[Closed] Career change

I went from being a engineer of 25 year plus to being a self employed gardener. The reason was I was bored with the the job itself and working for other people, kept getting comments on how good my garden was and why didn't I do it as a living so I just thought one day what the hell and set myself up. I still do the odd day here and there in the workshop for my last employer.

I stumbled, really. I did 10 years in banks (I was not a banker! I was a dude that worked for a bank... 5 years in retail roles, 5 years in operations making the bank stuff work). Actually really liked the job but it was a shit industry and rapidly getting shitter, and everyone was getting so ground down that it was just becoming miserable day to day. So a redundancy opportunity came up and I took it...

So, unemployed for first time ever, and found my skillset left me still pointing back at banks, where I didn't want to go. After a little break I spotted a local contract job at the university I did my degree at. Really pretty entry level, not something I'd normally have considered but it was local, a personal connection, interesting looking work, and just a 3 month contract so I took it mostly just to get back into the working way. And it turned out, I really like it. So the temporary job's become a thing, contract went permanent, some crabbing and progression and a lot of skill building ensued...

I reckon I could have done it better- if I'd known what I was aiming for I'd have tried to enter further up to be honest, and moved faster at developing. I didn't really plan to progress so I suppose I treaded water initially. At my age, with my capabilities I ought to be further up is the bottom line and I need to fix that now. But that's the only cautionary tale part. I'm so glad I did it.

Its interestion to hear your reasons for changes. So many people at the moment has changed career or thinking about a change.