Life’s unexpected twists and turns force us out of our comfort zones and make us reconsider what we really want from our working lives.
For many people, reaching a certain stage in their career brings questions about what comes next. You may be looking for more fulfilment, greater flexibility or the chance to pursue an interest you have put off for years. Whatever the reason, a career change can offer an opportunity to take stock and choose a new direction.
Changing career in mid-life can feel daunting, particularly after spending years building experience in one profession. However, it can also be the perfect time to use the skills and confidence you have developed to pursue something more rewarding.
What’s holding you back?
A career change can feel chaotic at the best of times, with so many perceived risks and unknowns. Although it can feel safer to stay in one place, in the long run you’ll be much happier spending your time doing something rewarding, whether that’s pursuing a new course of study, travelling or simply taking time out.
Imagine your future self next year, in five years’ time and further down the line. What does a perfect day look like? If you think about it like this, it becomes easier to visualise making your dream a reality.
At the Chippendale School, we’ve welcomed students at different life stages from around the world craving a new creative challenge. From school leavers and career changers to those in retirement, our courses are designed to help anyone with a passion for woodworking gain the necessary skills for a successful career in furniture making.
Is it too late to change career at 40 or 50?
No. There is no set age at which you need to have chosen your final career. Changing direction in your 40s or 50s can also mean bringing decades of useful experience into a new profession.
For someone moving into furniture making, skills from a previous career can still matter. Experience in finance, project management, customer service, marketing or managing clients can be particularly useful if you eventually plan to establish your own furniture-making business.
At Chippendale, students arrive from a wide range of professional backgrounds and at different stages of life. Some are beginning their first career, while others are retraining after decades in another industry.
Follow in the footsteps of our mid-life graduates
Meet ‘Feemade’ – banking to furniture making
Year after year we welcome many mid-life career changers, including Fiona Gilfillan, who quit her job in banking to pursue her passion for making furniture. Fiona initially signed up to study on the introductory course but quickly got the bug and went on to study on both the Intermediate and Professional Course.
She told the Sunday Post: “Right from the very beginning, I absolutely loved it,” she said. “I made a stool, learned about French polishing and dovetail joints. It was amazing.”
Fiona spent around 18 months thinking about quitting her successful 14-year career in banking before setting up her own furniture making business. She decided to take the plunge when a close friend became ill, realising that “life is too short and I should follow my dreams,” she says.
After graduating, Fiona established Feemade Furniture. Her career change has since come full circle: alongside running her own furniture business, she now teaches woodworking at the Chippendale School
From tax advice to making bespoke tables
Mike chose Chippendale for its reputation, international outlook and varied course content.
Mike decided to pursue furniture making after a 25-year career as a tax adviser. At 50, he found himself facing a choice: continue in accountancy until retirement or try something completely different.
He says: “I had always enjoyed working with wood, so I decided to build on a skill that I already had to start designing and making furniture. I knew that it would give me an outlet for something that I was really passionate about – you only have one life!”
Of his experience at the school, he says:
“I can remember the journey to Chippendale School on my first day, questioning whether I was creative enough to study on a course like this. I didn’t have much confidence in my artistry, although I had been doing woodworking projects on and off over the years. When I got to the school, those worries quickly faded away – the school is a melting pot of creativity, and their whole ethos encourages collaboration.”
To find out more about Mike Whittall’s experience at Chippendale School, see our blog.
How do you start a new career in furniture making?
If fear is holding you back from following your passions, you are not alone. More than half of would-be career changers cite fear of failure and the unknown as stopping them from changing careers (Changeshifters research). But as former students Fiona and Mike say above, ‘life is too short’ to not do what you love.
The Chippendale School’s intensive 9-month course gives you skills in all aspects of furniture design, making and restoration so you can reach a professional level in no time, supported throughout your studies by a dedicated team of teaching experts and professional woodworkers.
If you want to find out more about our Professional Course, please see here or get in touch with Tom Fraser, School Principal, for a chat.