Do you ever regret your career or non-career?

[PavlovtheCat]

I never really followed any direction. I had ended up where i am in my career by sort of default. Well not the position, that was hard work, but the profession. It is close to what i want to do. But, i only realised what I wanted to do by doing this job.

And now, i think it is too late .

Anyone else feel like this? Does anyone wish they could turn the clock back to being 17/18/19 and make different educational decisions?

Has anyone taken a major leap of faith in themselves at the expense of other things, career wise and changed direction? retrained in a profession? How was it?

riven there is more than one way to skin a cat! Look into it more, find some sponsors, i am sure there are organisations somewhere that would consider sponsorship, or look into european funding?

I never had any idea what I wanted to be or do. However since the age of 19 /20 I have been incredibly lucky and opportunities have appeared and I have taken chances even when I didn't fully believe that I was capable of doing such jobs (Quite clearly I was and I had managers that believe in me)

I have been on a winding journey and I am more than happy and grateful of my job now.
I am glad that I haven't had a rigid carer path but have done varied jobs and enjoyed everyone of them!

Riven, I don't know if you have seen this from the UWE - I think you are in Bristol area? - and of course I don't know if you meet the criteria, but it might be worth investigating. (Apologies if this is telling you things you already know)

Fee waivers from UWE
UWE provides a fee waiver scheme for part-time postgraduate programmes. The fee waiver scheme is reviewed annually and may not provide the same level of support for the next academic year of your programme.

To qualify for a UWE fee waiver for your postgraduate part-time course, you need to be:

1.considered as a UK resident (?home?) or EU student for fee purposes and
2.registered on a part-time course that lasts for at least one academic year and
3.in receipt of a means-tested benefit when you are due to register on your course and
4.have been in receipt of the benefit continually for 6 months before the date of registration.
If you meet the above criteria, UWE will waive 75% of your tuition fees for this academic year.

Which benefits count?
The relevant benefits for this fee waiver are:
Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance (income based),Pension Credit, Jobseekers Allowance (income-based), New Deal, Housing or Council Tax Benefit.

I'm a nurse - although I wanted to be a doctor. Do I regret it? Not always. I'm actually very good at my job, it's exciting, challenging and emotionally rewarding and I am in a position where I work flexibly to be at home as much as I want to be with 2 small DC.
However...I wish I didn't feel like I have missed out. I wish that I didn't feel the need to prove myself intellectually, I wish I earnt more money and I yearn for the day that nursing is recognised as a good career choice and not something the girls who are a bit dim fall into.

plus do you really think that people think that about nursing, nowadays? I hope they don't! I know several nurse friends, my best friend is a nurse, she worked her ass off to become one, and continues to do so. She works hard, has to have a lot of intellect to do her job! Have no idea how you could be a good nurse without a brain. Agree it needs to pay better, though she is lucky and works in a small community as a community nurse and gets paid quite well now(well, worked hard and was devious, worked her way around to it, and sacrificed a lot to get there).

I bet if you asked the MN collective how many of them would be pleased if their DD or DS announced they were going into nursing, it wouldn't amount to many

I went to do my nurse training as a friend had applied and i thought it sounded good.

It was not well thought out, it wasnt some thing i had a lifelong yearning to do.

However, i absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE every minute of it. It was the best accidental decision that i could have made.
Been a nurse for 20 years and never regretted it.
I have worked my way up, and i am now in THE best job in the training team on a very busy intensive care unit.
I am not too sure what i would have done had i not gone into nursing tbh.

DD wants to be a nurse!

I am a lawyer too. I mostly don't regret doing this, although I was channelled into it. I started in the City, and altough I didn't particularly enjoy the lifestyle and the money! But it was incompatible with children, and also I just didn't get a buzz out of corporate work.

I have switched areas now and work for a large charity and I love it (mostly!). Pay is a bit rubbish compared to what I was earning before. I am pleased that I have persevered with my career though through having young children, when all my friends stopped work and I was very tempted to as well.

Pavlov, i would agree with others on here - it isn't too late to retrain, but be aware that the recession has really hit law firms and there ae alot of graduates looking for training contracts - you would have more luck with regional or high street firms, or something like the CPS/Govt legal service maybe or inhouse. and I can really recommend working for a charity to give you a feeling that you are doing something interesting and worthwhile.

I want to be a forest ranger!!

polly that is what i would probably do, work for local rather than bigger, and possibly for charities for a while, not really so interested in earning big bucks, but a good wage will do of course! I have actually considered working for CPS, you don't need to be trained do you, just need relevant experience which i think i have working in criminal justice. I think they provide the training like becoming a probation officer i think?

Pavlov - I am a family Solicitor - i love my job - but i gave up my career when youngest was born.

I studied pt for 6 years to get my degree and lpc - i spent 18 months working as a legal clerk and 18 months as a trainee before i finally qualified.

It is very hard to get a training contract - i mean very very hard - i had lots of experience in business (through working ft whilst studying) i had time management skills and i did really well academically BUT i still had so many rejections.

I did my course with lots of mature students and most of those struggled to get training contracts and some never did.

Glad your suing the builder though!

It is a hard decision to retrain - but i do really love my job and would love to go back to it but sadly not practicable at the mo

Your comments about nursing are interesting, Plus3. I'm a PA (to top dog of the company) and I actually feel the same!

In actual fact, I think nursing has changed beyond recognition and a good nurse who knows her stuff is a very powerful member of staff.

In my case, I have three A Levels and a degree. I like to think I am integral part of the management team, driving things forward and making things happen. However, in reality I often wonder how I am perceived. When I mentioned I was really busy to the restaurant manager, she asked if I had a lot of letters to type (huh?!!!).

speckled [grin. Its funny the stereotypes people have though isn't it?

Ha ha! Yeah, likewise the Directors of our company make me despair sometimes. I often think I could do a better job of running the show!

Ho hum...