If work makes you miserable, it may be time for a career change. Women's Editor Christen Pears reports.

WE all know that Monday morning feeling, the dread in the pit of our stomachs when we know the weekend is well and truly over and there are five days of work ahead. But for some women, the feeling doesn't wear off after their first cup of coffee and gossip with the girls in the office.

Recent research from the Policy Studies Institute in London found that more than half of all women workers in Britain are unhappy in their jobs. Common complaints include long working hours, low pay. Many said they found their jobs boring or inadequate but found it hard to decide what their true vocation was.

There is, however, good news. The 'job for life' mentality no longer exists, making it far easier for people to move jobs or even change professions when they're unhappy. Former pop star Kim Wilde is now a landscape gardener while Glenda Jackson gave up her successful acting career to become a politician.

Colin Hobson, an adult careers adviser and co-ordinator from the Darlington Information, Advice and Guidance Network, says: "People no longer feel tied to one job. Lifelong Learning has made a lot of women realise there are not necessarily the barriers there once were, that they can get better qualifications and better jobs."

He helps a lot of women who are returning to work, usually after having their families, and are looking for a change, but there are others who are already in jobs and want a new direction.

He says: "It is probably easier for those who are returning to work because they don't have a salary, but those who are making a change will probably find it harder because they are usually going to have to take a pay cut. Another major factor that determines people's ability to change is their domestic circumstances. If a woman is hoping to move to another job, she needs the backing of everyone at home."

Visiting a careers consultant will help and they will be able to offer you advice and information, but before you make an appointment, you should think carefully about what you want to do. Don't focus on what you dislike about your current job but think about what you enjoy and how you could develop it.

Read about people who have achieved similar goals to yours and learn from their experiences. Most of all, be patient. Don't rush headlong into a new job and find yourself stuck in another career rut.

* You can contact Darlington Information, Advice and Guidance Network on (01325) 480055. To find a careers counsellor in your area, log onto www.iacmp.org.

Stephanie Allison, 52, gave up her career as a secretary to become an alternative therapist

FOLLOWING a fall when she was a child, Stephanie Allison had suffered from a bad back all her life but a massage not only relieved her pain, it gave her the impetus to change her career.

"I had a really bad accident when I was 14 and doctors thought I had broken my back. I hadn't, but it did give me a lot of pain until I went to see a masseuse. I felt fantastic and from then on, I was hooked. I decided I wanted to train and did a course myself."

In April last year, she opened the Hurworth Grange Therapy Centre, offering a range of treatments, including massage, reflexology, chiropody and life coaching.

She set up the business with a £500 loan from Darlington Borough Council and help from Darlington Business Venture, and now has 11 therapists working with her. It's a long way from her previous job as a secretary but she says she's convinced she made the right decision. "I knew it was what I wanted to do and I have absolutely no regrets. I couldn't possibly go back to working in an office now."

But this wasn't her first career change. "I started off as a secretary and then I was a policewoman for a couple of years but that just wasn't for me."

She went back to being a secretary, working mainly for the Civil Service but she wasn't entirely happy. It was when she had the massage that she discovered, almost by accident, what she wanted to do.

Having found her own dream job, Stephanie is helping other people change careers by offering massage courses at the centre. Her first students, who include a firefighter, journalist, computer analyst and care worker, graduate in May.

"People often drift into a job and they get inertia and find they can't get out. This course qualifies them to set up their own business or practise in a salon or surgery. Not all of them want to go into business but for those who do, it's the thing they need to kickstart their new career."

* For more information about the Hurworth Grange Therapy Centre, contact Stephanie on (01325) 72223

Kathy Finkel, 40, left the financial security of her job as an accountant to become a personal trainer

AFTER leaving university, Kathy Finkel drifted into a job as an accountant. "I didn't have a burning desire to do it but I didn't really know what else to do. I knew from day one that I had made a mistake," she explains.

"I always hated being chained to a desk eight or nine hours a day and I used to say to people that I would rather stack shelves than do what I was doing but obviously that wouldn't have commanded the same salary."

Kathy worked both in London and abroad, before coming back to the North-East, where she gave birth to a daughter five years ago.

"After I had her, I just couldn't face the thought of going back to work as an accountant. It's a very demanding job and it had never been something I enjoyed. I started thinking about what I really wanted to do and as I had always loved exercise, I decided to train as personal trainer."

Kathy started going to the gym 20 years ago, mainly as a way of dealing with the stress of her job but she was horrified recently when a trainer at her gym devised a new programme for her.

"I had a back injury but the programme he came up with would have made it worse. I thought it was atrocious and started looking into the possibility of becoming a trainer myself."

She completed the respected YMCA course last year and is now working as a personal trainer. "I have absolutely no regrets. I know it's something that I'm good at and it fits in round my daughter."

Kathy is based at her home in West Rounton, near Northallerton, although she also works with clients in their own homes or at the gyms they attend. She is also studying part-time to become a psychoanalyst, and will complete her course in five years time.

"There are probably a lot of people in the same position as I was but you can change your career if you want to. You just have to be determined and make sure you find the one that's right for you."

* You can contact Kathy on (01609) 882990.