Starting A New Chapter – The Benefits of a Career Change

National Careers Week begins March 6^th. The UK’s leading home heating and hot water provider, Worcester Bosch chat to an installer who traded the financial district for boiler installations.

• Researchers who polled 2,000 people across the UK found that 40% planned to change careers in the next two years.    
• Increased salary prospects, better work-life balance and improved job satisfaction cited as the main reasons for wanting to make a switch.    
• A Careers in Depth Study showed that younger people aged 18-24 and 24-34 are most likely to want a career change (68% and 65% respectively)    
• Approximately 66% of the UK workforce wrongly believe they are too old to change careers.

A change is as good as a rest they say, and for some, switching careers has proven to be the best decision they have made…

Speaking with Mark Willis from Willis West Ltd, who earned a degree in finance and left Scotland to work in accountancy in Australia. Little did he know at the time, a career change would take him on a different path.

Looking for a new challenge, Mark returned to the UK and enrolled in a heating course and has traded accountancy for other firms to running his own business and training apprentices, many of whom are coming from different career paths similar to himself. 12 years later, Mark has stated it’s the best career decision he has ever made.

‘I’ve had people from all walks of life join as apprentices. Recently a guy who was a painter and decorator for the last 20 years and is now looking for a new career. I’ve also had people from other trades, office jobs and salespeople come on board.

When asked about what advice he would give to anyone who is considering a change of career, Mark said:

‘My advice is just go for it! If there is something you’re interested in as a career change, have a chat with someone who is in the field, find out if it sounds like the right fit for you and take the leap. I’m glad that I did!’

One of the main benefits of changing careers comes from the adaptable skills from previous jobs. In Mark’s case, the finance background has worked well for providing him with the skills to manage all of his own accounts, tax, and customer quotes.

It may surprise you to hear of some of the world’s most successful people had a career change.

• Jeff Bezos for example had a lucrative career in computer science on Wall Street before switching to e-commerce and founding Amazon.
• Julia Child worked in advertising and even secret intelligence before becoming one of the world’s most famous chefs.
• Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson started out as a professional American Football player before entering into the world of wrestling. After pivoting once again into acting, he is among the highest earning Hollywood stars.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most well known action movie stars but before debuting on the silver screen, Arnie was a champion bodybuilder. If that wasn’t enough, he also made the switch into politics becoming the Governor of California in 2003. 

Martyn Bridges, Director of Technical Services at Worcester Bosch, said:

“At Worcester Bosch, we have been committed to providing skills training to those who are at the beginning of their career journey and to those who are looking to make a shift in their career paths.”

Worcester Bosch have been providing apprenticeship schemes for the past 20 years working closely with the leading colleges and training providers. The extensive programmes include preparing those wishing to embark on a career in home heating with the skills needed to meet the industry’s greener future standards including electric heatpumps and hydrogen powered boilers.