Changed career a few years ago in my early 30s, leaving a sales/project management-ish job in a big FTSE org for an operational role in a logistics company. My friend worked there and managed to get me an interview, at which I successfully convinced them that my organisation and multi tasking skills would transfer well.
It's a very different environment. Largely blue collar staff, much more blokey and less PC, but also much more racially and socially diverse - previous job was mainly white officey types and a few sikhs, but now I work with a lot of Eastern European guys and a fair few Muslim and British Jamaicans as the roles are more technical and less about business dev and schmoozing middle class white directors at lunch - we have an in house workshop with loads of mechanics etc, and also crane drivers, tanker/ADR drivers, etc. Also building a renewable energy plant atm which will power the local community. Lots of stuff I find much more interesting than writing the same old proposals again and again for people that will only skim read most of the 100+ page doc.
I've totally waffled on but this thread struck a chord with me and I've not really discussed my career change that much with anyone.
Main focus is probably keeping the fleet operational and trying to organise routes. The main person I work with daily is a 50yo guy who looks like a Hell's Angel/ZZ Top member (our workshop manager) who'd you'd never see in the corporate world.
Absolutely love it. No stuffiness or office politics and plenty of banter, but the environment is relaxed enough to tell somebody to "stop being a prick" if they're being one. I could never go back to the corporate rat race and all the bitchy colleagues gossiping and trying to get a step up but being nice to their colleagues' faces.
A big difference is that I was previously in a team of 10, who were all effectively competing for promotion to senior bid roles. I have less obvious routes for progression now, but also don't really compete with anybody and just need to ensure I manage my work ok. Typically, promotions happen when somebody else moves upwards or to another depot, and often they are prepared to train an in house candidate rather than just get somebody in with the right skillset - they seem to genuinely reward loyalty. Our depot manager was a driver, then a routing asst, then supervisor, etc etc, and now earns an absolute packet.