Stuck between a job and a hard place?

Can you imagine working in the same job for the next 40 years? The chances are probably not. The majority of us expect to change our career path at least once in our working lives. But why are so many of us still reluctant to take the plunge?

The Careers Advice Service estimates that millions of British workers either do not enjoy their current job or actively dislike the field they are in. Whether it be learning something new, earning more money or alleviating feelings of frustration – a career change can have both personal and financial benefits. But what’s holding us back?

Perhaps we are scared that we lack certain skills or don’t have the right qualifications. Others may be put off because they can’t afford to risk seeing their income drop while changing careers – even if it’s only for a short period of time. Some of us simply don’t know what we want to do next in life. With the myriad of careers out there, choosing the one for you can be tricky if you have no idea which field you want to move into.

If you’re thinking about a change in career – it might not be as difficult as you first think. Our live and interactive Web TV show with Jennifer Kneafsey from the Careers Advice Service will take you through everything you need to know – from identifying career goals, to advise on training and funding.

H: Lis Speight, host
J: Jennifer Kneafsey, Careers Advice Service
S: Stuart Mertey, graduate

H: Hello and welcome to the Education Show, I’m Lis Speight. Now then it’s hard to imagine the concept of a job for life these days, and whilst many of us expect to change our career path, it’s easier said than done. With a myriad of careers out there, choosing one to suit you might require additional training, and could no doubt have short term financial implications, and of course to complicate matters we are in the midst of a recession with unemployment creeping towards the 3 million mark. Well joining me today to discuss this is Jennifer Kneafsey from the Careers Advice Service

J: Hello

H: And also someone who has a direct recent experience in job hunting, recent graduate Stuart Mertey, welcome along Stuart, thanks for coming in, both of you

S: Hi, thanks for having me.

J: Now we are live today so if you have got any questions at all about careers then do get them in to us. All you have to do is to type your name in the box that is on the screen and your question as well, press submit, it will come through to us here in the studio and we will try to get through as many as we can during the course of the show. Now let’s start by talking a little bit about the job market at the moment, because it’s not exactly a great time to be job-hunting, Jennifer – what do you say to that?

J: Well you say that but it just really depends, I guess on what sort of job it is that you’re looking for, so it could be – I mean depending on what region you’re in

H: Right

J: You know, there might be a career that’s more in demand for example, depending – more in demand in that region rather than another region

H: Right

J: And again, I mean that would depend on how flexible you are with location. But you know working at the Careers Advice Service, I speak to people on a day-to-day basis, and job-hunting – you know there still are people out there that are getting jobs, so you know I guess the message is don’t panic

H: Yes

J: Especially with redundancy, don’t panic, you know come through if you feel that you need advice, come through, speak to an advisor, and we can help with things like, you know it might be you know a bit of CV advice, a bit of tweaking here and there

H: Right

J: It could be you know gaining some new skills. So although it is more competitive at the moment

H: Yes

J: I wouldn’t say it’s impossible

H: Right oh that’s quite encouraging isn’t it?

J: Yes

H: Quite encouraging Stuart really.

S: Good to know. Good to know

H: So you’ve recently graduated from the University of Warwick

S: Yes

H: With a degree in international business, it all sounds rather fabulous doesn’t it? So you’re looking for a job at the moment are you?

S: Yes, looking for a job now and same with a lot of my flatmates, a lot of people on our course, yes, and it’s kind of – it’s been kind of ominous and a little bit daunting I think prior to graduating, because we’re not used to seeing, you know graduate job prospects as headline news

H: No

S: And a lot of people are kind of quite sympathetic towards you know – oh it must be tough finding a job, but I think the key thing is, like you said there are still jobs out there, it’s still the same, you know you’re your own person with your own skills, you’re still looking for your job, it might be a little bit more competitive but you know

H: You’ve got to keep your options open. So what are you sort of hoping to achieve? You’ve been to the Careers Advice Service have you?

S: Yes I had a talk with a career’s advice – careers advisor a couple of weeks ago actually, and before doing the call I was a little, I suppose sceptical of what – you know what I would get from it. I’d actually had some careers advice at university, been to a few talks, so I thought as you know people go, university graduates are quite geared towards careers, so I didn’t necessarily expect them to tell me anything I didn’t know

H: Right

S: But it was more that they got me thinking about what was important to me and made me kind of reassess my assumptions, what I was looking for from a job, what I wasn’t, and as a result of that I’m now thinking kind of event management

H: Right

S: Towards that kind of area, which I had considered before, but I think before talking to them I was quite broad with my outlook and I was looking for “a” graduate job, just sort of out there – there are still lots of jobs out there so kind of –

H: But you do need to narrow it down a bit, because otherwise where do you start?

S: You do need to narrow it down – and then that way you can actually kind of start working on – ok now you know a little bit about what you want, how you’re going to get it, and if you’re not getting it then try and reassess that – it might be like you said a CV, it might be experience, so I think it definitely needs some direction otherwise I know that when I was graduating I was kind of seeing graduation as this milestone that I’d been looking towards for –

H: Yes. And you couldn’t see past it because what’s next –

S: And – that’s it, and the world of work

H: It is difficult though because if you don’t really know what you want to do, and you’re not going to do what your mum or your dad did, how do you actually know what’s out there? It’s sort of a difficult one really. I know that’s how I felt. Jennifer how do you sort of start advising someone, if they come to you and say well I don’t really know what I want to do – where do you start with them?

J: Well that’s quite a lot of the calls really so – good question. Well I think the main thing to remember, especially when people are calling in, I think you were saying you were a bit sceptical when you were calling, and some people often sort of call in and expect us to sort of reel them out a list

H: Yes

J: Or tell them what to do, which you know in real life, if you’re making a decision, the best decisions are always going to be from yourself, so you know to kind of put that pressure onto somebody else to make it then is, you know it sort of may not really work out for the best and –

H: So that’s not really why you’re there then really

J: No exactly

H: To say “you want to be a nurse”

J: Yes. I mean it would be a lot easier

H: Yes

J: And I’m sure it would be a lot easier for us and a lot easier for people calling in, but it’s kind of – you know – the consequences of that and what would happen if we did that, which aren’t necessarily a good thing. So it’s really about, the way we make people aware is they call in, we’ll talk about sort of the – where they are a the moment, we’ll talk about – it could be things, what they’re enjoying in their job at the moment, if they’re working. If they’re thinking of changing career, why is it you know that they’re changing career, what is it that interests you about another career, and also really kind of pushing people to kind of question themselves and how much research have you done, do you know how much you can do, do you know where to go to get this information. So it’s – it’s kind of a process really of getting somebody to realise something for themselves

H: Right

J: Rather than sort of us making decisions for them

H: But talking about people that are already in work and thinking of switching, there’s been this new research done by the Careers Advice Service has discovered that almost five million of us are unhappy in our current careers. That’s quite depressing actually isn’t it? So what’s the main reason for this? Why do you think people want to change?

J: I think – to be honest I think it’s something that’s probably been around for a while, and unfortunately I think you know in the future it will probably still happen because I think nowadays it’s more common for people to have different careers

H: Yes. You don’t stick in one job for life, hardly anybody does that now do they?

J: No exactly, whereas I think sort of people used to. I think years ago it was definitely seen as – you know if you left school or if you did go into further education, once you’ve made your decision of what you want to do, then you stick with it

H: Yes

J: Whereas at that age, it’s so difficult

H: Yes it is

J: And you know, you think of the – you know how you were at 16 and then think of how you are at let’s say 30

H: It’s half your life again isn’t it?

J: You’re a completely different person – exactly.

H: It’s amazing

J: So you know to sort of put pressure on somebody to make a decision at that age, of course there’s going to be – be people out there that have either fallen into a job or you know chosen a career, but then you know as they’ve grown older, as they’ve got more work experience, life experience they’ve thought actually I might want to explore this skill instead or – I think it’s because as well people are starting to realise that it’s possible. That you can do it

H: Yes. But there are some sort of things that might put people off, especially as you get older you get sort of financial responsibilities, family responsibilities, I mean how difficult is it to change your career – as you get sort of later on in life?

J: I think it’s sort of – it’s difficult to say, it depends on your circumstances, so it depends on the individual so it’s difficult to say as a whole. But what I would say is a lot of people sometimes are kind of writing off ideas before they’ve even tried them out

H: Right, yes

J: So the best thing to do is really to sit down, and again speak with a careers advisor, or call the service, speak to a careers coach

H: Yes

J: And what we can do is put together action plans, so it sort of – and that can be a round you know, ok well what do you need to think about? In which case if somebody’s sort of saying you know I really want to do this but it’s really difficult financially, well you know how much can you stretch to, what do you need to be earning

H: Right

J: You know what funding might be out there

H: Yes that’s a good point

J: To help

H: Isn’t it? We’ve had a question in actually on this very point, and Sheila Brunt says “I’m seriously considering a massive switch from PR to full time teaching.” She sees it as a massive switch, and so that’s obviously a big deal for her to switch from PR to full time teaching. They do need teachers don’t they at the moment? I mean what advice would you have to give to Sheila?

J: Well what I’d certainly say is before, I guess making a switch like that – I mean it depends what kind of decision maker you are

H: Yes

J: Some people do just throw themselves in it and –

H: Impulsive

J: In which case you know a lot of those people may be – they don’t necessarily need advice, they will just make that decision whereas other people, from the sounds of it, might just need a bit more information. So I’d say find out as much information as possible about it before making a decision, if she’s thinking about teaching in particular what I’ll often say to people when I speak to them and they’re thinking about that career is perhaps see if she can get some voluntary work as well, within a school

H: That’s a good idea

J: Just because then it gives her the opportunity to see what the career’s like, but also it gives her something to put on her CV as well

H: Right yes

J: So she’s gaining experience but she’s also helping herself to make a decision, whether it’s something she’s going to enjoy or not

H: Yes, yes

J: And then if she does – if she wants further information because obviously I can only kind of sum it up now

H: Yes exactly

J: In like a minute or so, if she does want further information she can give us a call, and what we’ll do is take her through what kind of routes you need to go into in order to become a teacher, and we can tell her what kind of funding is out there for her as well

H: Ok. The hotline is 0800 100 900, we’ll give you that at the end of the show as well. It’s a very good service actually, you can ring up and just get free advice on careers

J: Yes

H: Which is, you know it’s good for a lot of people that isn’t it. We’ve had another question in from Archie – excuse me – and he says “is it better to use an agency or apply directly to companies?” Stuart have you been doing a bit of both?

S: Yes I’ve – in the past I’ve had a bit of experience of job agencies and applying directly. I know that one problem can be for agencies, just in my experience, it’s been that you’ll sign up for an agency and you’ll just expect them to find you a job

H: Yes it’s a bit crazy really

S: So now they can have so many people on their books, they could have – so I think if you’re going to go down the agency route you have to make sure to be quite proactive

H: Yes. Keep them on their toes

S: But I think yes just you know, I mean there’s loads of options out there, why just do one or the other, why not do both

H: Yes that’s a good point actually

S: And then when you were saying about work experience I think that can be a great route to go down, that’s definitely one that I’m considering at the moment, if you’re not – you know if you’ve not chosen your career and, you know you’re applying and you’re not getting any responses, then think ok maybe a bit of work experience, I can try it out, put it on my CV, and yes – but I think as many routes as possible

H: Spread your net

S: Yes

H: Spread your net wide

S: And then hopefully

H: Pull in that fish

S: Hopefully you’ll have offers from everyone

J: It just shows the passion doesn’t it, it shows how passionate you are,

H: That’s true

J: If you’re willing to do something without getting paid for it

H: Ok some good advice there. So just do both I think, that’s basically the idea.

S: Do it all, do it all

H: Spread your net. Right we’ve had one in, a question from Betty Blavit, I hope I’ve pronounced that properly Betty. She said “I’ve been out of work for a year due to childcare commitments, and I’m ready to return to work” – it’s very common that isn’t it? “What’s the best way to present this on my CV?” That’s a really good question actually isn’t it? Jennifer, what would you say?

J: What I would say is on your CV if you have had time out, especially if you’ve had time out and you’ve been sort of looking after your children, you can actually put that on your CV

H: Right

J: So the employers are aware

H: Don’t try and hide it then?

J: No not at all. It is something, because you know from that you would have gained skills anyway

H: Patience

J: Exactly, being the main one I would imagine. But yes organisational skills

H: Time management. Dealing with difficult customers

J: Yes exactly, they will be amazing. But yes it’s really that, you know we joke about it, but actually those skills are really useful in lots of different jobs

H: Yes

J: So it’s kind of working out, ok what skills have I got, you know what have I got from the last year, even though I haven’t been working, I have been doing something and I still would have been learning. We’re always – as people – we’re always learning, we’re always developing

H: Yes. That’s so positive Jennifer, I really like that. So when you actually go through the dates, put – I mean what would you put in between the dates?

J: Well it could be – it depends – it’s difficult to say, this is what I’d say, if she’s got some spare time today, it’s a free service, give us a call because there might be things that she has done

H: Yes

J: That she might not necessarily, you know, class –

H: Like organising a mummy’s group or something like that?

J: Yes exactly, it could be something like that, and then just speaking to somebody, what we can do is sort of we’re the ear that’s there to say oh hang on a minute, what about this, have you thought about this? The other thing she can do as well is she can email her CV into us. What we will do is we won’t change it in any way because it’s her CV

H: Right yes

J: So it’s very much about, you know the ownership’s yours, but we will take a look at it and email her back with any advice that we think could be useful, so again just pointing her in the right direction

H: T hat’s such a good tip actually, because when you do your CV, when you go in for a job interview, you never see anyone else’s CV and you never see anyone else at a job interview do you? I mean have you sort of shared CVs with your friends?

S: Well with some of my friends I’ve seen some other ones, and obviously at uni they kind of expect you to come out of it with your polished CV, but it’s amazing actually just in the last two and a bit weeks how much I’ve improved my own CV just from – I actually emailed it to your email address

J: Oh right so you’ve tried it?

S: And got a bit of tips back. And it’s – so I didn’t really change – obviously I still had the same places that I’d worked, I still had the same experience, but it’s just kind of re-wording it and kind of

H: The way you present it

S: Yes it’s just viewing it from the employers’ perspective, if they’re looking to see things like organisation and things like that, put it in and don’t kind of – I think – like with mine I still had the same material but just in a couple of weeks from emailing it out to people, using it as a soundboard, saying you know what do you think of this and them emailing me back and me changing it, I’ve already –

H: That’s really useful isn’t it?

S: I’ve already seen such a difference in two weeks and actually I’ve started to get responses. I’ve got an interview on Friday

H: An interview on Friday, fantastic, well done. Oh good luck with that. How exciting

S: So yes definitely, and that can be something really good to do kind of in the meantime ,because you know when you’re looking for jobs you’ve got, you know often you’ve got a bit of time

H: Got a bit of time, yes

S: It’s easy to get oh you know, I’m unemployed, I don’t have a job – so I think that can be a good thing to do that’s still proactive, while waiting to hear back from companies. You know. Do I have the best cover letter, do I have a good CV, you know

H: Keep working at it until you’re absolutely sure that it’s right. Ok well you’re at the beginning of your career, we have someone here whose sort of in the middle if his by the sound of it, Chris said “I recently lost my job in the communications industry which I’ve been operating in for the last 15 years.” Oh that’s awful actually isn’t it? “It’s only been a few weeks but there seems so little opportunities out there. I’m thinking about applying my skills in other areas to simply pay the mortgage, but haven’t a clue what to do.” It’s quite a blow to you actually isn’t it, to lose your job like that?

J: Yes

H: What should he do Chris? Jennifer sorry

J: I think – I think that’s quite interesting what you said about, it is a blow because a lot of people in sort of similar positions, if they’ve been made redundant for example, that they’ll come through and it’s really affected their confidence

H: Yes

J: But I think the way to look at it is kind of what he’s doing at the moment, which is in a positive way, so rather than sort of thinking oh I’ve been doing this for a while, and – think about it as in I have been doing this for a while, hang on a minute, what else could I be doing?

H: Yes

J: You know what opportunity is there out there for me? Are there other things that interest me? You know – because there are so many different – I think on our website I think we’ve got over I think it’s 700 different job profiles, and that’s just on the website. So that’s not necessarily covering everything that’s out there

H: So it might be a good opportunity for him to try and do something else

J: Yes completely

H: Use the skills and take them onto something else

J: Yes and no doubt he will have some good transferable skills as well

H: Yes

J: And again this is where it can be useful, like we were saying about putting the CV together. Just because your CV sort of gets it all down on paper, and that can help with confidence as well

H: Yes

J: So it just, hopefully will get him to recognise oh actually I’ve got these skills, they are in this area, but I could use them in this area too

H: Yes. So ok, well Chris good luck with that. There’s loads of jobs out there, you’ve just got to know which one’s right for you haven’t you?

J: Yes

H: Well I’m afraid we’re out of time actually so thanks for sending in all your questions. So Jennifer thanks for coming in and giving us all your top tips

J: You’re welcome

H: And Stuart thanks for coming in

S: Thank you very much

H: Best of luck with your job interviews

S: Thank you

H: There’s a job out there for you. And if you need any more career’s advice you can go to the website which is direct.gov.uk/careersadvice, and the phone line, the hotline is 0800 100 900 and it’s brilliant, there’s loads of free advice on there for you as well. And whatever you’re choose – you choose to do, give it your best shot, you’re going to be great. Thanks very much for watching the Education Show and we’ll see you next time, bye bye