If you've switched careers or moved from "a job" to "a career"...

[Bluebooby]

What did you do before and what do you do now? Did you have to do some kind of training before you made the change? Do you have any regrets?

I graduated with a 2.1 in English literature during the last recession, struggled to get a job for a while and have never really got anywhere career wise. I've mostly worked in nmw jobs in retail and waitressing. Have done a bit of office temp work here and there. A little bit of sales though I don't really have the confidence for it. Then had my dd and was a sahm for a few years until I began a 0 hours contract job in retail right before lockdown struck and the store was closed.

Now I'm home again and I'm thinking about what I want for the future and how I can achieve it. I want a job where I earn enough to give me and my dd a nicer life, and something my parents could be proud of instead of seeing me as a failure. (They haven't held back on this. They definitely do.) I just don't really know what so I'm looking for inspiration. One thing I'm thinking about after reading it on another thread is accountancy, but I want some more ideas.

Hi OP. I was in your position five years ago and felt totally lost. I had a good degree but it felt wasted. I went from a retail job into schools- I knew I didn't want to teach but I've found my niche as support staff in a SEN school and absolutely love it. It definitely feels like a career, although the money isn't much better I love having the school holidays off with DS.

Thanks for replying. I almost forgot about this thread! I understand feeling like your degree is
being wasted. I'm glad you found something that you love. I actually do quite enjoy some aspects of customer service that you get with retail and hospitality type of roles but I don't love it enough to want to spend the rest of my life doing it. The social distancing and isolating is giving me a lot of time to think but I'm struggling for inspiration! I want more money too because I really want certain things for me and for my DD that I just can't afford on nmw. I'm not after big mega bucks, though if I found something I enjoyed that paid well I wouldn't turn it down!