A job change? advice please....older and wiser welcome.?

Question

Worked as a chef for 9 years and have got a great job and great pay now i have got to the highest point of my career.
I have always written in my spare time and run a website which is pretty rubbish in comparison to the rest of the web.Alot of my friends say i should write,but i have learned i can give anyone a million good ideas but use none of my own? is there a job for a professional muse?

anyway.....

Id like to change job and try something different but i am nervous about starting again and earning much less.I know with life experience and common sense what give me an advantage in my next chosen job but how do i take the next step.
Id like to do something in the e-commerce industry like website design and develope new ideas so we eventually do everything online and turn our busy high streets and shopping centres back into fields and parks.

Answer 1

Don't let fear of the unknown hold you back. At 40 I made a career change. Expand your comfort zone. If you find that you made a poor decision you will not be facing a firing squad. The absolute worst thing that can happen is that you will go back to being a a chef, right? But you will never know if you do not give it a try.

Answer 2

If you are in a point in your life where you can make a job change without hurting your self....financially, etc...and do not have other people to support than making a "huge" job change that you are talking about would not be a bad thing.

You have to always think about how much a change will effect you and the people around you (meaning family and responsibilities).

Be careful trying to get into e-commerce industry and web design...if you do not have the proper education on paper (college) you might have a difficult time finding a company that will offer you a job.

My best advise that I can give you...is to research-research-research....don't cut your nose of to spite your face.

You can still move up in chef positions....look at better restaurants, look into running your own kitchen (head chef, kitchen manager, corp. chef training, etc.), or even opening your own restaurant.

There is nothing wrong with making changes in your life, just make sure you can cover all your basis!

Answer 3

Why don't you just write about something that you have 9 years experience at - being a chef. You'd be surprised how well those books sell. But if you are in need of quicker income, then start writing articles or recipes for food magazines and your local paper.

As for being paid to be a muse, yes, there is such a thing as you authoring a book but someone else does the writing (a ghost-writer).

Is there anything else that you enjoy doing? Money isn't everything if you don't like your job.

Answer 4

ok here you have older, though not sure about wiser...but, in the past year I've had 2 deaths to deal with... and I look at those people and can't help thinking 'what is all this about'... So my older and mayber a little wiser opinion is... if you feel it in your heart then go for it... because its not so much as people say that 'life's too short'.... life is long enough it all depends what you fill it with... so go for it better a life of 'hey I did that and it didn't quite work out but at least I tried' or 'hey I did that and look where I am now' than... 'I really regret not doing that and now its too late'...

so don't make a life full of those regrets, if you feel its right bloody well grab it and run like hell..

Answer 5

i'd freelance on the writing first. i have a writing job in the e-commerce industry and it doesn't pay much at first, but if you're really good at what you do, of course you get a pay raise and/or better ops. since you don't have industry experience in website design/proposals, i suggest you take a few night or online courses that will help you get a handle on those areas.

writing's great, as long as you have enough creative freedom to get you where you want. once you get published, you'll feel accomplished and will want to move on to bigger and better things.

hope this somewhat helps and good luck.

Answer 6

firstly, learning is life long and re-inventing ones self through out our working life is not just possible but good too. If you are at the top of your career, bored, unchallenged then yes go for it, try to do something new, the older you get the more transferable your skills become. there is a lot of on line training you can do, if you don't want to just give up your jib and salary straight away, i choose to take a different path in my career which meant dropping 30% of my salary in the first instance, but the rewards are job satisfaction and sanity for me.. you can do what ever you put your mind to, not always easy, but it will be rewarding if your determined. good luck.

Answer 7

if you are educated in the e-commerce industry,then a good idea would be to take some courses in it!and its still a risky business even after that!i would keep my old job,while i did the other on the side until you get to making a steady good income at it!and security!and sure it will take up a lot of your free time to juggle it for a while,but nothing comes easy in life!hope this helps!

Answer 8

Old people say "Don't fly without looking a stone to sit"
Your life is 99% based on you It is yours. The 1% belongs to family and friends. They can simply tell what they have experienced and you is the person to utilise all the ideas plus anything what you learned from the past.

Answer 9

Are you presently living within your means? Do you rely on someone else's income to live? Do you have children to support? If you simplify your life so that you can live on one income (assuming two incomes presently), I think you should go for it. But if you aren't set, don't jeopardize your family's well-being and wait.

The transition needs to be calculated and the planning may take years. But it comes. My husband is doing it at forty.

Answer 10

Why not learn a craft. Start a small cottage business in your spare time and see if it takes off