Looking to change job

LilyRose42

I wonder if anyone on here has any nuggets of wisdom to offer about jobs, as I'm looking to change mine. Something with a public service salary but not in the public service would be great . . . I didn't like my job, then it changed and I really liked it for a while. I've started to hate it in the last few months but it's just about the only job I've ever done, so in terms of actual job experience, I've only ever really done office work. I'm also interested in books and worked in a kind of editing many years ago. Advice welcome.

Matteroffact

Do a course in something you are interested in and then look for a job in that field. Join an agency and see if there are any vacancies in the line of work you are doing at the moment but in a more interesting company.

Stavro Mueller

What do you mean by a public service salary? It varies enormously, depending on where you work and what skill set you have. I mean, if you started out as a clerical officer and they sat you at the bottom rung of the salary scale, your gross pay will around €21k per year. And in reality it's even less because there's the pension levy taken out of that.

You could continue in the line of work that you're doing and quietly start looking around for another job doing much the same as what you're working at now. If you want a change (which I sense you do) then you're most likely going to have to do the legwork yourself. Being a good worker is only going to take you so far. Have a look at part-time or evening courses that you can do locally. Research what distance learning courses you could do. If you're not too sure what to do next, you could try looking up a careers coach. I've no idea how to go about finding one but a couple of my colleagues brought their teenage children to one.

Edit: I see that you're a wheelchair user. That could work to your advantage if it came to getting a public service job. I am a former public servant and I remember my employers taking in people who had disabilities as part of some sort of government policy. It's looking like recruitment embargoes are being lifted so it could be a time to get into the public/civil service.

LilyRose42

Thanks all. Do people think that it's probably going to be necessary for me to 'upskill' by doing more training? Part of the reason I'd like to change is to get a higher salary (do people change for less money unless they absolutely have to?!), so naturally I'd prefer not to fork out for a course, but needs must . . .

The_Honeybadger

LilyRose42 wrote: »

Thanks all. Do people think that it's probably going to be necessary for me to 'upskill' by doing more training? Part of the reason I'd like to change is to get a higher salary (do people change for less money unless they absolutely have to?!), so naturally I'd prefer not to fork out for a course, but needs must . . .

Depends entirely on what skills / experience you already have and what type of demand there is for those particular skills. Very hard to answer such a general question without seeing your cv.

If your skills are fairly generalist, like admin type office experience then it may be hard to get a bump in salary. There are a lot of people after those types of jobs. The more specialised your education and skills are the better usually.

LegacyUser

When I started working I didn't have any skills so to speak of so I got a job as a secretary. I was good at the job but also knew that I had walked myself into a blind alleyway. Unless other people have evidence to the contrary, you will never earn good money as an office admin. It's also something of a dead-end job unless you manage to become a Personal Assistant or something like that.

One day I got talking to my boss who I had a great relationship with. He told me that if I wanted to improve things I would have to take some risks and make some changes. He pointed out that he was on a higher wage because he had a lot more responsibilities and skills than I did. He was someone who had done courses and moved around different jobs over the previous 10-15 years.

I didn't take his advice on board straight away but when he left I started to look around. In the end I took a job that paid less than I was earning but was in a different field. They provide on the job training and there was a career path. I'm now earning far more than I would ever have done if I'd remained a secretary.

I was lucky that I found a job that trained new entrants but that is not always the case. Most of the time people have to up skill in their own time. You are looking at this the wrong way around. You are hoping that you can be rescued from your job and given one that pays better. Unfortunately the only person who can throw you the lifebelt is you. You are the one who has to have something desirable in your armoury that employers are prepared to pay for.