Bad career moves

[Bluemoon dan]

Had worked at a company for 9 years but was being made redundant. I was actually in line for a reasonable pay-out because of my length of service but as me and my wife had just had our second child I panicked about 3 weeks before my end date and took another job that I knew in my heart of hearts wasnt really right for me. Sure enough I absolutely hated it and ended up leaving about 2 months after starting there anyway.
I then pretty much wasted 2 years of my life jumping from one short term job to another just to keep the money coming in.
I should have just taken the redundancy and thought properly about what I wanted to do with my life.

 

[OxBlue]

I'm working in the technology sector but am seriously looking at relocating/working in london just because there are far more career opportunities available to me, and I am wanting to work for a large corporate, most of which are based in London.. big move to make but am still very young so feel now is the best time to make such a big decision!

Depends what you do in the sector, I've worked for large US Tech companies (IBM, HP etc..) and even though I'm now at a smaller US tech Company (still based in Silicon Valley) have always worked from home, although the Head office are normally in London/Thames Valley

 

[PJMCC1UK]

Becoming a joiner. Have to say all my choices have been bad really. Gave up a bit on education while still in school. Planned to join the Marines. I stayed out and took an apprenticeship being told by my dad that with a trade behind me I'd never be out of work. 12 years later I'm more out of work than in it.
It's depressing. Had to go self employed which means companies can just hire and fire as they please. The firms I've worked for are never constantly busy so there are waits between projects and always delays in starting.
If you work through an agency the money is appalling and on top of that you have to be paid through a payroll company which means you have to pay them a fee just to get paid. A huge con and it gets to me. Always getting a promise of work only for it to not turn out. Like with the plumber before there's the huge con of paying for tests and certificates that if you don't have them stop you even getting on sites. Why my NVQs aren't good enough I don't know.

Looking to get out but no idea where to go. I'm doing maths and Physics from home but when you're in work getting home and starting that whilst shattered is hard. All my own fault but I'm hardly confident. Just hope I get the chance to change.

 

[roaminblue]

If you work through an agency the money is appalling and on top of that you have to be paid through a payroll company which means you have to pay them a fee just to get paid. A huge con and it gets to me.

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have you looked into setting up your own ltd company? If you do that the costs should be much lower, you can write a lot off as expenses, and you should be able to go direct with agencies/employers without going through an umbrella company.

 

[roaminblue]

Looking to get out but no idea where to go. I'm doing maths and Physics from home but when you're in work getting home and starting that whilst shattered is hard. All my own fault but I'm hardly confident. Just hope I get the chance to change.

this last bit got to me mate, I was fortunate enough to be able to go back to studies full time. I empathise with you, I really do.

The only thing that I can suggest is have a very clear focus on what you want to gain from your studies. If you're studying just for enjoyment, fine, but if you are doing it to move somewhere laterally, I think you need clarity on your objective and to frame your path/decision process well.

If you don't, you'll end up getting in a rut; a cycle of frustration. It is hard to get motivated, particularly if you are in a hard situation.

Understand what your intrinsic motivations are, and try and play to them. Explain to others frequently what you are doing, talk about it with family, understand that what you are doing is empowering, and go play on that.

I could go on andon about motivation, so I will stop, but try and keep your head up mate.

Do you have any idea what you want to move into? where you want to get to?