Is it time to go

Thespoofer

Everyday now is a struggle in work.
I'm in my early forties now and work in a very physical ( construction ) and sometimes highly stressful position and beginning to feel it now.

Each and every morning I get up and think not this again, how am I going to get through today. It's gone to the stage now where I recently have felt physically sick in work and want out.

I have two young children and am the breadwinner in the house.

I really need to change and don't know what to do.

Have any if ye gone through this ?

LegacyUser

Yes.Kind of.

I'm assuming you're a construction worker/foreman? I was an engineer. Well, I still am, but let's face it, that's not going so well for anyone. I'm in an unrelated job now.

I know that stress. Honestly, I and everyone I know that did engineering, did a few years on site and then got the hell out of there. The hours, the physical effort (even though we're not doing physical construction work, the hours and hours of walking, climbing ladders and stairs, dragging around setting out equipment etc is absolutely exhausting, on top of the paperwork we had to do), and the absolute stress of it all on top of the responsibility. We couldn't maintain it. I too have had days when I just wanted to walk away, and felt sick going to work and cried all the way home. In my case, I'm female, and there's no way I could have kept going like that.

So, what did people do? I don't know your qualifications, but those I do know went back to college, retrained by doing Masters or short Springboard courses with internships at the end (generally computers based), and then sent CVs out everywhere. Those that I know of who were in foreman positions or hadn't got degree level qualifications went back to education. Did certs or diplomas in their spare time. There are so many options out there now for courses, you could look around for them. There is just no point in going into a job that makes you physically ill, on top of it being very physical. Either that or consider setting up your own small company if you are a craft worker of some sort (I'm sorry, I@m making some assumptions here).

Either way it's going to take time, but start looking now. You've got a good few years of work ahead of you, and no job is worth your health. And in my opinion, most people don't know what stress means until they've experienced construction work at a supervisory level. It's horrendous.

L.Jenkins

After reading your post, you seem to have answered your own question. If I were in a similar position, I would leave in an instant. On the other side of the coin, you have bills to pay and a family to provide for, which may make you feel a little trapped in a situation you'd rather not be in.

Have you considered retraining to work in another industry or area of construction? Would you consider it even? When it comes to education, age isn't a factor, but your own personal determination and drive to do something better is. I worked with a lad in Cork, in a similar position and of similar age, having moved from Poland, who became sick of working as an Electrician and retrained to work in IT. He is now going for his Masters Degree and wouldn't go back to Construction, not for love nor money.

There is always options. All you have to do is find what's best for you and find a way to pay the bills while you work on doing something else.

DeccyJ

I presume Thespoofer went. Hope the people who bothered to reply to him didn't spend too long at it.

Stheno

DeccyJ wrote: »

I presume Thespoofer went. Hope the people who bothered to reply to him didn't spend too long at it.

Mod: Please don't drag up year old threads.
Closed.