What is my ideal job?!

[careercareering]

Apologies this has ended up really long! Any advice or viewpoints appreciated.

I am a professional woman in my early 40's but I feel like I am in the wrong career and not playing to my strengths. I am thinking of changing role but I have a number of factors holding me back-one is that I work 2 days per week (plus a bit!) and would love to keep that or similar.

I have an high 2.1 and an MSc from top universities and get on well with everyone. I am smart and have good understanding but I fall down in other areas. I can find it difficult to build credibility in a professional workplace-I am a bit quirky, wordy and lacking in (work) confidence. I also sometimes do not produce work to speed, I like it to be right and go into the detail more than necessary. I work best to deadlines and have always been someone who produces the best work when I am really interested. I have wondered if I may have ADHD and I do have mild dyslexia, I was the type at school who pootled along doing ok but then would sometimes get 100% in a piece of coursework/essay that I got into and surprise people. That doesn't seem to pay off so well in the workplace! I like working with people but am working more with data.

I am torn between sticking in my job with ok performance and just trying to not let it bother me that I am not climbing the greasy pole fast; moving into another area of the business that comes with the benefit of a professional qualification -hr, finance or IT, in the hope of a good salary/maybe a better fit and changing it up entirely-becoming a PT, gardener, social worker etc. But with the latter losing all the benefits of working for a large company.

What are you interested in? What subjects were your degrees in?

Anthropology, geography with a focus on social/cultural side. I love books and reading. Also into sport.

Have you thought of working for yourself and becoming an indexer?

www.indexers.org.uk/about-indexing/a-career-in-indexing/

This is a job which you can do at home to your own schedule, although you would have to meet the deadline set by publishers. Although it would probably entail some contact with clients/publishers/editors most of the tasks would be in your home office. Its also a job which could be combined with other occupations or interests such as writing short articles or stories for magazines or publishing content on social media for indie businesses.

Its a job I thought of once myself after I had published my own book. Like yourself I have an eye for meticulous detail and had worked for a number of years as a library cataloguer. In the event I became an academic and moved in a different direction.

Thank you. That does look interesting, I will look into it, though I do enjoy working with a team/clients etc.