Indigo:
Hi everyone, been lurking here for a while, reading extensively, and seeing as you appear to be a friendly bunch and don’t bite (much!) I thought I should introduce myself to run something past you.I am about to embark on a mid-life career change into professional driving so am in the same position that many of you with recent passes have lately been in. I have been planning this for the past year (or 30!) and set myself the target of achieving CE within the next six months. Should be doable. My long term goal/dream is continental driving, a way off no doubt but always good to have a target!
The problem is I am receiving mixed feedback from friends, family acquaintances about my decision as not only am I a little past 40, I am also a little vertically challenged and shock horror female! I have had everything from ‘ha no-one will ever take you seriously’ to 'you won’t be tall enough/strong enough/male enough to cope with the physical demands of the job. Interestingly the couple of trunkers I know have all said ‘go for it’!
Whilst I myself am massively confident that I can do this the negative comments I am constantly receiving does leave me with the odd niggle of doubt. From what I have read on this forum it seems that the industry is equally hard enough to break into and remain in for everyone regardless of gender, and the negative comments I am receiving makes me wonder if with the additional barrier of being ‘without dangly bits’ could make it near impossible.
To be honest I’ve been a bit dismayed at the feedback I’ve received from those around me, you’d have thought they’d be encouraging me to move forward in life but hey ho. I suppose of course that they could just be jealous! But whatever, it all serves to just make me more determined.
So I guess I’m here to ask two questions.
Will my gender really inhibit me starting out as a newbie? Be honest, I’m more likely to take feedback from you guys seriously than I am anyone else.
Should I get a cr*ppy paid C1 job in the meantime to enhance my chances of being taken seriously once I have acquired my licence? (the idea fills me with dread to be honest because its all £7.25 an hour with a zillion drops in country lane villages in the a** end of nowhere down here in Somerset!)
I am far from inexperienced, my life has meant that I have lots of experience of every kind of vehicle my licence permits me to drive, vans, trailers, scaffolding lorries, motorbikes and a lot of continental driving behind me too. But nothing that sits on a CV as ‘employment’. Would a ‘Tesco home delivery’ type job be helpful?Have decided to probably go with Peter Smythe so should be getting some high quality training to set me in good stead, I just need to kill off the ‘doubt troll’ that people keep planting inside me once and for all!
Thanks for reading!
If you want to do this , then go for it !!. It is just that simple.
If you ask friends,family, aquanitences etc etc you will only get mixed & often confusing answers. At least on this forum you will get good advice of varying opinions , whether it be want you want to hear or not, & from people who are out there driving for a living!.
I only drive UK, I don’t even go abroad for holidays 
Realistically there are things to carefully considered. I don’t have all the questions nor all the answers you need
Driving is a way of life style & not always family friendly by any means!. How much does your offspring need you?. Is your ex 100 per cent reliable?. what if illness strikes one of them? Or you, out of the country !.
There would be ways of dealing with these things, but they still need to be considered.
You do need to work out your finances eg,the wages you are hoping for , what you can live on, & I don’t just mean pay the bills. You would surely hope to make a decent wage to have money in your pocket as well. Cover health insurance etc.
If you can raise or borrow off family to get through your test c+e that would be better than beholding to a company until the debt is paid , if you get a bank loan , again the interest will be huge to pay back on top of living ,on maybe not such a good wage while you gain experience. Don’t forget the costs of things like d.c.p.c, digi card, medical, every five years.
Not being negative here but things do need consideration. The better prepared you are the stronger the foundation you will have to proceed to your goal!
Any experience you can gain will add to your experience.
On a positive note , great choice of training centre 