The Mid-Career Reset

On this episode, we are joined by our Divisional Manager, Harry Bragg and Business Manager, Melanie Bell, both specialist recruiters who have shared their experiences of changing careers.

Both Harry and Melanie share their advice on changing careers; discussing how businesses can support employee career changes, the 'Sunday Scaries' and talk through their personal experiences on why they took the leap.

Tune in to find out what you should do when changing careers and how you can support employees, friends or family through this important time.

If you would like to be our next guest speaker, host or ask us a question, please email us at hello@theonegroup.co.uk

Hosted by Leanne Davidson-Town and Producer Bex.

Transcript

Producer Bex: [00:00:00] You are now tuned in to this week's episode on TOGCast. It is our mission to bring you guest speakers sharing their latest and greatest tips, skills, stories and know hows within their market. Let's get going.

Leanne: Hi and welcome to today's TOGCast. I'm Leanne and today we're going to be talking about retraining mid career and I'm joined by Harry Bragg and Mel Bell from The ONE Group. Hi guys. Hello. Hi. So retraining mid career and you know how people can can go about that. So can you guys share any personal experiences about that?

Leanne: Having to do that yourself and sort of what motivated you to make that shift? 

Harry: Yeah, yeah, sure. So I, uh, I originally followed my dreams of football before I came into recruitment. So, uh, it wasn't quite good enough to play it. So, uh, I started working in, uh, in, uh, the sporting industry in general and then into football [00:01:00] clubs.

Harry: Um, and yeah, I think, uh, just realizing as I got a little bit older that it wasn't for me, the environment, the type of roles I was working wasn't really. Motivating me and I don't think you necessarily have to be unhappy in a job to want to retrain. I think you kind of, you can have a feeling that it's just not for you.

Harry: Um, so that's what motivated me, um, originally to change. And, uh, I picked recruitment because I, I had a bit of experience. I managed a team within, within football and recruited quite extensively, uh, mainly across matchday operations and I really enjoyed it. You know, the, um, The, you know, speaking to people every day, the, the communication side, um, getting to know different types of personalities and all of those things.

Harry: And that's, uh, that's what really kind of motivated me to get into recruitment. 

Leanne: So how about you Mel?

Melanie: So my story's a little bit different. I haven't retrained or changed career. I've changed business. After [00:02:00] 25 years with the same company, um, I guess some of those emotions that you go through are the same.

Melanie: Can I do it somewhere else? That imposter syndrome. Um, so I understand some of the emotions and the driver to want to make that move, but also the doubt, the self doubt, the worries and all the concerns. Um, that can often put people off making that change. Um, so if I can encourage anyone today to go for it, then hopefully that will have been a job well done.

Leanne: Yeah, definitely. So do you think that, um, there might be specific industries or fields that are more open to people making like the career change mid career or, and that would provide better opportunities for retraining? 

Melanie: From personal experience, um, often they feel underdeveloped or unchallenged in their current roles. Um, and I think, the decision making behind that is usually what, what skills can I bring to the new role. So for instance, if someone is very, um, people oriented, then often something like [00:03:00] HR can often be a good, a good career change. Um, if someone's particularly numerate, then they might have dabbled in a bit of accountancy and think, actually, you know, can I go on and study some professional qualifications?

Melanie: Um, or even marketing, you know, if people like, have got a bit of creative flair, they like the social media aspect of their role, then perhaps they'll That's an area that they could look into. So it's quite often a springboard into other areas. It's just I think people educating themselves on how they can get a foot in the door.

Melanie: And I think that's the toughest part is actually getting that first opportunity. Yeah, and it's not always possible with current employers. Sometimes you do, you know, you have to move companies to do that. And I think that's that comes with its own challenges. 

Leanne: Yeah, perhaps your current employer kind of only sees you one way and they can't really see you doing something else or, you know, or maybe they actually really want to keep you.

Leanne: Exactly. 

Melanie: You're valuable to them and they'd rather you stayed and did exactly what you were doing because you're good at it, whereas, yeah, that can be startling for people. 

Harry: I think that's a good point, actually, asking your current employer, look, this isn't for me, but you guys are for [00:04:00] me, potentially, but, you know, this is my passion or this is what I like to do or this is what I'm strong at.

Harry: could, could I kind of transfer into that? You do hear it more often nowadays than, than not, but, uh, but yeah, I think it's just identifying what does make you happy. Um, what, what are you good at and, and kind of making decisions there and taking those transferable skills and saying, right, I can apply it to that, or I can apply it to this.

Harry: Um, recruitment, for instance, you know, if you're good with people, um, that's half the battle. Um, you know, if you can, you know, and you can kind of adapt to different personalities. That's a big trait. So, um, I guess that's, yeah, that's something you could bring into recruitment. 

Leanne: So what would you say are some common signs that people probably, you know, would suggest that it's time for someone to consider making a change?

Harry: I think the biggest one is struggling to get out of bed in the morning. Sunday 

Melanie: evening syndrome isn't it? Yeah. Monday morning, dread. 

Harry: That's a massive one, yeah. I think Sunday Morning Dread, [00:05:00] uh, if you've got that, then yeah, you're probably in the wrong 

Leanne: place. Yeah, and it's if that Monday Morning Dread is every day as well, then you just don't want to go in every day.

Melanie: But sometimes it's, it's not always that you're desperately unhappy, it's just that you feel maybe stuck in a rut. I mean, if I take myself as an example, I've, I've always loved what I do, I wouldn't have been working in recruitment for 25 years if, if I didn't enjoy it, but I think you get to a point where you think, actually.

Melanie: I'm very much inside my comfort zone doing what I'm doing and I could, you know, carry on theoretically until I retire doing exactly this and doing well, but do I feel stimulated? Do I feel challenged? Do I think that there's more out there for me outside of this little bubble that I've created for myself?

Melanie: And absolutely there is. I think it's just, um, recognizing those signs in yourself, whether it's, I'm really unhappy doing what I'm doing, or I can see myself doing something different or better. then you've just got to take that plunge, I think. 

Leanne: Yeah, so maybe like, you know, you've been doing a job for a [00:06:00] certain amount of time, but you've actually got more career goals or aspirations, which, you know, might not be able to be achieved in your current place of work.

Leanne: Yeah, exactly. 

Harry: Or you might just be that you're in the wrong company, you might be in the wrong job, but you know, I was in an agency before the One Group, for instance, I knew I loved recruitment, but I just knew that particular agency wasn't for me. Um, Which is why I came over here and found my home here.

Leanne: Um, okay, so what challenges then have you both overcome making this like mid career change? You 

Harry: know, it is no secret. The biggest one is financial. When you retrain, for instance, maybe not in your case, Mel, be, but um, I think the way I kind of dealt with it, you do have to make changes sometimes big, big changes if you want to.

Harry: If you want to, if you're adamant you're going to do it and you want to take that plunge and do it. Um, I was working for a football club in London. And, uh, when I [00:07:00] realised that I wanted to change my career. So I, you know, moved back home to my hometown of Peterborough for one. Uh, because obviously living in London is an expensive game.

Harry: Uh, and just realising and budgeting what, you know, what I knew that I could come down to. financially. And I did, I took a massive pay cut to go into recruitment initially, but I knew that long game it would, it would, um, pay dividends. But yeah, I think initially sit down, work out what you can do, how you could, you know, you, you will need to make sacrifices.

Harry: You may need to live a little bit differently at first. Um, so work that out, because that's I think the biggest and scariest thing. People might be in a role and think, Oh, I earn this much dough, I can't change. Well, can you, can you work it out? Can you, how much could you sacrifice? Um, and once you get that, your head around that, then I think it's a little bit easier to do.

Melanie: And having the support of your friends and family and having that network, I think, helps, doesn't it? Because when I was thinking about making my change, I had to think, is this going to be the right move for me? Not [00:08:00] just for me, but for my family as well, my partner, my children. It's something that impacts, you know, work is such a huge thing in most people's lives.

Melanie: It's something that impacts in every aspect. So to have a, that sort of support network, I think is really important because you're absolutely right. You know, there's always going to be an element of risk involved, um, when you're moving financially, emotionally, all of those things. So I think, yeah, having open and frank conversations with those closest to you can often be the start of that support there, it makes that transition much easier.

Leanne: Yeah, that's a really good point. Yeah. Talking about support then, so do you think that networking and meeting other people from different industries or even different people in the same industry view could be a really good way to making that career change. Absolutely, I think 

Melanie: you need to immerse yourself in it, don't you, to know whether it's something that's, you might have an idea that I could be good at this or I'm going to enjoy this, but actually reality might be that you get there and think, it's not what I thought it was going to [00:09:00] be.

Melanie: So I think definitely speaking to people who are in that world or in that role or in that, you know, market is, is really valuable and, and asking questions, asking direct questions and finding out as much as you can. I think it's really good. Yeah. Really good advice. 

Harry: Yeah. No, I spoke to a ton of recruiters before I went into it for sure.

Harry: Um, yeah. So, you know, what's it like, uh, pros, cons, real kind of, you know, the, yeah. Day to day financials, how much money can you make? Yeah. You need to really research what you're gonna go into before you do it. 

Leanne: So do you have any advice then for anyone who's listening to this and thinking, actually yeah, they're, they're talking directly to me.

Leanne: Um, I might be happy, but I'm not sure I wanna know what's over here. What would your advice be to them? 

Harry: Yeah, do it really, if you're unhappy, if you're just do it. Yeah. Yeah, like, you know, kind of the points that we've been making. If you're not happy and you really think [00:10:00] that your skills are suited to something else, then research it, do the right things, work it out.

Harry: Can you do it? And do it. 

Melanie: Yeah. It's such an important part of your life. Enjoying what you do and feeling fulfilled. is so important and I think I, I meet people all the time who are very unfulfilled and very unhappy doing what they're doing and they wouldn't be speaking to us if, if, you know, they were happy in their, in their work.

Melanie: Um, so I think absolutely just do the research, put the, the, the ground roots in and then once you're ready, don't be afraid, don't listen to those little voices in your head telling you not to do it, try and overlook those and think, actually I can do it. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and like Harry said, go for it really.

Melanie: Yeah. 

Harry: One other point is that we, like you say, alluded to the candidates that we speak to. I speak to candidates all the time, and you know, They wouldn't be talking to us. They're not always unhappy. Sometimes they just want progression or next step in their career, but we speak to a lot of unhappy candidates.

Harry: And, um, certainly around [00:11:00] sort of three month notice periods, they kind of look at that as quite a big obstacle to overcome. And, um, I want to, I want to quit and, you know, but X, Y, and Z. But I kind of say, look, if you can afford to just do it, you know, whether, whether or not you've got a long or short notice period, just do it.

Harry: If you can, if you can afford to do it and focus on your job search, focus on where you want to be, just sometimes you have to take risks. 

Leanne: And what do you think about maybe if someone was to ask for a mentor or find a mentor, like I know in marketing there are people that volunteer as mentors to younger, um, marketers that are like looking to progress in their careers.

Leanne: Would you think that that's quite a good idea for people that are maybe doing this career change or retraining? 

Melanie: I think certainly having a sounding board, someone that's, even if it's not a mentor, maybe just a trusted confidant, someone that you can talk to about your worries and about your concerns, honestly, um, and that can give you valuable advice.

Melanie: And I think mentoring is, is, you know, it's great. And it's, and it's great for the [00:12:00] mentoree as well, because they, they get a chance to impart their knowledge and often that can lead to greater satisfaction what they're doing as well. It's nothing better than seeing someone, you know, Come through the ranks and that you've mentored and developed, you know, that's, that's, that's really satisfying as a, as a manager and a mentor.

Melanie: So I think having, having somebody or even, you know, a group that you can talk to throughout that is, is really, really important. Yeah, definitely. 

Harry: Yeah, and mentors can look very different. It could be an aunt, an uncle, a boss, a friend, a colleague, whatever. They're not necessarily, they don't necessarily have the title of mentor, let's say.

Harry: Um, people that have been and done what you want to do, you know, seek those out. And like I say, in the marketing game, if you're, if you're a young budding marketeer, you'll, you'll probably know some senior people in, in, in the same discipline as you. So yeah, talk to them, um, find out how they got to where they got to and what steps they took to get there.

Harry: Yeah. 

Leanne: So being in the recruitment industry [00:13:00] yourselves, have you got any success stories of somebody that you have helped on their journey of changing career or retraining? Gosh. 

Harry: I think, I think the most part, yeah, the best ones are probably the junior marketeers in my, in my industry. The junior marketeers that are now in, in sort of managerial positions and companies that they wanted to go into.

Harry: Um, I think that that's probably always a good sense of achievement and you, you kind of can forget about it day to day and sometimes you kind of reflect and think, God, I remember when he or she was, you know, just left uni and was looking for a graduate scheme and now look at the, I think that's probably the most satisfaction you get for sure.

Melanie: I think for me it's not so much having seen someone necessarily retrain, um, but certainly I've worked with candidates over a 25 year period, you know, you, you do get, see the same, the same people sort of come back to you, at least that's what you'd hope they would do, um, and certainly I've seen them sort of develop their career, like Harry was saying, you know, you've placed someone in [00:14:00] a junior entry level role, they come back to you and they're looking for their next opportunity, more senior opportunity, and, you know, They, they get their first management position and eventually, you know, you start working with them potentially as, as hires and recruiters themselves, which is fantastic to think that you've had such a, an important part to play in that, in that career path of that candidate.

Melanie: It's, it's a nice relationship. It's a good relationship to have, definitely. 

Leanne: Well, thanks so much guys for your thoughts today. And I hope that you have actually helped some people out there who might be thinking about making the move. Um, to end every episode, we do the one word. Which is just to leave our listeners with a word so that they can ponder for the rest of the day Um harry, would you like to go first?

Harry: Give it a go. Um, I think If we can have a hyphenated word long term um Just because I think that's if you know In relation to this podcast if you are sort of thinking about retraining or or you know moving into something different think long term not short term [00:15:00] Um always kind of focus on where you you could be In the future, rather than right here, right now.

Melanie: I like it. Yeah. Matt? Well, mine's not a word, it's more of a phrase. So, I'm going to go with take the leap, because I think that's really important. It's something that I did. Something I would encourage others to do. Um, so yeah, take the leap. 

Leanne: Oh, I like it guys. I'm going to go for support network. Again, not one word.

Leanne: Bex?

Producer Bex: Mentor.

Leanne: She did it right, the one word. She's such a pro. Thanks everyone for listening today and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. 

Melanie: Bye! 

Producer Bex: That's a wrap for this week's episode. If you want to be our next guest speaker on TOGCast, then get in touch with The ONE Group. And don't forget to subscribe. We would hate for you to miss the next one.