Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Can you give me some advice re work/careers?

3 replies

purplespink · 28/09/2024 09:12

NC'd as I'm embarrassed.

I have experience working as a supervisor in retail, hotel receptionist and 6 months in a bank (temp contract). I haven't enjoyed any of these jobs but just did them for the money. I've been a SAHM for about two years now but when thinking about returning to work, I'm stumped. We don't 'need' the money but I need to start thinking about what to do otherwise I'll miss out on my pension contributions. I can afford another two years off but then I'll need to work for 30 years or so to make sure I qualify as I have about 5 years of contributions and I'm nearly 30. I'm daunted about this as I do not know what I want to do. I've been offered two jobs recently but didn't take either as 1 was too many hours (didn't know before interview) and the other I got a bad vibe from the interview and knew I wouldn't be happy there.

A big 'thing' is that because we don't financially need the money, DH says that if I do take a job it should be because I really want to do it and love it. That's great in theory but A) I genuinely have no idea what I'd enjoy doing and I've spent hours looking at careers and how to get into them and I've literally not seen anything I'd 'love' to do. I love being a SAHM but I can't do that forever. B) I'm not that qualified (GCSE's and A Levels) and feel like I don't have lots of 'good' work experience. Another problem is that when I do, it'll need to be part time and interfere with family life as minimally as possible. I did look at training and working in a nursery but I know that I wouldn't really enjoy that either.

Can anyone give me some advice? I feel like I'm just useless and drifting through with no plan, which scares me.

OP posts:
DontBiteTheCat · 28/09/2024 09:15

Would support work appeal?

There are so many options - mental health support, domestic abuse support, homelessness support, family support…

The shifts are usually flexible depending where you work, and you could apply for part time roles for more flexibility?

StoneTheCrone · 28/09/2024 09:18

What activities do you enjoy? What are your hobbies? What did you enjoy doing when you were aged between 7 and 12? Do you like working with people? Do you like being outdoors?

Essentially, you need to figure out what you like and then decide whether you'd be any good at it or not.

Try the careers service online. They have questionnaires you can fill in to tell you which career would suit you.

InWithPeaceOutWithStress · 28/09/2024 09:34

Could you do some voluntary work to figure out what you enjoy?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page