Would You Hire Someone Like Me?

[kurotora]

What a clickbait subject, sorry guys.

I'm looking for a career change, but given my background till now, I have no idea what I could do, or more to the point, whether anyone would even consider my application regardless.

I'm 39, and have spent the last 10 years working as a tattoo artist between 3 studios. I have loads of transferrable skills from being self-employed, I'm very good with customers and clients, good phone manner, I am definitely above average with IT skills (though not a programmer). Prior to this I was self-employed as a freelance artist through most of my 20s, doing art shows, selling online etc.

My last "real" jobs were at age 20. I worked a couple of reception jobs for a short time. I do not have any qualifications, I crashed and burned out of university. I'm autistic, I struggled a lot with all kinds of things when I was young, but now doing pretty well to hide it.

I'm looking to leave tattooing as I have some health issues which are made worse from the physical side of the job. I need something desk/very low intensity. And I have no idea what I could do. I have strong personal interests in animals, law and medical/pharma but these are not the kind of thing I think would be possible without quite a few qualifications - working full time, being disabled and having a 3 year old make studying now a real pipe dream. I'm aware that changing from tattooing is likely going to involve quite a pay cut.

But the thing is, I feel like anyone in a "real" industry who reads a CV like mine would not be interested, and I'm not sure how to change that.

During the Covid lockdowns, I successfully landed one interview out of hundreds of applications, for a dental receptionist, a job I'm sure I could do well. I was informed that I seemed overqualified (I'm sure this has a hidden meaning) and got a call to say I'd been passed over for someone with dental reception experience.

A final addition would be that I actually have no hand/face/neck tattoos, and no facial piercings, so can cover everything - but you'd need to get to the interview stage to find that out.

If you hire, what would you think of an applicant like me? Would you honestly be put off? What would change that for you - or could it be changed at all?

People career change all the time from really different industries. I wouldn't worry about that too much. Just make sure you point the things you need to point out in a cv.
What salary are you looking at? I think that makes quite difference in jobs. Like civil service is good, flecinle but lower pay.
Can you wfh? Quite a few companies have wfh customer service jobs wfh.

I don't think I have strict salary expectations, particularly as I'd be changing industry from scratch, but would appreciate a bit above minimum wage. Flexibility and WFH would be great, I'd be able to do that, though I also drive and could do an office environment.

I should have mentioned, I also have a bunch of transferrable skills from doing voluntary roles when I was younger, like organisation, fundraising and such.

Are you doing a skills-based CV? I wouldn’t dismiss someone out of hand who had experience in a completely different industry but I would want it to be made very clear to me exactly how your skills are transferrable.

The self-employed bit is the main thing that would put me off tbh - I have found that people who have been self-employed for years often don’t thrive with the bureaucracy of employed work (that may just be my industry, though).

I’d target big firms who may be more willing to be flexible with their requirements. Possibly people who have a guaranteed interview scheme for people with disabilities - it’s good interview practise, if nothing else. Don’t worry if it’s not a specific area of interest for you if you can put up with being bored for a while; once you have a year or so behind you in an employed desk-type role it’s going to be way easier to find something else.

If you did want to / are able to train in something, do you have an aptitude for coding at all? I’m thinking that something desk-based thing that might work would be some kind of web design.

I would do temping for a while. They're likely to be less strict with requirements and after a few months you've then got direct, recent office experience.

I'd look into doing some temping to get some office experience on your CV.

Have you had a look at civil service jobs to see what's in your area? We hire people with all sorts of employment histories and there is a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled candidates so long as you meet the minimum requirements for the role (their judgement, not yours!). TBH when I'm recruiting I don't read CVs until interview stage unless we're scoring them as part of the process, and that only happens really if we're looking for specific experience or qualifications. But there's lots of entry level and/or non specific type roles that you learn on the job.

I'm curious that temping is mentioned, I would have assumed that they'd be looking for someone with more immediate experience who would be less likely to need much training in the work environment - or am I wrong there?

In terms of self-employment being an issue I definitely see that and understand that's a sore spot! In tattooing, I am self-employed but at the same time have always worked in studios, so it's a little bit half and half. Still being used to being told what to do, when to show up, being accountable - very similar to how many hairdressers have their working arrangement. But again, I don't think there's a way to convey that before the interview stage. On the plus side, I've been in my current studio for over 5 years, and my boss would definitely give a great reference.

I'm very senior and I wouldn't dismiss your CV. Role depending obviously but companies hire a lot for jobs where specific qualifications aren't required.

Your CV would tell me that to remain viably self-employed you must have good business acumen and an understanding of P&Ls to a degree. Customer service skills are there too.

You could try looking for something in accounts, like an accounts admin or invoice clerk. I'm sure you know how this works having dealt with transactions and management of stock, VAT and being profitable.

This is a slightly left field suggestion, but with autism and previous burnout, you may be better staying self-employed so you can manage your workload. Have you ever thought of setting up a tattooing and piercing centre? You take the bookings and could even do consultations but someone else does the actual work so you aren't susceptible to the physical issues from it? I have a friend who was a tattoo artist for decades but now he just runs the studio, takes the bookings on behalf of other artists who all have quite different styles. Worth considering.

how good are you at MS Office Apps?

Temping is a great way to get yourself through the door and show what you can do - I've been offered several jobs as a result of temping. It will also give you some up-to-date experience of office work or reception work or whatever it is that you think might suit you. But to work in an office environment you will need recent experience in MS Office - Word, Excel, Teams (possibly Powerpoint - will depend on role) and Outlook.

In terms of your interests and not needing specific qualifications - I'd look at charities, particularly animals ones if you like animals, dental or GP or other medical reception work, where your customer service and interpersonal skills could be useful and relevant.

Ah sorry if it made it sound as though I had burnout! It wasn't really that. I struggled to adjust to the new routines and the social scene at university, as well as having to find my way around and to classes etc with little support, and no support in managing my workload. I started uni just shy of 17 years old, I lived alone and made a total pig's ear of things. It's one of my biggest regrets. But now being much older, having learned a lot more and improved my knowledge, communications and general life skills I'm in a very different place than I was when a teenager.

My current health issues are physical, I don't want to get into irrelevant detail here but it involves extensive endometriosis. Things have worsened a lot since a botched operation early this year which has left me with my physical ability greatly reduced. Bending and twisting over clients is really wrecking me now with no improvement likely on the horizon.

Opening a tattoo studio of my own isn't an avenue I'd be very interested in at this point in time - there are large shifts happening in the industry towards "private" studios and I'd not invest in it right now. I'm fine with leaving the art field at this point in life.

There are plenty of companies that would consider the experience you have as strong transferable skills.

With the skills you have you definitely wouldn't be earning NMW where I work. We offer entry level roles that require no experience, full training and working from home.

It can be daunting trying to find companies that will consider you but if you look at www.Evenbreak.co.uk it's a website to let disabled people know which companies are open to those who need reasonable adjustments and a bit of compassion! It lists lots of jobs and you don't need to ask awkward questions about transferable skills or working from home, etc. it's well worth a look.

People think that only the civil service will offer reasonable adjustments but it's not true. There are lots of companies out there that will employ you based on your skills not whether you went the 'traditional' route to work.

Good luck OP.

GP receptionists are in demand. They're also increasingly being trained as Care Navigators as part of the primary care network team.