After 30 years in the motor trade, I’d like a change – but is it too late?
I am 61 and have been in the motor trade all my life. I have been lucky enough to be in a secure job with the same company for the past 30 years.
But I have come to a stage in my life – maybe I’m just going through a late-life crisis – where I feel like a new challenge and a complete change of job.
Financially, I need to work and pay is a consideration. But I suppose I feel this is my last chance to try something new.
I have been interested to read over the past few years about some companies, such as B&Q, that actively promote or encourage the use of older, experienced workers.
But I can’t decide whether I should sell myself to these companies offering to use my existing skills but enjoying the challenge of working in a different environment, or just do anything that’s offered.
Even stacking shelves in a supermarket would be a whole new world to the one I’m used to.
The other choices are to stay in my job and try to weave other work experiences into my life around this. Or chuck in the job and throw myself in to the workplace, which I realise could be a difficult place to be at my age.
Jeremy says
I can understand the attraction of a complete change of job; 30 years is a long time, presumably doing much the same thing. But you need to make a clear distinction between new jobs that appeal simply because they’re new, and new jobs that offer some intrinsic interest and have, at least, the possibility of some sort of future development.
You might find stacking shelves in supermarkets a “whole new world” for a month or two, but after that you would begin to find it mind-numbingly repetitive. And you may want to keep working well into your 70s.
The B&Q-type role is different. The company found that older people – men and women, experienced householders, DIY-ers – were better able than younger people to give advice in its stores. They have proved popular with shoppers, and, for the staff, there’s the satisfaction of using their personal knowledge to help customers solve a wide variety of household problems.
Whichever way you go, you should do everything you can to find something that uses, at least in part, your existing skills. If your years in the motor trade were to do with sales and servicing, that should be relatively easy. There seems something utterly wasteful in deciding to make no use of 30 years of hard-won experience.
I’d certainly advise you not to “chuck in the job and throw yourself into the workplace”. Once you’ve jumped ship, it can be almost impossible to clamber back on board: not an attractive prospect for someone in their 60s.
Readers say
• I’d advise against doing anything rash – perhaps you could get a part-time job somewhere like B&Q and try it for a while? Or could you look for the new challenge outside of work? Have you considered studying or voluntary work?
Thomas31
• I work in a DIY store, the pay is rubbish, but it’s a part-time second job. It’s also hard on your feet. I am not sure I’d want it as a career at this stage in my life. giftedamateur
• You need a new challenge. What can you do outside work that would take you out of your comfort zone? It could be an evening class, a community choir, volunteering, an adventurous holiday, becoming a school governor. Ditching a steady job in your 60s is not something to do without a well-researched plan. Rispah
• After 25 years in the IT industry, I gave up my job, sold my house, went back to university to study law and am now happy in my work as a criminal defence solicitor. I earn a fraction of what I used to but love my job. It can be done. ID6783373
• I’m 50 and took voluntary redundancy last year after 25 years. I’m still looking for a new job and the money’s almost gone. It’s tricky, but it depends on your skills or if you have a clear idea of what you want to do. bicyclebilliards
My confidence was shattered by an aggressive boss. How do I get it back?
Two years ago I graduated and landed my first “grown-up” job. I was beaming, those years of study had paid off. But, 18 months in, my position in the company had become untenable – I was frequently in tears after humiliating dressing-downs from the boss in the open-plan office, and struggled to deal with a stressful, pressurised workload.
I have since left and got an exciting opportunity with a more positive company. But I feel my past experience is holding me back. My self-confidence is shattered and I don’t feel I can move on from my corporate breakup.
Jeremy says
My guess is this: for over a year, every time you spoke up or proposed a project or in any way became the subject of attention, you were cut down publicly by your boss, with colleagues watching with ill-concealed pleasure. Even otherwise decent people seem to enjoy the spectacle of a colleague being baited by a sadistic boss – partly, I suppose, in relief that he or she is not baiting them. It’s a kind of torture, and the result is the victims become ever more reluctant to poke their heads above the parapet; it seems safer to cower away in a corner.
I go into this detail because I believe it will help you recover your shattered confidence. You’re fortunate to have found a new job with a more positive company but this alone won’t restore your self-assurance. You need to consciously go about it bit by bit. When you see an opportunity to take a small initiative, or voice an opinion, think it through carefully and then put it forward for consideration. If it’s as open a company as you believe, your proposal will, at worst, be given proper attention and, at best, be adopted.
The effect on you will be small but palpable. It will make it that bit easier for you to express another view, or make another suggestion, and then another. Don’t rush it and be sure that your thoughts stand up to scrutiny and are in the company’s interest.
It will take time to reverse the process that whittled away at your confidence, but each small step should be simpler to take than the last as that sense of self-confidence begins to return.
Readers say
• This happened to me early in my career and it will take time to heal. I found it helpful to do things that restored my confidence by giving me a sense of achievement. Focus on what you are best at – for instance, I’m good at training and delivered successful sessions in my next job. That reassured me I could do things well. nenawhitefoot
• Each week, try to accomplish something (it doesn’t matter how small) that you wouldn’t have been allowed or felt able to do in your previous job. Over time, you will become more confident. 28taurus
• Ask your line manager for regular feedback. Be cheerful, take on new tasks with enthusiasm, and ask for clarification when needed. Your bad job will soon be a distant memory. montgomery123
