Lots of people are unhappy in their careers; you might feel undervalued and overworked, like you aren’t being challenged enough anymore, or that you have reached a point where you can’t progress. With only 45% of people in the UK saying they are happy with their work-life balance, it’s clear that many people would benefit from being in a different career, but don’t feel they can.

At Refreshing a Career, we want everybody to know their value at work, and recognise that if you aren’t happy, there are changes you can make. As well as asking yourself why should I choose a new career and how can I retrain to get there, it’s important to go back to basics and think about what you enjoy and what skills you have. From there you can see some of the many other alternative careers on offer to you.

These pages aim to bring to light some career opportunities which you might not know about and act as a hub of information for alternative careers you can utilise later in your working life. We live in a fast-paced world, where new industries are being developed every day; only five years ago ‘influencers’ didn’t exist, and now the influencer marketing industry is worth around $10 billion.

This combined with the fact that people are expected to have between twelve and fifteen ‘career jobs’ in their lifetime, suggests that now is the perfect time to refresh your career and try something new.

As well as considering alternative careers, many people are finding professional satisfaction and fulfilment by expanding their ‘working life’ into volunteer opportunities in the evening and weekends. If you aren’t in a position to change careers but want a chance to learn from a new role, volunteering could be perfect for you. Popular volunteering options for people looking to refresh their working life include ChildLine and NSPCC phone volunteers, Samaritans, mountain rescue, teaching and mentoring young students and sports coaching.

Case Studies

Here are some examples of careers, the transferable skills you will have developed in that role, and where those skills could take you next.

Role Skills developed Where those skills could take you next
Doctor –        Empathy

–        Coping under pressure

–        Problem solving

–        Communication

Ø  Civil service

Ø  Prison work

Ø  Medical journalism

Ø  Teaching/Youth support

Teacher –        Patience

–        Organisation

–        Empathy

–       Leadership

Ø  Museum work

Ø  Youth Work

Ø  Publishing

Ø  Copywriting

Retail Manager –       Customer experience

–       Motivation and energy

–       Ability to follow targets and data

–       Leadership

Ø  Life coach

Ø  Open your own local business

Ø  Recruitment

Ø  Teaching

For more information, have a look at our guides for changing career in your 30’s, 40’s or 50.