don't know where im heading career wise.. please have desperate

job seeker

Hi all, So I asked before but since I didn't get many replies I'm going to ask again. So I have a a qualification to be a chef. But I'm just not able for the stress. I want to get out of it in the next year or so before I lose my mentle health.

So I'd be open to alot of jobs, I.T., factory work, office work etc. I just don't have a qualification for any though.

Thanks

Musicman2000

job seeker wrote: »

Hi all, So I asked before but since I didn't get many replies I'm going to ask again. So I have a a qualification to be a chef. But I'm just not able for the stress. I want to get out of it in the next year or so before I lose my mentle health.

So I'd be open to alot of jobs, I.T., factory work, office work etc. I just don't have a qualification for any though.

Thanks

If your looking to go down the IT route you will need some qualifications behind you . Depends which area of IT you want to work in as well such as the support side of things or Developing . IT can be a stressful job as well. Some of the course that I would recommend are the Microsoft industry qualifications such the MCT,MSCA etc or the Comptia a+ you will need some basic IT knowledge for the courses I listed. Best of luck which every direction you take.

PCX

Would you concider going to a career advisor? They might be able to do psychometric tests etc and talk through what type of career would suit you.

Might throw up possibilities you hadn't thought of.

They could help you draw up a plan of how to get to where you would like to be.

Mrs OBumble

Can you look for lower stress cooking work - eg for a nursing home?

Maybe homecare, for people who need meals prepared?

Maybe work in a deli or similar ('cos i guess you the HACCP or whateever it's called training).

Jim2007

job seeker wrote: »

So I'd be open to alot of jobs, I.T., factory work, office work etc. I just don't have a qualification for any though.

What kind of stress levels are you talking about.... for example if you were working in IT for say a bank and one of their trading systems went down it would be very stressful - the bank would be loosing money for every minute the system is down....

fret_wimp2

Hey OP.

Firstly, to get into IT you will need a qualification, to get your foot in the door, after that its mostly about experience and showing what you can do.

Secondly, IT is far from stress free. Many places I've worked can tell you, to the euro how much they lost while a system was down, and there's never a shortage of fingers looking for somewhere to point and assign blame. Getting called at 3am to debug a system and then working even harder to not get blamed for the issue is certainly not stress free.

Finally I would say that anything worth doing will have stress, there is no amazing job where you get paid good money and have zero worries. Rather than avoid stress, its best to learn how to deal with it head on so it doesnt rule your life.

I recommend CBT (Cognative Behavior Therapy) in particular, it helps you see when you are getting severly stressed, identify the signs and symptoms before you fall headlong in to a full panic attack and so you can talk yourself down and manage the situation. Its effectively teaching you to know yourself and coping skills.

If your case is serious enough, preventing you from working a GP can referr you to a specialist but theres a lengthy waiting list usually, or you can just pay to visit a certified CBT specialist.

Im not for a moment saying it makes stress go away, but it helps you handle it so it doesnt overwhelm you, and lets you get on with living your life to the fullest.


At its simplest, when in a stressful situation, stop for a second and think "realistically, whats the worst possible thing that can really happen here?" if youre working in a kitchen lets assume that the worst case is you a plate of food wont be ready on time for a customer, or perhaps its not prepared as good as it could be.
so what happens, worst case customer complains, get a bit of a discount or they just dont come back. nobody dies, nobodies life is ruined.
So now you know the worst case, take action against it, either go to the customer, apologies for the delay or for bad food, give them a discount, or in a delay, a free drink, acknowledge your mistake and let them know you acknowledge the fault. People are generally good and will be ok with this. if they are not, well so what, it was a narky person, dont let them ruin your day.
Not so bad eh! thats just a trivial example, but shows you what i mean.

Dont let stress rule your life, make it work for you.

Divisadero

You mentioned office work. Now you might find it very boring after working in a high stress environment like a kitchen but you could look into applying for a position as a Clerical Officer in the Civil Service. They are not hiring at the moment but you can register at Public Jobs.ie so you won't miss out when they are hiring again. You could also phone them in the meantime and ask them if you meet the minimum educational requirements for the position. If so you will have to sit some tests when they are hiring again. But don't be put off by these.

job seeker

Musicman2000 wrote: »

If your looking to go down the IT route you will need some qualifications behind you . Depends which area of IT you want to work in as well such as the support side of things or Developing . IT can be a stressful job as well. Some of the course that I would recommend are the Microsoft industry qualifications such the MCT,MSCA etc or the Comptia a+ you will need some basic IT knowledge for the courses I listed. Best of luck which every direction you take.

Well aI haven't actually decided it's only an opinion. But I will look into them..

job seeker

PCX wrote: »

Would you concider going to a career advisor? They might be able to do psychometric tests etc and talk through what type of career would suit you.

Might throw up possibilities you hadn't thought of.

They could help you draw up a plan of how to get to where you would like to be.

That's a good idea, I actually never thought of that. Thanks

job seeker

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Can you look for lower stress cooking work - eg for a nursing home?

Maybe homecare, for people who need meals prepared?

Maybe work in a deli or similar ('cos i guess you the HACCP or whateever it's called training).

Ya HACCP indeed, I did consider that and it's a good idea. But I'm not to sure where them jobs would be advertised. I can only find hotels and restaurants hiring.

ted1

If you want to to get into IT , there's plenty of Softeare testing jobs out there that don't require much qualifications, it's ine if the easiest jobs in IT to spoof

job seeker

Jim2007 wrote: »

What kind of stress levels are you talking about.... for example if you were working in IT for say a bank and one of their trading systems went down it would be very stressful - the bank would be loosing money for every minute the system is down....

Ah the stress is cat. Just people shouting for starters and there is a certain work speed you need to prepare food at before service and aI just don't have that speed.

I don't even get to eat as it's so busy. Since I started working in kitchens 1 year ago. I have lost like 3 stone. I'm on my day off today and tomorrow and I worry so much about the days I work on.

job seeker

ted1 wrote: »

If you want to to get into IT , there's plenty of Softeare testing jobs out there that don't require much qualifications, it's ine if the easiest jobs in IT to spoof

Hi any more info? Thanks

job seeker

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

Hey OP.

Firstly, to get into IT you will need a qualification, to get your foot in the door, after that its mostly about experience and showing what you can do.

Secondly, IT is far from stress free. Many places I've worked can tell you, to the euro how much they lost while a system was down, and there's never a shortage of fingers looking for somewhere to point and assign blame. Getting called at 3am to debug a system and then working even harder to not get blamed for the issue is certainly not stress free.

Finally I would say that anything worth doing will have stress, there is no amazing job where you get paid good money and have zero worries. Rather than avoid stress, its best to learn how to deal with it head on so it doesnt rule your life.

I recommend CBT (Cognative Behavior Therapy) in particular, it helps you see when you are getting severly stressed, identify the signs and symptoms before you fall headlong in to a full panic attack and so you can talk yourself down and manage the situation. Its effectively teaching you to know yourself and coping skills.

If your case is serious enough, preventing you from working a GP can referr you to a specialist but theres a lengthy waiting list usually, or you can just pay to visit a certified CBT specialist.

Im not for a moment saying it makes stress go away, but it helps you handle it so it doesnt overwhelm you, and lets you get on with living your life to the fullest.


At its simplest, when in a stressful situation, stop for a second and think "realistically, whats the worst possible thing that can really happen here?" if youre working in a kitchen lets assume that the worst case is you a plate of food wont be ready on time for a customer, or perhaps its not prepared as good as it could be.
so what happens, worst case customer complains, get a bit of a discount or they just dont come back. nobody dies, nobodies life is ruined.
So now you know the worst case, take action against it, either go to the customer, apologies for the delay or for bad food, give them a discount, or in a delay, a free drink, acknowledge your mistake and let them know you acknowledge the fault. People are generally good and will be ok with this. if they are not, well so what, it was a narky person, dont let them ruin your day.
Not so bad eh! thats just a trivial example, but shows you what i mean.

Dont let stress rule your life, make it work for you.

I agree with all the above but When I get stressed I just start to panic and can't control it. My mind goes blank it's a disaster.

job seeker

Divisadero wrote: »

You mentioned office work. Now you might find it very boring after working in a high stress environment like a kitchen but you could look into applying for a position as a Clerical Officer in the Civil Service. They are not hiring at the moment but you can register at Public Jobs.ie so you won't miss out when they are hiring again. You could also phone them in the meantime and ask them if you meet the minimum educational requirements for the position. If so you will have to sit some tests when they are hiring again. But don't be put off by these.

I did consider that alright, what kind of work would that involve?

drunkmonkey

No job is easy starting off, you've only 1 years experience, but it's a career, I don't know much about being a chef but wouldn't the goal to be the one doing the screaming in a few years or have your own place, also once you have some experience under your belt you could go work in a nicer place, I presume in somewhere like the gresham or europe they wouldn't tolerate that kind crap in the kitchen, would it be worth trying a different place to work before you throw your hat at it.
Also if your saying your slow, does that mean your very precise, is there types of chef that quality is desired over speed like a pastry chef for example.

Or go out on your own and open your place, pop up burger joint or something and see how it goes.
Plenty of pubs out there that might let you get started for cheap if you take on the food side.

job seeker

drunkmonkey wrote: »

No job is easy starting off, you've only 1 years experience, but it's a career, I don't know much about being a chef but wouldn't the goal to be the one doing the screaming in a few years or have your own place, also once you have some experience under your belt you could go work in a nicer place, I presume in somewhere like the gresham or europe they wouldn't tolerate that kind crap in the kitchen, would it be worth trying a different place to work before you throw your hat at it.
Also if your saying your slow, does that mean your very precise, is there types of chef that quality is desired over speed like a pastry chef for example.

Or go out on your own and open your place, pop up burger joint or something and see how it goes.
Plenty of pubs out there that might let you get started for cheap if you take on the food side.

Ya, I'm to preside, but more worried about making a mistake. But chefs need to be fast and precise at the same time. I don't know, just fed up of it altogether.

job seeker

UPDATE:

So after a long think about it, Ive decided to stick at the chefing, but try to get into a nursing home, prison or hospital. I'm sure Garda clearance is requird. But not sure after that.

kingtut

job seeker wrote: »

UPDATE:

So after a long think about it, Ive decided to stick at the chefing, but try to get into a nursing home, prison or hospital. I'm sure Garda clearance is requird. But not sure after that.

Maybe try a creche also? My aunt is a chef in one.

job seeker

kingtut wrote: »

Maybe try a creche also? My aunt is a chef in one.

I will, hours seem a bit short 12-2 or 3. As a random search found 1 or 2 in Dublin and a few in the UK. But nothing near Sligo. Cheers for your input. Always open to advice and suggestions.