Suggestions for a new career please

[oooerrmissus]

I'm after suggestions for a new career. I have degree in Engineering and am currently working in construction. I am so so bored of working in a male dominated industry and all the sexist shite that goes with it. I have 2 kids and work pt so ideally something that would suit them as well would be good. I get treated like crap due to pt in comparison to all ft staff and it's wearing me down.

I've looked at teaching but I can't afford it until the youngest goes to school which is a few years away still. I'm really struggling to think of other areas I might like.

I like people, I'm very good at relating and talking to them. So a job where I interact is essential. Working from home on my own wouldn't suit me unless I went to a main office once a week or so.

Does anyone have any suggestions please?

There are quite a few people in environmental/energy management with engineering backgrounds. Do you have any interest in ISO14001 or BREEAM? Tends to be more gender balanced, but skews more male, and there is scope for part-time in smaller companies/public sector.

What would you think of teaching, if you were to train? You would need to consider whether there were posts available in your chosen field.

Mind you, I wouldn’t recommend teaching to anyone these days.

Oh I didn't think about the environmental side. I don't have any experience in BREEAM as there has been dedicated people in my firm to look after it. But obviously I know about its existence. I will have a look and see what I find. Thanks for that suggestion.

What about trying to get something with a housing association. I have lots of dealings with them through my work and they tend to be quite female heavy (local councils tend to be the same).

I was looking at secondary maths as teaching. I'm fairly confident with that as a potential choice as I have been accepted on a PGCE previously but then found out I was pregnant with DC2 so unfortunately had to decline the place. I'm assured there's a shortage by many people so I thought it would be a 'safe' career choice. I'm not sold on it mainly due to people never recommending becoming a teacher.

@Sprig1 where would I look for a housing association? Would it be via the council website? I've looked online but only construction related things seem to be popping up. I might to clear my cookies

Or you could look at project management in the IT industry. You’ll need lots of people skills, defusing tension, good organisation etc. It’s about 70% male 30% female so you’d be good at coping and welcomed by the other women. Prince2 is necessary but can be studied at home. And is portable between industries so a good investment.

Teaching would be better for covering holidays though.

How about teaching engineering/
construction at a university. So you're still using your subject knowledge and teaching to university students instead.

From my experience lots of housing associations only advertise on their own websites so maybe just google 'housing association Wiltshire', or wherever you live and see what comes up. They are separate from the councils.
If you want part time flexible working then I wouldn't get too hung up on sector/type of role. Just look locally for roles that fit your requirement and flex your CV to suit. That is what I did. Also don't be afraid to apply for jobs that pay less than you want/need. I did and at interview told them what salary I would need to accept the job. They liked me, re-wrote the role profile to give me more responsibility and offered me substantially more money than it was advertised at. It means I got a flexible part-time job that is much better than what was advertised. You have to just read between the lines a bit in the adverts and ascertain who has flexibility in their recruitment and who has to just go through a box ticking exercise. Small businesses are often better for flexibility.