Career change was 'best decision ever'

A man who swapped a desk job for working frequently on the beach said making the career change was "by far the best decision he ever made".

Ben Tustin, a seaweed farmer and founder of Guernsey Seaweed, worked in finance before he changed jobs after he "always struggled working at a desk".

He added that circumstances outside of his career, including getting divorced and his father dying within 12 months, made him want to move to doing something else.

Mr Tustin said with the rise of AI, people may need to change careers more often and he would like to see the States "establish a community of people that could help or mentor career changes".

Mr Tustin said that although initially he "didn't have a clue what I was going to do" and knew "I could have continued in finance a some level", he "just didn't really want to".

As a seaweed farmer who now produces food and cosmetic products, he said the change meant he could "get excited about making a new discovery, and a new scientific discovery that could potentially change people's lives, which is, for me, more impactful".

Before becoming a bookkeeper at TCS, Hannah Sarre trained for a career in childcare.

"I was looking for just something with a bit of stability. I quite like to progress through different stages, so something with learning opportunities" she said.

Ms Sarre said it was scary starting off in a career with no experience, but that her employer provided plenty of training.

"There's always going to be people around you that know the job so you're not just going to be thrown in at the deep end.

"There's always going to be someone to help you."

After making her own career changes, coach and founder of Thrive Coaching and Training, Korinne Le Page now mentors those looking for a change themselves.

She said career moves are more common now and "they do say that nowadays we have perhaps three careers in our lifetime, whereas previously other generations might have had one career for their lifetime".

However, Ms Le Page also said that housing and the cost of living in Guernsey could be barriers.

She said: "I think there could be a lot more of that support from the government and I realise that we are short of funds and money... I do feel that in order for us to achieve the overall aim to keep our people here, to keep people in jobs in Guernsey, there has to be more of that."

Jacki Hughes, executive principal of The Guernsey Institute (TGI) said: "We are taking practical steps to make learning and retraining more accessible to islanders so they can make the career moves they want to make.

"Our Adult Skills Strategy brings together a wide range of flexible learning options... so that people can study part-time or at their convenience while continuing to meet family or work commitments".

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