Name changed for this as details could be outing.
I’m 38 and on maternity leave with my second. I’ve been really unhappy at work for quite a while and I can’t face going back to the same situation. I will go back for a while otherwise I’ll lose my maternity pay but I need to start thinking now about a plan b/career change.
I’m feeling really depressed about this and like I have no real skills or energy. My mental health is a bit up and down anyway and the pressure at work has pushed me to the edge more than once. I fear I’m not going to be able to cope with returning or with doing anything else for that matter.
What could I do? Where should I start?
Background in case it’s helpful:
Currently work as a university lecturer. Have lots of humanities qualifications and have worked (briefly) in heritage and with children before. Have also done a small amount of charity volunteer work.
Would like to work with people rather than systems/data most of the time. I care about vulnerable people and mental health (especially amongst mums). I enjoy being outdoors but I’m not very physical/sporty. I love learning. I enjoy digital design for things like publicity for events but I don’t have any special programming/computer knowledge. I can present to an audience and can write well.
DH works full time. I can afford to take a few years to retrain whilst working part time or a couple of years to retrain full time if I could start earning after 2 years.
My hobby is amateur archaeology/palaeontology. But I know that is really a hobby and there are no careers that could follow from formal training in that area that would work for me.