Career move at 54

[bergclimber34]

Have worked in a predominantly manufacturing environment most of life, electronics mainly, and a struggling with that environment and the type of buildings you work in mainly during the warmer months

Have trained as a journalist oddly, but found that too difficult to get into and was stupidly narrow minded during job searching at the time, so am not current, but have good grammar and vocabulary.

Would like something more office based to escape the sweaty shopfloor, and looking for a bit of advice on how to make a manual, technical skillset look good for office work maybe, is it even possible?

[Jamescrs]

I think you ned to be a bit more focused on what you want to do than simply saying "office work" because working in an office covers thousands of different roles and job types.

I would hazard a guess without knowing you that you may have a number of transferrable skills such as problem solving, attention to detail, communication, to list just a few fairly generic things.

Unfortunately your age may go against you in a lot of sectors but I would explore opportunities in the area where you already work and look at the Public sector where age is not so much of a barrier.

[Quattr04.]

Majority of engineers and things like that either move into management or sales which is just sitting at a desk in the email factory.

More stress and you’ll be taking your work home with you for not much more money

[bergclimber34]

Apologies for being vague.

Having never really worked at a desk it's tough to narrow down roles. A lot seem to require very specific experience which I do not have.

Not sure what public sector roles would suit someone with25 years manufacturing experience.

[ATG]

What does "manufacturing experience" mean in concrete terms? What have you actually been doing?

Having a load of experience in a particular area and being able to write doesn't sound like a bad starting point.

[bergclimber34]

OK sorry.

Building, assembling mechanically, ,electronics, wiring, soldering, using tools, following drawings, making suggestions to improve, working with engineers, meeting deadlines, flexibility, attention to detail, mistake elimination and trying to find ways to prevent them.

Rewriting a CV feels quite daunting tailoring it to a totally different types of roles

[spikeyhead]

Almosst every electronics factory I've been in has been a comfortable place to work.

[bergclimber34]

exactly which is why I need tog et out of the place I am in now

[helmutlaang]

I don’t know where you are in retirement planning but could you do it for 2-3 more years then get a min wage part time gig somewhere?

I’m the same age as you and plan to do this.

[bergclimber34]

Not really no, I am trying to buy a house at the moment so will be needing to work into mid to late 60's.

[StevieBee]

The one thing that springs to mind is whether there's a Trade Journal that serves the sector you're working in. A combination of sector experience and your Journalistic training would, I would think, be an attractive proposition to publishers of such magazines. Unlikely it would pay you sufficient to bail completely but could give you the opportunity to build a new career gradually.

[megaphone]

Is there no office based role at your current company that you could move into? Or get into design or planning or similar?

[bergclimber34]

Not really no, I have little or no admin experience, I could certainly do it but right now no openings, they are a company with an engineering base elsewhere sadly.

[toasty]

I’m a similar age but have been office based for the last 30 years. I don’t do line management through choice.

I wonder what sort of role I’d get in your industry with the experience I have. I suspect it’d be right at the bottom.

I’m afraid it may be similar for you but wish you the best of luck.

[Panamax]

helmutlaang said:

I don t know where you are in retirement planning but could you do it for 2-3 more years then get a min wage part time gig somewhere?

At age 54, make sure you fully understand your future pension situation before jumping ship. If you have long service with your current employer you might be in a significantly better pension arrangement today than you'll find elsewhere. The next 10 years could be critical for you.

[bergclimber34]

This is the issue I did a lot of contract work in my 30's so lack a pension from that, have a decent investment that is ticking over nicely but pension in current firm is utterly pathetic with no chance of it changing, so I would like to get something better in that regard, but mainly out of a total and utter sweatshop working environment.

I have been in the same industry for a long time and never experienced anything like it sadly.

[borcy]

Maybe something like Quality Control type of a job?

What is it that you hate about your job?

[Panamax]

bergclimber34 said:

Pension: This is the issue I did a lot of contract work in my 30's so lack a pension from that, have a decent investment that is ticking over nicely but pension in current firm is utterly pathetic with no chance of it changing, so I would like to get something better in that regard, but mainly out of a total and utter sweatshop working environment.

You won't go wrong to keep your eyes on the PH finance forum. The fact you're aware of the issue means you're already half way to solving the problem.

Good luck with your job search.

[Dog Biscuit]

Have you thought about approaching your current employr and tell them how you are feeling and if they have any way of helping you into a new role in the business?

[bergclimber34]

I do not dislike the job, the only aspect I have no control over or have issue with are things out of my control, such as poor perks, but mainly the work environment is ridiculous, I have approached them, made it clear my health is suffering a little as a result, nothing is done, I have done as much as possible to make life easier for myself in that environment, but when you have ovens and oven cooked items made of metal just left on the shop floor to cool, in a 30 degree heat building with no heat extraction of any kind, what can you really do.

The company is not big enough for them to move around or do anything different, there is no real quality control and only about 25 employees.

Manufacturing is a dying industry here and has been for a while, there is work but most of it is low paid and in sweatshops like this, hence the intention to try and find something I could do that might mean I can transfer, but I am not confident this is really possible with a lack of particular experience in whatever role I try.