Need to bring in more money, but what and how to do when, untrained, middle aged and already easily burnt out!

[Theteenagerera]

I am in my mid 40’s and currently working a 0 hour contract for a charity that offers support to families, I do really enjoy my job, but unfortunately it’s not giving me enough hours and I need to bring in more money.

It may seem to some that I have had quite a charmed life as was a SAHM for many years. My DH is quite high up in the Armed Forces and has spent the most part of the last two decades deployed so it made sense for me to stay at home with our 3 children.

In reality it was years of living away from friends and family with 3 DC in a blur of nappies, packing boxes, registering for GP surgeries school and nurseries/schools and trying to integrate us into a new area to do the whole thing again 18 months later, mostly just trying to be a good mum for our DC but still with interest in re-training in some kind of social work, support, counselling work, however with 3 young children and limited time or funds it just never happened…

Before I knew it the children were at secondary we were in a much more settled living arrangement and DH suggesting I go out and get a job.

Pre-having children, I was a qualified nursery teacher and had started to look at re-training in play therapy but then I fell pregnant.

I am ND and the older I have got the more I have struggled with anxiety, confidence, surroundings, environments and fear of doing or saying the wrong thing. My workplace is wonderfully inclusive and it’s why I’m finding it so hard to leave.

Ideally, my perfect job would now be a counselling or support job that I could do from home, we do have an office which is unused so plenty of space.

I would say my strengths are being an excellent listener, compassionate, working well in a one-to-one and small group environment. I take confidence from familiarity and repetition, I love the mundane, groundhog tasks. 😅 I have excellent communication skills and good written/English skills, I enjoy record/report type work.

My weaknesses are feeling out of my depth and anxious in a busier, noisier work environment.

I also don’t do well with technology, nothing goes right for me on a laptop! I have dyscalculia and there is something about all the symbols, numbers, different fonts, page/letter sizes just sends my brain in overdrive.

I have basic knowledge of teams/word/zoom but some of the expressions/wording on application forms of how confident would need to be around various programs has made me discount so many potential jobs.

I would say that the pressure to find a job, teamed with what my brain will allow me do is really starting to have an impact on my mental health, I want to help contribute more to our finances but sometimes I just feel so stuck and useless.

What advice would you give me? What can I do?

Hello OP, I'd take a two-speed approach in your circumstances: in the immediate term to pick up work quickly I'd take a WFH data entry or customer service job - both are repetitive, while the CS job requires good communication skills, and neither need any particular tech expertise. Longer term, do your online training in child counselling/ family therapy or wherever your interests lie. Just a quick response to pitch some ideas.

This is literally me! Was a sahm, until kids grew up a bit. I suffer with anxiety due to a few health issues but long story short I have found my dream job as a TA in my local school and I really enjoy it. Not too stressful, not too busy and I still get all my holidays. Have you thought about that route?

@Theteenagerera have you considered being a school exam invigilator? Most schools need them, so check on local school websites or the eTeach website. You obviously can't do it from home, but it sounds to me like getting out of the house will do you good. It's casual and seasonal so an easy one to try to see if it suits you.

Most schools now have children who need special exam arrangements in small rooms rather than being in the big hall with everyone else. That's why they need lots of invigilators - one for each room.

What about working for a Local Authority supporting families as an Early Help worker. Here is some info about the role.

'A key part of the Early Help Practitioner role is building a strength-based positive relationship with families while working alongside the Social Work Team and the District Safeguarding Team. As the first port of call, we work directly with children and families to understand daily lived experience and support parents to improve outcomes for children. The work may include support around housing, debt, budgeting, accessing food banks or direct work around parenting (including young carers), behaviour management strategies and work around attachment and emotional dysregulation.'

It sounds like your background working with children and subsequent transferable job skills might be a good fit. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. X

Forgot to say some Local Authority posts for Early Help workers offer part time.

I don't know if you have it around you but have you looked at something like home instead- which supports older people staying at home - it's not really care work, more little errands and checking on them and you tend to have the same clients for an hour at a time- so could do a couple a day and possibly still do your current job too

@Raininginparadise2 thank you for the suggestion, this does sound perfect for me though I haven’t seen anything like this advertised.

I’m looking on Indeed and Charity jobs website, can you suggest anywhere else?

Thanks everyone else, this is all really helpful.

Look on your Local Authority jobs page and that of surrounding LA's. Not every LA calls the role the same thing unfortunately. Roughly where are you based, North West, South East..?

I would say my strengths are being an excellent listener, compassionate, working well in a one-to-one and small group environment. I take confidence from familiarity and repetition, I love the mundane, groundhog tasks. 😅 I have excellent communication skills and good written/English skills, I enjoy record/report type work.

How about a PIP assessor or Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) Study Needs Assessor? Not sure whether you have a background in healthcare or disability, but you can ask about training.

The advantage is that is lots of report writing and you can do the assessments online from home, though not in your home.

Oh amazing, I’ll take a look, we are in the SW.

Thank you, this sounds interesting, I’ll take a look.

You could look at the school PFSA (parent family support advisor I think) role. Ours has her own office so can work in the quiet when she's not with families. The job involves listening to parents and signposting/ helping them with applications for things they need or could help them etc.

Adverts will be on LA websites in the school jobs section.

Support work sounds like it might be good for you?

I was a support worker previously for homeless young people, I absolutely loved it. You might not be able to work from home, but you’re out and about at appointments a lot, or having one-to-ones with the people on your case load, it’s really valuable work!

Come back and let us know when you get something xx

I hope you find what you’re looking for, @Theteenagerera. If you feel inclined you might ask MNHQ to move your thread to the Mature Study and Retraining board - it’s probably hugely relevant to an awful lot of people who find themselves in a similar situation. You would only need to click the Report button on your OP.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mature_students

I was a qualified nursery teacher

If you have a teaching qualification, you can teach any age group. Have you got a PGCE or a BEd/BA?

What about some primary supply to get your hand back in and see if you like it? You could find a jobshare of full time was too much.

Just thought I’d update here.

I have applied for lots of support/charity type jobs over the last week, nothing back as of yet but I’ll keep going.

I use Indeed, Charity Jobs, my LA websites and about to look on the NHS site as know some times similar roles are listed on there.

Is there anywhere else I can look that I might have missed? Especially for WFH home roles…

In the meantime my lovely manager has given a few more hours, unfortunately not a regular thing but I will take what I can get!!

Thanks everyone for all your advice and help so far, all really helpful advice.

If you are interested in counselling and related skills, you can do online government approved Level 4 (Diploma equivalent) courses free of charge, in Counselling, Understanding Autism, educational support etc. If you start by doing a couple of those from home free of charge, it could help you find connections and work. There are a few organisations that run them. Check you go for a government approved one if you then want to apply for work with local council.

OP, can you do Market Research from home to tide you over?

www.moneysavingexpert.com/team-blog/2020/02/how-to-earn-cash-from-market-research/

Where do I find the Gov approved councelling courses? Sorry to hijack this post

Level 4-are you sure? I've seen level 2 free courses but never 4. Can you link to where you have seen these?

There are courses from Free Courses England

Level 2 and Level 3 courses

Level 2 counselling is not BACP accredited.

Secondary schools will have pastoral roles and sixth form ones can be really nice especially as the kids are a bit older and (mostly) want to be there. In my school we have employed people who were a good fit for the team and enthusiastic but needed some computer support initially. You can learn the computer skills but I can't teach you enthusiasm. Don't be put off applying if you think you have the soft skills.

Agree that exam invigilation can be a good way to get your face known at a school. If you have local secondary schools but can't see an invigilator advert, just contact the Exams Officer and ask.

I’ve got an interview!!

Looks absolutely perfect for me, SEND support working with post 16 children/young adults in a small independent school setting.

please keep everything crossed for me! 🤞🏻