A Change For The Better!

Apr 20 2008

Sick of your daily 9-5? Looking for a new job and fresh challenges? Follow these examples and find yourself a completely new career.

NOTHING has ever dulled Amar Latif's lust for travel and adventure - not even losing his sight at the age of 18.

So determined was he not to be limited by a disability, he took himself off to Canada all alone for a year as part of his maths degree.

Now Amar, above, helps blind and partially-sighted travellers enjoy exploration, adventure and wildlife through his online travel firm, Traveleyes.

Four years ago, he quit his job as an accountant with BT to set up the firm which teams 10 visually-impaired holidaymakers with 10 sighted travellers and jets them off to destinations across the world.

Amar, 33, originally from Glasgow, says: "I always wanted to see the world and wasn't going to let the fact I had lost my sight stop that. Blind and visually-impaired people want holidays just like everyone else but they also want a sense of independence. We can give them that."

Among the favourite destinations of Traveleyes' holidaymakers are Tuscany, Iceland and Cuba.

AFTER 36 years as a lab technician, Jim Cobb wanted his next job to involve his love of being outdoors.

He found the right job with supermarket giant Tesco after attending a recruitment fair in his home city of Dundee.

Jim started working part-time in the store's car park five years ago and, two years ago, was promoted to car park team leader.

The 58-year-old said: "I love the fact that every day I'm working outside. For 36 years I worked in labs in a factory where it was noisy, dirty and smelly. Despite our weather, I couldn't be happier now."

Jim had joined Holo-Krome, a firm that makes screws, straight from school and remained with the firm until he was made redundant five years ago.

He said: "I enjoyed the job for a long time but towards the end I was fed up with it.

"I knew I had to find another job and thankfully I've found one that suits me down to the ground. Another big change is that I now work with the public, which can be interesting, to say the least."