After leaving one dreadful job I went to a career counselling course. A lot of us wanted to do something different. We were told that getting a similar job in the same sector is relatively easy. Getting a similar job in a different sector is hard. Getting a different job in the same sector is hard. Getting a different job in a different sector is really, really hard.
In the OP’s case, the police pension is good, which gives far greater freedom to find something genuinely fulfilling.
To turn this around a bit , don’t you think now that there is no longer a “” you are a valued member off the company “” I tend to find that that disappeared around the 2000 year and more and more your just a payroll number now .
I’d love to retrain for something different but I’m scared to be honest and scared off loosing my pay scale been there the last few months on minimum wage not even living wage .
Also I’ve only got 10 or so years to go before I can think maybe it’s time to slow down and semi retired or maybe retire completely so trying to boost the pension pot as much as I can
Hotelier for 10 years in London and Hong Kong; 24 year in IT since. Funny old game.
Truer words have not been spoken. It’s understandable the employers don’t want to take a chance for well paying positions on people without a track record.
For those frustrated by the lack of fulfilling opportunities, they often get the kids off to uni, the mortgage under control, and start their own company.
I actually started with my own company but was too small and burdened with too much admin.
Tired of the never ending trudge around Europe seeking loads for trailers and helping solve transport problems for a large Belgo/French haulier I decided to retire at 55. Hard work but well paid if you were reasonably successful.
Got bored.
Went to work for Wickes,the builders’ merchant 3 days a week for a few years. No responsibility and a mind and body rebuilding exercise.
I really enjoyed it.But then I could afford to.
N
Being a cynic, I don’t think many people are truly valued when it comes to larger companies and hence why I turned my back on permanent employment about 10 years ago.
It’s been more liberating working for myself and being retained is sufficient for me.
The financial aspect is huge so think it’s normal to fear the change in pay scale. I’m in a similar (ish) scenario with 10 years but the possibility of forced unemployment due to my supporting the aerospace industry. I’m ok now but know many who are rethinking their careers due to the current climate.
I have no idea what I’d do though. I still love what I do so is hard to think of anything else I’d want to do.
Left school and did a Butchery apprenticeship. On completion I left and bummed around for a year or 2 and joined the RN as a Pinkie.
Invalided out in 84 and worked in electronics manufacturing. Made redundant.
89/90 went to college to do IT then spent the next 15 yrs as a network tech.
Redundancy again pushed me back into electronics.
Now I do whatever the hell I like. 
Nice cocktail!
Not sure if it counts as a new career (yet) but quit IT and started studying Social Sciences and Psychology.
I’m a software engineer. I retire in a year, and the owner of my local bike shop wants to hire me after that. He calls it “rehirement.” My Naim dealer has also muttered that they could use some help from me. The former is dead serious, not sure about the latter.
I’ll be 63 1/2. My plan is to work on the core development team for one of my company’s internal open-source project (micronaut.io) two days a week until I turn 65. After that, I don’t know. So far I don’t think I want to work in a bike or hifi shop for crappy pay.
I spent several years in the food industry trained up to and worked in a Michelin starred restaurant in Zurich, Switzerland. I’m now the head of a software development team for a uk logistics company. Sometimes I wish I was still in the food industry!
Welcome on board, Eloise.
Good luck with the social studies stuff - it’s a very demanding and rewarding path depending where you take it.
I retired from teaching (2016) after 33 years when my blood pressure became an issue. I was 54 with a few years to go before the mortgage was finished. I honestly planned to become a gardener. Living and working outside, no stress etc. Instead I found myself as a carer for my mum (dementia) and now her younger sister (dementia and MS). Mum died last May, but Pam is still going strong. It’s only a few hours each week now. I top up my spending money with two hours per week of private tuition for GCSE Science.
If I had to work again it would probably be as a dog walker. My professional role was in pastoral work and like Stevie and others here sleep better without some of the cases you become involved in.
The ‘crappy pay’ thing is interesting. A lot depends on whether you need the money. If you can live comfortably on your pension, but enjoy fixing bikes, the money becomes irrelevant. As well as my unpaid work with WemsFest, I’m currently volunteering with our local vaccination hub. I was there yesterday, will the there this afternoon and for five afternoons next week. Standing in the cold for four or five hours looking after those coming for vaccinations isn’t everyone’s idea of fun but I love it. The camaraderie is amazing and nearly all our patients are lovely. It’s infinitely more rewarding than any of the senior jobs I did, even though the pay is less than ‘crappy’.
It’s worth remembering that millions work for the minimum wage or less and that dismissing it as ‘crappy’ may be slightly insensitive. Satisfaction and money are often not linked and often are mutually exclusive.
Tis true. The years I spent in fintech revealed that it’s pretty easy to be rich. Becoming an investment banker or trader is not that hard. The downside is you have to be an investment banker or trader. If that’s your bag fine.
We all find a balance. I’ve had the door opened for me several times into vastly higher earnings but for jobs I hated once I tried them on. I settled for something I enjoy if not quite love for a very decent salary. I could cross over to the love occupation side but we all have to strike a balance with commitments and the cost of the lifestyle we’re comfortable with.
After moving to a 4 day week last year and thinking of diversifying I’ve now landed a high pressure senior role. Back to 5 days but it’s temporary so I’ll get my head down and hammer the pension fund with the salary uplift.
Three years and a few months until I’m 60 and hitting target retirement.
G
Good to hear…keep going!
I was lucky to get out at 52… time to live…or Vivere as Andrea Bocelli says.
That’s a bit of of an overreaction. How many people reading this forum do you believe are struggling with a minimum wage pay? I’d guess close to none. Whatever I do after retirement is TBD in any case. I’m just as likely to get involved volunteering for charity cycling events, since I already participate in many of them anyway. But the point is still that I don’t think I want to make any of my avocations into vocation, especially for low pay. It doesn’t appeal to me. There’s nothing wrong to say that.
Couldn’t agree more. I do some food bank volunteering, my wife volunteers for our local Memory Café (Alzheimers). We’re fortunate that our pensions, whilst not huge, are ample for our needs, and neither of us feel driven to earn more. There are many who seem to believe their worth can only be measured in terms of financial remuneration. Sad.
Indeed, my current ‘career’ in retail doesn’t pay much above the MW, but in many ways it’s the best job I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t go back to my well-paid previous position…but of course, I have a local government pension that enables me to work for comparative peanuts.