Career Change-Am i Mad?

Froggyman

Hi everyone,just joined this as i need to see am i going mad with what im thinking!!!
I currently work in the civil service in a social welfare office,i used to work on the buildings but got out nearly 4 years ago as the industry was dying!!! I loved it ,especially the carpentry end.Since school iv always wanted to do a cabinet making apprenticeship but between 1 thing and another i always landed in a diff job with fairly good pay and settled for it,also went traveling for a year in between which id highly recommend to any young person!
I recently made a set of kitchen cabinets for my girlfriends kitchen which turned out brilliant,even shocked myself as it was kind of my first project! but i really loved doing it and i just thought to myself ' this is the job id love to be doing everyday,and should have being doing since i finished my leaving cert in 2000,the cabinet making apprenticeship has changed last year and is now called Wood manufacturing and finishing
http://www.careerdirections.ie/ShowJ...spx?job_id=657 .

Im 29 now,still living at home,no ties,no children,no mortgage and im seriously thinking about leaving my current job(which i really dislike) and follow my dream job...but am i mad in the current climate when the building trade has being hit so hard!!
Everyone thinks the civil service is a handy job with great pay but im in my 4th year and after tax im bringing home 399 euro,which goes up about 10 euro every year and the work is mind numbing and boring and never ending with so many people signing on!! i know id be starting back on low money for the first couple of years but id manage that...my big worry would be getting let go after 2 or 3 yrs because work was quite and being left with nothing!! Gettin somebody to take me on would be the big thing but id even work Saturday for a while for notin to show them id be serious.
I looked into doing it on a career break but its a no go

So my dilemma is to stay in the secure job i dislike and will prob resent more as the years go on or take a chance and follow my dream job!!! Ahhhhhhhhh decisions decisions!!

Love to hear peoples experiences or opinions!
Thanks.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

It's desperate that you're stuck in a job you hate but the fact remains that you have something which has become invaluable in Ireland-job security. You need to weigh up the financial pros and cons of the situation, ie have you a mortgage/children/loans etc. An apprenticeship is a great thing to have because it will take you around the world but there's no guarantee that there will be any work for it in Ireland in the near future If I was in your position, rather than chuck the full time job in, I'd look for a local cabinet maker and ask him if he'd be interested in taking you on as a part time apprentice to work evenings and weekends on the side. This way, you can get a feel for the work and the industry before deciding whether it's worth giving up a stable income to do I know how you feel because I'm in the same position myself but due to silly loans, I can't afford to give up the secure job to chase my dreams Hope this helps

MidlandsM

why not do both and use the job you love as a hobby that pays well.

whitesands

Forget it, I've done carpentry in the past & loved it, it was the only job I actually enjoyed, there's no work in it now though

I know a few chippys & they are all out of work, I'm talking expert joiners who could knock stairs together with a hammer & chisel.

Froggyman

I know work is not out there but i think id regret it if i didn't try,ya only live once and don't want to give the next 35 years in a boring office job that gets me down,.and Mr post man to answer ur question i have no children or house loans,just a car loan thats finished next yr..living at home with father and brothers! maybe tryin for a sat job could be an option for a while to see wat its really like! it sucks that the country is in such a state construction wise when we have some of the best tradesmen and women in the world :-( feckin greedy politicians

culsoh

I know its awful to be in a job that you dislike - but as another poster has pointed out... you have what half the Irish population hasn't got... Job Security.
Sure you don't have a loan or mortgage or kids at the minute.. but that might change in the next 5 years, and you'll definitely need some sort of secure employment in order to get any loans or mortgage..

Is there anyway you could do the Wood Craft course part time, so that it wouldn't interfere with your secure job?? Maybe get some business cards printed cheaply on VistaPrint and give them around so you could start making them on the side. Then, if things pick up dramatically you could switch careers??
Or is there anyway you could take unpaid leave from work so that you could give time to the Course/Job and see where it takes you - but still have your CS job to fall back on??

Froggyman

I haven't tried the unpaid route so ill def look into that,a career break was a no go though.,and i did look into a part time course at first but there's not much in the cabinet making range.

chris85

The real question is can you make a living out of carpentery? Its all well and good liking it and I think thats important but if it cant pay the bills i would not consider it a substitute for a secure job.

I would maybe see about doing it as a hobby but its a trade that has no work at present.

Take it as an eye opener of how much you dislike your job and drive to change this. Maybe upskill and go back to college and study something in the evenings and this may lead to a better job.

I left a job I was quite secure in last year, the pay was basic enough and hated the job. I am lucky in that I saved a bit so can afford to take a year off work and doing a masters know and will probably move away when I am finished to find work elsewhere.

Mrs OBumble

You know I wouldn't be so hung up on the job security bit: seems to me that sooner or later, there are going to have to be redundancies from the public sector.

If you can afford to take the risk, then I'd say go for it. For all there's "no work" - there are people getting renovations done on houses 'cos they cannot afford to move. It might not be the sexy new builds that there were 10 years ago, but carpentry / joinery still has work in it.

Imagine what it would be like to wake up one day and find that you're 55 and have spent all your life serving client in a govt office. Or to be like a former colleague of mine, and die of a brain haemmorage at 50, having never quite managed to do anything he'd ever dreamed of.

Lyn256

Just wanted to add-that while I'm all for you pursuing your dream sometimes you need to look at the reality of the situation-as some other posters have said-is there anyway that you can do it (at least for a while) and keep your job.
I have two family members - brother qualified wood machinist with 8 years experience and contacts and over the past three years he's gotten less than 4 months work in that area.
My brother in law is a cabinet maker by trade, qualified 12 years ago and ran his own business successfully for 5 years to 2009. He has lots of experience and lots of contacts, he's a really hard worker and he's been in London the past 18 months-flys out on Monday morning and back Fri week. He has looked high up and low down to get work here because every other Monday he leaves his wife 3 year old son and 18 month old daughter to go work in the UK-if there was work here that could sustain him-he'd do it!
So going back to your original question-mad-yes probably!

boobar

Froggyman wrote: »

Hi everyone,just joined this as i need to see am i going mad with what im thinking!!!
I currently work in the civil service in a social welfare office,i used to work on the buildings but got out nearly 4 years ago as the industry was dying!!! I loved it ,especially the carpentry end.Since school iv always wanted to do a cabinet making apprenticeship but between 1 thing and another i always landed in a diff job with fairly good pay and settled for it,also went traveling for a year in between which id highly recommend to any young person!
I recently made a set of kitchen cabinets for my girlfriends kitchen which turned out brilliant,even shocked myself as it was kind of my first project! but i really loved doing it and i just thought to myself ' this is the job id love to be doing everyday,and should have being doing since i finished my leaving cert in 2000,the cabinet making apprenticeship has changed last year and is now called Wood manufacturing and finishing
[URL="http://"http://www.careerdirections.ie/ShowJobFull.aspx?job_id=657""]http://www.careerdirections.ie/ShowJ...spx?job_id=657[/URL] .

Im 29 now,still living at home,no ties,no children,no mortgage and im seriously thinking about leaving my current job(which i really dislike) and follow my dream job...but am i mad in the current climate when the building trade has being hit so hard!!
Everyone thinks the civil service is a handy job with great pay but im in my 4th year and after tax im bringing home 399 euro,which goes up about 10 euro every year and the work is mind numbing and boring and never ending with so many people signing on!! i know id be starting back on low money for the first couple of years but id manage that...my big worry would be getting let go after 2 or 3 yrs because work was quite and being left with nothing!! Gettin somebody to take me on would be the big thing but id even work Saturday for a while for notin to show them id be serious.
I looked into doing it on a career break but its a no go

So my dilemma is to stay in the secure job i dislike and will prob resent more as the years go on or take a chance and follow my dream job!!! Ahhhhhhhhh decisions decisions!!

Love to hear peoples experiences or opinions!
Thanks.

Yes you probably are mad to leave a job like that.

But then again, it sounds like you'll go mad if you stay there.

My suggestion is to cut back your hours in there (if possible), take this work on part time and see if you can make some money out of it, you still have to make a wage.

That way at least you'd be getting the benefit of both, keeping some job security and pusuing your dream job.

I think you're right to pursue it, but be realistic as well.

Good luck to you.

The_fever

Dont let fear run your life. Do what you love and let the universe take care of the rest. That's what I say, best of luck.

josieb

No I don't think your mad bout career change but seriously think of your pros and cons of surviving with no money if you cannot find work or having to relocate to find something. I finished in my job 5 months ago hoping to get work in finance but finding it hard to get job in with not that much experience even though I have a degree in business and accounting technician course done. I have worked in a coffee shop for the last 4 years and I decided enough was enough. I am very much broke now but don;t regret leaving as I know I will get a job in the career I want.

You should make a change, if you really hate your current job. Would you be able to change department or go into area where is not so office base within the civil service?

Froggyman

Hey everyone thanks for all the comments and advice..even though its a gamble i really think i wana go for it..gona really try loads of employers and if i got a good feeling off one id go for it..alot can change in the market too,by the time id get qualified in 4/5 years ya wouldn't know wat way building would be gone ,can't really have gotten any worse..ya only live once and id rather spend my next 35 years working at something im passionate about rather than bein stuck in an office job i hate ! And another passion of mine is travel so if i could just see out the apprenticeship even if i was let go working abroad would also be an option...thanks again everyone!

bizzyb

Hi froggyman,
I did my leaving cert in 2000 and served my time as a woodmachinist i had a great carreer worked my way to the top making a good living,i loved my job but last december the company i worked for closed down.Also another thing maybe things have changed but in my time you couldnt start an apprenticeship after 23 years old.
By the way how i found this thread was i googled wood machinist job....

Best of luck.

Froggyman

bizzyb wrote: »

Hi froggyman,
I did my leaving cert in 2000 and served my time as a woodmachinist i had a great carreer worked my way to the top making a good living,i loved my job but last december the company i worked for closed down.Also another thing maybe things have changed but in my time you couldnt start an apprenticeship after 23 years old.
By the way how i found this thread was i googled wood machinist job....

Best of luck.

Ya can do it at any age,gona try something i think anyway!hate where i am and its eating away at me more and more every day! mad that you googled that ha ha

WOT

@Froggyman you're in an ideal situation to make your job fund your future income. Think of it like this.. if you leave in the morning you'll be at the beginning of purchasing tools, training, insurance, van, workshop etc.

In my experience (hindsight is great) you need to cost out the investment side of things. Lets say you need €10k to set yourself up. Begin to accumulate those tools etc and plan to have them all in 12 months. Keep all your receipts as your accountant will be able to make use of them in due course.

As you get more tools and experience of using them you will pick up a paying job or two which you can do and enjoy doing in the evenings etc.

24 months down the road you still have your wages from the current job; but you've built up some contacts, tools and some customers. You'll be way more likely to succeed if you can hit the ground running. If it's going well for you you'll have gotten all the money back that you invested in tools etc to get you up and running and hopefully more.

IMO then is the right time to walk but up until that point you'll have used the job for everything it can do for you.

Oh and whatever you do keep it safe. You'll struggle as a civil servant or a cabinet maker if you cut your hand off.

bizzyb

Froggyman where are you based?

DublinWriter

Froggyman wrote: »

So my dilemma is to stay in the secure job i dislike and will prob resent more as the years go on or take a chance and follow my dream job!!! Ahhhhhhhhh decisions decisions!!

Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life.

If I were you I'd stick with the carpentry, maybe go for Master Carpenter accreditation while doing high end work and get your name out. There's a lot of custom work out there.

No offence to anyone in the Civil Service, but I know quite a few COs and EOs and it's like they are treading water in life.

Froggyman

WOT wrote: »

@Froggyman you're in an ideal situation to make your job fund your future income. Think of it like this.. if you leave in the morning you'll be at the beginning of purchasing tools, training, insurance, van, workshop etc.

In my experience (hindsight is great) you need to cost out the investment side of things. Lets say you need €10k to set yourself up. Begin to accumulate those tools etc and plan to have them all in 12 months. Keep all your receipts as your accountant will be able to make use of them in due course.

As you get more tools and experience of using them you will pick up a paying job or two which you can do and enjoy doing in the evenings etc.

24 months down the road you still have your wages from the current job; but you've built up some contacts, tools and some customers. You'll be way more likely to succeed if you can hit the ground running. If it's going well for you you'll have gotten all the money back that you invested in tools etc to get you up and running and hopefully more.

IMO then is the right time to walk but up until that point you'll have used the job for everything it can do for you.

Oh and whatever you do keep it safe. You'll struggle as a civil servant or a cabinet maker if you cut your hand off.

between my father and 2 brothers we have a full shed of tools,hand saws ,hammers,drills,skill saw ,chop saw ,panal and band saw ! tools wouldn't be a problem,thanks for your reply

Froggyman

bizzyb wrote: »

Froggyman where are you based?

In between Portlaoise,thurles and kilkenny! why you ask?

Froggyman

DublinWriter wrote: »

Froggyman wrote: »

So my dilemma is to stay in the secure job i dislike and will prob resent more as the years go on or take a chance and follow my dream job!!! Ahhhhhhhhh decisions decisions!!

Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life.

If I were you I'd stick with the carpentry, maybe go for Master Carpenter accreditation while doing high end work and get your name out. There's a lot of custom work out there.

No offence to anyone in the Civil Service, but I know quite a few COs and EOs and it's like they are treading water in life.

Im 3 and half years there and i see how mental the older ones who are there 30 years are lol,not gona be me..worked on the building too long to be stuck in a **** office job i hate !

Froggyman

Froggyman wrote: »

DublinWriter wrote: »

Froggyman wrote: »

So my dilemma is to stay in the secure job i dislike and will prob resent more as the years go on or take a chance and follow my dream job!!! Ahhhhhhhhh decisions decisions!!

Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life.

If I were you I'd stick with the carpentry, maybe go for Master Carpenter accreditation while doing high end work and get your name out. There's a lot of custom work out there.

No offence to anyone in the Civil Service, but I know quite a few COs and EOs and it's like they are treading water in life.

Im 3 and half years there and i see how mental the older ones who are there 30 years are lol,not gona be me..worked on the building too long to be stuck in a **** office job i hate !

Also what exactly is Master Carpenter accreditation ?

RATM

Froggyman you say you love travel and would like to do more. I don't know the carpentry trade a whole lot but I presume there is a distinction between furniture making and building stairs, attic frames, etc.

I'm not sure how much work there is in furniture making but my guess is that people still upgrade their furniture during recessions. Houses aren't being built anymore but IKEA reported record profits for Ireland last year, so it seems like people are doing extensions and also replacing old furniture with new.

I'd say follow your passion and leave the civil service. You aren't fulfilled there and it will only bring long term unhappiness. You are in the fortunate position of having no ties and can go travelling again. I'd say save yourself up €5k-€7k and get yourself down to Bali in Indonesia and try to pick up an apprenticeship or do woodwork courses there. You'd have to work for free for certain, no way they'd be paying a foreigner but you'd get the opportunity to learn from some master woodworkers. Living in Indonesia is very cheap, you can easily live on €10-12 a day, renting your own place is inexpensive as is eating. €5-7k could put you living there for a year or 18 months if you budget.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with Balinese furniture and woodwork but the craftmanship it is some of the best in the world. Mahogany and teak are in abundance in Bali and are the common woods used. Anyone who has ever stayed in a traditional Balinese house or hut will know the intricate detail that they put into their creations.
There's tons of websites around, a quick google image search will give you an idea here

If you can learn some of the those skills in furniture making I'd say they'd be transferable to other types of furniture. Who knows, you could come home after 18 months and go out on your own creating bespoke wooden furniture from what you've learnt. There's plenty of people about who are willing to pay for bespoke pieces and one off designs.

Take this for example the Cavour Desk It is an Italian design classic from the 1970's. I've always wanted one since I saw one version on display in a modern art museum in Florance. It is a beautiful piece of woodwork but I checked out buying one and they retail for €7k up to €11k. I'd love one but ain't willing to pay the price of a decent second hand car for it ! But if someone here in Ireland could put that together at a reasonable price I'd gladly stump up for it. I'm certain there is a good market there for pieces of furniture like that, people always like to have unique pieces, provided the craftsmanship is top notch you could make a decent living out of it in my opinion.

bizzyb

Froggyman wrote: »

In between Portlaoise,thurles and kilkenny! why you ask?

I seen your location as the midlands im from kildare originally but now living in offaly so i no plenty of places you could contact but to be honest there is very little work out there but you would never no you could be lucky.
To be honest i dont reply to most threads but i feel for you,i know your frastration, i am qualified but with no work i would love and have always wanted to start my own business but in my line of work,timber mouldings(skirting, architrave,door frame, decking etc) even to start of small which i want to it would cost me between 20-30k at least to get up and running money i dont have:(

FlashD

RATM wrote: »

Living in Indonesia is very cheap, you can easily live on €10-12 a day, renting your own place is inexpensive as is eating. €5-7k could put you living there for a year or 18 months if you budget.
.

That's interesting but the problem would be getting a visa for that long, right? Or not right?

Froggyman

First Cv handed in,and so it begins :-)

danlen

I must say your pro-active approach is admirable. Fair play and, because of your attitude, I really hope you get what you want from this.

By actually beginning this process I'm sure you are ahead of 90% of the people who just wish they had a different job.

Froggyman

danlen wrote: »

I must say your pro-active approach is admirable. Fair play and, because of your attitude, I really hope you get what you want from this.

By actually beginning this process I'm sure you are ahead of 90% of the people wh danko just wish they had a different job.

Thanks for that Danlan,fingers crossed ha,ill try 50 diff places if i have too..all i need is 1 to take me on! :-) too young to be stuck in a mind numbing office job wit no prospects and crap money!

nicechick!

You know what your 29 years just think you could be working in this job/area for the lets say another 36 years think about that eh - go for it

You have nothing holding you back yes you'll be bloody poor yes you'll stress about it who doesn't but like I said you have nothing holding you back! literally nothing unless your parents are willing you to move out that is

More & more people are faced with the situation whereby they are in paid employment & unhappy really unhappy this will eventually reflect either on someones personal or professional life. If we're unhappy in something or ourselves these things have a habit of creeping up on us so fast when you hit that brick wall with a bang for example if things were going wrong lets say in your personal life and your unhappy in your work environment! That would drive anyone to depression! you have a duty of care to your own personal happiness, you are one of the lucky ones (or is there such a thing) right now your only taking care of you & your personal happiness (role on a couple of years you could be involved with someone, have children etc a lot harder to leave a ''good job'' etc)

I was in Dunness Stores recently and the girl serving me look like she had a real passion/hate dislike for her job! She looked miserable in turn it reflected poorly on her for all I know she could be a lovely girl I on the other hand didn't want to be looking at this grump sitting behind the counter while I handed over my hard owned cash. I know its not always easy people have to also take care of others happiness i.e children etc

Look at this way I work in a job I love! I'm passionate driven and rewarded either by achieving my own personal goal/goals or that of the expectation of the organisation! this reflects on my personal life I'm happy! I don't earn a fortune but enough but I'm happy I can wake up in the morning and not feel this ''sense of dread'' that I often hear from people that truly are not happy in there jobs

This country is knee deep in a crisis but we need to also still have that eye on our future, your future! As a country we will start succeeding the economy will eventually have started to grow again & all the while you'll have re-trained, gained the skills you need to take advantage of this! You don't know what direction things will take you but I guess I'm trying to say is MAKE IT A WORTHWHILE for you and your personal happiness!

Froggyman

nicechick! wrote: »

You know what your 29 years just think you could be working in this job/area for the lets say another 36 years think about that eh - go for it

You have nothing holding you back yes you'll be bloody poor yes you'll stress about it who doesn't but like I said you have nothing holding you back! literally nothing unless your parents are willing you to move out that is

More & more people are faced with the situation whereby they are in paid employment & unhappy really unhappy this will eventually reflect either on someones personal or professional life. If we're unhappy in something or ourselves these things have a habit of creeping up on us so fast when you hit that brick wall with a bang for example if things were going wrong lets say in your personal life and your unhappy in your work environment! That would drive anyone to depression! you have a duty of care to your own personal happiness, you are one of the lucky ones (or is there such a thing) right now your only taking care of you & your personal happiness (role on a couple of years you could be involved with someone, have children etc a lot harder to leave a ''good job'' etc)

I was in Dunness Stores recently and the girl serving me look like she had a real passion/hate dislike for her job! She looked miserable in turn it reflected poorly on her for all I know she could be a lovely girl I on the other hand didn't want to be looking at this grump sitting behind the counter while I handed over my hard owned cash. I know its not always easy people have to also take care of others happiness i.e children etc

Look at this way I work in a job I love! I'm passionate driven and rewarded either by achieving my own personal goal/goals or that of the expectation of the organisation! this reflects on my personal life I'm happy! I don't earn a fortune but enough but I'm happy I can wake up in the morning and not feel this ''sense of dread'' that I often hear from people that truly are not happy in there jobs

This country is knee deep in a crisis but we need to also still have that eye on our future, your future! As a country we will start succeeding the economy will eventually have started to grow again & all the while you'll have re-trained, gained the skills you need to take advantage of this! You don't know what direction things will take you but I guess I'm trying to say is MAKE IT A WORTHWHILE for you and your personal happiness!

Hey nice chick! great name by the way !
Just want to reply and say i agree with ya 100%,and thanks for taking the time to write such a long piece..and i know wat you mean by the 'sense of dread'..i have it every Sunday nite ..and even though the market it not there at the moment i agree with ya that things have to pick up ..and 5 years time i could be 34 ,fully qualified and hopefully have a more active construction industry!..and as sumone said in an earlier post 'if you love what you work at,you will never work a day in your life! ,thanks again!