Caporegime
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- 30,290
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- Dormanstown.
Go to the north east and buy a detached new build for 170K 
The 5 year plan to £50k
- Thread starter FoxEye
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Associate
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The dept. I work is in Ops and Finance, so have some exposure myself. From what my manager says, it seems to be the modelling she enjoys most, which I think I would too. Analytical work can be rewarding too.
Ah that's interesting, my understanding was that you'd either do AAT or one of the higher qualifications? Is my understanding incorrect, or did you just go a different route? Best of luck getting into the aviation industry, is a tricky one to get into?
Good to hear! What are you thinking of getting into?
Congrats man! If you don't mind me asking, where did you study? Another one I've mulled over, I did actually want to be a lawyer before I started Sixth Form, but all I ever heard was how competitive the field is, which made me err on my decision. Wish I hadn't.
That's exactly the way I am looking at it, which is why I'm giving it serious thought now. As my options are retrain into something I think I'll really enjoy, or become qualified in Facilities Management. it's reassuring to hear stories of people for whom age hasn't been a barrier.
How do you find it now you're fully qualified and in a full-time role?
Notice a theme here?
They're everywhere.
It's relatively easy to get into?!
Everywhere, and the pay is good!
I'm a mechanical engineer in the nuclear industry currently, but I've moved from design work to the testing side of things. So I'm doing lots of data analysis, report writing, ensuring testing runs smoothly etc etc, but I'm getting a bit bored and fancy a change!
I've looked at moving into building services engineering as it seems pretty interesting, especially with the visibility of the projects you're working on, compared to the lack of visibility of the project I'm working on
. I've got lots of transferable skills, but obviously lacking any experience in designing HVAC systems etc so I'd still take a bit of a paycut and move to a more junior role than I'm currently in.Another curveball is to move into something IT related, but starting in a 3rd/2nd line support role that most people do to get their foot in the door fills me with dread
I'd ideally like to get some kind of infrastructure engineer/administrator role. This would require a drastic paycut but with a lot of work and doing industry certifications/exams outside of work I could probably progress quite quickly. I do a lot of IT stuff in my personal time (dabble in programming, have a sever which I run VMware on and MS Server 2016 and various Linux servers on) so hopefully I'd be able to land something entry level with that alongside my work experience so far.Driving this change is also the fact that my type of engineering work isn't really that popular anywhere but the midlands or the north, and having bought a flat a year ago with my partner in London (she works in London) I'd rather move into something that's in demand in London so I can move down rather than work in Derby at the week and travel to London on a Friday and back up to Derby on Monday!
Decisions!
Can't believe this thread is still going? Lol
Surely OP has surpassed the 50k mark now. If not then I sure hope you raised that figure. These days 50k just doesn't cut it.... Not for me anyway.
Ahhh I see talk of becoming an accountant. I remember looking into that. As it would've been helpful for some of my IT projects. However, since going down the IT Contractor route. I've put that idea on hold.
Surely OP has surpassed the 50k mark now. If not then I sure hope you raised that figure. These days 50k just doesn't cut it.... Not for me anyway.
Ahhh I see talk of becoming an accountant. I remember looking into that. As it would've been helpful for some of my IT projects. However, since going down the IT Contractor route. I've put that idea on hold.
I'm a mechanical engineer in the nuclear industry currently, but I've moved from design work to the testing side of things. So I'm doing lots of data analysis, report writing, ensuring testing runs smoothly etc etc, but I'm getting a bit bored and fancy a change!
I've looked at moving into building services engineering as it seems pretty interesting, especially with the visibility of the projects you're working on, compared to the lack of visibility of the project I'm working on
Another curveball is to move into something IT related, but starting in a 3rd/2nd line support role that most people do to get their foot in the door fills me with dread
Driving this change is also the fact that my type of engineering work isn't really that popular anywhere but the midlands or the north, and having bought a flat a year ago with my partner in London (she works in London) I'd rather move into something that's in demand in London so I can move down rather than work in Derby at the week and travel to London on a Friday and back up to Derby on Monday!
Decisions!
As someone who works in the HVAC maintenance game, I can't see the design aspect being very prosperous in the long run. Buildings are popping up all over the place and are struggling for occupancy. This coupled with the current climate of uncertainty what with Brexit and whatnot means that I can't see the construction industry booming for much longer. Of course I could be talking rubbish and it goes in the opposite direction but I hold little hope.
I went to an ex-poly having done my A-Levels long before I screwed my head on properly. Entry into the law is competitive but the headline numbers ('Only X training contracts for Y graduates') are misleading. Most applicants for training contracts either don't have a chance in hell, like those applying for a top City firm with anything other than an immaculate academic record, or rule themselves out by submitting a lazy application. Identifying where you can get a job and pitching yourself properly to those employers puts you ahead of about 90% of other applicants. Having substantial work experience helped a lot with making my pitch credible.
It was absolutely the right decision and worth the risk. Of course, I might feel differently if it hadn't panned out, but it did!
Yeah, it's not just HVACs I'd be interested in doing, but just general ME stuff. I interviewed for a position at an MEP firm and it very well, had a second interview with the MD getting lined up and then we had the Brexit referendum after my first interview and before sorting out my second one, and then they decided not to take on additional engineers! Quite a big down-turn in the building industry since then.
Associate
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Decisions indeed!
That must be quite an interesting industry to work in? If you don't mind me asking, was the decision to move away from design work yours?
I recently led the refit of our new building, into labs from what was a office building. Really interesting stuff. Absolute nightmare as well, but very interesting. Fair amount of exposure to the BSE world in facilities, so I certainly agree with you on that one.
Our outsourced IT guys seem to have a pretty good gig, if you're good at breaking down technical stuff for non-techies, you'll go far in that industry. You certainly seem like you'd have a head start getting into it!
Out of interest, would you continue doing your current job down south if you could?
Sadly my experience echoes this too, the contractors I've spoken to are seeing fewer new build fit-outs, mostly maintenance and modifications. Having said that I have a job getting hold of our effin' HVAC engineers
.Glad to hear it man, I love hearing stories like that. What you say about the applicants doesn't surprise me, and it's so true about identifying the right opportunities. Have you heard much about/ have any opinions on The University of Law?
Somewhat related, we had an opening for a junior lab-tech, a few years of experience needed, ideally a degree but not a barrier with appropriate experience.
We had one person apply through LinkedIn, previous experience? Working in Boots, some other retail, currently working as a Life Guard.
Ah, she must have done a BSc and not managed to get a job in the field when she graduated, right?
Wrong, degree in History
We don't recruit through LinkedIn anymore. Too easy to apply.
Man, this thread bummed me out a bit. I know it shouldn't as money isn't the end all, but there are a lot of people my age or younger earning twice what I do.
For better or worse I went to uni. Looking back I wish I had studied mechanical/ electrical engineering rather than science, the mathematics put me off, but it would've been worth the effort. Or just went into an engineering apprenticeship.
At the moment I'm a facilities manager of an 11k sqft building, which is kind of progressing in a direction I like, i.e. I deal with system/ engineers more. Learning a lot too. I feel there is a bit of a cap when it comes to facilities management earning however. Also, the future of it looks like it will be outsourcing.
My problem is that I kind of feel like I'm too old to retrain now (27), has anyone else made such a move at this age?
Great to see so many successful people in this thread, and I hope it gets better for those at the opposite end.
Also, wow, developers!
Absolutely not too old although I know where you are coming from. I dropped out of uni to work in the family business after my dad had a bad motorbike accident. Bided my time until I had an idea of the kind of career i wanted. Decided it would be Engineering or IT, and booked a place on a foundation Engineering course at Manchester college.
I hadn't really shared this with friends until I had signed up for the course. It was a big risk going from managing the family business (and initial pay drop!)
My friend who is an ERP functional consultant found out, got me an interview for their graduate scheme and luckily the director at the time thought a lot of my business experience.
Started 2 months before I turned 28, got taken off the training scheme after 2-3 months and fast tracked into chargeable work. 2 years and 2 months on and I'm absolutely loving it. Also quite proud of myself too as I definitely could have just taken the easy route and stayed where I was as I was essentially my own boss before.
Just do it, you won't regret it. Even if it doesn't work out, trust me you will feel good for having had the balls to do it.
The University of Law is as good as anywhere else for the LPC - the course is essentially a formality and almost no-one cares where you do it or how well you do provided you pass. The GDL is different as employers put more stock in the more academically rigorous providers (usually the established universities) and a distinction would really help an application.
There's a lot to consider before deciding to have a go at becoming a lawyer. A stint of unpaid work experience is unavoidable as employers will want to see that you know what the work involves, although it's actually in your best interests as you may hate what you see and realise a particular area of law definitely isn't for you. (This is completely normal - I would leave the profession before spending a single day doing company law or conveyancing.) Anyway, there is a huge amount of guidance out there already, so have a look about.
The LPC is such a joke... the fees are obscene. As mentioned above, University of Law is fine - nobody really cares about the LPC provider. Sadly some firms 'look down' on paralegals applying without one... and some even require one. It really is rather horrid for many of the young whippersnappers coming through... credit to those that stick through poopy paralegalling and eventually get a training contract. What a slog.
I work for a big tech multinational. I started as an intern in the legal department and the LPC was a requirement. When we've hired interns afterwards, we still require the LPC. You do learn a few things that are helpful (agree that the course itself is pretty straightforward as long as you are organised), mostly around process, legal research etc. It also helped in just filter the number of candidates.
Did you get out a loan? I think it's just a crappy financial barrier if you didn't get it paid for you... or at least it's a huge disincentive.
No, I was lucky enough that parents helped out. I was an international student as well so if I recall, there were some barriers around getting a student loan.
Do agree that it can be a disincentive (from my limited understanding of student loans here, I don't know if it really would be a strict 'barrier' given they exist to domestic students) and whilst a little helpful, don't warrant the cost involved. I'm not sure that the LPC should even exist. It feels like something that should really form either part of the TC, or extend the TC by a few months and then it should be covered there. Having it as a separate course provides pretty limited benefit.
Yeah you definitely can get a profession loan but there's no guarantee of a TC at the end of it... it's a huge commitment and a gamble I'm not sure many would make if they didn't have family backing of some sort to see them through. That's what I mean by a 'barrier', anyway. It's particularly silly when it's the easiest thing in the history of easiest things - as has been said earlier in the thread, I'm pretty sure it's being phased out.
Glad to hear it ended up well for you!
Starting my job in September on £42k within the data science consulting sphere... It increases to £50k almost by default the following year at which point I'll either stay or start to drift into the banking industry again. However, this is dependent on a lot of factors. For 21 I'm very content, although I don't wish to stay below 6 figures for too long.
Yup but the LPC is sooo career specific and sooo easy / arguably pointless.
I think the main difference is that the Masters could still be useful in other spheres. The LPC is very subject specific and the 'skills' you learn aren't particularly transferable.
Thanks Nitefly
Yup, I did something similar, and qualified just after my 30th. It's a lot of work, but an awful lot more interesting than my previous marketing career.
Edit: In relation to the LPC, I found it a necessary evil. It was an absolute doddle and should have been six months at most, but a couple of the modules gave me a reasonably thorough grounding in the work I now do. Trying to work with paralegals who haven't done it and don't know their way around things like the CPR is a nightmare.
That said, doing it if you've not got a TC lined up is an awful idea. It's a huge financial and time commitment, and there's no guarantee of a job at the end of it.
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