To ask for your help figuring out how I can get some income in fast

Oh yes - a friend of a friend (made redundant from her previous job) made a killing on this with low effort on her part

In any case, they were targeting the 50+ crowd. OP too much of a spring chicken for easyJet

Roles in insurance claims and customer service where the insurance involves liaising with overseas - for example, travel insurance, breakdown insurance. Medical.

@Moneyproblemz not sure where you are based, or if you actually know this agency already. But they do have account executives type roles that could be suitable. Sometimes they look for people who are able to speak/ write in several languages.

Long term, these types of jobs could be a solution.

https://www.french-selection.co.uk/

If you want to change careers to Speech and Language Therapy, look at degree apprenticeships. There are private companies as well as NHS that offer this. Many private companies work in schools, adult settings or with specific charities. Be prepared to start as an assistant before accessing any type of further education.

The suggestions for cabin crew and airport staff are good ones but be aware that you'll need to supply a full checkable job history with no gaps of more than a month for several years (to make sure you've not been away at terrorist training camp).

DP applied for a job as a baggage handler and was successful but couldn't supply the job history required because previously had been self employed via agencies and didn't have contact details for people who would supply references. However this was in February 2020 so that job wouldn't have gone anywhere for the next year or so anyway (although he could have been fortunate to have been taken on and immediately furloughed and he did get other work elsewhere during the pandemic).

If you have a degree could you do a PGCE and become a teacher? There's often bursaries to help with the cost of training.

Otherwise look at temporary work up to Christmas at least, if you get a foot in the door somewhere it might lead to a permanent role. Royal Mail, parcel delivery companies, hospitality and food and drink manufacturing will all be taking on extra staff at this time of year, although I'd be cautious about Evri etc as it's long hours and low pay. Look on Indeed and register with local agencies.

Retrain as a HGV or bus driver?

That is amazing! thanks, following this thread..im in my sixties ..wondering if there's a cut off age 🤔

I'm a translator (German and Dutch) and am still getting work as I specialise in medical reports. Ok, some of it is post-editing AI but I still get enough work to make a living. Could you try that? Having said that, I'm quite worried it'll end suddenly at some point so I'm actively applying for jobs. I'm 55 so worried about ageism but all we can do is keep trying. Hope you manage to find something OP. Good luck, it's so depressing.

Why not interpreting? It seems the obvious solution. Language line for NHS, police immigration etc. Could be really interesting.
Or hotel work, reception needs language skills.
Airlines, Civil service,

TA would be relevant experience for SALT career. Join an agency, you don’t need any qualifications for many of them, and no experience either.

I also second the cabin crew idea (although you would need to do some training) but also other airport / airline staff (like at check-in), if you live anywhere near an airport. Having languages would give you an edge over other applicants, and being personable would certainly help!

Do you have a first degree? If so you can do a shorter, post-grad training to become a SALT. However, it is very competitive so you may well need a 2:1. Whether you do the post or under grad training you will need some relevant experience. Working in an assistant role (SALT, physio, OT or classroom) would be helpful. However, TAs usually need a vocational qualification now. Care work would be an alternative or you could work in an unrelated field and do some voluntary work. If you opt for the latter you may find going through a recruitment agency helpful. If you are personable and efficient the agency should recognise that and start putting you forward for the more interesting or better paid roles. That way you might find you feel less panicked by what is happening to you. Good luck!

Are you renting? Would you be eligible for short term benefits and housing benefit.
You have paid in, this is what the original system is designed for.
My aunt takes in international students, short term lets, €180 per student per week if you have the room, one meal per day.

This is really interesting. When they say “sensitive topics” is this unpleasant sex stuff or say left wing / right wing political debates?

Tutor one to one for gcse languages or run a kids French club. Say 5-6 kids £10 a pop, 3-4 times a week or weekends could bring you in £250 a week.

Tutoring GCSE and A Level?

Search TES for online/remote tutoring jobs. There are lots of online school jobs now - usually you have to be a qualified teacher, but there are also quite a lot of tutoring opportunities and you don’t necessarily have to be a qualified teacher for those.

Tutoring?

In the immediate term - matched betting and selling stuff on marketplace and vinted. And in the short term - cleaning, delivery driving, literally any job you can find. Longer term - retraining, I know someone who has just begun this programme: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/hmrc-tax-specialist-programme/ which is well paid, and applications open next month. Good luck!

Brilliant. I bet the OP hadn't thought of that! Well done.

Language teacher in a secondary school. There is a huge shortage of French and German teachers at the moment.

I think you get money for training as it is a shortage subject and my local (Russell Group) university still has places for the PGCE starting in a couple of weeks.

Agency work. There are many out there. Sign up for several and see the work pour in.

Mitie is a good one.

I work in shop floor management so can't answer for the head office side of the business (which is way harder to get a decent job at)

It's fairly straightforward to get up to the first level of retail management from minimum wage of you are flexible & take jobs as they come up. You will likely be doing the job as a 'team leader' on just above minimum wage to show you can do it.

I'll be blunt it's not well paid but it's not ridiculous in terms of long hours or stress as long as you are happy dealing with a wide variety of people.

As a manager you will likely have a very diverse team - young people 16-17 still at school, students, people having a career change/redundancy/ part time around childcare but otherwise capable but also managing a significant number of employees who have mild learning disabilities, neurodiversity etc that struggled in education. Many with mental health & other disabilities that missed out on education/career opportunities. The people management skills take up a larger proportion of my time than dealing directly with customers.

I'm a bit wary of people I interview for shop floor staff that want to 'use their skills' from other careers. I would rather people who want to learn to do the job on offer. (NHS staff & teachers/teaching assistants are a red flag)

I've employed several people on shop floor who have been made redundant from decent careers who have them managed to get jobs in head office roles using their previous skills - not on the same level but a better step on the ladder.

A lot of head office roles are advertised internally only so you have a head start if you are already employed at the company.

People knock retail careers but I think that's an unfair judgement

Traffic surveys - you sit in a car with another person and count cars on and off. Easy work and when you are ‘off’ you could proof read for University Students.

Language /assistant in private schools.

Or to pivot use those writing skills to work freelance

What about large Haulage companies ? They normally have a large amount of non English speaking drivers where we are and often advice for people with particular languages?

Ive pulled in 1k per month from letting my spare room on airbnb. I met some lovely people.