A thread for those of us who tried who have a career change but didn’t manage to

[123stay]

I’ve considered writing this post for a while, and was finally inspired to do so by the thread about not being happy with where you’ve ended up in life.

Please bear in mind this is mainly a mental health and personal support thread, NOT a job hunting advice thread. Please don’t give unsolicited advice or tell me to update my CV or go on LinkedIn etc. I’m not interested any more.

The point of this thread is that when we’re hear about people having career changes, or studying or retraining to get a new job etc, we only hear about the successful ones. But I’m convinced there’s lots of other people out there who tried but failed.

After years of employers asking why I didn’t have a degree, I went and studied later in life. I did very well at uni, but was unable to get a graduate job because most employers just aren’t set up to deal with mature graduates, unless you want to be a teacher. I applied for so many things, went to networking events etc, the ones with application forms were too rigid for my non-traditional situation, a lot of employers want people with masters degrees now, and so many other barriers.

We’re constantly told that we can change our lives through education. There is a huge amount of privilege involved in telling someone that if you don’t like your job, go and get another one instead. It’s not that easy.

I still do the same type of work as before, because it’s all I could get. I just wanted to know that I’m not alone.

Anecdotally looking at friends whose career change worked out teaching secondary in a shortage subject. Another friend went back to planning after 15 years out and is thriving she was qualified in it before though but her being out for so long wasn’t a barrier.

Absolutely not law unless you are a really exceptional candidate. It’s hard enough doing it the traditional way.

@123stay I have been looking at HR admin roles and they ask for an arm and a leg experience wise. How does one get experience even, if that’s the case?

Who knows.

I'm identifying hard with @27mankinis. I started off in the NGO sector, then in my early 30s I moved into HE admin (badly timed pregnancy meant I needed to take whatever I could). I yearned for my original sector and thought doing a pt PhD would keep me relevant. It didn't - no interest from employers and I live too far from the action to really pursue it. That's a lot of money and effort with not much to show for it. Tried some lecturing and realized I didn't enjoy it much (and jobs v scarce, competitive and potentially v far from where I live).

On the brighter side, the HE sector itself does offer opportunities to change careers. I know a lot of people in HE that used to do something very different. Some now lecture (mostly on teaching and healthcare courses - many other areas seem to employ lifelong academics), but also admin, student support and professional services. I'm not saying you can walk in at any level without sector knowledge, and as always, it depends who else is going for the job, but there are chances.

I’m bumping this thread as it’s important.

I think a lot of this thread is connected to a disingenuous 'live your dream' Ted Talk narrative where you can completely reinvent yourself without considerations of economic and professional reality. Careers advice at school and further on in life has to be realistic and sometimes that does involve hard truths. However a lot of careers advisers are not prepared to give hard truths or possibly sold on an ideology where the 'sky is the limit' and can be overly optimistic of people's future direction.

Once you are off one career ladder it takes a huge effort to get into the ring of another and often this is the first rung. In a lot of cases people are looking for career change because of dislike of their current role, more money or status or more professional satisfaction. All these are worthy reasons but what is missing is the realism of the difficulty of changing careers. In a lot of cases support would be better given by advising how someone can cope with their current role and possibly find satisfaction in other areas of life.

I disagree with this. When I refer to career's advice, I mean at a bog-standard comprehensive around the millennium where there seemed little expectation we'd do anything particularly remarkable, let alone live our dreams. A good, solid job was the best we were aiming for. We were told over and over that people don't have careers for life nowadays and we'd probably have many different jobs in our lifetime. By different jobs, they didn't just mean moving from company to company within a specific part of one industry. I don't think anyone was saying anything they thought to be untrue but it isn't how I've seen the world work over the past 20 years.

Preferable to change but within your profession? I have done this. I remember a recruitment agent saying it wasn’t possible but I have done all sorts (within law) before finding my ideal work.

In order for the career change narrative to actually reflect realities, employers need to give jobs to career changers.

And also to be willing to provide additional training and support for people coming from different industries and professions.

At the moment it feels like these issues are not even acknowledged as being in existence, let alone being addressed or mitigated in any way.

Exactly. Everyone except actual employers seems to insist these things happen.

It’s like how the Government wants people over 50 to get back into the workplace. The real thing needed to make that possible is for employers to agree to employ them.

I know this is an old thread…but I know someone who is on a three year Counselling Psychology course, a completely different career to what she’s been doing for several years although vaguely ties in with something she did years ago

i am sure she’ll be a success because she’s exceptionally clever and hardworking but it’s such a risk…three years of having to rely on her husband for income (think she works ten hours a week because the course is almost full time).

How can she be sure she’ll secure work in this field? Great to give it a go but still risky

The original driver for changing careers was automation/offshoring. In 2024 motives vary significantly. People who never even had a 'career' in the first place trying to upgrade. People who do, but fancy a change either out of boredom/fulfilment such as @mids2019 stated or because conditions have been decimated in their field, e.g. teaching.

Why should employers support 'career changers' as a whole, in the way you formally described? What's in it for them? Of course they do when there are obvious benefits. E.g management consultancies like hiring doctors for public health projects. Many successful career changers already had a good career, and pivot using their existing network of contacts. So they are, in essence, a 'known quantity'.

The idea given by career advisors and many people on here however is that 'life experience' and 'transferable skills' are so valuable you can just put these on your CV and walk into a mid-level job in your new career. Unless it's known niche like the management consulting example above, that's very unlikely to happen. I have no doubt that 'some' people manage it but as OP pointed out 'some' and the 'majority' aren't the same.

Our problem is really low productivity and in the public sector under-resourcing such that very few professions are paid well enough these days, everyone and their dog wants to switch into them. And in some cases society loses out when people in important professions such as healthcare and education , leave. The fault there is under-resourcing. THIS should be fixed not pushing everyone to 'career change'.

@BeckyBloomwood3 yes, I agree. This is the crux: why should employers give career changers a chance? Most employers do not, hence the point of OP's original post.

I was merely pointing out what would need to be done to enable the theory to be achievable for more than a minority.

Currently this government's response to unemployment in later life or after redundancy is retrain. Retraining is purported as the solution to every employment problem.

The reality is that most employers do not welcome career changers unless moving into a public service, or the career changers previous career demonstrate niche cross over skills.

The widespread underfunding of our public services is a whole other thread!

The only plus for a later life career change (and this is dependent on location and industry) is that some employers will give you a chance, purely because an older employee is reckoned to remain in post longer than a graduate would.

I've found HR super competitive at every level. It was harder / more of a catch 22 to move up a level than get in in the first place.
The greasy pole has defeated me. After a series of shit completely different to how they were portrayed jobs I've taken a sideways move into project management. If that doesn't work out, I'm fucked.

I know I wrote this post many months ago, but I’m coming back to it as I’ve been thinking about this stuff recently. I hate this time of year because I keep seeing university clearing adverts everywhere, including adverts aimed at mature students. I always feel down when I see this stuff. I want to go up to people and say no, it might not change your life in the way it’s telling you.

@123stay how have the last few months been?

Any developments at all or are you still feeling horribly stuck?

No developments here. Like I said, I’m not interested any more. I just feel morose every time I see these adverts, which always happens at this time of year.

I'm wondering if this is social work or probation

Yeah I did a degree precovid then a professional degree during covid. Then accidentally fell pregnant. Love my DD to bits and wouldn't change her but I know I'll struggle to get a professional role without being able to do 60hr weeks, which I'm not willing to do before she's five say. Dh would support me but I miss her too much!

I'm now in an admin role in my profession, earning less (per annum) than I did when I worked in my previous role in charities.

I've read this thread a couple of times since you posted it, @123stay. I find it weirdly comforting!!

I tried changing career, doing relatively short/low cost retraining that was related to my degree.

But I had to start out as a volunteer, then progressing to a casual contract, which meant having to travel to different venues, working 3-6 hours a week, earning f-all (In the six months or so I was employed, I made around £300.) I couldn't keep that up with a mortgage and a toddler so went back to my original profession, but essentially had to start from the bottom again with that too, as local jobs were few and far between. Now with remote working, I'm at a higher level in this original profession but I'm so bored and still want out.

I'm interested in a few healthcare professions, but here in Scotland, the only way to retrain would be to take 3-4 years out of work to do another undergrad degree. No guarantee of the meagre student loan due to previous study. Degree apprenticeships are not available. The only other route is a 2yr MSc which costs £11k per year and requires relevant experience. Impossible.

Do I attempt to retrain in a career that is still in demand, but that I'm less interested in, just because it's easier to access? Would it even solve my problem, or would it just create new ones??

Choosing a career path at 17/18 years old is such a poor strategy. I wish I'd had more guidance.

Now is a really bad time to change career. The project management role I took was a temp contract and didn't actually involve any project management...like zero!

I'm trying to get back into what I did before but finding employers v fussy and want people not only with the right skillset but who have worked in the exact same environment/ sector before too. Glut of candidates on the market. Difficult times.

I wish posters would state what sector they're in and what sector they're currently looking to get into.

I’ve toyed with the idea of changing due to being unhappy but I’ve decided it’s not worth it. Better to get through a few more years. Unless you have a well paid partner who can support you or can potentially relocate, it’s too risky. What we need is to make work less miserable I think.

@Sasannach Me too. I still think it’s one of the most important posts I’ve ever written on here.