I have no idea what to do with the rest of my life!

Soldato
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18 Dec 2008
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Liverpool
I currently work as a night club doorman and have done off and on due to health issues for the past 17 years. Its a job I used to love but for the past 10 months I've really been struggling with it. It's leaving me totally unfulfilled.

I'm on less money than I was 10 years ago, there are no opportunities to really progress in the industry anymore and to put it as politely as possible I would rather drink a gallon of dog sick while standing barefoot on slugs than have to deal with anymore drunk people. I want to move on, but to what I have no idea!

I have no qualifications to speak of, GCSE's mostly at D's as I had a lot of problems at school though I do have a C and a B in English. I've had some vocational qualifications over the years like my First Person on the Scene etc. But nothing more that that.

Quite frankly when I was younger I was an idiot, I went back to college to study numerous times but if I didn't like the course I'd quit instead of finishing and getting anywhere. As a result I now feel entirely trapped by what I do.


I have no idea what I really want to do with my life though, I must have done a hundred of those career identifying tests online that tell me I'm a dreamer and an idealist so I should be a writer or some such. I don't know where to begin to be honest, I don't have any hobbies to speak of anymore and just genuinely don't know where to start.

All I know is I need a change, can someone please help?
 
Man of Honour
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What about personal security roles? Have you considered any of the options in security services companies like G4S?

Both give you a lot of scope and job progression if you're good at your job and motivated.
 
Soldato
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I agree with what Kreeeee said - G4S are always hiring. I know someone who works with them, he's getting paid a very good salary and there is lots of potential for progressing your career.
 
Soldato
OP
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To answer your questions, personal security roles aren't really an option due to the situation over my children (Court ordered child arrangements, every weekend etc).

I'm 33 and moneywise I'm not looking for anything other than to be comfortable.
 
Caporegime
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Dominating rooms with symmetry
If you don't know yourself then you'll likely just be stuck in that circle of trying something then quitting.

My advice, pick something, anything for the matter and stick to it, even just to prove to yourself you won't quit again. In the end it's going to be better than what you're doing now.
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Mar 2008
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10,078
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Stoke area
To answer your questions, personal security roles aren't really an option due to the situation over my children (Court ordered child arrangements, every weekend etc).

I'm 33 and moneywise I'm not looking for anything other than to be comfortable.

stop making excuses!

Contact them with your CV, explain the hours you can work and let them say yes or no. Don't write it off before you've tried.

Same goes with anything.

Start your own business with doormen, I've always thought that throwing in dogs trained with identifying drugs would also be a great idea. Throw in some facial recognition systems on every door you run coming from a central server that identifies troublemakers before they get in. (I started working on that as a mini project but never finished it)

Doorman training courses?

Care work is rewarding IF you can face it. Always after carers, you could jump in, if you don't like it, move on.

You're going to have to keep doing your current role until you find something new, even if that means studying, but taking steps to leave can make you feel amazing.

Browse Open University, see if something jumps out at you? You're never too old to learn. You're 2 years younger than me, I've done sales on a shop floor, building site, warehouse, despatch, management, customer service etc etc etc Currently in an IT role.
 
Associate
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300
PTLLS, Delivery of conflict management training NQF/QCF Level 3, Level 3 Deliverers of Physical Intervention and become a trainer.

Also with your PTTLS, if you hold a first aid cert you would be able to train people first aid.


Other than that, look into prison service, or roles such as escorting asylum seekers back to their home countries (not sure what the wage is in it anymore but 4 years ago it wasn't half bad)
 
Associate
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UK
I to am looking to do something different, stuck in a day end job doing 9-5.

Can anyone recommend anything other than the G4S Security positions?

Diddums...out of curiosity what do you do?
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Mar 2008
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10,078
Location
Stoke area
I to am looking to do something different, stuck in a day end job doing 9-5.

Can anyone recommend anything other than the G4S Security positions?

Diddums...out of curiosity what do you do?

What do you currently do? What do you enjoy doing?

What sort of challenges or money are you after?

Go to Indeed. Do a job search for say 40 miles around your current location and see if anything jumps out at you!
 
Caporegime
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24 Oct 2012
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Godalming
I to am looking to do something different, stuck in a day end job doing 9-5.

Can anyone recommend anything other than the G4S Security positions?

Diddums...out of curiosity what do you do?

I'm a pipe fitter and boiler maker by trade, however when I first moved to the UK I fell in to the property maintenance game and am currently the technical supervisor for a team of 6, maintaining a £500m trophy building in the square mile for one of the biggest names in the game (CBRE). And I started off stacking shelves at a 7-11 :eek:
 
Associate
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UK
What do you currently do? What do you enjoy doing?

What sort of challenges or money are you after?

Go to Indeed. Do a job search for say 40 miles around your current location and see if anything jumps out at you!

I work for a local haulage company in the Stoke area, I look after the fleet of vehicles, ensuring they are maintained...So I book in services/MOT's, arranging the repairs to be carried out, taxing vehicles. I also report Insurance claims along with general administration its a fairly demanding office role which is quite varied.

Money-wise anything between 24-26k I would be happy with.

I have had alook on indeed cant say anything jumps out at me, 40 miles does seem a long way to travel to and from work each day.
 
Caporegime
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Godalming
I've been chatting to Vidar on email so he knows what's up, but I'll spit it out here in case anyone else can benefit from it.

The maintenance industry is always looking for new victims staff and is very easy to get in to if you're keen, willing to learn and are slightly technical. I'm not talking technical as in rewiring a house or installing a heating system, the kind of jobs these guys do is touching up paint, fixing squeaky doors, chaging lamps, that kind of thing. Easy peasy stuff that most of you have done at home already.

I started off in the maintenance game as a handyman and I'm now leading a team of 6 in a half a billion pound building in London for the biggest name in the biz. It is possible, I've also helped two other people do the same although they're not interested in climbing, they're on decent salaries (one's £26k, one's £30k) and are enjoying their job.

You'll start at around £8/hour and work your way up as you get more experience and training. Once you've found permanent employment, salaries range from around £20k to £30k depending on loads of factors and the standard seems to be 25 days a year off, give or take a day or two. Most companies have overtime as well, some will pay 1.5x on Saturdays, and 2.0x on Sundays and bank holidays, others will be 1.3x / 1.5x, so it pays to look around and keep your eyes open.

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, then knock up a CV and glam it a bit (don't lie, don't say you can do things which you can't, you WILL get busted eventually) towards maintenance, focussing on things you've done in other companies like change their lamps and whatnot. Ring up some recruitment agencies (I'll lise a few below) and explain that you want a career change, you're keen, technically minded, healthy, and are willing to work towards improving, getting more experience and climbing higher as you go. You will need to go to as many as you can, give them all your CV and tell them the same story, eventually one will call you and go something along the lines of "can you do these two days to cover someone who's off sick?" and that's when you pounce. This is now reputation building territory. Work your butt off, show you're keen, clean up their workshop, whatever it takes to make the manager go "oh wow, he was excellent, thanks" when the recruiter calls to ask how you are (they always do this, without fail). That's it, your foot's in the door and they will call you again. They'll start you off on little nondescript sites and jobs, where you can learn and where mistakes don't matter, and build you up towards the bigger stuff, which is where your money will start increasing too.

Once you've temped for a few months, they'll probably ask you if you're interested in a permanent position (it always helps to mention this in passing if you can, don't nag but make sure they're aware that you're in this for the long haul) and that's when you can start digging your heels in. A decent company will send you on their usual courses, they all do, it'll be things like "safety awareness", "manual lifting" and all that nonsense. This is par for the course and a massive boon on your CV should you want to change jobs later on. ALWAYS grab ANY training with both hands and don't let go until you've got a certificate.

A few agencies I can recommend are:

PRS Resourcing Services
Blade Recruitment
Skilled Careers
Hays Recruitment
Randstad

To name but a few. I can only comment on London, the smaller ones like PRS and Blade will focus mainly on London so if you're outside of London start off with Hays, Randstad and look for some local ones.

Also, stick your CV up on every CV site you can. I've had TONS of calls from recruiters from that, I still get them all the time too.

That's it. Any questions, I'll be happy to answer, drop me a trust if you want a chat, I'm always here and always willing to help out. It's an easy industry to build a career in, there are shift jobs, weekday jobs, odd hours, anything you want, it's in the maintenance game and as long as buildings are still standing, someone has to maintain them so it's a very secure industry to be in.




(sorry, this got a bit long, if a mod wants to separate it into it's own thread please go ahead, and if this helps one person get their feet on the ground then it's worth it :))
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
22 Dec 2011
Posts
2,034
Location
UK
I've been chatting to Vidar on email so he knows what's up, but I'll spit it out here in case anyone else can benefit from it.

The maintenance industry is always looking for new victims staff and is very easy to get in to if you're keen, willing to learn and are slightly technical. I'm not talking technical as in rewiring a house or installing a heating system, the kind of jobs these guys do is touching up paint, fixing squeaky doors, chaging lamps, that kind of thing. Easy peasy stuff that most of you have done at home already.

I started off in the maintenance game as a handyman and I'm now leading a team of 6 in a half a billion pound building in London for the biggest name in the biz. It is possible, I've also helped two other people do the same although they're not interested in climbing, they're on decent salaries (one's £26k, one's £30k) and are enjoying their job.

You'll start at around £8/hour and work your way up as you get more experience and training. Once you've found permanent employment, salaries range from around £20k to £30k depending on loads of factors and the standard seems to be 25 days a year off, give or take a day or two. Most companies have overtime as well, some will pay 1.5x on Saturdays, and 2.0x on Sundays and bank holidays, others will be 1.3x / 1.5x, so it pays to look around and keep your eyes open.

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, then knock up a CV and glam it a bit (don't lie, don't say you can do things which you can't, you WILL get busted eventually) towards maintenance, focussing on things you've done in other companies like change their lamps and whatnot. Ring up some recruitment agencies (I'll lise a few below) and explain that you want a career change, you're keen, technically minded, healthy, and are willing to work towards improving, getting more experience and climbing higher as you go. You will need to go to as many as you can, give them all your CV and tell them the same story, eventually one will call you and go something along the lines of "can you do these two days to cover someone who's off sick?" and that's when you pounce. This is now reputation building territory. Work your butt off, show you're keen, clean up their workshop, whatever it takes to make the manager go "oh wow, he was excellent, thanks" when the recruiter calls to ask how you are (they always do this, without fail). That's it, your foot's in the door and they will call you again. They'll start you off on little nondescript sites and jobs, where you can learn and where mistakes don't matter, and build you up towards the bigger stuff, which is where your money will start increasing too.

Once you've temped for a few months, they'll probably ask you if you're interested in a permanent position (it always helps to mention this in passing if you can, don't nag but make sure they're aware that you're in this for the long haul) and that's when you can start digging your heels in. A decent company will send you on their usual courses, they all do, it'll be things like "safety awareness", "manual lifting" and all that nonsense. This is par for the course and a massive boon on your CV should you want to change jobs later on. ALWAYS grab ANY training with both hands and don't let go until you've got a certificate.

A few agencies I can recommend are:

PRS Resourcing Services
Blade Recruitment
Skilled Careers
Hays Recruitment
Randstad

To name but a few. I can only comment on London, the smaller ones like PRS and Blade will focus mainly on London so if you're outside of London start off with Hays, Randstad and look for some local ones.

Also, stick your CV up on every CV site you can. I've had TONS of calls from recruiters from that, I still get them all the time too.

That's it. Any questions, I'll be happy to answer, drop me a trust if you want a chat, I'm always here and always willing to help out. It's an easy industry to build a career in, there are shift jobs, weekday jobs, odd hours, anything you want, it's in the maintenance game and as long as buildings are still standing, someone has to maintain them so it's a very secure industry to be in.




(sorry, this got a bit long, if a mod wants to separate it into it's own thread please go ahead, and if this helps one person get their feet on the ground then it's worth it :))

Thanks for the post and advice, have you ever considered being a self-employed handyman?

You didn't need to quote the massive wall o' text above your post!
 
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Caporegime
Joined
24 Oct 2012
Posts
25,020
Location
Godalming
I have, but I'd have to work ridiculous hours to earn what I do now, plus I really like the team I'm with, and I like the job security.

If you think you can do it, by all means go for it!

I charged someone £50 a while ago to change a cold water feed for a washing machine. 10 mins work tops, and they called me again for other stuff, so it's certainly possible. I'm just too lazy to keep up with all the paperwork, insurance, standards, all that kind of thing.
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Jul 2009
Posts
14,083
Location
Bath
Sounds a bit of a tangent, but if you have a bit of personality and are willing to work your balls off then sales can pay very well. It also has a low threshold in terms of requirements, and right now there seems to be a serious shortage of decent sales people (in the North West at least). Every company needs to sell its products so there's generally work out there. Obviously you want to avoid soul destroying auto dialler stuff, but if you can land a b2b sales role then you don't have to deal with the public and the money is good.
 
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