Advice please

[danomite]

hi, i m feeling demoralised with my job i work at a company making english country kitchens and although i have enjoyed my work there, for atleast the last year i have grown increasingly bored with the work. Due to an increase in sales the company has started outsourcing more and more work to other companies getting doors made for example which has led to my job becoming less and less varied and more about mass production which i am not interested in at all. I am an assistent manager there, although i dont really have an interest in being a people manager, i also look after all machine maintenance and ordering timber. I am 27 and have no qualifications in woodwork, i do have a degree in music technology though. i feel like woodwork is the feild i want to work in as i love the material and am interested in making things. outside of work i have made a cedar strip surfboard, done a week course in timber framing and a week course getting a chainsaw liscence. anyways.... im feeling abit trapped at work and cant really see where i can go from here. i feel like i want to learn much more skills in woodwork and would like a creative streak to my career working on interesting projects. theres much more to say but im sure youve heard enough of my moaning by now if you lasted reading this far
any advice suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
cheers

Mod edit- kindly refrain from posting titles in CAPS.

 

[wizard]

At least you have a job think yourself one of the lucky ones.

 

[undergroundhunter]

You sound to be in a similar boat to me except you are in the trade already I am not (I'm in the motor trade). Qualifications are not everything, what most employers look for is aptitude and by doing courses outside of work you have shown that in my view. Get a CV done and get it out there, just put less emphasis on the qualifications and more on your personal achievements and work experience.

Hop that helps.

matt

 

[beech1948]

It really depends upon what sort of person you are. IF you want money then job satisfaction may not count for much. IF you want more job satisfaction and less cash is OK then make that decision.

You have a degree in music technology. I assume this interested you. IF so then how, what and why could you combine your degree with woodwork......loudspeakers ??, guitars??, violins, pianos ( bit of a reach there) but you will have the idea OK by now.

You may need to work the day job for living money and then work the evening to build a life as something else. You might consider a chat with the Princes Trust re a business idea; you might approach the local chamber of commerce to see if they have a mentor...you might need the idea first.

I like to solve my problems with a standard approach ( well until it becomes non-standard).

1) Write down a problem definition...3 sentences only. Keep it short but clear and explicite.
2) Ask yourself what you know about this and also what you don't know but need to know. Write it down and find out whatever you do not know.
3) Start looking at potential answers to the problem in 1) by writing dowm your ideas 2) combining ideas 3) deleting bits of ideas from combining to get clarity
4) Remember that Occam's Razor is right 95%+ of the time and apply that logic.

So your first and most difficult question is " What do you want" in 2yrs time, in 5 yrs time, in 10yrs time and be detailed and explicitly clear.

Also be aware that one or two of the Pro's on here post up a need for staff.

IF I can be of assistance then send a PM with your phone number and I will call you.

Al

 

[andersonec]

check Newark college for (proper) woodwork, joinery, cabinet making, musicals instrument (Violins Cellos) making courses.
Bit of a trek I know but they run these in the evenings and folks come from far and wide.

Andy

 

[Giff]

Keep the job. It is a job. Build up your skills as a spare time / hobby. If you are good enough and passionate enough it will lead to some thing….but don't give up the day job. That will pay for you do do what you really want.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Doctor Bob seems to need young keen apprentice type chaps every now and then....in Essex mind. Would you relocate?

 

[DiscoStu]

Qualifications are not everything, especially in manually skilled work. Speaking as someone who does employ people I spend far less time looking at what qualifications someone has and more time looking at their experience and hobbies. People think hobbies on a CV are a bit pointless but it tells me a lot about the person - are they a team player, are they someone who works well on their own etc.

Get your CV written and write it specifically for different roles you see and show that your passionate about the role. When you go to interview show real passion and enthusiasm. I can train skills but I can't train passion and I can't train personality.

Good luck

No harm in getting your CV out there.

Think about shop fitters as well as furniture manufacturers - you'll probably find the work more varied.

 

[heimlaga]

I am only 6 years older than you so I do not qualify as an experienced oldie............ but I would say that you are very fortunate to have a job with a pay that is high enough to allow for hobbies. Many of us young Europeans of today are kept busy just surviving.
If your employer pays your wages without too much hassle and does not require you to work unpaid overtime nor do very dangerour jobs and if they don't bully you too badly at work you should stay where you are at least for a few more years. Build your skills and build up a decent set of tools in your sparetime.
Then you will have a head start ahead of everybody else when you get unemployed and have to find a new job......and if you against all probabilities don't get unemployed you will have a head start when looking for a more rewarding job instead of the one you have.

This is just my oppinion...but it is based on my experience..........

 

[Bodgers]

A lot of responses here are unnecessarily pessimistic.

Don't let a job you are unhappy in, lock you in. It is this kind of attitude that keeps people locked into dead end jobs for a lifetime.

I have no experience in the woodworking/cabinet making business (I am a software dev) But I would plan a sensible phased exit if you can.

 

[lurker]

A lot of responses here are unnecessarily pessimistic.

Don't let a job you are unhappy in, lock you in. It is this kind of attitude that keeps people locked into dead end jobs for a lifetime.

I have no experience in the woodworking/cabinet making business (I am a software dev) But I would plan a sensible phased exit if you can.

I am guessing you have no experience of being out of work neither otherwise you might understand the "pessimism"

 

[Bodgers]

I do.

But fear is rarely a good motivator in my experience.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

At the age of 27 you may have wife, family, mortgage to consider, making it more difficult to make a possibly risky change of direction - but if you are relatively unencumbered now you may only find it increasingly difficult as the years go by.

In my late teens I considered IT software development (did A level computer science) and engineering as a career. I rejected them both for 35 years (eventually) in finance thinking that the boom in IT would be short lived and did not appreciate the creative challenge that engineering could provide. I was wrong.

A couple of years ago in my late 50s the company I worked for ran a voluntary redundancy scheme with a fairly good settlement. With mortgage paid off and children now adults I leapt at the opportunity. I couldn't understand why many of my colleagues (similar age, position etc) did not take up the offer - I assume some are even more risk averse than me.

With hindsight (a wonderful thing), I should have taken the risk as it becomes more, not less, difficult to transition as additional personal responsibilities accumulate. Only you can decide but if you stay where you are you may feel increasingly locked in to a job you don't enjoy with possibly another 40 years of working life to go.

 

[heimlaga]

A lot of responses here are unnecessarily pessimistic.

Don't let a job you are unhappy in, lock you in. It is this kind of attitude that keeps people locked into dead end jobs for a lifetime.

I have no experience in the woodworking/cabinet making business (I am a software dev) But I would plan a sensible phased exit if you can.

That is the other side of the thing. Everything has two sides. I did not say that you should stay where you are. I said that I think you should make preparations for the future before you quit and start another careeer.

-I know what it is like to be in a work accident and end up with chronical pains for life with the employer claiming that it all happened in a car accident on the way home.
-I know what it is like to be too poor to afford a lawyer and not a union member and hence get no insurance money from the accident.
-I know what it is like to suddenly find out that your emplyer has never employed you officially and is not going to pay your wages.
-I know what it is like to make him pay....in a slightly illegal way.
-I know what it is like to find out that the emplyer has faked the wage calculations every month for half a year and not paid you enough.
-I know what it is like when the employer demands two weeks pay in cash as a bribe and your coworkers try to convince you to pay like everybody else.
-I know what it is like when the employer tries to steal your tools and you have to threat him with violence to keep him from stealing.
-I know what it is like to get fired with three months pay unpaid because you didn't pay the bribes.
-I know what it is like to fight it out in court for 5 years with help from the union.
-I know what it is like to be on the black list and not get a job for 1,5 years.
-I know what it is like to sign the papers that you are a responsible site foreman and then find out that the employer is going to exploit you by running the site in a criminal way and blaming you.

I can tell that a work like yours feels like heaven..........

 

[Bodgers]

A lot of responses here are unnecessarily pessimistic.

Don't let a job you are unhappy in, lock you in. It is this kind of attitude that keeps people locked into dead end jobs for a lifetime.

I have no experience in the woodworking/cabinet making business (I am a software dev) But I would plan a sensible phased exit if you can.

That is the other side of the thing. Everything has two sides. I did not say that you should stay where you are. I said that I think you should make preparations for the future before you quit and start another careeer.

-I know what it is like to be in a work accident and end up with chronical pains for life with the employer claiming that it all happened in a car accident on the way home.
-I know what it is like to be too poor to afford a lawyer and not a union member and hence get no insurance money from the accident.
-I know what it is like to suddenly find out that your emplyer has never employed you officially and is not going to pay your wages.
-I know what it is like to make him pay....in a slightly illegal way.
-I know what it is like to find out that the emplyer has faked the wage calculations every month for half a year and not paid you enough.
-I know what it is like when the employer demands two weeks pay in cash as a bribe and your coworkers try to convince you to pay like everybody else.
-I know what it is like when the employer tries to steal your tools and you have to threat him with violence to keep him from stealing.
-I know what it is like to get fired with three months pay unpaid because you didn't pay the bribes.
-I know what it is like to fight it out in court for 5 years with help from the union.
-I know what it is like to be on the black list and not get a job for 1,5 years.
-I know what it is like to sign the papers that you are a responsible site foreman and then find out that the employer is going to exploit you by running the site in a criminal way and blaming you.

I can tell that a work like yours feels like heaven..........

Where are you from, Russia?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Used to be...

 

[finneyb]

Danomite,

As I see it it's the job that's the problem not the company.
Stay with the company and get an internal transfer, if the company is expanding there must be opportunities.
It's a lot quicker, safer and cheaper from an employer's viewpoint to keep known staff than take the risk with a new employee.

You are educated to degree level. Speak with HR/Personnel/Owner/Manager in a positive way ie I like the company and looking for a new challenge what have you got?

Although those opportunities may not be in hands on wood, but wood can then become a hobby.

Brian