Career change - Qualified for nothing

Moses said:
I think Tom0 volunteers at an animal sanctuary, or something - it might be worth talking to him.
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I did indeed :)

Got a part-time job in retail and spent the rest of my time volunteering at a local shelter. After 24 months of learning how the place works and how to look after a section I'm now pretty a much full time animal carer for them.

Volunteering is where it's at to get in a field relying purely on learning through experience. Unless of course you're lucky enough to get paid to learn, but apprenterships are few and far between eh?

http://www.rescuedirectory.co.uk/animals/lincolnshire/page1.html

Get stuck in ;)
 
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kaffe said:
That's actually really insightful, thank you :) I guessed I'd have to do something similar.
Poop shovelling it is!
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Haha. No worries dude. Good luck.

Oh and a motto to keep with you as I have done "be the best at what you do". I'm not looking for epic money, just want to enjoy my job and do the best I can. Keep that in mind and you'll be fine ;)
 
How about starting your own business, trading in antique collectibles related to horses, e.g. horse bronzes. It's good to pick a niche, and people that own horses have money, so the revenue potential is there.

Which animal(s) would you prefer to work with ideally?

Rgds
 
kaffe said:
Yeah, I want to work with animals, but since a lot of people do any jobs that come available get yoinked by people with degrees n stuff. I've done a bit of volunteer work to try and make up for my "lack of education" but apparently that's not good enough :(
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What do you mean working with animals. Anything vaguely medical related will need a degree plus a load of experience.

You might be able to get farm job and help milk cows, shave sheep, etc.
 
I can't offer any specific guidance, other than to take heart. As has been said, you're never too old to learn. I'm 24, and I'm likely to be doing 3 extra A-levels in September. I'm hoping to get onto a Physics degree and eventually a PHD and possibly some sort of Astrophysics research deal. But who knows exactly.

That's at least 6-8 years. But **** it, I'm going to go for it. I have no industry specific experience anyway.

I guess if you really want to get into animal care and such, volunteer work, perhaps college courses would be a good route to go down at some point.
 
My girlfriend works in the veterinary industry and I asked her what you can do with animals with no/little qualifications and Medivet (large veterinary group) employ people with only GCSEs as 'Patient Care Assistants' and then as you progress they will pay for you to go to college and train as a veterinary nurse if you wish. I expect other companies offer this but this is the only one she is familiar with.

Alternatively the RSPCA offer a variety of apprenticeships in animal care, dog trainers, zoo keepers etc.
 
Moses said:
Why A-levels? Access to Higher Education diplomas ftw.
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While they are clearly a very viable option for a lot of people, due to the subject (and where) that I would be studying (Physics), I would require a lot of Maths. I couldn't find any places nearby to do the AHE diploma for the right kinds of Maths nearby unfortunately. And I think I can fit the A-Levels around my work a lot easier.

Of course for many people the AHE Diplomas would be very helpful.
 
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CK61938 said:
So, no matter what people tell you, if you know what you want to do, do it! But also remember, life is not a race.
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This.

Don't let other people dictate what you should do one way or the other, trust your instincts and what you know you'll find interesting. Be prepared to work at a lower job then you'd like to get experience. Don't worry if you get your career choice wrong, everyone changes career at one point or another.

source: personal experience quitting uni twice, being bankrupt, etc :)

By the way I wasnt joking with blind dogs trainer. When I lived in kent they advertised these jobs and they paid £20k+ and didnt need set qualifications. Must be pretty rewarding as well - train dogs, introduce them to owner, train owner, etc. How awesome must it be work with dogs all day and improve someone's whole world by giving them a set of eyes to help them in their daily life?
 
http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/p/vet_assistant.htm

Something like that?. Vet's assistant?.

A friend of mine's a vet, and they tend to train employees who are unqualified, employing based on personality (and attitude towards the job/the animals). Not sure how you'd work up to that (gain the type of experience they look for), but you could always email a few local vets and ask for pointers :].
 
Gackt said:
I can't offer any specific guidance, other than to take heart. As has been said, you're never too old to learn. I'm 24, and I'm likely to be doing 3 extra A-levels in September. I'm hoping to get onto a Physics degree and eventually a PHD and possibly some sort of Astrophysics research deal. But who knows exactly.

That's at least 6-8 years. But **** it, I'm going to go for it. I have no industry specific experience anyway.
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Im doing something similar, except I will be leaving for university this year. Unfortunately I can't just leave my current job(im in the RN) but hopefully the fact I have an unconditional offer will allow me to leave before the years notice period is up. You still have a bit of a headstart on me though, as i'm 26 this year. My job isn't exactly brilliant at the moment, I know it will get better but I just want control of my life again.

The idea of completing a degree and not being able to find a job after a degree scares me, as does the fact I will be getting into debt, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life as I am. I think the time alongside about a year ago that I had changed my perspective on my job, I forgot how much I enjoyed the freedom and the transition to life back on a ship again just compounded the feeling. I could stick with this job for a few years longer and get through my killicks course and then put my notice in, but I would sooner not.
 
Take any job that will take you -there's a lot of competition out there at the moment

As for working with animals.... what's the point, you wont earn very much doing it and it's not like there's many decent careers without qualifications working with animals, hence a lot of people volunteer doing it.

You are on a computing forum so you must have an interest in pcs.. IT is a massive area of employment so it maybe worth looking at different roles
 
swillsy said:
Take any job that will take you -there's a lot of competition out there at the moment

As for working with animals.... what's the point, you wont earn very much doing it and it's not like there's many decent careers without qualifications working with animals, hence a lot of people volunteer doing it.

You are on a computing forum so you must have an interest in pcs.. IT is a massive area of employment so it maybe worth looking at different roles
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NONSENSE ALERT!

Typical blanket "give up what you actually want because that's a pipe dream" type post. Why accept anything when there is a chance to do something they want?

Who cares if there's no money in working with animals, have you heard of job satisfaction? Some people don't like sitting in an office/factory or indoors at all, for any amount of pay in the world. Sometimes money isn't the be all and end all. You're clearly all end though. ;)
 
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maybe but I do have to pay for all my house and holidays etc you don't get them for free and I can't pay with satisfaction :)

Sure its a life choice though, just one I don't want to follow.
 
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