Goodbye Hospitality

[Coffs_Hacker]

After 18years and 22 positions of being a chef and restaurant owner I am finally getting out.

Start my new career on the 31st of january. Managed to land a job with the Wollongong council as a Civil Engineering Cadet. Got my offer for uni today so all is set to go. The cadetship will go for up to 7yrs (while at uni) but it means weekends and nights off.

Can't wait to start. Time to get that golf membership sorted out :)

[kpac]

Sounds great mate - enjoy the journey!

[Moe Norman]

wish I could change careers.

(Yes, I know nothing is stopping me, I'm just too gutless and risk averse as I have 3 mouths to feed)

[kpac]

wish I could change careers.

(Yes, I know nothing is stopping me, I'm just too gutless and risk averse as I have 3 mouths to feed)

Didn't you recently change roles??

[Minor_Threat]

All the best with the Engineering degree mate. A cadetship is a great way to go about it! You have to love having weekends back?

[Moe Norman]

Didn't you recently change roles??

yes, but I'm essentially still in the same game.

I went from being a jack of all trades, master of none at a Property Developer to being a jack of not as many trades and master of one, at a Financial Services company.

[markTHEblake]

Managed to land a job with the Wollongong council as a Civil Engineering Cadet. Got my offer for uni today so all is set to go.

I'd be interested to know how you managed that? Seriuosly - not suggesting nepotism or anything of the like, but Chef to Engineer is like going from Bank Johnny to Scientist

I have been under the impression that its bloody difficult to get into the public service unless the related experience is exceptional, so I would have loved to have known if there was opportunities there to start from the ground up. I had imaginedthat the only place to get this kind of deal is the ADF. I have had a couple of career changes myself and on both occasions it was pretty much luck as much as anything.

[Minor_Threat]

I went from Golf Pro to Engineer, which is a fairly drastic change, Chef to Engineer is just as extreme.

Getting a cadetship is difficult especially as a mature age student, but from my experience companies are waking up to the fact that mature age graduates are a better deal than "straight from high school" options.

[Yossarian]

Can be a better deal, some mature age students are ****tards!

Well done though coffs and good luck mate!

[Minor_Threat]

Can be a better deal, some mature age students are ****tards!

Well done though coffs and good luck mate!Can for sure, from my experience there are more ****tards of the direct from high school path then mature age.

[markTHEblake]

I went from Golf Pro to Engineer, which is a fairly drastic change, Chef to Engineer is just as extreme. Were you paid to do that? I am guessing you had to do it hard for a few years, not that the previous few years were easier :-)

A mate of mine is looking for a career change, and he cant get a job anywhere. He has one line on his resume : Golfer.
Seriously, he has never had a job in his life, What chance has he got.

(he is stuck between a rock and a hard place though, cant leave town because of kids, admittedly he could get a job if he was prepared to move)

[sms316]

Good luck. Is this a change of passion or a change of opportunity?

[LarryLong]

All the best with that one Coffs. Enjoy your weekends!

The irony here is that I'm a qualified engineer who ended up in IT because I couldn't find a job. I guess I should have just done a chef's apprenticeship all those years ago? :)

[Eag's]

Well done Coffs, I hope it all goes well for you :smt023

[Minor_Threat]

Were you paid to do that? I am guessing you had to do it hard for a few years, not that the previous few years were easier :-)Nah mate wasn't paid at all. I was lucky enough to live with my missus and her parents during that time and she was the bread winner.

It wasn't the most comfortable environment, but it has worked out well in the end!

[Dotty]

Pharmacist to IT monkey, a very long time ago.
Everyday, I'm still thankful of no longer having to deal with walk-in customers.

Enjoy the change, Coffs.

[Jarro]

Congrats Coffs ... enjoy your new life 8)

[AndyP]

I went from engineer to unemployed. I'll let you know what comes after that when I know.

[mike]

I tried a total career change and I ended up hating it a going back to my trade. The difference being I fell into the position in a big hurry without much notice. You've obviously done the research and put a lot of thought into it.

Congratulations and good luck.

Where are you joining? My brother is a member at the Grange.

[Coffs_Hacker]

Getting the job was prob just luck. Hardest part was getting through the first step of the written app. After that was easy. We had the typical big company exam (similar to a iq test but easier) aparently i had the highest score out of 20 applicants then a interview a few weeks later. The offer was pending being accepted into uni which I managed today.


Is this a change of passion or a change of opportunity?

Prob opportunity as there were other careers I was looking at but only because I knew very little about engineering so the more I look into it the more I like it.


Getting a cadetship is difficult especially as a mature age student, but from my experience companies are waking up to the fact that mature age graduates are a better deal than "straight from high school" options

unfortunately most companies don't see it that way. As a chef I could pick and choose where i wanted to work, prob turned down more job offers than accepted but once outside your chosen field it doesn't matter how hard you work or weather you can do the job or not.
eg I applied for positions through Group Training Aust (in Wollongong) at same time as our kitchenhand. He got 5 interviews, I got none. The Group Trainging in the Shoalhaven wouldn't even put me on their books.

[Coffs_Hacker]

I have bit of a commute to the Gong so will be joing here at Shoalhaven Heads again

[Yossarian]

Hope you get time in between all the study!

[markTHEblake]

Congrats mate, thats a good result.

[just]

Congrats Craig.

[BrisVegas]

Congratulations Craig. Good luck with the study. I couldn't do that now.

[Coffs_Hacker]

Hope you get time in between all the study!

4 hours off work each week per subject to attend classes and tutes. Hecs fees paid for and annual salary increase if I pass all subjects. Noice.

[PerryGroves]

Coffs, clearly I don't know your situation. I work with whining bankers, squealing to get out yet never doing anything, Punters who actually make the change are rare, congrats on the move and my hopes are with you. PG

[Dcanto]

Congratulations - hope all goes well.