A baker for almost one quarter of a century, Clayton Kindleysides felt he had overcooked his passion.
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It is the reason the 46-year-old decided to jump-start a new career as a mechanic.
The Wagga chef has joined a growing number of residents across the region, itching for a change.
It comes after a national study – commissioned by recruitment website Seek – revealed almost half the workforce was leaning towards a career change in the next 12 months.
In fact, young people are set to go through an average of 17 different jobs, according to the Foundation for Young Australians.
“My passion for cooking had died and my brain was switching off to the job,” Mr Kindleysides said. “I’d lost my inspiration; I really needed to get out.”
Switching from cooking oil to motor oil, the father-of-four this year enrolled in a heavy vehicle mechanical certificate III at TAFE NSW.
In February he began his first-year apprenticeship at Andrew Walsh Mobile Mechanical Repairs.
To his younger-generation classmates, the Wagga man has become somewhat of a father figure.
“They’re a good group of young fellas,” Mr Kindleysides said.
“A lot of them have been pulling cars down since they were kids so there’s plenty they can teach me.”
Despite a significant pay drop, he said the career change was driving a renewed passion for life.
Mr Kindleysides encouraged anyone itching for a skills change to give it a go.
“Work takes up so much of your life,” he said. “Why not do something you love?”
Sureway founder Judy Galloway said Mr Kindleysides was not alone in his thinking.
The employment and training facility’s director said it was a growing trend across the board.
Ms Galloway attributed the career-change phenomenon to changes in technology, a need to up-skill to meet job-market demand, online study opportunities and an open job market.
“When there is high unemployment, people are reluctant to change,” Ms Galloway said.
“They want to hold on to their jobs.”
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