Sarah Klymkiw is working in the fashion industry at a PR and production agency. The cost of living together  Despite living with my long-term boyfriend to save money, disposable income is currently at an all-time low. My boyfriend, a former precision engineer and drummer for years gave up the engineering life to move to the city with me. The lack of engineering jobs in London happily meant a change of career, and in a city of opportunities couldn’t be harder.
Without a degree, anything other than engineering experience and not knowing which route to embark on, it’s proven hard to decide where to go and it’s proven hard for me to understand why. I’ve always known I’ve wanted to work in fashion and the path I chose after leaving school was always with this in mind. Events that have happened since leaving university and not knowing where to go and what to do next despite knowing that I wanted to work in the fashion industry have made me more sympathetic to his situation. Yet I knew, or had an idea of jobs within the industry, to play on my work experience and had some idea of where to look. Persistence and patience paid off in the end but what happens if you don’t have any idea of what to do? His guitarist’s dad offered him a job doing scaffolding shortly after moving to London, however after six weeks an injury sustained from years ago (which has been a permanent problem aggravated by drumming) led him to the school of osteopathy in London. They told him that he should no longer scaffold and diagnosed a slipped disc in his neck. If he continued he would lose all feeling and strength in his arm. An example that work is bad for your health?! For me there was no decision to be made, health is far more important than money and in an attempt to make the best of the situation perhaps this was his chance to really pursue something he’s passionate about, if we knew what that was. Direction discoveredA career change is difficult with no previous experience so a brain storming session down the pub was in order. His engineering work and working with metal, combined with his creativity (evident in his musical attributes) led to the suggestion of jewellery making or carpentry, to learn a trade for life. His previous experience as an engineer should lend well to carpentry and allow for him to pick up the trade easily. After some consideration it seemed logical and he seemed excited. Not knowing anything about the woodworking industry I trawled the internet for carpentry apprenticeships. Unfortunately, they are few and far between - this all seems too familiar when I was looking for entry-level jobs. And here we’ve hit a brick wall. Where do you go when the jobs aren’t advertised and knowledge of the industry is limited? A trip to the Job Centre offered a carpentry apprenticeship for a bespoke furniture company with no previous experience as a requirement (perfect). After sending off his CV to them he left it a week before I suggested he ring and find out if there’d been any progress. The lady dealing with the job wasn’t there, and the following day she still wasn’t there. I advised him to contact the company directly, he had nothing to lose after all. By calling them up, it showed initiative and that he was keen. Surprisingly, the lady at the Job Centre hadn’t even forwarded his CV and unfortunately after sending through his CV twice and ringing to follow up once more to find they still hadn’t received it, it didn’t seem enough. Support is everythingTo keep enthusiasm high and delusion and frustration at a low, we’ve spent the early summer evenings in researching furniture companies for him to cold call and see if they have any work, even if it’s an opportunity to work for free, get a feel for the industry and get some hands-on experience. Finances are tight, yet I know if I was in the same situation, and I was in a similar scenario before we moved in together, support is everything. He could easily go back to engineering and commute out of London every day to earn a living, just as I could have taken any office job when I moved up to London, but then what’s the point? Why change? Why not just carry on with the same old? If you make a change whether it be your own choice or not, it serves a purpose to follow it through, hold out for the job that you want and reap the rewards. Read Sarah's earlier blogs: | 
