Unhappy with career

LegacyUser

Im currently working in financial services ,I am earning around 26k and i am 28.I am not happy with the way my career is going.I feel like i will be earning the same amount for the rest of my life.I would like to do some courses but i am not sure what to do.I dont want to spend thousands on courses if they dont help my career.Should i go to careers advisor?

andrew

Unhappywithcareer wrote: »

Im currently working in financial services ,I am earning around 26k and i am 28.I am not happy with the way my career is going.I feel like i will be earning the same amount for the rest of my life.I would like to do some courses but i am not sure what to do.I dont want to spend thousands on courses if they dont help my career.Should i go to careers advisor?

Get a masters in economics or finance? They tend to have a pretty decent return as far as I know, and you'll get access to plenty of careers stuff while in college.

mikemac

Do a professional course

CFA is good and well recognized. And it's not expensive

Or maybe ACCA. It'll stand to you the rest of your life, even if you never work as an accountant.

Financial Services is one of those areas where it can be important to keep fresh and do the courses.

Your employer will probably pay for you. So while the salary isn't great you may as well pull a few more thousand off them

LegacyUser

Education is always a good thing and I think its sound advice to get more qualifications.

Do remember though that "recruiters and employers" sometimes have a tendancy to pigeon hole you into the same roll. Dont let this get you down and keep plucking away.

Also it tends to be easier to work up the ladder from within a company then move up a level as an external applicant.

But the education / qualification is the first port of call, then you need to find the opportunity to advance (often internal but sometimes external)
When you reach a certain level beyond low-mid managment then that tends to flip and external moves offer more

Good luck

LegacyUser

Thanks,is it worth getting some advise from a careers advisor?any good ones in dublin area or are they a waste of time.Im not sure what course to do or what area to focus on.

see if your employer will pay for any qualifications or training courses since you are working in the industry. they probably will

solovely

Do you want to stay in finance? Are you happy with the area or not your path?

Career's advisers can be good, I don't know of any in the Dublin area, but you should have some sort of an idea of what area you'd like to be in.

As you are on a low salary, moving to a completely new career area at the young age of 26 won't set you back in any way. You could do a night or weekend based course in a completely different area that interests you more and keep working away in your job.

Also it tends to be easier to work up the ladder from within a company then move up a level as an external applicant.

Definitely wouldn't agree with this. I know of loads more people who've moved up by moving company than those who move within the same company, but maybe that's just my industry. Maybe finance is different.

Think back to when you were young, and what you really wanted to do? It was probably unrealistic, but are there elements of that you could bring to a profitable career? Have a look at industries that are in growth right now (not many I know), think is there anything within those industries you'd like to do. Think would you like to work as a client or in an agency/ client service type role...can be quite different - agency/ consultancy/ service roles often pay less but can be more interesting with more scope for bonus.

There are lots of online questionnaires you can do too to see what your ideal career path would be. Most are a load of BS, but at least they get you thinking about potential directions. Do a Myers Briggs test online too, that can help.

As for the money/ return on investment notion, investigate courses, see how much they cost, look up starting wages in that career path and expected increases. Calculate how many years it would take you to pay back the loan at your expected salary, paying back 15% of your salary each month. You wouldn't want to be paying back for more than 3-4 years (unless it's medicine or something).