I have no idea what to do.

LegacyUser

Right, heres my story. Im 28 and ive been working in retail for close to 7 years. Im pretty high up and the moneys good but Im just not happy there. Most of the staff are idiots and cant do the simplest of jobs and dont even bother trying so its always left for me to take care of it. If Im too busy to help them, they go higher and the boss forces me to do it. Its gone so bad I cant even finish my own work and when I try to explain it to the higher ups, im told im lucky to have a job. Im sick of all this bull**** and I need out. But I have absolutely no idea what career path to take. I cant go back to college because I cant afford it and even if I managed to get a course I doubt i could survive just on the dole.

Any suggestions or has anyone been through this?

Im honestly totally lost here.

Neyite

If you are on good money, then why not try an e-learning or online course? I understand with retail hours you may not be free to do local evening courses but more and more courses are being offered online or through distance learning.

But first you need to decide what you want to do. Your managment experience will stand to you no matter what you change your career to. Start by making a list of your dream careers (forget for a minute how you would achieve them) then do the research into what its really like on the job - talk to people in that role and bit by bit, narrow down your choices. Look into the potential for a career - is there a demand or growing demand for that skill set? Would you get a job out of it?

With regard to costs, I know companies who have paid for courses then deducted a monthly sum from the persons wage packet. It means that you spread the cost, its slightly cheaper because the company can claim vat back, but they wont keep tabs on your results or progress because you are paying for it yourself really.

Would it be worth going to a career guidance expert to try to identify what might interest you?

CaraMay

Picked this up elsewhere on Boards - try www.coursera.org for free online courses. There is a huge amount of choice.

Merkin

A lot of brand management and sales careers look for prior experience in retail. You've already got the customer-facing experience etc so might be worth getting a decent CV together and contacting a couple of good agencies.

kat.mac

I recommend going to see a career counsellor. You'll usually find the best ones through word of mouth, so start asking around for recommendations.

In the meantime, get cracking on your CV and start looking for other jobs. Even looking for jobs might give you inspiration for where to go next with your career!

Dark Phoenix

I'd suggest something different - change how you are working. I've been there and yes its a total pain of a situation but without intending to you have allowed them to behave this way and sometimes you have to invest a little time now in order to get back your own time a little later.

What I mean is write down what the problems are and how do you fix them. If the staff are not doing their work investigate why - are there proper processes in place for them to follow? have they received training? Do they understand what they need to do and why? Also - have they clear job descriptions outlining what they need to be doing? Sometimes by sitting down with them and investigating why they are behaving in this way will give you insights to how to fix it.

Kevster

There have been a lot of good answers already! I think that the general message is that there is always time to change what you're doing and start something new. In my career, so fa, I started computer science, ditched it, started biology, and now I'm doing a mix of the 2. I also just gave up a 3 years contract in order to emigrate for the second time (this time to USA).

You can 'chop and change' things in your life as much as you like ... ... so long as you know that each move will make you happier and more enthusistaic to live life.

kjl

bitlost2012 wrote: »

Right, heres my story. Im 28 and ive been working in retail for close to 7 years. Im pretty high up and the moneys good but Im just not happy there. Most of the staff are idiots and cant do the simplest of jobs and dont even bother trying so its always left for me to take care of it. If Im too busy to help them, they go higher and the boss forces me to do it. Its gone so bad I cant even finish my own work and when I try to explain it to the higher ups, im told im lucky to have a job. Im sick of all this bull**** and I need out. But I have absolutely no idea what career path to take. I cant go back to college because I cant afford it and even if I managed to get a course I doubt i could survive just on the dole.

Any suggestions or has anyone been through this?

Im honestly totally lost here.

When you say working in retail, do you mean as a buyer / planner or just as a shop assistant?

If you have any experience as a buyer and understand the elements of MFP, RDF, AIP, AP and IP, then you could work as a business consultant for the retail sector working for companies like Wipro, Oracle and Accenture. These jobs would have you flying around the world working on different projects. I work in the retail software for Oracle and I work with loads of different people who started in retail companies.

PM Me if you want more details.