Career change, but what to?
Discussion
Hey folks.
I’m posting here, but because I expect a miracle answer, it’s probably more cathartic and maybe it’ll open my eyes to something.
I’m 46, not university educated but have a raft of life experience. I worked as a Police Officer for 18 years and currently work in the rail industry in a control room role with 7 years under my belt.
I have zero interest in trains and fell into the job by chance when I wanted to leave the Police, which was another career I never imagined doing.
Anyway, things in work aren’t great, and I feel I have so much energy to throw at something, but I’ve no idea what…?
People say did you do something you love, you’ll never ‘work’ a day again, but I’ve no idea how to focus on or lock into a new career.
I love cars, driving them, basic maintenance, buying them, selling them, talking about them. I’m similar with motorbikes, but cars have always been No1.
I love foreign travel and driving abroad. I rode a motorbike all over Europe and similarly have lots of European driving experience, I’ve just come back from Tromso in Norway where driving in the snow was very challenging.
I love travel, UK and European, I like overnighting in a new place.
I’m also into photography and social media, I have a very basic YouTube channel which I enjoy but only has 100+subscribers. I also have a blog where I have have written about what it’s been like to have a wife diagnosed with cancer in her 40’s (the other half and cancer).
On top of that, I’m hard working, trustworthy, responsible, lots of traits you would expect from a Police Officer (not one of the very few bad ones).
So how can I channel this into a career that I could actually afford to live off (a modest living standard).
One of my biggest negative points in my opinion is sometimes lacking creativity, before someone suggests being an ‘influencer’ or similar. Of recent years a possible lack of professional confidence also due to setbacks in the workplace.
Any suggestions of comments would be great to hear, maybe you can think of something or know something that I hadn’t thought of?
Thanks for having a read anyway.
Mark
I’m posting here, but because I expect a miracle answer, it’s probably more cathartic and maybe it’ll open my eyes to something.
I’m 46, not university educated but have a raft of life experience. I worked as a Police Officer for 18 years and currently work in the rail industry in a control room role with 7 years under my belt.
I have zero interest in trains and fell into the job by chance when I wanted to leave the Police, which was another career I never imagined doing.
Anyway, things in work aren’t great, and I feel I have so much energy to throw at something, but I’ve no idea what…?
People say did you do something you love, you’ll never ‘work’ a day again, but I’ve no idea how to focus on or lock into a new career.
I love cars, driving them, basic maintenance, buying them, selling them, talking about them. I’m similar with motorbikes, but cars have always been No1.
I love foreign travel and driving abroad. I rode a motorbike all over Europe and similarly have lots of European driving experience, I’ve just come back from Tromso in Norway where driving in the snow was very challenging.
I love travel, UK and European, I like overnighting in a new place.
I’m also into photography and social media, I have a very basic YouTube channel which I enjoy but only has 100+subscribers. I also have a blog where I have have written about what it’s been like to have a wife diagnosed with cancer in her 40’s (the other half and cancer).
On top of that, I’m hard working, trustworthy, responsible, lots of traits you would expect from a Police Officer (not one of the very few bad ones).
So how can I channel this into a career that I could actually afford to live off (a modest living standard).
One of my biggest negative points in my opinion is sometimes lacking creativity, before someone suggests being an ‘influencer’ or similar. Of recent years a possible lack of professional confidence also due to setbacks in the workplace.
Any suggestions of comments would be great to hear, maybe you can think of something or know something that I hadn’t thought of?
Thanks for having a read anyway.
Mark
The "do something you'll love and you'll never work a day in your life" thing is all well and good, but I'd also temper that a little with "turn something you love in to work and you very possibly won't love it any more"
I love cars, I enjoy working on them, built my engine, really enjoy vast amounts of the process. Would I want to build an engine for someone else? Not a chance. Part of what makes a hobby enjoyable is thelack of time pressure, nobody to answer to but yourself, you can start / stop it whenever you want.
Turning that in to a job would take all of the fun out of it for me, so it's possbily worth bearing that in mind when considering a new career driving a lorry all over Europe or something.
I love cars, I enjoy working on them, built my engine, really enjoy vast amounts of the process. Would I want to build an engine for someone else? Not a chance. Part of what makes a hobby enjoyable is thelack of time pressure, nobody to answer to but yourself, you can start / stop it whenever you want.
Turning that in to a job would take all of the fun out of it for me, so it's possbily worth bearing that in mind when considering a new career driving a lorry all over Europe or something.
Currently a police officer and although fairly new (coming up to six years) I've been within the police for 15 years.
Whilst I'm currently OK within my role (RPU) I am looking at other options in and outside.
Driving instructing is one i keep looking at. But, the costs are putting me off along with going self employed.
Have a look at the podcasts by Blue Light Levers. There is also a Facebook group. Lots of advice in there.
Whilst I'm currently OK within my role (RPU) I am looking at other options in and outside.
Driving instructing is one i keep looking at. But, the costs are putting me off along with going self employed.
Have a look at the podcasts by Blue Light Levers. There is also a Facebook group. Lots of advice in there.
I was going to say Blue Light Leavers too. The Facebook group is great and is very active. Many talk about what they're doing or where they moved to.
I wouldn't get too hung up on having a job which is a hobby. It sounds more like a change is needed and often that opens up a whole new lease of life, new work friends, new opportunities.
The Police UK Reddit group is also good. Often posts by ex police or those leaving, either through retirement or just leaving for other roles.
https://www.reddit.com/r/policeuk/
I wouldn't get too hung up on having a job which is a hobby. It sounds more like a change is needed and often that opens up a whole new lease of life, new work friends, new opportunities.
The Police UK Reddit group is also good. Often posts by ex police or those leaving, either through retirement or just leaving for other roles.
https://www.reddit.com/r/policeuk/
https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/appr...
There were loads on here: Lloyds bank, RAF, National Grid, tesla mechanics …. All sorts
il-mostro said:
One of my biggest negative points in my opinion is sometimes lacking creativity........
.........Any suggestions of comments would be great to hear, maybe you can think of something or know something that I hadn’t thought of?.
Two things my dad kept drumming into a kid..........Any suggestions of comments would be great to hear, maybe you can think of something or know something that I hadn’t thought of?.
- No one else is going to put rice in your rice bowl
- Why should someone pay you to work and not someone else
With your life experience you WILL have skils, and qualities that no one else can offer. The hard bit however is only you know what they are. If someone else can come up with a suggestion than the chance are someone else is already doing that job, so if you want it, you are going to have to compete.
Completion is fine, it's good, but it's damn hard work versus the 'Blue ocean' approach.
The stuff you mentioned about cars, traveling, social media, all great but why would you be better at those things than anyone else???
Coming back to what my dad ingrained in me, understand YOUR strength, what can YOU do no one else can, I would go a far as to IGNORE what everyone else is suggesting unless it's a last resort to pay the mortgage. From what you describe you WILL have life experiences 99% of people on here cannot even imagine, work out how to use that.
However we are all different, I'm far more a dreamer than doer, but I recognise that's both my weakness and strength so I consciously focus more on doing than dreaming. I also ensure I work more with colleagues who are doers rather than dreamers, partnership can create some amazing outputs if everyone works to their strength.
This probably isn't much help, but if you are a doer, focus more on dreaming, or at least find a colleague who can dream but cannot do, and see what you can come up with together. Another recent bit of advice given to me is to plan not for your next job but the one after, if you cannot see how the next job will enable you to progress to the next, maybe it's better to not take that job, and instead focus/wait for the job/role that will let you progress.
The one thing that irritates me most about school is when my daughter tells how pressured she feels she needs to do/say the things else one is doing. Pretty much every day I tell her to stand out from the crowd, go against the stream (or at least get out of it), competition is hard work, offering something unique no one else can do makes life far more enjoyable
.Edited by gangzoom on Sunday 19th January 07:06
I tried doing something I love and it was disastrous as a lot of the people doing it did not love it oddly, so treated you as some kind of freak for doing so, I got out of it quickly, and as a result regained my love of my passion, motosport!!
And the job, working for a weekly racing publication! Awful experience.
And the job, working for a weekly racing publication! Awful experience.
bergclimber34 said:
I tried doing something I love and it was disastrous as a lot of the people doing it did not love it oddly, so treated you as some kind of freak for doing so, I got out of it quickly, and as a result regained my love of my passion, motosport!!
And the job, working for a weekly racing publication! Awful experience.
And yet you often read in career advice books how if you resign yourself to doing something you don’t love you’ll never be near the top of your game as you’re competing against more enthusiastic sorts that thrive because it’s what they love…And the job, working for a weekly racing publication! Awful experience.
You have a point, but I found that the love was being driven out by people who had none, imagine being a junior in a place where your enthusiasm was sent down blind alleys, picked on by people who knew very little about the topic, and by a company that paid so poorly it was only just feasible.
Luckily I had worked in other industries before so realised before long how much of a con it was!!
Luckily I had worked in other industries before so realised before long how much of a con it was!!
Shnozz said:
And yet you often read in career advice books how if you resign yourself to doing something you don’t love you’ll never be near the top of your game as you’re competing against more enthusiastic sorts that thrive because it’s what they love…
Its written in books because it's ture, but it seems very few are lucky enough to experience it. I don't think I've had the same job plan for more than 24 months since I started working. Infact for the last 10 years I've been lucky enough even as a PAYE to find a way to do the things I love most, as a result I can consistently deliver on my objectives which in turn means when I ask for a different job plan the organisation rarely pushes back. I'm still few years from 45 but I'm fast running out of runs on the ladder to climb, I need to find some time to think about what I want to do in my 50s very soon.But what the books don't talk about is the hard work needed to keep your self at the top of the game. When I'm focused on a project/role I really want to deliver on, I'm 120% in, 7 days a week, 24/7 efforts if needed. Competition isn't a bad thing, but it takes time/effort, and none of us want to loss, if I'm getting benchmarked against someone else, there is only one outcome that's acceptable for me, not achieving that outcome is failure. Learning from failure is important but none of us like it, so avoiding it together I've found to be the best strategy, but hard work alone will often guarantee failure if you don't have a plan. The plan often been just as important as the work, there is probably just as many books written about plan/strategy as dreaming.
So yes, aim for your dreams, we all have them, but dreams don't become reality without a plan and execution.
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 22 January 05:45
LosingGrip said:
Currently a police officer and although fairly new (coming up to six years) I've been within the police for 15 years.
Whilst I'm currently OK within my role (RPU) I am looking at other options in and outside.
Driving instructing is one i keep looking at. But, the costs are putting me off along with going self employed.
Have a look at the podcasts by Blue Light Levers. There is also a Facebook group. Lots of advice in there.
Rather than driving instructor, perhaps take a look at driving examiner. Whilst I'm currently OK within my role (RPU) I am looking at other options in and outside.
Driving instructing is one i keep looking at. But, the costs are putting me off along with going self employed.
Have a look at the podcasts by Blue Light Levers. There is also a Facebook group. Lots of advice in there.
My brother left the job ( Roads Policing for 12 years ) about 2 years ago and in now a driving examiner, says its ok, decent enough pay and O/T if he wants it and he has the occasional adrenaline rush when he has to stop someone crashing, so a bit like being the passenger in an ARV..........
Social hours too which is a big difference from instructing
ATG said:
Team player much?
Nothing gets done without team work, and organisations thrive on individuals working as functional teams, but at the annual appraisal, the word team isn't on the decision matrix. Organisationally, working too closely as team in the wider market with others at best is real blue sky thinking at worst it might be considered to be an monopoly .
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