new opportunity!:)

Keano

Op I could have wrote the very same post of you! I too was in Finance and my job really got on top of me. I was willing to grin and bear as times are tough but it turns out they are moving the job so I am being let go... While I now face the prospect of no job in a few weeks I already have a few ideas of how to pass the time if I dont get a job in the meantime.

uberwolf

you speak for so many I know. Fair play on taking that step despite the climate.

mru

What I didn't include above, was that the job offered me the possibility of a sabbatical. After a long weekend weighing up the options, I decided to go for this. Mainly because if it all does go south and falls apart during my 6 months off, then at least I have a job to come back to. Not in my current role, but in something more specialised (i.e. out of the day to day environment). I'll still do all the research on my potential new career. But at least this way I'll have a chance to recharge my batteries a bit.

I feel like a massive burden has been lifted off my shoulders!

InReality

fair play.

KillerShamrock

Ok thats freaky your pretty much describing my life at the moment except the age and time spent in the financial services and the well paid part but i hate my job in it too feel uneasy when im in it hate doing it and do nothing but day dream about leaving it, your a legend at the moment fair play and i hope it works out for you

Meredith

Well done MRU, very brave decision you've made and that's great you have some time off now to think about things. Just like many others on the thread I'm in a similar situation, I hate my job and dread going in there everyday and I TRY to feel grateful for the fact that I still have a job as I know there are many that don't.

May be in a position to get a redundancy package at work myself, but don't think I'm brave enough to take if it I got it....have been researching courses, other options etc but keep hitting a brick wall but I think fear is my worst problem.

Anyway, best of luck to you in over the next few months. Very brave decision to make given the way things are at the moment but you're health and sanity is far more important...good luck

Dubh Geannain

Fair play OP.

I'll say the same to anyone. If you don't like what you do get the fudge out of it, particularly if you dont' have any dependents apart from yourself that rely on your income.

I'm in my current job over a year now and it's the first job I've had that I don't mind getting out of bed in the morning for. Prior to this I had 4 jobs in 2 years in 3 different industries and have ended up back working with what I'm qualified in. Basically I wasn't happy to settle for a job I didn't like, life's too short.

jemmacurran

Hello everyone!

I'm a final year journalism student in DIT. I am doing a radio programme on people who have changed careers, and are finally doing what they always wanted. I'm looking for people to interview, so if you or anyone you know is interested, just PM for more details!

Many thanks,
Jemma

starlit

Depends what area of media you are looking into. Is it mainly media production? or would you be interested in journalism, the media or multimedia side of things? They are each different like. There are courses like Media Communications that might cover most of those aspects, then there is media studies, multimedia and tv production, media technology related courses.

Qualifax might give you more details on courses. Have link here for list of courses other than the nightcourse website which be useful also. Definitely do what you always wanted to do, all you can do is try and you be happy that you did! Good luck with it. A career change is a very positive thing especially if you don't like the area of work you are in, try the best you can to get into an area you'd enjoy working.

http://www.qualifax.ie/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=51&Mainsec=courses&Subsec=search_courses&CSH_ID=18&opt2=Y&view=wrapper

Sin1981

This thread jumped out at me. I've had the most boring week at work ever. Like the original OP I simply do not like what I do. I have to say though that there isn't any extreme pressure or stress, well at least the majority of the time. there are some stressful times too. Like the OP, I have many thoughts where I think about people who are on the minimum wage (probably on half what I earn), or people currently unemployed. I know they would say I need the biggest kick up the bum and that I probably don't have any entitlement to an interesting fulfilling job.
There are limited opportunites in my field, despite what people say about my sector ( healthcare/pharma)
Anyhow, I'd like a career change. I sometimes even think that I would like to be self-employed. Something i've thought of, is finding a site/forum that caters solely for careers/jobs in Ireland. somewhere people can discuss their jobs in-debt, and can link up people, sectors. I'm talking about something that job seekers can look at, not necessarily a LinkedIn type site, but something that would offer discussion. Does anyone know of such a site? I don't think boards offer all that much, it's more of a general work problem site...