Change of career - what too.

[Jameshow]

Thinking of changing my job due to many issues...

Work background:-

Church leadership and then social prescribing in charity sector, via van driving for 5 years at Waitrose.

Feel like I need a change
Charity loosing 50oc staff.
Divorce going through giving me more troubles than my clients.
Wife freind was a client and has contacts who are making my life awful.
Monitoring has become overwhelming and I have dyslexia too.

At nearly 50, Feel that I want to be good at something for once in my life.

Ideas
Something carpentry based Obviously!!
Something engineering based - original background
Something transport based - light machinery movements / cyclists transport etc
Have window van.
Something catering based cafe etc.

I just don't know what I want to do.

 

[Cabinetman]

So sorry to hear you are facing all this, a Divorce is bad enough on it’s own. In fact a Divorce is so life changing that are you sure you’re marriage isn’t fixable? I look back at a terrible marriage that produced 2 wonderful children and I know that I should have tried counselling.
Re-the job at least you don’t live in a rural area with little opportunity, I don’t know how to help with this I’m afraid except to say put yourself out there, talk to everybody and I do mean everyone even the corner shop, it’s surprising how people can help, they may know someone despairing for an honest reliable worker.
I’m a big believer in serendipity and happenstance, something will turn up but you have to ask.
Best wishes Ian

 

[Tris]

Very sorry to hear this James, seeing all the positive things you do for people I wonder if that is your way forward? Not sure if your circumstances would allow the flexibility to work for yourself but there is often a living to be made in all the small DIY jobs people can't do for themselves. Often very rewarding in ways beyond money too

 

[Diver Fred]

When I retired I became bored (like Cyril Lord!), made a few money boxes in the garage, helped a neighbour with a garage roof, commissioned to make Ledge & Brace gates for about 5 people. Fitted an old property out with secondary glazing and suddenly I have a full time job again. No longer Cyril Lord but too busy.

What are your skills and knowledge tools? What tools do you have?
If you go Self Employed find yourself a good accountant who is used to small time SE people for advice - don't go to a bank who really want you to have a business account which costs money.
Go to craft shows and see what you like and think you could make. If you have a bit of spare time, materials and tools make up some items and get you self a stall at a craft show / steam fair / car boot sale and see what sells.

 

[Blackswanwood]

Sorry to hear about your situation. It’s good that you are not wallowing and are looking to take the initiative.

I’d suggest thinking about “what next” slightly differently to just what could you do. If you work out what aspects of a job make you fulfilled and then think about the jobs that offer that opportunity it will make your search easier.

Also I’d suggest not being constrained by your existing skill set. There are loads of opportunities to retrain even for those of us with a few grey hairs!

 

[Stigmorgan]

Sorry you're having a carp time of it mate, would you consider school caretaker/site manager? Aside from the issues I'm having with those above me it's a good job, enough routine stuff to keep busy and enough ad-hoc extras to keep it interesting. Primary schools usually only have 1 body to handle everything, secondary schools and colleges usually have a team.

 

[Jameshow]

So sorry to hear you are facing all this, a Divorce is bad enough on it’s own. In fact a Divorce is so life changing that are you sure you’re marriage isn’t fixable? I look back at a terrible marriage that produced 2 wonderful children and I know that I should have tried counselling.
Re-the job at least you don’t live in a rural area with little opportunity, I don’t know how to help with this I’m afraid except to say put yourself out there, talk to everybody and I do mean everyone even the corner shop, it’s surprising how people can help, they may know someone despairing for an honest reliable worker.
I’m a big believer in serendipity and happenstance, something will turn up but you have to ask.
Best wishes Ian

No chance of fixing it.
She got me ot the house by calling the police and then didn't step down the allegations, so it's all snowballed says my solicitor.
She's has a medical condition which I've shown great kindness and empathy towards over the past 23yrs which has meant a very difficult marriage. Yet we have 4 lovely kids who gave been hurt by it all

Anyway onwards and upwards.

I Have done general joinery but nothing in any quantity to become proficient or profitable. So I should probably look for a labouring / apprenticeship job tbh.

Or I could do a driving job with my van depending on courier insurance.

Also looking at sheep farming as I know a lady with land I could borrow or I could get in with her neighbours many of whom I expect are near to retirement age.

 

[Ollie78]

Something where you actually make or fix something is my advice, this is basically the only work I can do that doesn`t drive me crazy.

Don`t decide because you feel you need to decide.
Get a job digging holes, labouring or gardening, something simple but physical for month. This will give you time to think and it is good for your mind and body.

Something will present itself I am sure. Don`t panic.
You can always do more than one thing at once, drive deliveries 3 days a week to pay the bills, do a college course the other days or work on woodwork etc etc

Good luck

 

[Cabinetman]

No chance of fixing it.
She got me ot the house by calling the police and then didn't step down the allegations, so it's all snowballed says my solicitor.
She's has a medical condition which I've shown great kindness and empathy towards over the past 23yrs which has meant a very difficult marriage. Yet we have 4 lovely kids who gave been hurt by it all

Anyway onwards and upwards.

I Have done general joinery but nothing in any quantity to become proficient or profitable. So I should probably look for a labouring / apprenticeship job tbh.

Or I could do a driving job with my van depending on courier insurance.

Also looking at sheep farming as I know a lady with land I could borrow or I could get in with her neighbours many of whom I expect are near to retirement age.

Sorry to hear that. As you say onwards and upwards. At a time like this I found that I developed a keen self preservation state of mind,

Something where you actually make or fix something is my advice, this is basically the only work I can do that doesn`t drive me crazy.

Don`t decide because you feel you need to decide.
Get a job digging holes, labouring or gardening, something simple but physical for month. This will give you time to think and it is good for your mind and body.

Something will present itself I am sure. Don`t panic.
You can always do more than one thing at once, drive deliveries 3 days a week to pay the bills, do a college course the other days or work on woodwork etc etc

Good luck

Good advice here,. I found it was a revelation as to how much I could get done when I wasn’t married, I worked damn hard and restarted my life afresh.

 

[glenfield2]

Simply having a van and some basic carpentry/diy skills is a head start. Round our way builders don’t want to do minor jobs so a ‘handyman’ can fill in. Advertise on your local FB town or village group etc.
Likewise try ‘man and van’ stuff.
Good luck.

 

[MikeJhn]

Thinking of changing my job due to many issues...

Work background:-

Church leadership and then social prescribing in charity sector, via van driving for 5 years at Waitrose.

Except for van driving, I have no idea what the rest means.

At nearly 50, Feel that I want to be good at something for once in my life.

Change of attitude needed, you have put a negative slant on your life

Feel like I need a change
Charity loosing 50oc staff.
Divorce going through giving me more troubles than my clients.

Clients? don't understand that.

Wife freind was a client and has contacts who are making my life awful.

Avoid contact with them.

Monitoring has become overwhelming and I have dyslexia too.

Monitoring what? Dyslexia is not a problem in a modern work environment.

Ideas
Something carpentry based Obviously!!
Something engineering based - original background
Something transport based - light machinery movements / cyclists transport etc
Have window van.
Something catering based cafe etc.

I just don't know what I want to do.

As a start contact Waitrose, Tesco Ocado etc and get a regular income, do you have any Warehouse experience to offer them, once in regular employment think outside the box, write down your skill set and look to see what you can offer an employer.

 

[pip1954]

Hi James how sorry hear mate just an idea have you thought about gardening we have gardener he charges a lot of money there a lot of older people who want gardener cut grass and general tidy gardens, you could do woodworking in the winter go to shows ,good thing would be wife could not find out how much you earn.
Could force wife to sell your house and split money she would probably quite a lot of money but would give some grief moving and biting somewhere else.
Good luck for you for your future
Philuk

 

[mg123]

Thinking of changing my job due to many issues...

Work background:-

Church leadership and then social prescribing in charity sector, via van driving for 5 years at Waitrose.

Feel like I need a change
Charity loosing 50oc staff.
Divorce going through giving me more troubles than my clients.
Wife freind was a client and has contacts who are making my life awful.
Monitoring has become overwhelming and I have dyslexia too.

At nearly 50, Feel that I want to be good at something for once in my life.

Ideas
Something carpentry based Obviously!!
Something engineering based - original background
Something transport based - light machinery movements / cyclists transport etc
Have window van.
Something catering based cafe etc.

I just don't know what I want to do.

As you have the van, I believe courier work in the short term (or long term if it's good with you) could certainly be a great start.
I've recently been made redundant and I'm finding the job market to be a bit of a b**ch at the moment. A friend of mine has a contract with Yodel for courier work so I'm looking at doing this. He says a thousand pound a week is pretty standard so I'm ditching almost 20 years of logistics experience for this.
Divorce is a horrible experience, especially with children involved, I do not envy your current situation. All I can offer is a promise that it does get easier. My divorce was over 10 years ago, and it was hell. But I'm all the more happier today looking back on it.
Perhaps in your situation, it would be worth leaving the volatility behind being caused by the wifes friends. I had some issues like this as well, again, it will get easier.
At nearly 50, I believe you have lived a useful and worthwhile life. You've raised children, and I'm sure there are many positive achievements to look back on.

General handyman work could provide another good source of income, I'm not sure what your skillset is, but there are always small jobs that people don't want to do themselves. Decorating, silicon replacement, "man with van" tasks like rubbish clearance also seems to be popular.

Maybe take a little time to consider your options, you currently have a job so is there any rush to change?

And the marriage could well still work out. It sounds difficult now, but it would all blow over.

Good luck however you proceed, everything will be ok .

 

[Thingybob]

Sorry to hear James I remember you said a few years ago that you would like to move down this neck of the woods when the kids finished school well this maybe the catalyst for that move use in the van for short visits to different places see what's on offer , pace of life much slower and the kids will love spending time with you . Treat the trips as fact finding missions work wise and it will be an escape at least for a short time from the usual problems . Hope you can rise above all this #@$€ and get a second bite of life you deserve. Good luck

 

[JSW]

Hi James how sorry hear mate just an idea have you thought about gardening we have gardener he charges a lot of money there a lot of older people who want gardener cut grass and general tidy gardens, you could do woodworking in the winter go to shows

This is actually a really good idea, round where I am there are quite a few elderly folk that would welcome a hand keeping the garden in check, me being one of them!
PLUS: It gives you an instant inroad to doing handyman type work, or fitting doors, assembling Ikea furniture, whatever

 

[Tris]

It might be easier to start a window cleaning round, people notice if you don't cut their lawn every week but a week either way on a monthly window round isn't so noticeable. Given how wet our summers can be it's a thing to consider.
Also needs less kit

 

[paulrbarnard]

Agree with a lot of the suggestions. Odd jobs, small building work, some gardening. To give some examples I couldn’t find anyone to felt a shed roof, the hedges are beyond me now, we need new raised beds in the veg garden (I’m one out of five so far but not finding time). Greenhouse needs repointing. I need a car port built from a kit. The curb stone on our drive got knocked out by a delivery driver. This is just my list from this month and the list never gets shorter. It’s nearly impossible to find a ‘professional’ to take on small jobs like this.

 

[sploo]

Sorry to hear of the situation James - not a nice thing to have to deal with.

If you're open and willing to try something new (which it sounds like you are) then I'd try to think about what sort of work you think you'd be able to put up with as a job. I love wood and metalwork; but I'm not sure I'd have the energy or patience to try to make a living out of it.

 

[OrangeFive]

Hi James. Hope you are ok. You have a van. Great start. How about doing some garden maintenance work. Cheap outlay in comparison. Mower, strimmer, and maybe hedge cutter and blower. You will then pick up lots of other diy tasks at the clients properties. Just a suggestion as I know lots of people struggle to get anyone reliable round their house to do anything.

 

[deema]

Not knowing exactly what skills you have, and surmising your ‘handy’ id contact the local estate agents that manage properties. They are always looking for people to fix stuff on rentals.