Careers: And now for something completely different ...

tuck in a rut at work or in life? Maybe it's time to think about changing your career - millions of people report feeling underwhelmed by what they currently do for a living and more and more are planning on doing something about it.

A fifth of office-based graduate men are currently considering switching professions, with 62 per cent favouring more practical jobs, according to research carried out by the Training and Development Agency for Schools.

The study identified teaching, publishing, the law, accountancy, healthcare and skilled trades such as plumbing and electricity as the most popular second careers for people who felt they were stagnating in their current positions. And increasing numbers of people are making it happen.

Graham Green, author of The Career Change Handbook, says people of all ages are changing their careers. Some feel there is no chance of progressing in their current professions, while others are looking for a complete change of scenery.

"People often get stuck in a profession they thought was a good idea when they left school or university, but then wake up to the fact they're not enjoying it and don't want to carry on doing it for the next 20 years," Green says.

"The most important thing is to research other careers of interest to see if you would be suited to them. At the very least, you should talk to someone already involved in the industry who can tell you about what it's really like."

It's also important to think about how the transition to a new career might affect the way you live now - particularly your personal finances. At the very least, there will be a period during which your earnings take a hit. You may even have to find thousands of pounds to cover the cost of training for a new role.

Talk to mortgage providers and anyone else to whom you have regular financial commitments before taking the plunge. You may be able to rearrange your finances to help you realise your dreams, but not without some planning.

Save & Spend has taken an in-depth look at some of the most popular professions - teaching, the law, plumbing and charity worker - to see what training is required, how much it will cost and what annual income you can expect once you've qualified.

THE TEACHER

This is the most popular choice among graduate professionals who are planning a career change, according to the TDA research which found that one in five newly qualified teachers had given up senior positions in different professions in order to make the switch to a job in education.

Training required: there are three main routes to becoming a teacher, with all of them leading to the award of qualified teacher status, a requirement for teaching in state schools in England.

Undergraduates can take a bachelor of education degree (BEd), at the end of which they will have qualified. Postgraduates, meanwhile, can take courses on learning teaching skills. Most popular is the one-year postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE).

Finally, those looking to change career and earn while they learn can consider the graduate teacher programme (GTP). These are based in schools and allow you to earn an unqualified teacher's salary while working towards qualification.

Cost of training: Tuition fees for a PGCE course are up to £3,000.

Grants/bursaries: Eligible trainees on postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) courses in England may be entitled to a tax-free bursary worth up to £9,000. Similar bursaries are also available in Wales.

Salary: A newly qualified teacher can expect a starting salary of at least £20,133 (rising to £24,168 in inner London). The pay scale for good, experienced classroom teachers rises to £34,281 and to just over £41,000 in the capital.

Contacts: Visit one of the Train to Teach events taking place around the country in February and March. You can also log on to www.teach.gov.uk/tttevents for more information on education.

This is another hugely popular profession - but not everyone will be suited. "To be a good solicitor you need high academic ability and a lot of people skills," says a spokesperson for the Law Society. "There are people whose previous careers have proved to be useful to them."

Training required: graduates whose first degree wasn't law will need to do a one-year course called the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), which is also known as the Common Professional Exam (CPE).

You will then need to do a one-year, full-time (or two-year, part-time) Legal Practice Course (LPC) run by law schools, which is more vocational. To complete your training, you will have to do two years with a firm of solicitors, but competition is fierce for these training contracts.

Cost of training: The GDL will cost at least £5,000 for tuition fees, while the Legal Practice Course will cost up to £10,000, depending on exactly where and with whom you end up studying.

Grants/bursaries: Some help might be available. The Law Society has a bursary scheme which helps eligible people in difficult financial positions, while you may even be able to get an established law firm to cover your costs.

Salary: The minimum annual salary for a trainee solicitor working in central London is £17,110, while those working outside the capital can expect at least £15,332. However, depending on the area of law you choose - and how successful you are at your job - the eventual earning potential is enormous. But don't assume you'll be rich.

Contacts: The Law Society, 020-7242 1222,

www.lawsociety.org.uk

THE PLUMBER

The well-documented shortage of skilled plumbers - and stories about the bumper salaries that are supposedly available - has led to a flood of people entering the industry in recent years.

Training required: you will need to follow the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) route (SNVQ in Scotland) which combine theory and practical work in the classroom with on-the-job experience with a working plumber. All recently qualified plumbers need to hold Level 2, although Level 3 is preferred. It can take three years to reach this standard.

Cost of training: Costs will vary, but you will be looking at a minimum of about £3,000 to be qualified up to Level 3.

Grants/bursaries: Your age will have a bearing on whether or not you are eligible for financial assistance. The most likely group to qualify for this support are the 16- to 24-year-olds but it's worth checking to see what sort of help is available.

Salary: Forget the stories of plumbers earning between £70,000 and £120,000, says the Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering. The average self-employed plumber will earn £30,000 to £40,000, out of which they will have to deduct tax and overheads, including insurance, and the cost of courses.

"If you're working for yourself, a lot of what you earn will depend on how much time and effort you put in," says a spokesman for the IPHE.

Contacts: SummitSkills Ltd (involved in training), 08000 688 336, www.summitskills.org.uk

CHARITY WORK

There are more than 600,000 paid jobs in the UK voluntary sector, so the chances are you will find something that appeals, whether you're want to be a fundraiser or chief executive of a national charity.

Training required: this all depends on the job itself. Some people can move straight across and use the skills picked up in their previous occupations.

The Working For A Charity Foundation course, for example, will give you a grounding in key areas, such as marketing, fundraising and financial management.

This consists of seven seminar days, plus a 20-day voluntary work placement. Of course, if you wish to work for a charity in a specific role, such as an accountant, you will need to gain the same specific professional qualifications for that position as you would need in the private sector.

Cost of training: It will depend on what is required, but the Working For A Charity Foundation course is £795.

Grants/bursaries: Bursaries are available for people on low incomes which will pay half the cost of the Foundation course fee. Elsewhere career development loans from the major banks can be used for some courses.

Salary: The salaries paid tend to be lower than in the private sector, although this will depend on the type of job and the size of the organisation. The entry-level salaries will be around the £15,000 mark, although six-figure sums are paid to chief executive officers of some of the biggest charities.

Contacts: Working For A Charity, 020-7520 2512, www.workingforacharity.org.uk.

Funding your training

* There are plenty of bursaries, grants and training loans available, depending on the profession you choose and the area of the country in which you live, says Sherry Abuel-Ealeh, spokesperson for CRAC, the career development organisation.

* "Depending on the profession you choose, you may be able to find companies to sponsor your studies," she adds. "Other people opt to fund their courses by taking out career development loans with one of the major banks. It's best to ask around to see what's available before making any final decisions."

The car mechanic who decided to be a barrister

Andrew Moody spent 15 years working as a car mechanic and panel-beater before deciding he'd had enough and that he wanted to follow his dreams. It was only then that he started to think about how he could retrain as a solicitor.

The married father-of-two had to remortgage the family home in order to find the £50,000 required to fund his part-time degree and subsequent courses. So his changing careers was a major leap of faith for the family.

But it is a gamble that has paid off in the long run. Now he has not only successfully qualified to practice as both a barrister and solicitor, but also runs his own business advising people on motoring disputes.

"My background in the motor industry and the qualifications I have are ideally suited to the work I'm doing now, as I have a real understanding of the trade," he says.

"I never thought that I'd be able to become a lawyer - but I managed to surprise myself and I'm sure other people could do the same."

However, it was a long road. Andrew, now 37, first had to spend five years doing an English law degree at Leeds Metropolitan University. He couldn't afford just to give up work, so he opted for a part-time course. That involved studying two nights a week, and getting up at the crack of dawn to study before heading off to work at the garage.

After qualifying with a 2:1, Andrew quit his job to go full-time on a Bar Vocational Course at Manchester Metropolitan University. And just to make things as stressful as possible, the course began just as his wife, Tracey, 37, was about to give birth to their second child, John.

The couple, who also have a daughter, Emily, worked out their finances and decided to borrow the money necessary for the year. "It cost £37,000 for those 12 months when you take into account the course fees and living costs," he says. "We had to remortgage the house and took out the maximum student loan to afford it."

Andrew then did a Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test, via Central Law Training, to become a solicitor and, after working for a number of organisations, finally set up his own company - Cambridgeshire-based Retail Motor Law - in 2005. Only then did the family feel as if they were back on track, but Andrew believes all the sacrifices and hard work were worth it in the end.

"It really feels like I have achieved something," he says. "I always felt let down by the education system, as the careers adviser at school told me the only professions suitable were mechanics or bricklaying."

'I now have a positive influence on people's lives'

Secondary school teacher Ian Lett hasn't spent his entire working life helping pupils to a better understanding of technology. A few years ago, Ian decided to swap the trading room floor of an investment bank in Germany for a new life in a Derbyshire classroom. Today he has no regrets at all - in fact, he insists that he's never been happier in his work.

The 32-year-old made the brave decision to change careers after getting married. The transition from City trader to teacher took some time. To start with, Ian had to spend a year toiling away in minimum-wage jobs before he was able to win a place on the one-year postgraduate certificate in education course that is required as an entry level qualification for a cereer in teaching.

He then used a combination of his savings and a tax-free bursary of £6,000 to fund his studying while he was at college. Finally, after qualifying, he had to find his first probationary teaching job.

Today, he teaches information and computer technology (ICT) to 11- to 16-year-olds at Heritage, a mathematics and computer specialist school in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

"On the trading floor your working life is all about the bottom line of a spreadsheet and whether you have made more money than you did yesterday," says Ian.

"My new career enables me to have a positive influence on the lives of people and I find that very rewarding - much more so than counting every last pound I might have made for my employer."

Ian is among the thousands of people each year who turn their backs on the comfort of full-time employment to retrain in order to follow their dreams down a completely new career path. But it certainly hasn't been easy.

"Giving up your job and spending an extended period training to do something else isn't something that you can just do on a whim," says Ian. "There are obvious financial costs to bear, plus this is a real life-changing process. It takes planning and preparation and you must be certain that it is really what you want to do before you start out."

Interesting? Click here to explore further