What's your next career move? What's your exit strategy?

[ladymuck]

I have never had a career plan and still don't know what I want to do when I grow up (I suspect I will never "grow up"). I have just bimbled about and been lucky to always find work.

I am currently "bored" and feel stuck in a rut. I don't yet know how to fix that. I don't have the appetite to learn new things so I can see me disappearing into obsolescence quite soon. Friends of same/similar age to me still have a drive and a passion and I just can't be bothered with it all.

I think that means I'm ready to be a Big4 consultant?

[edison]

I'm in my 50s like many of the replies above. The market for half of what I do (interim management roles) has dried up a lot since 2022 so I've been doing more fractional advisory work mixed with a bit of project lead/project management/IT transformation work for some private equity backed companies. But that has dried up too...

I have no plans to stop working any time soon. I always anticipated winding down in my late 50s and working part time till my mid-60s and beyond to fund the kids going to uni. I have a decent amount saved in pensions, ISAs and a share of a house I inherited. Plus my wife will inherit half of her mum's house plus potentially a share in another. We will sell our house and downsize to a flat in about 8-10 years and give the kids a chunk of cash towards buying a property each.

So I'll be comfortable and be able to afford a few treats but I like the mental challenge of work. I'm also planning to train to be an executive coach which is something I could do part time. And once in my mid 60s, the missus and I are planning to live 2-3 months each winter abroad, probably somewhere in SE Asia.

fiisch The world of work and technology is very different to just 10 or 15 years ago. It can be difficult to predict one's career trajectory. However, whatever path you might take, keep learning - soft skills as well as technical.

There are plenty of potential paths you might take after being a BA. Project Manager and then Programme Manager was always quite common. Product Management is a more recent trend. Also IT Business Partner/Business Relationship Manager, Business Consulting and so on. Think about your transferable skills and what realistically you can develop in the short term even if you're not sure what exact path to take.

[edison]

Are you tired of contracting or tired of working in IT? Or even tired of working at all? Unless you have had a really bad run contracting, can't find work and the like I am not sure how changing method of getting paid for your work will really invigorate you?

You think you are tired of it then start a perm job and realise you can't be arsed with that as well? I'd be doing a lot of work looking in to exactly what you do and do don't like. What makes you unhappy and what makes you happy. Yes it could quite possibly be the way you work but I'd be willing to bet in many cases it would just be a general tired of working issue and not contracting per se. Big decision so make sure you do your homework.

This is good advice from NLUK. I know someone who has recently quit a very highly paid C-level perm job and is planning to retire early next year. They spent quite a lot of time trying to understand what made them unhappy and it was the stress and anxiety of work itself that stemmed all the way back to their 20s.

[Snooky]

I have never had a career plan and still don't know what I want to do when I grow up (I suspect I will never "grow up"). I have just bimbled about and been lucky to always find work.

I am currently "bored" and feel stuck in a rut. I don't yet know how to fix that. I don't have the appetite to learn new things so I can see me disappearing into obsolescence quite soon. Friends of same/similar age to me still have a drive and a passion and I just can't be bothered with it all.

I think that means I'm ready to be a Big4 consultant?

You could be describing me exactly! Except I have no wish to become a Big4 consultant.

[KinooOrKinog]

Are you tired of contracting or tired of working in IT? Or even tired of working at all? Unless you have had a really bad run contracting, can't find work and the like I am not sure how changing method of getting paid for your work will really invigorate you?

You think you are tired of it then start a perm job and realise you can't be arsed with that as well? I'd be doing a lot of work looking in to exactly what you do and do don't like. What makes you unhappy and what makes you happy. Yes it could quite possibly be the way you work but I'd be willing to bet in many cases it would just be a general tired of working issue and not contracting per se. Big decision so make sure you do your homework.

Yeah I know what you mean. I think part of it is that I had a difficult time last year when I was out of work from October 2022 until around April 2023. That's the longest I've ever been out of contract and I think it scarred me a bit. Since then I've been through two contracts and I'm now on my third, none of which I've particularly enjoyed. Again, a first for me. I might just be fed up with the corporate hamster wheel.

[northernladuk]

Yeah I know what you mean. I think part of it is that I had a difficult time last year when I was out of work from October 2022 until around April 2023. That's the longest I've ever been out of contract and I think it scarred me a bit. Since then I've been through two contracts and I'm now on my third, none of which I've particularly enjoyed. Again, a first for me. I might just be fed up with the corporate hamster wheel.

I feel your pain. I got complacent thinking this was easy but had 5 months out just before covid. Put a big dint in the reserves I had in place for just this so financially wasn't a problem but was a proper wake up call and didn't enjoy it one iota. Managed to get a gig 4 weeks before covid hit. If I hadn't I don't know where I would have been. Ever since then I've been more focussed on billing for everything than ever before and made life a lot more stressful for myself than I've ever been contracting. I've been lucky to only have 2 end to end gigs since then but approaching renewal time and end of gig is much more unpleasant than it ever used to be. I used to relish the end to get in to something new and now I dread it.

[alphadog]

Have you got a clever side-hustle that you're hoping to scale and retire from your main job forever (preferably that I can steal)?

Very few mentions in the responses so far of clever side-hustles that people have. I've always had a hope that I would develop one at some point which would allow me to wean myself away from the man. However, I haven't come up with one yet. I've seen some people come up with some clever ones, but I guess they tend either to not make enough money, fail to take off, or the developer gets bored/runs out of motivation, or occasionally they become big and it ain't no side hustle no more. I suspect it's a tough road to travel down with fairly poor odds.

[ladymuck]

You could be describing me exactly! Except I have no wish to become a Big4 consultant.

Neither do I! I just assumed that was the natural progression once you stopped caring.

[northernladuk]

I have never had a career plan and still don't know what I want to do when I grow up (I suspect I will never "grow up"). I have just bimbled about and been lucky to always find work.

I am currently "bored" and feel stuck in a rut. I don't yet know how to fix that. I don't have the appetite to learn new things so I can see me disappearing into obsolescence quite soon. Friends of same/similar age to me still have a drive and a passion and I just can't be bothered with it all.

I think that means I'm ready for Onlyfans

FTFY

[mudskipper]

Yeah I packed it in a 18 months ago - disillusioned, no will to learn new stuff. Still had plenty of work but all felt pointless. Fairly decent pension pot/savings, but not enough to not have think about money. Did a little hobby coding project last year over a few weeks which reminded me what I used to love about it! 55 now, so can get my mitts on the pension - difficult when you don't know how long you're gonna live for! Have been doing a bit of min wage exam moderation, but tbh it is boring as hell, and realised after 2 weeks of getting up and dressed and to work for 8:30am (something I'd not had to do for decades!) I'd earned less than I did for a day's contracting. It'll probably be a one exam season only thing, but is kinda nice to feel you're being vaguely useful and it's flexible which is my #1 priority.