career change?

has anyone here ever changed their career?
if so, how did you go about it? was it hard finding employment in a different field?

i have decided that i need a change, for both my mental and physical well being. i just don't know how to go about it.

any ideas would be super
 
It depends on what you want to do.
I've gone from banking management to finance to fmcg sales to finance again

Find the similarities in what you do now with what you want to do. It may be that you liked fast paced environments, or that you have great attention to detail. These things and similar attributes will transfer across no matter what area you are looking at.

I didn't have too much trouble changing and finding a job, part of what I usually got it on was being "a breath of fresh air", and that whilst I didn't have the exact skills, I had the attributes and the skills were easily and quickly acquired with a bit of study and hard work. It also meant I could bring new skills into play for the company, increase efficiencies and processes because I didn't have a preconceived notion of the way things should be done.
 
I went from medical research scientist to property investor/ business entreprenuer.

Personal challenges are much greater and there is no handbooks on how to solve problems however I can now make in a month what I was making in a year in research!
 
Moving On towards a Seniors Card!~!!

I went from apprentice electrician To emergency electrical operator plus on call fire man with NSW Fire Brigade to Mr Mum for my twin boys.

Property investor / developer along the way since 1978.

With the down turn just a unemployed EX Electrician Beach Bum .

God I LuVVV IT

Gee Cee
:)
 
I'm always changing. I do about four different things now and am planning to start something new soon. Change is the spice of Life!:)

You need to write down would you enjoy, what your passions are and what you think you are good at it.

Then, think about jobs related to those things. When you love what you do, you will be good at it. When you are good at something, the money will come.

Good Luck

Regards JO
 
hello all,
Yes, I made a complete switch from working in a retail store, selling vitamins and talking about nutrition for 20 years; to computers! I got laid off several years back, knew I wanted a change, began to look around and standing all day was wearing on my health too.

I went back to school full time for one 8 month stint, then it took me a year to find a job in my new area----so many wanted "experience" and yada yada! So I worked part time at a few things related to my old line of work to survive while searching.
 
Well this topic is at the front of my mind for some time now. Im an air conditioning and refrigeration mechanic. Have been since I left school 12 yrs ago. I know nothing else but this trade. I would love to give something else ago but feel a little stuck with a bubs on the way and a few mortgages. Love the people and the company I work for so I have desided to go back to TAFE next yr for 18months and do a cert 4 in business management so I can atleast get off the tools and try the office job iv wanted for a while now. Bit worried that I'll fail the TAFE side or something stupid but bugger it im going to do it. Im near 30 now and dont want to be near 50 and sayn "gee I wish I done that TAFE caurse"

Just find I want a change. Gets a bit too regular day in day out same thing :(

cheers Jas!
 
There was a similar thread on this topic posted not long ago you may want to search for. It had lots of informative replies from memory.

To answer your question "how did you go about it? was it hard finding employment in a different field?" You first need to find out what you want to do and if it is a field that is in demand now and likely to be in demand for some time into the future. There is no point wasting time and money changing one career for another if a few years down the track you are unhappy, underpaid and unemployed.

I found Seek.com to be a great tool when changing careers. Simply search for the job and/of field you want to work in and set up a job alert email. Every day Seek will send an email that shows all the new jobs in that field. It's easy then to see what the demand is for your particular job or field. It was pretty much this that made me bite the bullet and change from HR/IR to OHS as every day I could see more and more jobs being advertised and the salaries rising. I changed my uni major to OHS and gained work experience in the field during uni Xmas break and applied for graduate development programs with major resources companies. Despite being a mature age student I received 3 very good offers as well as well paid part time work.

Find something you really want to do and what will always be in demand and you can't go wrong in my opinion. It is scarey at first, but trust me, you won't regret it.

Oh, and try to gain skills that will always be in demand no matter what job you do such as computer skills, data analysis skills eg how to interpret facts/figures etc, communication skills and so forth.
 
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thanks all, i've been in a rut for a long time and honestly sick of working of within the education sector.

i will check out what i can do through seek.com.au and just persevere through it. need to find something soon though, as i did give the standard 7 weeks notice!

i once had skills, i'm sure that they will remember me. :D
 
hello all,
Yes, I made a complete switch from working in a retail store, selling vitamins and talking about nutrition for 20 years; to computers! I got laid off several years back, knew I wanted a change, began to look around and standing all day was wearing on my health too.

Thats exactly what I'm just about to leave rusty. Where did you used to work? I'm assuming it was in a Health food store.

I've been in retail for 10years and am about to leave, last day is 1st Oct.
Not sure what to get into but I'm thinking Commercial Real estate sales/leasing.
The other option is IT, I know a small amount about personal PC's, I've built several from scratch but networking and mainframes I have no idea. I do know the demand for IT is growing at a massive pace and so are the wages.
 
I have had successful careers in Retail Management and Media (Advertising Manager) and am now happy to have this week started the dream job in real estate selling brand new property so I hope this will also be successful, I also spent one year doing archaeology at an old castle in England so I feel I've had a crack at a good variety of jobs. Changing jobs definetly helps to recharge the batteries and gets you out of a rut, how can you give your best to a job that you have no passion for?
 
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