Is there such a thing as a careers advice service for old people?

[PinkOboe]

I can’t afford a career / life coach

My “career” has been so disappointing so far

I’m 40. Half way through. Less probably. I can’t do another 20 or 30 years like this but I have wracked my brain for 30 years and haven’t yet thought of a plan

Less of the old thank you, but I’ve been wondering the same thing lately and the online sites don’t really help.

Ha. No not old, but not a student or graduate either

Bumping...

From what I can see there aren't very good ones for any age group really. For older people that goes double.

Yes, the National Careers Service works with everyone over 18, I'm a careers advisor who delivers the service.

nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk It's free and impartial, all advisors are qualified and very professional :-)

Wow greenjojcat I had no idea. how does it work?

I remember doing one of those Programs at school where you list likes and interests. My result came back as fish farmer. I laughed at the time but in hindsight that sounds better than office admin

That sounds like a useful scheme - but you could also post here about your experience, loves and needs and maybe other mners will offer advice from their experience. Worth a try perhaps?

That’s kind Urbanbeetler in a nutshell I have lots of qualifications in a niche area (heritage conservation) but no experience of working in it. And lots of experience working in an area that frankly leaves me cold (property admin). I seem to have stumbled through a series of administrative roles and I’m not very good at it because it bores me. But people think I am cos I’m sort of efficient and talk a good game.

I’m being made redundant a few months into a facilities manager role. I hate facilities management but the pressure is really on. I HAVE to earn. We cannot survive even a month without me earning about £25k at an absolute minimum

I’m working through the careers service questionnaires. How can I be just as clueless at 40 as i was at 18?

You can use the website information but if you would like to speak to someone you call the 0800 number and you can either have a chat with a careers advisor or book an appointment for face to face. It's all free and you will get a professional service - I'm in Lincolnshire but the service is national. Good luck! :-)

Ok I’m working my way through the national careers service tests but I never feel i answer these questions properly or I just go with an answer in the middle because I always think “well, it depends”. What I want is a secure job where I can make a decent amount of money and not have to do mass amounts of expensive training to get into it. I just have no idea what that job might be!

Greencatjo, the face to face meetings, are they only during office hours Monday to Friday? Thanks for your info so far!

Same hmmm. I went today to a session on teacher training. Part of me fancies it, a change of direction and I think I could possibly do it to an ok standard. But I thought you’d get paid while training but spied they only for specific subjects, none of which are my speciality. I can’t afford to not earn for a year and £10k in tuition fees

And yes to the questions. I kind of think reality stops me answering entirely truthfully

I might be wrong but I think you can get a student loan to cover the PGCE tuition fees?

I'm 37 and also trying to work out what I want to be when I grow up

Nice to know I’m not the only one although not great for any of us, of course.

Do you have a work history ladybird experience in a particular area? Interests?

You can get a loan of PGCE but I’ve already got considerable debts including old student loans I’ve not repaid yet

Don't take a teaching course if you are not fully committed, it's a hard course and a hard job.

Yes you can take a loan to do your pgce but who wants/can afford all that debt? On top of that, how do you afford living expenses while you train? Take another loan?! Or try and find a placement that pays well while you train (mostly only for people specialising in maths or sciences, virtually nothing in primary unless it’s linked to maths in junior school). There’s meant to be a teacher retention crisis but when you look into training options they aren’t that great.

I'm in a similar position. Qualifications/courses in journalism, graphic design, social media and PR but not enough solid experience in any of them and bogged down in office admin.

It's is utterly soul destroying but I'm a divorced single mum with a mortgage so completely trapped. Can't find another job that ticks the practical and financial boxes, have no time and can't afford to retrain at the moment.

I'm actually wondering about doing a nail technician course and combining it with cake making/decorating on a part time basis so I can at least reduce the number of hours I'm tied to a desk and be doing something creative/artistic instead.

I've just done one of the careers tests. Suggests I'd be really good at what I do now # fml

@hmmwhatatodo Different areas will have different availability so it's best to call the 0800 to find out. I have colleagues that work out of those hours