fell like life and opportunites are passing me by

sanex

I am 27 and have been in what i now see is a dead end job for the last 10 years since i left school and on a very low income.I was fairly intelegent in primary school and done very well in my entrance exams when going to secondry school but for some reason i never setteled in at secondry school and lets just say slipped down the pack.I never got the encouragement or direction from my parents to achieve somthing from education and was always told college was a waste of money, but money was tight in our house,so i was encouraged to take the job i am now in.I was only in the job around 18 months and then the economy was starting to crash and all every kept saying was your lucky to be in a job which at the time i was.The job i am doing is very unsociable working weekend,bank holidays and christmas and i feel like i lost out on my youth by unable to go out weekends because of work and and this makes me both angry and sad

What are my opions at my age or what advice would you give me at my age as at the moment i can see me writing the exact same thing in 10 years time,finacially i am going no where in the job and it is really starting to get to me the last six months,it just seems so hard to a decent job these days without a college degree or exsperience and there just seems to be no where or no one to turn to for advice,thanks

LostTazMan

First of all if you are not happy in your work the best way forward is to decide what you want to do, then figure out what you need to do to get there.

Lack of a college degree need not stop you, many college have courses available part-time, which you could do while continuing to work. It is very hard to do,but it is possible. I don't know if you could reduce your work hours enough to go to college full time, but if your core hours are in the weekend it might suit you.

Best of luck in whatever YOU choose to do!

Sunny Disposition

No reason you can't develop a career or further ur education OP, you are still v young!
I think what the previous poster said is great advice. Have a think about what you'd like to do, do some research and then look at the steps required. There are heaps of part time courses out there.
It can be daunting going back to education but really starting is probably what's toughest.
At this stage you are far more mature than at 18 or so, so you are more likely to make good decisions and to work hard at what you choose to do. You also understand importance of money, job satisfaction, regular hours etc.
It sounds like you are ambitious and have your head screwed on, v best of luck!

pgj2015

I was in your position op, dead end job straight after school, eventually I decided to go back to college, as a mature student, you can pretty much choose any course you want, it was the best decision I ever made, I really enjoyed my course/s and the social side of college, made loads of friends. one thing I would advise you is go talk to a career guidance Counsellor about what course you want to do, if you pick a course that interests you and you enjoy, you will fly threw the course and get your qualification. mature students tend to do well in college so don't listen to anyone telling you otherwise, good luck.

FizzleSticks

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sanex

pgj2015 wrote: »

I was in your position op, dead end job straight after school, eventually I decided to go back to college, as a mature student, you can pretty much choose any course you want, it was the best decision I ever made, I really enjoyed my course/s and the social side of college, made loads of friends. one thing I would advise you is go talk to a career guidance Counsellor about what course you want to do, if you pick a course that interests you and you enjoy, you will fly threw the course and get your qualification. mature students tend to do well in college so don't listen to anyone telling you otherwise, good luck.

thanks for the reply,where did you go for the advice?I am from the south east would it be possible for you to put up a link where i could seek help of a career guidance counsellor? what was the turning point for you when you decided you needed to make the change? i have been thinking about this for a while but i just find there is a lack of options to turn to for advice and also when you get in to a routine for so long it can be very to tough to make a change like if i dont do somthing shortly i feel it will be to late and i can see myself in the exact same position in 10 years time, but also i would be nervous of making a change incase things dont work out.Just when you would you in a place so long i feel i would be lacking in confidence if i was to take up somthing new incase i was slow to pick up on things,thanks

sanex

FizzleSticks wrote: »

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thanks for the reply and i am glad things worked out for you.What was the turning point for you?just the last year or two i feel i just have to give a shot at somthing before its to late because i really dont want to be here in years to come in the same situation its just i feel there is a lack of opitions to turn to to seek advice and also nearly every job now either seeks a some kind of a qualificiation or experience and i am totally short in both these areas as the job i have my experience would really be a benefit to nothing really.would it be posiable to put up a link to career guidance advisor who could help me?thanks

pgj2015

sanex wrote: »

thanks for the reply,where did you go for the advice?I am from the south east would it be possible for you to put up a link where i could seek help of a career guidance counsellor? what was the turning point for you when you decided you needed to make the change? i have been thinking about this for a while but i just find there is a lack of options to turn to for advice and also when you get in to a routine for so long it can be very to tough to make a change like if i dont do somthing shortly i feel it will be to late and i can see myself in the exact same position in 10 years time, but also i would be nervous of making a change incase things dont work out.Just when you would you in a place so long i feel i would be lacking in confidence if i was to take up somthing new incase i was slow to pick up on things,thanks

no problem op, only seeing your reply now, I went to leitrim adult guidance and information service, its a free service, you should get in contact with your local citizens advice and ask them is there a similar service available to you, if not you could see if anyone could recommend a career guidance service that you pay for. i found the leitrim adult guidance and information service great and visited them for advice throughout my time in college, when i was finished college they gave me invaluable advice on how to put my cv together. my turning point was just a bad day at work but I had never intended staying in my dead end job from day one, I did 4 years in it, about two years more than I thought I would.
I should point out that before i got career guidance, i did 1 year each in two different colleges, then 3rd time lucky i found a course i loved, got my diploma, degree and then a post grad in another college, 6 best years of my life without a doubt. if I can do it, so can you.:)

LegacyUser

At 26 I was unemployed and on the dole, living in in a rough part of Dublin City. I had no qualifications and the highest level of education I had attained was the junior cert. My experience was in low wage retail and customer service jobs. I had a patchy history of misc jobs and no savings. It was recession Ireland and it seemed like I hadn't a hope.

So I bit the bullet and went to college to do a fetac course, followed by another where I earned some IT certifications. Turns out I had a talent for programming and networking. When I finished college it took me 6 months of constant job applications to find a job in a call centre. 22k per year.

While working in the call centre I studied for a higher IT certification. A year and a half later I passed the last exam needed and earned the cert. I put it on my cv online and on that very same day I got a call and was asked to come to an interview the next day. I had to pull a sickie from work to attend, but it went great and I was offered a job by phone as I sat on the bus on the way home from the interview.

It was a level 2 IT infrastructure engineering role, 26k. I worked there for 1 year before putting my cv back out there and managed to land a 60k job.

So I went from unemployed, uneducated and unskilled at 26, to a high skilled 60k job 4 years later. I am now approaching 100k year later. It took an enourmous amount of work, prayer and self belief but I turned my life around.

Moral of the story is that it's not too late to start again and change everything. I wish you all the best OP.

Clampdown

Most of us if not all of us feel that way at one time or another OP. It often comes from comparing yourself to others, esp on facebook and the like. It's normal. The hard part is, it's only YOU who can change it, and it can take hard work and patience.

Fwiw, most jobs are 'dead end' jobs to a lot of the people in them. Even jobs you might think are either really boring and repetitive or they are lower paid than you think for the amount of work and stress. For an unemployed person your job might seem like a deadly gig. Perspective is a funny thing.

You don't have kids or a mortgage, the world is your oyster. Save as much money as you can from your wages, figure out a plan for what you want to do and go for it.

Lavinia

sanex wrote: »

before its to late

Going back to education one way or another is really your only option.
Be aware that many people with recession had to go to re-skill and were much much older than you e.g. in their 30s and 40s.
You being 27 is really young.
So be optimistic, think what you would like to be doing and find out which education path you need to take for you to get there.
Be prepared to invest another 4, 5 years of your life for that, but then you will be working what you like for the next ~30+ years.
Ask yourself - do I want to stay where I am for the rest of my life, and if not (as you already said) then find strength, courage and put an effort to go for it.

Best of luck! : )

FizzleSticks

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sozbox

rethink wrote: »

At 26 I was unemployed and on the dole, living in in a rough part of Dublin City. I had no qualifications and the highest level of education I had attained was the junior cert. My experience was in low wage retail and customer service jobs. I had a patchy history of misc jobs and no savings. It was recession Ireland and it seemed like I hadn't a hope.

So I bit the bullet and went to college to do a fetac course, followed by another where I earned some IT certifications. Turns out I had a talent for programming and networking. When I finished college it took me 6 months of constant job applications to find a job in a call centre. 22k per year.

While working in the call centre I studied for a higher IT certification. A year and a half later I passed the last exam needed and earned the cert. I put it on my cv online and on that very same day I got a call and was asked to come to an interview the next day. I had to pull a sickie from work to attend, but it went great and I was offered a job by phone as I sat on the bus on the way home from the interview.

It was a level 2 IT infrastructure engineering role, 26k. I worked there for 1 year before putting my cv back out there and managed to land a 60k job.

So I went from unemployed, uneducated and unskilled at 26, to a high skilled 60k job 4 years later. I am now approaching 100k year later. It took an enourmous amount of work, prayer and self belief but I turned my life around.

Moral of the story is that it's not too late to start again and change everything. I wish you all the best OP.

Great story, fair play and best of luck.