9-5 drudgery - is this what life is about?

[epiphany 10]

This government is very keen on people being versatile and being able to have the skills to switch employment. As far as I know there is no penalty for giving up a job to become self employed, the government wants to encourage new enterprise, so that is not going to be a problem.

 

You pay National Insurance presumably, and will continue to do so when you are self employed, so why refuse the benefits you are contributing towards? Tax credits are to help people stay in employment or self employment even if their income is low, you are as entitled to benefit from it as anyone else is.

 

There are also grants and help for people setting up new businesses, so it would be worth investigating those too. I don't know how old you are but there are more grants available to young people, such as the Prince of Wales scheme.

 

Cheers hennypenny. I just never thought about it like that. I always saw tax credits and benefits as something you claim if you find yourself in hardship... i.e. if I was made redundant or was unable to work due to illness/disability. If you voluntarily quit a decent paying job and claim hardship, would that not be frowned upon?

 

I will give the IR a ring tomorrow as I am intrigued! You're right, I have paid a fair amount into the system over the years. It would be nice to get some of it back!

[Pipine 10]

As soon as I can come up with a better option that 9-5 office boredom I'll be quitting.. I just havent found the right alternative yet, I'm sure it'll come to me at some point tho.

[Crayfish 10]

There are actually an awful lot of interesting options. They're just not easy options.

 

Interesting things that I have thought about or noticed:

 

Teach sports; I was thinking about snowboarding. With some dedication (learning around a job) you could progress from being a complete beginner to a teacher in about 18 months to 2 years. Then you have the option to work your way around the world, albeit not for too much money, or if you're a good teacher you could get a job at one of the ski centres around the UK.

 

RAF jet fighter pilot; pipe dream but wouldn't that be awesome? In fact, flying anything would be pretty cool.

 

Work in Antarctica!

 

Teach languages - take a TEFL course and teach English somewhere.

 

Army. I reckon it'd be alright in some positions.

 

Retrain as a medic. Five years as a student, hard work, probably hard work for the rest of your life, but well worth it. Same thing goes for science, dentistry, physiotherapy or associated vocations.

 

Start a business. Import something. Work for yourself under your own steam.

 

Grow plants and sell them. I bought some bonsai trees, not many people sell them in the UK and they can be quite simply bulked up to mass production scales.

 

Learn to cook. Even in the recession, chefs always seem to be in demand. It's a job you could do anywhere in the world in almost any economic climate. It's probably hard work but it's a valuable skill.

 

Work up charity money to do some sort of hike or cycling trip around the world.

 

There are a million interesting things to do, to be honest. If you don't have the qualifications to do something, start taking the classes part time, get some work experience and impress them.

Edited July 6, 2009 by Crayfish

[mikeG 16]

I worked in a Bank in Hillsborough 1960-62 and on the Moor 1963-5. I too felt 'is this it?' I was only 22 and took a 'quit the rat race' approach. I worked as a lock-keeper on the Thames for the summer of '65 and then as a milkman in Twyford living in a bed-sit overlooking the Thames in Henley. I then moved to Beer in Devon and spent the summer of '66 working as barman in the Anchor Hotel. I delivered meat in Branscombe and bread around Tavistock. I tried being self-employed selling unit trust/insurance in 1969. In one afternoon I earned £80 commission and then nothing for 2 months. After 4 years of doing my own thing I got into computer programming and analysis. I have some fantastic memories of my 4 years of freedom and dont regret a minute of it. Good luck with whatever you do.

[Jessica23 10]

I did a English degree and the work I was offered after uni was worse than the work I did before I went! I did leave in the height of a recession though - took years to get anywhere near where I'd come from, financially as well as enjoyment-wise... I'm still not back enjoyment-wise!!! I did enjoy my degree though, and don't regret going for it - I think I'd always have regretted not going for it... Good luck!

 

I expect if I'd tried to find a job after graduation I wouldn't have re-attained the dizzy heights of public transport planning either

 

I do feel pretty sorry for this year's graduates.

[Redyam 10]

I've worked as a postman - it is quite a satisfying job, as well as being physical, you get to work outdoors in all weather, lots of exercise, and lots of face to face contact with people that actually enjoy getting the mail and packets you give them. You are also your 'own boss' once you get out of the office, so there is no pressure from management or peers.

The money ain't up to much good, but definately good to try out for at least a small while. And if definately isn't 9-5, more like 6 to 2+!

I'm sure there are plenty of jobs just like this that are a little bit different from the 'normal' job. They just need to be found.

[Blade73 10]

I work in a tights factory on the Gusset quality control section. The hours are crap but the pay and as many tights as I want is the kick back.

[Randy 10]

English Lit.

 

I had what was officially the World's Most Boring Job when I decided to go - I was an assistant public transport planner, which meant sitting round in meetings with middle-aged men discussing bus routes and train timetables. It nearly drove me stark, staring mad very quickly, and all of the other admin jobs I've had since have been the same after the first few months. Beyond tedious.

 

Could you cut your employee work down, maybe to 4 days a week, to give you more time on your own thing?

 

What's wrong with public transport planning? Helping people to get out and about sounds like a very worthy and necessary contribution to society.

 

I could understand you getting bored if you were doing one of those council non-jobs where you just shuffle papers around all day, but I think public transport planning would be quite interesting.

[Jessica23 10]

What's wrong with public transport planning? Helping people to get out and about sounds like a very worthy and necessary contribution to society.

 

I could understand you getting bored if you were doing one of those council non-jobs where you just shuffle papers around all day, but I think public transport planning would be quite interesting.

 

It probably is if you aren't an assistant (which effectively means doing admin for slightly higher pay). To be fair, I did enjoy going to meetings with Dial-a-Ride and things like that. It was the meetings with First group that sucked all the life out of me.

 

To anyone who's really interested in public transport it's probably a great job. I feel bad now.