25 and looking for a career change out of marketing?

I'm 25m

My job title is Marketing Executive (sounds quite fancy but it's one title below marketing manager and one above marketing assistant). I earn £25,700 per annum and if I hit my bonus it can reach £27k. This is probably a little higher than most marketing Executive roles which tend to be around £25k.

I graduated university 3 years ago in a non marketing degree.

I live in the South East on the outskirts of the London commuter belt. Salaries are pretty high around here.

I feel my salary isn't particularly great and also I can't see myself improving/progressing much. I don't see my salary going up that much as well as generally improving in my role. I love the company I work at due to the culture and people I work with however I'm not sure if marketing is for me. If I were to be doing marketing anywhere else ie for another company I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much.

In terms of my salary, I know plenty of people who have/are coming out of uni and landing their first grad job that pays around the same as mine. This is demoralising when i graduated 3 years ago and they're already getting paid the same as me sometimes more. All my friends who graduated 3 years ago are earning somewhere between £30-£50k (I'd say on average around £35k). Their salaries have gone up over the last 3 years while nine has increased by about £5k.

I'm starting to have doubts whether I stick it out in marketing or find a new career path where I could still transfer over across into a different career while starting off on the same salary as I am now. For example a friend is a quantity surveyor and he said if for example I did what he does I'd start off on around £30k even as a newbie.

I feel I'm a jack of all trades and aren't particularly skilful in any particular areas. I'm generally reasonably smart but as I say, I'm not a specialist anywhere. My main things I bring to the table is an ability to work my socks off and fit into most working environments well as I'm pretty friendly. I don't think I'm particularly practical for a hands on labour type job (although I am physically fit), I don't think I have the chat/persuasion of a sales person and not particularly mathematical.

I generally enjoy helping people and getting a sense of achievement/fulfilment when I see others benefit. That's really rewarding. I enjoy health, fitness, exercise and travelling the world. I'm not sure if office type work is for me but I don't know what else is.

Do you think I should stick it out in my career or look to move to something else? Based on what I've written is there anything you think would suit me?

eBay reps the UK proudly! ++ Original post here

I’m going to the UK in January, spending a fair bit of time in Scotland. A lot of British people I’ve spoken to have told me I’m stupid for going in January, are they right?

I'll be leaving the searing heat of Australia in January for quite a long, probably lone trip through the UK, in a small campervan. I'll be spending a lot of time in Scotland, and Northern England. I know it's going to be freezing, but what should I do to prepare myself in the meantime? And does anyone have any advice for not-so obvious things that I'll need?

eBay reps the UK proudly! ++ Original post here

Heavy Weed Smokers Next Door to my Girlfriend – Can She do Anything?

My girlfriend recently gained some new neighbours in her apartment building who seem to smoke obscene amounts of weed & the smell is constantly traveling into her flat. This is obviously making her concerned for the smell of her clothes & indeed herself, she's a manager at an extremely high-profile engineering firm & obviously does not want/nor deserve to go to work stinking of dope smoke. If her employers suspected the smell was her fault, she could be in a lot of trouble. Granted, if they drug test her they'll get a clean result, but still – its grief that she can really do without.

She's tried moving her clothes into another room, but the more these people smoke – the more the smell seems to be traveling through. And she can't exactly run her clothes through the laundry every day.

She's too timid to go and speak to them, push a note through their door or post a note in the communal hallway. She's concerned that they'll immediately know who is complaining & is worried about repercussions. I've volunteered to go and speak to them about it politely when I've been visiting, but I've not been allowed.

I'm not sure if she can report this to anyone, the apartments are individually let by a number of agencies – so reporting to her own letting agent may not actually mean its their letting agent either. So there'd be little point. She's also then still concerned about potential repercussions, as the next neighbouring flat is at the end of the corridor – it would be fairly obvious where the complaints were arising from.

There's also the point that her letting agreement advises that smoking is not allowed within her flat at all, she doesn't smoke, but if these people have a similar agreement – they're obviously violating it. But that's just speculation, as we don't know if these people are renting or have bought or whatever.

Does anyone have any ideas if there's anything she can do?

eBay reps the UK proudly! ++ Original post here

Anyone used sync.com for cloud storage?

Has anyone used Sync.com for cloud storage?

It looks pretty good, reasonably priced, has good reviews. My only concern is that all their data centres are in Canada, so I'm wondering what performance is like from the UK. Thanks!

eBay reps the UK proudly! ++ Original post here

(First job in UK) Giving employer my notice – Still have 18 holidays. How does this work?

I'm a dual citizen of Canada and the UK, just finishing up my first employment stint in the UK… Been working at this place for 4 years. So, according to my contract, I'll be required to give 1 pay period's notice of my departure (we get paid monthly).

I would like to work my last day on Fri 30th August. So if I understand this correctly, if I give my notice on Thu 15th August I will work for 12 days and then (for payroll purposes) be considered 'on holiday' for 18 days before my departure is completed? If so, the last day I receive payment for would be 25th September…. That sounds really good to me, but I won't get my hopes up incase I'm interpreting this process incorrectly.

(Breaking news: I have no idea wtf I'm talking about. In Canada, we only get 10 days off per year so I've only ever had to give 2 weeks notice to my employer because my holidays were already used up)

eBay reps the UK proudly! ++ Original post here

My daughter is a UK citizen but lives overseas. Can she get braces covered by NHS when she visits?

My daughter is 10 and needs braces, she goes to UK on an off and I was wondering if she can get braces covered in the UK even though technically she doesn't live in UK. It costs about 4-5000 usd where we live. I understand there might be a waiting list, but once that clears, would she be covered?

eBay reps the UK proudly! ++ Original post here

Does the right to refuse to answer questions from the police exist in the UK?

In the USA, one can simply refuse to answer police questions, citing one's rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution and its protection against self-incrimination. Does anything like this exist in the United Kingdom?

eBay reps the UK proudly! ++ Original post here

How accurate is this?

When Eastern Europe sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

-Boris Johnson

eBay reps the UK proudly! ++ Original post here

Good temp agencies for tech/IT jobs?

At the end of uni, I kinda feel like im stuck in the 'cant get a job without experience, cant get experience without a job' trap and am looking for ways to break through it.

Does anyone here experience with temp agencies that are good for tech/IT jobs?

eBay reps the UK proudly! ++ Original post here

How to get a new Parcelforce Customs Letter?

Hello,

I received my letter last Thursday (20th June) but I think I may have accidentally misplaced it.

​

Does Parcelforce send a reminder letter for customs payment or are alternative ways to contact Parcelforce for a new letter (other than phoning them)? Would I be able to contact them on Twitter?

​

I will be at work until 3:00pm (15:00pm) – so replies will be late.

Thank you in advance

eBay reps the UK proudly! ++ Original post here