career change into period property conservation?

[Ian Bond]

Hi all

Due to a company 'restructuring exercise' I'm now considering a complete career change, hopefully to work in period building conservation & repair!

I've got plenty of time on my hands, and I expect 6 months or more devoted to fixing up my house will give me a bit of practice. And I may even actually get a room or two looking more like a home than a building site after 10 years

I've been doing IT for 20+ years, and DIYing the house in my spare time for the last 10 years.

I don't expect to become a fully qualified, expert plasterer (or whatever) in a couple of months, and realise that these skills take years of practice to master (time I wasted messing about with computers)

Just wondering if anyone else has tried a mid-life career switch like this, and has any tips they would kindly pass on?

Or am I barking mad to even consider it?

Cheers

Ian

 

[Gervase]

Er, I've done exactly that, and currently have no regrets.

It's a big step, however, and you'll need to think about insurance, a CIS card, paying your NI stamp, VAT registration, tax and accounting, not to mention getting a set of tools and equipment together than can withstand the day-to-day rigours of building site use...

Then you'll need the skills of a trained negotiator and diplomat when it comes to dealing with other trades who might have a somehwat sceptical view of traditional materials and techniques, and for reassuinrg clients that it really is the best approach to the project in hand...

Then you'll need a good range of contacts for conservation architecture, scaffolding, electrical work, plant hire, casual labour and the like...

But, when all that's in hand, it's a hugely rewarding job! It's also a job in great demand, and one where the satisfaction of a good days' work just about cancels out the aches and pains of doing something physical at an age when you should be chairborne.
You're certainly not mad to consider it. if you've got the opportunity, you'd be mad not to.

Go for it.

 

[Sue Wilkinson]

No, you are not mad. Its more or less what I'm doing. I came from a IT / office background, left that and set up my own web design business in the days when everyman and his dog didn't do the same. Worked that until my designer got sick and had to give up.

Then I started working part time, and now I don't work at all!!! (Understatement of the year, I've never worked harder). I paint and decorate for people, trying where possible to push them into eco friendly paints and finishes for everyone's health and benefit. Many just want B&Q standard though. I do odd jobs round the village and undertake repairs to other cottages as well as my own. I have a queue of pointing jobs on at the moment as well as some plastering. I also take on repairs to old furniture in my spare time and try to sell the results.

I love old buildings, I've read lots about them, their construction and materials and the decorative finishes used in them, and so I'm the village expert on sympathetic conservation and traditional finishes. That brings good things (offers of work) and bad things (arguements with staunch cement and concrete converts). I would love to work in conservation, and I guess I do. But this isn't going to bring in anything like the money you can earn in IT. The biggest downside of conservation is that most people do it for love and just about survive on it. I know I need to get more confident in asking a sensible price for a job. I do everything too cheaply at the moment. I also think I should try to specialise in something, as doing 'a bit of this and a bit of that' is tiring and hard to plan. But it takes time to find out what it is you would like to specialise into.

I was taught last year by a very well respected stonemason and conservation repair person. His work is all over the place, York Minster, castles, Georgian houses etc. He was delightfully enthusiastic, but he drove a really old beat up looking fiesta. So my only caution to you Ian would be that you should go in with your eyes open. You won't make a lot of money unless luck picks you out and drops you in front of some TV company looking for a front man, and that's most likely not going to happen.

Have a go though, what have you got to loose. Computers are a necessary part of life, you can enjoy the challenge of programming them to do things faster, bigger, better, but in the end they are boring inanimate objects aren't they? Somehow buildings don't seem to be like that.

Sue

 

[Ian Bond]

Hi Gervase,

There's plenty for me to investigate there, so thanks for the pointers and encouragement.

The CIS card bit has me scratching my head - a quick google tells me I need it to work in the constructiion industry, and get it from the Inland Revenue. Is it easy to get hold of, or do you need to belong to a trade association?

I've got nothing to lose, so I will certainly have a good go at getting into a (hopefully) more satisfying and enjoyable line of work.

But first of all I'm looking forward to getting stuck into my house properly. In fact, starting next Thursday, when I can switch off the computer, park the swively chair and swipe out of office life for the last time

Cheers

Ian

 

[Gervase]

The CIS card isn't essential if you see yourself simply doing one-off jobs for people as the sole tradesman on site. You will need it, however, if you're ever subcontracted or if you're working with other trades. Details are here: here from theh horse's mouth.

Get yourself an accountant and s/he will be able to get you the paperwork for the CIS card. An accountant can also help you with working out what's claimable and what's not, how best to use your vehicle for business and a hundred and one other things. Unless you're a financial genius with too much time on his hands, finding a good accountant is a seriously sensible step.

 

[Ian Bond]

Hi Sue

Thanks for the reply, and for the wise words of caution.

You can add "having to deal with passers-by giving helpful advice, and telling you that you should be using cement" and so on, to the list of things to deal with. Just read your other posts on the subject. I've had similarly frustrating discussions with folk who know better myself. Grrrrr.

You are right about computing and pay rates, but in the end there was no job security for me, and I've fallen out of love with the work. I want to do something that I really enjoy, and can feel proud of again.

As you say, I expect to have to just about survive at first, especially as I will effectively be starting from scratch. Hopefully I will find something that I am good at, and can specialise in, that's also in reasonable demand.

I don't live too far away from Womersleys, so I should have no trouble getting hold of eco friendly paints and materials. It's about time I tried the linseed paint out myself, now that Biff and others on PPUK have got me converted! Now I think about it, it seems daft that I was messing about with lime mortar and so on, but still using modern paints. You live and learn.

Thanks again for the advice and encouragement, I'm feeling a lot more positive about my opportunities!!!!

Cheers

Ian

 

[Ian Bond]

The CIS card isn't essential if you see yourself simply doing one-off jobs for people as the sole tradesman on site. You will need it, however, if you're ever subcontracted or if you're working with other trades. Details are here: here from theh horse's mouth.

Get yourself an accountant and s/he will be able to get you the paperwork for the CIS card. An accountant can also help you with working out what's claimable and what's not, how best to use your vehicle for business and a hundred and one other things. Unless you're a financial genius with too much time on his hands, finding a good accountant is a seriously sensible step.

OK thanks again Gervase.

Looks like I'm going to need a new vehicle - goodbye to my lovely, gleaming family hatchback, hello white van man. Aaaaargh!

And I will get an accountant - I did my own Tax Return for a couple years, and even though my finances were utterly simple, it was an horrific exercise, to which I am not at all suited.

Cheers

Ian

 

[middi]

Yes, you are mad, and it seems ( like most of us) that one day you will be glad that you went mad. Just get stuck in your own project for the moment , unwind, relax and get your work done. You will pick things up as you go along.

If you are so enthusiastic about it, I wager that you will never go back into IT.

Prisoner of the desk with no fresh air will trap your mind and enslave your soul. It only works for some people, if there is doubt get out.

 

[Ian Bond]

Yes, you are mad, and it seems ( like most of us) that one day you will be glad that you went mad. Just get stuck in your own project for the moment , unwind, relax and get your work done. You will pick things up as you go along.

If you are so enthusiastic about it, I wager that you will never go back into IT.

Prisoner of the desk with no fresh air will trap your mind and enslave your soul. It only works for some people, if there is doubt get out.

Thanks Middi, you have a fantastic way with words. I think that they've done me a favour by showing me the door!!!!

Ian

 

[biffvernon]

Er, I've done exactly that, and currently have no regrets.

Me too. My idea is to keep it simple, a minimalist approach to overheads remembering that anything you spend is money that you can't count as earnings and on no account employ anybody else. Find a niche with a high added value but don't earn enough to pay value added tax. Good Luck.

 

[Ian Bond]

Thanks for that Biff - that sounds like very sensible advice.

And thanks to all for your encouraging responses. I'll lose the company perk of Broadband, so I'll probably pop down the library's "t'internet cafe" from time to time to check up on PPUK and see what's going on.

Cheers

Ian

 

[L1zzy]

Just wanted to chip in and add my two penny worth..... as I type I'm sitting here at my desk working for a well known DIY chain..... I hate every minute of it and whats more we're restructuring and have been for nearly 18months its unsettling and most of us are miserable redundancies are being done by teh drip drip method and we expect it wiol continue for 2years. When you feel like this day in day out there is no point thinking oh but.....the good money..the pension...the bupa cover I feel my soul dying a little every day and the ONLY thing that keps me going is the thought of bening able to go home and do more to my cottage and the feeling I have when I'm there of all the people who have lived in it before me and loved it too. SO now you're released from the chains... take flight ....get up and GO FOR IT nothing can be as bad as this feeling!

 

[Ian Bond]

I know what you mean, L1zzy.

I've been at the present company for 10 years, and the axe has been falling continually, so I was lucky to last this long, although it doesn't feel lucky right now.

It's great that you have your cottage to fix up and enjoy - it is very rewarding. I know it may sound daft, but when I work on my old building I get a real appreciation for the skills of the people who built it and maintained it over the many years. That's why it's so important to retain as much of the original fabric of the building as possible, so you keep that connection with the past.

I hope that you manage to find a better job soon, perhaps using the skills you gained with your cottage - best of luck to you.

Ian

 

[Penners]

Ian

I was working in marketing for a major Swedish automotive group (yes - that one!) when I had my Damascene moment, aged mid-thirties, married, with two small children, living in a caravan while doing up a period property. I chucked the job in and started a furniture-making business. It was a moment of liberation that I shall never forget.

During the years that followed, my wife and I worked harder than we ever imagined possible. There were times of great elation, and times of sheer terror when business got tough. It never made us rich, but I reckon it was 100 times more satisfying than just collecting a payslip each month (mind you - there were times when I really missed the security of that payslip!).

On the subject of self-employment, you may find that your local tax office runs free seminars for those about to go self-employed (mine did), explaining the principles of how to manage your tax. It's well worth asking, and - if they do - attending one.

It's obviously your decision as to whether you launch your new life in this way, but just bear in mind that - if you back away from it - you'll always wonder what might have been.

Best of luck, and do let us know what you decide to do.

David

 

[Ian Bond]

Ta for that David, much appreciated.

I reckon that there's no going back to IT for me - and the fun has gone out of it.

I'll regret it if I don't try something different, so I will just go for it.

You mean I still have to pay tax? Damn!

Ian

 

[biffvernon]

You mean I still have to pay tax? Damn!

Only if you are successful.

 

[middi]

Well Penners, and for the benefit of Ian, my story is very similar to yours.

Drifted arou nd in the motor industry with a few manufaturers on the technical side of things, my last job, which lasted nine years, was with the French manufacturers beginning with " P ". I was dealing with irate dealers across the country and diplomatically trying to explaing the reason for reoccurring technical problems on some vehicles.

For the benefit of the makers and to hold on to my job, good money, three youngesters, mortgage etc..etc.., I could not be honest enough to tell dealers or their customers that it was cheaper from the manufacturers point of view to " lash up " the problems under warranty as opposed to retooling the assembly line and permanently fix the problems.

One day I was called into the MD office to evaluate what could be done to appease this particular P****D off customer and I whole heartedly suggested we should give him his money back so he could buy a more reliable make of car. The MD hit the roof and insinuated ( in half French and half English) that this was an absurd way to solve the problem.
" MERDE" was his first word

I walked out and never went back.

Tough times followed, and I promised myself I would never go back to that industry again.

One of the better decision I have made in my life . Sold the house, got rid of the mortgage, and bought a delapidated detached cottage.

Six months later it felt like being released from slavery and was a free man. It has got better and better and I am still smiling.

Ian, just rearrange your life to suit you ( and your closest), life is too short to be miserable for too long.

 

[skier-hughes]

I went from working in retail, with quite a secure future and decent prospects for advancment, but a pain in the ass big boss. After one big bust up I vowed I'd leave as soon as I could.

6 weeks later I'd sold my pride and joy, 1966 Lotus Elan SE and signed a lease on my first shop. 2 Years in, one great child, no profits at all and very helpful parents I decided I really enjoyed doing what I did and expanded.

Lots of trials and tribulations over the next 18 years, I made a small fortune and lost it, ended up divorced but with a fantastic new wife. Sold my 5 shops and took a few months off.

Bought this house... yipppeee!!!!!!!

Then helped my wife set up her company. She was in the same situation as me, crap big boss. She left and we've never looked back, she earns nearly 3 times as much as she used to and only does half the work. I help out, and do lots round the house.

I've also set up another company in my hobby area and just take on the work I want at the price I want to.



I'd give some words of warning.

DON'T work so hard at the business you lose sight of what's most important - the family. I did this the first time round, though my ex and I are good friends and I see loads of my son - well until he goes to Uni this year!!!!

Biff's words

on no account employ anybody else.

Are so true. I had most of my troubles from staff. No matter how good they are, they are only staff and will want their own lives. You then think about why you finished work and can see how easy it is for the big boss to be so nasty, you try to be nice they walk all over you...........

We both work for ourselves and with nobody else, bar a few other close firms who either sub-contract me or I them for the odd job here and there.

If you want some help with tax, setting up the company etc then ask, as my wife lectures in Tax and Law. None of it will be binding, :wink: but it'll give you an idea of what you need to do.

Graham

 

[Ian Bond]

Thanks again, Graham and Middi - 2 very different but equally inspirational accounts there.

My partner, Liz, is an artist and print-maker, but currently working in a necessary but unrewarding job just to pay the bills so we can scrape by. Hopefully we can follow the examples of everyone who's contributed to this thread, and make a living doing something we both love.

And that starts next Thursday, when I sign-on at the Job Centre - can't wait to get started (and see how the system's changed since I left school in '85 ) !!

Cheers

Ian

 

[skier-hughes]

Be aware, that if you finsih working for yorself, there is no money from signing on, you can sign on whilst looking for work, which will keep your NI payments up, but they won't give you a penny.

But hey.... you won't need to do that.

What you do need to do is fill in your location, so those close to you know that and can call upon your services!!