To Change Jobs or not.....

[hulahoop22]

Hi,
I hope I'm posting in the right place, I've never posted before....

I need advice on what I should do, currently working earning approx £27k, I really want to apply for a role that I have retrained for, only problem is the starting salary is about £22k.

This will be a massive drop in salary and need to decide if I should do it or not. Any advice would be great. Thanks!

The obvious advice is whether there is an upside to the £22K and how quickly you can work your way up the pay scale, whether within the organisation or outside.

If you re-trained, you will not unrealistically have to start at a lower salary than where you are to build up your experience. Is it realistic to expect to move across into your retrained area at the same salary? If so, then hold out for a more higher paying job. If not, then you might as well bite the bullet and take the hit now to build up experience, otherwise expect to stay where you are and not leverage your retraining.

3 times in my career I've taken pay cuts and every time its worked out for the better in the long run. For me if the opportunity is right go for it assuming you can afford the drop in the short term

Thanks for the replies. I feel much more positive about making the move now.

The benefits would be a greater job satisfaction (hopefully), a more reliable and stable working environment, and possible movement into higher roles as I gain experience.

I guess if I am ever to bite the bullet and do it, now is, if not a bit late, also the right time.

Never too late. With people working longer and longer, you have lots of time to claw your way back to the same pay scale and maximise return on your retraining.

Job satisfaction counts for a lot. If your area is also a growing area, you can leap frog up.

I made a sideways career change into compliance in my early 40s and took a very big hit salary-wise. Seven years and 2 employers later and lots of hard work, I have almost tripled my pay. When you enjoy the work, you feel good about putting in that extra to gain experience and it becomes a virtuous circle.

OP, onwards and upwards for you!

It wouldn't be a full £5k drop though as you'd be paying less tax etc...
Would you be entitled to any help from benefits?
How long would it take to get back to the same wage as now?

Go for it. Life’s too short not too.

I don't think I'd be entitled to any benefits, and if I'm honest I don't know if I'll ever get back up to the salary I'm on now. I'm quite new in this field so not totally certain which direction it will take me in the end, but I feel like I want to try and see if this new career path will work for me and my family.