I hate my job... Need a new career. Help please!

[Emslifechoices]

But don't know what else to do! I'm a solicitor (working in private practice). I'm thinking of applying for new jobs (in-house) in the vain home that I may prefer it.

BUT I'm pretty convinced I won't like that either. I'm 30 and fancy a change of career. Does anyone out there love their job and have any good ideas as to what to do. I love working with people and don't like being restricted to sitting at my desk all day.

Thanks for ANY help.

[daisydee43]

i am going to a careers advisor in few weeks. its free and local service. im nearly 30 and had 3 career changes so really hoping to stick to my latest but not convinced ive found tge right job yet hence the apoointment. i qualified at night school could you do that? difficult to know what youll love. im a horticulturalist btw love working with plants

[McBear]

How do you find/get in touch with careers advisors? Sorry to hi jack.

If you're not happy, you must make a change. Being unhappy at work can affect all aspects of your life and it simply isn't worth it. It does sound like you have a great job with a lot of possibility ahead. Could you find a way to make it work?

[daisydee43]

i got a number though my college but aparently they are an independent service so prob other branches not sure of the name of company

[CleanLinesSharpEdges]

I'm on the verge of a complete change of career. I'm starting a 12 week course in September and have a couple of courses to do after that, and then I will be testing the market by working evenings and weekends while keeping my full time job on, for now, hopefully completely leaving and starting my own business by next April.

I'm going for a complete change from a very safe NHS admin job to something that couldn't be more different. I can't waste another year of my life sitting behind that desk.

I've never had a real calling or a yearning for a particular type of career or job, so I wrote a list of general things I wanted from work - eg. not restricted to a desk, working with the public, possible 'run my own business' opportunity, doesn't require huge financial outlay, doesn't require years of studying (I'm not interested in doing a degree), etc. I had about 15 things on my list which narrowed my career options down and did a lot of research into the possibilities I was left with.

If you can do something similar it might help in starting to point you in the right direction.

[EBearhug]

What is it about being a solicitor that you don't like? Are there things about the job you do like? When you've got a list of things you absolutely must not have, and some you absolutely must have, and some you'd prefer not to have, and others you'd prefer to have, then you'll have an idea of the sort of job you want, and you can start looking for something which fits that profile. Don't start with job titles, it's the tasks and environment and things like that you want to think about before you work out what fits it.

[twentyten]

Have a look at what colour is your parachute book/ website to help you think about your skills. Lots of good on line free personality profiles- look at Myers Briggs and opq which are widely used.
Look at local womens business networks- not necessarily bni etc but many are v low cost and supportive.

[CareersDragon]

Hi there,

You could do so many things! Depending on your personal interests, skills & abilities, as well as the amount of retraining you would be prepared to undertake. You should see a Careers Adviser to discuss your own situation...

If you live in England, you can arrange to see a Careers Adviser for free through the National Careers Service bit.ly/1aRyYxV. The tendency is for the public organisations to be cutting back on face-to-face guidance, as it is expensive, preferring to go the route of telephone/ e-guidance, however. Careers Wales & Careers Scotland are worth contacting if you're in their areas. However, I know that Careers Wales' new remit means that those over 24 years of age are not offered face-to-face guidance.

If you prefer, you could arrange to see a Careers Adviser privately. The Career Development Institute is the professional organisation for Careers Advisers & they have a Professional Register, where you can search for advisers that are experienced & qualified (equivalent to Chartered Status) see bit.ly/19pxU9h

[Amelle]

I don't have any words of advice but am in same position as you - solicitor, really not enjoying what I do and looking for career change. Just the little question of what to do!

[Seabright]

Another one in the same position. Being a lawyer is crap a lot of the time. I often get breathless and panicky on the way to work and have another 25 years of this.

Sole breadwinner, no spare cash to retrain. My escape route is a big win on the premium bonds. Which is pretty depressing.

[florencedombey]

Just another miserable solicitor coming on to say "you are not alone". Have had a particularly shit day myself today and would love to escape, but am main earner in our house so we need my salary to pay the mortgage :-(

[CareersDragon]

Gosh, this thread is opening my eyes to the current misery of so many solicitors. It is interesting that many feel trapped by good salaries, but dissatisfied with the actual jobs that you do.

It isn't always necessary to change career to feel better about your work. To get an insight into what you really think, make a list with 3 columns:

• things that you ENJOY about your job (there must be something!)
  
• things that you don't mind about your job
  
• things that you HATE/dislike about your job.
  
  What is striking about your list? What sort of pattern do you have? Are there ways that you can get more of what you like/ don't mind in your current job?
  Is it possible to delegate/ swap some of the things you hate with someone else? Sometimes, identifying the individual issues can highlight possible solutions. Just taking action and feeling that you're exerting some control over what you do can make you feel altogether different.
  
  The other thing to bear in mind is that sometimes, the solution lies outside paid work. What are you seeking that your job doesn't give you? Could you volunteer or get involved in clubs/societies that could make your week more enjoyable? Could you cut down your hours to give a better work/life balance?
  
  Whatever you decide to do, as a qualified solicitor you will be a very good job candidate and there are many business openings that you could go into without the cost/time of taking time out to retrain.
  
  Feeling helpless/ hopeless to do anything can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, so get making your lists!

[FreckledLeopard]

Another miserable solicitor here! Having realised that I loathe being told what to do, so life as an associate isn't much fun. I have come up with a plan to escape law and start my own business. It's risky but I desperately need to be my own boss. Watch this space!

[Emslifechoices]

Thanks everyone! CareersDragon I'm already making lists so thanks for the encouragement.

Freckled - what's the business plan? I want to do that too but not coming up with my big idea...

[Seabright]

What do I like about being a lawyer - sometimes I get to colour in plans. Not every often, as we have a colour photocopier, but sometimes I get to do it and I love.

Rest of the job is complete pants. Just finished (another) 12 hour day with a 15 min lunch break. Will be working over the weekend, as I am booked to be off on hols next week and no way I can catch up by then.

In two days this week I've been hung up on, shouted out, been accused (wrongly) of ruining someone's business and been told by a client that he's about to jump off a cliff (I was tempted to refer him to our Probate department to make sure he had a will, but resisted).

And my bills are a fraction of what estate agents charge, but I can be sued to oblivion if I make a mistake. And sadly, after working 12 hour days to keep up with what estate agent's have told clients is achievable, making is mistake is entirely possible.

We have a first year law student working as a temp typist at the moment. I want to tell her to run for the hills.

[florencedombey]

Seabright, every law student who asks me for advice about a career in law gets told "don't do it"!

[Emslifechoices]

Florence - I always say the same thing too!

[Seabright]

I told her today - she was shocked. I told her I would never go into law if I was starting again.

[florencedombey]

If we can at least save one of them...

[WidowWadman]

I work in procurement and love it - a legal background could come in quite useful - I actually toyed for a while with the idea of retraining and study law because I immensely enjoyed the legal aspects modules I studied for my CIPS qualification and like the whole balancing of compliance vs commercial interests.
It's a lot about stakeholder management/working with people, so could be exactly what you're looking for.

[Seabright]

What's procurement? I have no idea what stakeholder management means.

[WidowWadman]

Oh sorry, I'm so immersed in that kind of stuff that I forget that it's not necessarily everyday words. Procurement is purchasing/buying of services and products from very small fast moving goods to very big capital items such as , MRI scanners or ships or buildings.
The professional organisation for buyers is CIPS, their website is pretty informative //www.CIPS.org

A stakeholder is anyone with an interest in a project you do(or generally the work you or your organisation does) and stakeholder management is generally about balancing those interests and keeping them happy taking into account how interested they are and what power they hold.

[DoctorTwo]

. This bloke makes great points, and has been shown to my DCs.

[DoctorTwo]

It went down a treat, especially with the DDs. Now neither are going to uni, and DS has changed his plans to include working overseas.

[blueshoes]

OP, you need to tell us what is on your list. Without understanding what you are looking for, it is like a needle in a haystack.