go for career change and pay cut?

kaptainmarc · 10 Jun 2020 at 16:51

I got my first real job 10 years ago aged 20 working in concrete I've done well and progressed to a fairly good wage which allows me to live comfortably.

but over the last few years I've realised how boring and un fufilling i find the job, the thought of doing this for the next 35-40 years is miserable.

Im looking into a career change but it would mean a substantial pay cut ~50%, but hopefully a bit more enjoyment out of work, I have no Kids and a monthly out goings are easy to manage so that is not a concern, I know I will have to make changes in other areas.

I suppose my question is, Have any of you done this? Thrown the towel in and started again at the bottom in a completely different field where your current skills are useless.

regret it / glad you did it?

not sure if I'm having a premature midlife crisis. either way help a confused/bewildered/frightened man out.

Quartz · 10 Jun 2020 at 17:44

A 50% pay cut is huge. Do you have savings? You say you have no kids but you are 30 and that biological clock is ticking: the ladies will be after you but not so much if you're poor. Have you considered doing something to make the job less boring? Like an OU degree? Are there job-related NVQs you can do? Management NVQs?

tom_e · 10 Jun 2020 at 18:15

What are we talking in terms of wages 50% of £30k is pretty rough, 50% of £50k not so bad. Also in the new career would you have room to move back up the pay scale or is it a generally lower paid job you'd be doing for the love of it?

kaptainmarc · 11 Jun 2020 at 09:21

Quartz said:
A 50% pay cut is huge. Do you have savings? You say you have no kids but you are 30 and that biological clock is ticking: the ladies will be after you but not so much if you're poor. Have you considered doing something to make the job less boring? Like an OU degree? Are there job-related NVQs you can do? Management NVQs?

No kids, wife is even more against the idea we are both very much anti kids, I have done extra qualifications and that has got me into the role of Quality manager but I just don't enjoy it, Its not suited to my personality at all. I told myself a few years ago when I took this job I will give it 2 years in this position as a last hurrah to see if the management role is more suited to me.

tom_e said:
What are we talking in terms of wages 50% of £30k is pretty rough, 50% of £50k not so bad. Also in the new career would you have room to move back up the pay scale or is it a generally lower paid job you'd be doing for the love of it?

I will be dropped from 40k to around 20-25k, Theres a couple of different avenues I am looking at going but all remove the long daily commute, some with better future prospects than others.

I have savings and all the big ticket items like wedding and house are done and dusted.

I have practiced living off the new wage for the last few months and its been ok just had to reign in on luxury and pointless purchases.

fobose · 11 Jun 2020 at 09:47

I am in a very similar situation to you, but I've been in the same company for 19 years (I am only 35). I stepped up to supervisor about 12 years ago and tried the management role for 3 years (only 1 year paid - it's just how my company works). I was offered the position but I didn't think it was worth the 3k pay rise they offered me. I asked for more but it was refused, to be honest I didn't want it any way as I did't feel it suited my personality either. My salary is quite a bit less than yours but I am in the same dilemma with do I start something new. Trouble is, I don't know what I want to do and haven't for the last 19 years. I get the urge to change every few years but I keep thinking 'next year...' I am currently glad I have stayed put at the moment with the covid 19 pandemic. I get full pay for only working every other day.

I say if you know what you want to do, go for it whilst you are still young enough to do it and can recover from the financial loss.

Bluecube · 11 Jun 2020 at 10:23

About 12 years ago I was working in a financial admin role. A horrible soul destroying job. Due to various factors, I managed to leave and start a cleaning business. I’d already been running it part time so I already had a client base to work with and expand. My salary dropped from £26k to £9k and that £9k was turnover ie expenses hadn’t been deducted! It was quite a shock to the system but I’ve never looked back.

fobose · 11 Jun 2020 at 13:15

@Bluecube That is quite a big difference in income but if it means your happy maybe it is worth it? Was that just for the first year? I would like to hope things have picked up since!

Bluecube · 11 Jun 2020 at 13:29

Oh yes, that was just the first year! Looking back, the first three years were the hardest income wise but I was constantly picking up new business and could see my business expanding, more cash coming in, etc, so it was never something that bothered me. My plan was always to go back into investment admin if cash really became tight. Over the years, with a combination of hard work and some luck, the business has grown to the point where I’ve taken on employees.

One other thing to note is that I have a wife who helped finance those initial years, not that I spent much anyway. And lastly, if you really feel you’d be better off elsewhere then do it. If it goes **** up then you’ll still have your experience and qualifications to fall back on.

fobose · 11 Jun 2020 at 13:52

Well it looks like it can be done then. I personally am just not much of a risk taker. I enquired about voluntary redundancy about 6 years ago when there was a small voluntary redundancy round (first and only time since I've been here) but my whole department was not available to be made redundant. It turns out I would have got a full years salary though which would have given me the push I needed to look elsewhere.

There are quite a lot of reasons why I have stayed, I get a lot of holiday, a good old school pension (just over 26% paid by employer), although I changed to a lower pension deal in 2017 to gain more salary. Still very good though. I also live 6 miles from work. I am sure I am just convincing myself to stay and I should just look for some thing else. Ok well that's me done talking myself in to staying for another year grr.

I left school with 0 qualifications which doesn't help. I did go back to night school when I was around 22 and do GCSE English and Maths, then a BTEC in mechanical engineering when I was 30 - That was bloody hard, so much maths! - got a double distinction some how.

bakes0310 · 11 Jun 2020 at 18:19

If you can afford the pay cut and think you would be happier in a different career then i would go for it.

HangTime · 12 Jun 2020 at 01:45

tom_e said:
What are we talking in terms of wages 50% of £30k is pretty rough, 50% of £50k not so bad.

I disagree, pay cut of £25k is worse than pay cut of £15k. Even taking net pay into account you are talking a £17k pay cut vs a £10k pay cut.

tom_e · 12 Jun 2020 at 08:02

HangTime said:
I disagree, pay cut of £25k is worse than pay cut of £15k. Even taking net pay into account you are talking a £17k pay cut vs a £10k pay cut.

I suppose it depends how you look at it and how your finances in general are. It would be much easier to live on £25k than £15k in my opinion although the initial downsizing and cut in luxury spending may be more harsh.

bakes0310 · 12 Jun 2020 at 08:17

If i earnt 25k that would be such a considerable pay rise, i would be able to afford so many luxeries. Everyones lifestyle is different so 25k for some people would keep them up at night thinking how they are going to live.

randomshenans · 12 Jun 2020 at 09:38

HangTime said:
I disagree, pay cut of £25k is worse than pay cut of £15k. Even taking net pay into account you are talking a £17k pay cut vs a £10k pay cut.

Often if you have a 50k wage, you'd have a house/ mortgage to go with it. I know that if I halved my wages it would be a real hit with key outgoings on mortgages etc. so I agree.

The way I'd look at it is, would the pay cut be permanent? You'd be dropping initially, but I'd assume your new career would have a ladder which you would climb too? And if you did what's the ceiling on the new career vs. old current salary? That, and your happiest is more important than anything. You can't be doing something you hate for the rest of your life.

HangTime · 12 Jun 2020 at 10:12

tom_e said:
I suppose it depends how you look at it and how your finances in general are. It would be much easier to live on £25k than £15k in my opinion although the initial downsizing and cut in luxury spending may be more harsh.

Of course but then it would also be much easier to live on £50k than £25k which was the starting position, so that's not really to do with the impact of the change, just the reality that it's easier to live on more money. Or indeed easier to live on the pauper's original £30k compared to the fancy dan's reduction to £25k. The loss of income is much greater for the higher earner, over £1400/month reduction in take home compared with less than £900/month reduction for the lower earner. I understand that some people have the attitude that "if you earn more money you can afford to lose more money" but that's just on the basis that everyone has the same outgoings and the higher earners money is just sat there doing nothing. Do people on a £50k wage all have £1500/month surplus just sloshing around in their current account? I'm not so sure.

People get too hung up on percentage pay rises / pay cuts, what matters is the nominal change in your take home pay. If I earned £20k I'm be more dissatisfied with a 5% pay rise than I would be with a 3% pay rise on a £40k salary for example.

fobose · 12 Jun 2020 at 10:38

I have always looked at my income differently to most as I never really thought I would earn much so I saved a lot from a young age which is really paying off for me and my wife now.

I have been on the same salary for about 3 years since changing contracts, albeit the annual 2% rise (sometimes 4% as I had a few performance awards). Ever since I jumped from my 20k to 25k supervisor salary back in 2009 I have always saved the extra salary rather than getting used to it. My wife's due a huge pay rise next month due to new job and we've decided to over pay the mortgage with that rather than get used to it too.

The wifey also earns a lot more than me but I've got about 11 years of work over her as she did the right thing and went to uni and did her masters etc (she is also 5 years younger

).

HangTime · 12 Jun 2020 at 12:32

I'm similar, mortgage paid off and savings built up, rather than just moving to a more expensive house or spunking it all on holidays and gadgets. I have younger people two tiers below me (i.e. I manage their manager) who 'own' much more expensive homes than I do.
So if my salary was halved it wouldn't have any impact on my immediate life, the existing outgoings would all be covered. That doesn't mean I wouldn't feel the impact longer term though, it would reduce the build up of my savings and hence limit what options I have available in future, e.g. if we did decide to move to a better house, take early retirement or whatever.

Repta · 13 Jun 2020 at 09:22

I took a 50% pay cut to change career about 18 months ago, though for the complete opposite reason you are looking that.

Had is been in jobs which I loved but dominated my life in and out it work. Switched to a mudane 9-5 that I don't particularly like but was worth it as I now have a social life and time for my hobbies.

I had to live in my savings for a bit but knew that I would be able to move up quickly a d luckily only took 6 months to get me wage back where it was.

In ideal world I would love my job and have time fir myself but everything is a balance and I am glad.i made the switch. Will take boring and stress free job and get all my excitement, fulfillment etc outside of work where I have complete control if it!