To think this is still a respectable job?

[Lostatlife]

So I’m 26 years old, I’m a bit lost with my career. I used to be an accountant but hated every second of it by the end. I have myself a temporary job to do with covid, but it pays peanuts and it’ll probably come to an end soon.

I’ve been applying for various administration roles but need something with a decent salary. There’s not many things I’m overly passionate about that are coming up. And then problem is I didn’t go to uni, which I regret now as a lot of jobs need a degree.
I wouldn’t mind teaching but can’t afford to get a degree and not work as I’m paying rent.

I quite like the idea of trade work, something like being an electrician. However my girlfriend said she’d wholly support me however she mentioned that I have great a levels and accountancy certificates, and basically said it’d be a shame if I didn’t use my skills with numbers and basically insinuated that I’m too clever for a trade job - it’s often what people with no GCSEs go into.

Is she right? Should I be using my skills more?

Trade plus brains plus accountancy background plus youth. You could end up a millionaire.

Dump her and marry me.

DS1 and DS2 both have very good GCSEs. A* in maths and English, as well as in other subjects.

DS2 went to university and studied engineering, he now works as an engineer. DS1 had MH issues in 6th form and never took his A levels. He worked in customer service and admin roles but during lockdown had to wfh and was basically living and working in his bedroom and hating it. His MH started to suffer so he decided that he needed to have a job he really enjoyed. He applied for an Apprenticeship as a motor mechanic, and is absolutely loving it.

Your gf is a snob. There is nothing wrong with being a tradie, and there is everything right about doing something you really want to do.

My DH is an electrician. I’m senior management at a university. He earns the same as me…

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with changing careers to do something that you’re actually interested in! Job satisfaction is so important - so many people, myself included do a job we don’t particularly enjoy purely because it pays the bills!
I have quite a few friends who are all in manual trades. They are never without work, and make good money from a young age. One of them, apprenticed for a family friend who owned a construction business. Family friend died 20 years later, no kids of his own. My friend inherited the business, and is now doing incredibly well for himself!
Do what will make you happy OP.

The only thing I would say is to remember that trades often take it out of your body (married to one and brother is one) and invest the money you can earn wisely to support you to retire early ish. Get yourself an accountant 😁

I'm a carer in the community, a lot of people think it's a lowly job that is very easy to get into and doesn't pay much.

I absolutely love my job and see the same amazing people each day so happy to do extra hours (there's always plenty on offer)
My take home pay last month was just over 2k, more than my brother who works in the local council office and thinks he's very important.

If I were to retrain (have a degree and run my own little business in a consulting arena) …I would train in the trades- probably tiling. Well paid and varied, physical work, see the results so very satisfying. Trades easily clear several thousand a month if they’re good and it doesn’t take long to retrain. Plus customer use you again and again and use word of mouth for promotion so cheap and easy marketing!

There are a couple of female only tradespeople (tradesthem? 🤣) around here and they are so busy! You'll always need electricians.

I remember reading about a lady who quit her job as a senior lawyer or something to become a plumber. She set up her own business and said she's happier, more in control and earns more than she ever did. I think she was in Bradford where there is a huge call for female tradespeople.

I am encouraging my daughter to consider going into a trade. My local college does various "introduction to" courses. Might be worth seeing if there is anything similar by you?

You must have some idea how to start setting up a business with your accountancy background? You can obviously do electrician work as an employee and will presumably need to start on that basis, but you would make more money if you are self-employed ,which in effect would be the start of setting up a business.

Also, and I'm not sure how to phrase this without being rude so apologies in advance. Lots of people are snobby about trades or manual work. My friend refused to date someone she really liked when she found out he was a car mechanic (her loss, he was lovely).

Could it be that your partner is more concerned with how it would reflect on her? She has already shown she thinks it's beneath you.

Just to be clear begore I get jumped on. I don't think this. I have already said I'm encouraging my daughter to go into that line of work and would consider it myself.

Any of the trades are decent jobs, very hard manual work as well as needing to be switched on but a decent career choice. With your background in accounting as well that'd be a good combination, if you're unhappy go for it! You could ask if you can shadow someone if you're not sure, won't be able to go into people's homes whilst they work of course but might be able to give you some useful insight.

Agree people can be snobby and it's mostly based on ignorance, but would you want to be around people like that anyway?

If you run your own business eventually, you’ll need those skills anyway. One of the reasons many small businesses go to crap is because of the lack of business skills and organization. Do what makes you happy.

Electricians are very bright 💡

With good A levels you could get an electrical engineering apprenticeship... You'll clean up. Gf is mistaken

Yup yup yup!

i have a self employed ‘respectable’ desk job and have considered a trade as they’re clearly so in demand and yet also a big gap for super reliable organised people. I often think that someone with business and customer service skills could absolutely clean up.

One problem is im not sure I’d enjoy it enough to do long term. But if it’s something you think you’d enjoy, 100% go for it.

Great advice upthread as well about what sort of energy we’re likely to be using in the future – so perhaps would make less sense to start a new career as a gas engineer with so many years ahead of you.

Of course it’s a respectable job! It’s a skill, I would look up to anyone with a skill I don’t possess myself. And you can make a lot of money. And you won’t need to employ an accountant, you can do your accounts yourself! Do what you have a passion for OP, life is too short.

Maybe the girlfriend is just frustrated that the op keeps switching around with jobs (hated accounting so now doing min wage roles) which means their plans for maybe house/marriage/kids can't happen.

As an accountant I specialised in the industry of my hobby. I could have moved into other roles once in that industry (project management or marketing if I had any interest)

Having no ideas and keep looking to go back and re-train doesn't seem ideal in a life partner.

Very respectable job and good tradies are gold dust so you can make a killing. Also, if you are good at the admin/ detail side then you can start your own business later on and rake it in.

Obviously it varies but I did the very traditional russel group uni then and I am being massively outearned by my younger cousin who is an amazing and reliable tradie.

This is also good advice (apart from the bit about going back into accountancy – you have other options!)

I knew someone once who is a heating engineer. He would go into all these fancy offices to sort out their boilers etc wearing his work gear, and he said some of them would look at him as though he was beneath them because he was doing a manual job, but he said he would always have the last laugh as he was making an absolute fortune, literally earning thousands a week on some jobs. You do what makes you happy, having a skill in a trade is so useful

I’m also in accountancy and hate it! Do not go back to it if you hated it. Life is short but it’s too long to spend most of it doing something you don’t enjoy.

In my experience the market is saturated with educated young people seeking white collar jobs. So many people have been sold the dream that paying for a university course is a passport to a fabulous professional career, that competition is fierce. I see so many highly educated people in their 20s in the sort of admin roles you describe, not very interesting, not well paid, but the idea of not going to work in a trade would never cross their mind, as their expectation is to have a professional desk job.
I think it's great that you're thinking of other options, and you should definitely give a trade a go. In your 20s you've bags of time to try something out and then change if it doesn't fit. You can also progress to roles where you combine a technical knowledge with your academic skills.

I know a very savvy cleaner who’s a millionaire from building up a huge empire. She is incredibly intelligent and I don’t think she wasted her skills in her industry!

Do what makes you happy.

Nothing wrong with a trade, good money and more work than competitors so win/win! An accountancy background would also be a bonus for running your own business if that’s where you want to head with a trade.

Completely unrelated though, how are you an accountant without a degree? I’m sure there is a simple answer I’m not seeing, or as someone up thread said ‘just do something else within finance’, how do you do that? I’m not in UK so maybe it’s all different but I have a few kids in similar line of work, not accountants but had to do some accountancy subjects in their finance related degrees (different degrees), and they are also scratching their heads at how someone could be employed in financial or accountancy roles without degrees. Understand there are additional professional quals, which I have one doing, again not accountancy but similar in a way, but they know people in industry doing their prof accountancy quals (on company money) but again are confused as to how they would have been employed by an institution without the base degree. Mine both have offices in UK as well as here and seemed to think their counterparts need degrees under their professional quals as well? Realise off topic completely but we are now flummoxed🤣.