Can you help by suggesting possible career paths?

[JustAMum31]

Not really sure if this will help but I feel a bit overwhelmed at the thought of a job hunt and hope that maybe others will be able to give me some starting points 🤞🏼😊

DC will be starting school next year. My current job role has a 5.30 finish and there is no flexibility in that whatsoever. DC will finish school at 2.45pm.

Our plan had always been for one grandparent to be semi-retired by then and to do school pick up and look after DC until I finish work (completely their idea - they asked to do this. I would never ask for or expect family childcare. They don’t currently do any. We use nursery for all childcare). A change in their circumstances mean childcare after school will no longer be possible.
We have a school breakfast club but no after school club.

So it’s job hunt for me. Ideally I need:

• Something part time that can fit around school hours. Happy to do more in the evenings when DC is in bed if needed.
• Maybe a WFH position? We live in a small town, nearest big city being 1 hour away. Not a huge number of options locally.
• My background is in retail and retail management (have worked since age 14 - so 20 years with no gaps). I am used to dealing with customers both face to face and over the phone.
• I can use excel/word and am relatively computer literate
• I do have a degree but due to caring responsibilities that I had to take on after finishing university it was not possible to take up a graduate role in the field - I just had to work locally and be available,
• I don’t need to bring in a huge amount of money - around £1000 a month would be fine. Obviously more would be a bonus.

Have a great DH - just before he’s asked about 😊 but his work takes him away from home for weeks at a time (he’s away 50% of the year). Extremely hands on when he is here and I would have plenty of scope to work extra while he is home but need the flexibility when he isn’t.

I have just over one full year before I’ll need to begin the job hunt.
Can anyone suggest any kind of role/industry that may offer the kind of flexibility that I need?
Are there any online courses that I could begin just now to gain more skills and stand me in better stead for finding a position like this when I haven’t held one before?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated 😊

There might be an admin type role at your local council or NHS that'd suit you

I know it’s not what you’ve asked for, but worth checking your council website to see if there’s any registered childminders who do the run to /from that primary school.

also look at jobs in secondary schools.

@Shoxfordian Thank you - I’m keeping an eye on both of these options to see what kind or roles come up but everything seems to be office based. Our main council office is about 35 mins away.

@FancyBiscuitsLevel Thank you. School job would be absolutely ideal but as expected they’re near impossible to come by!
I’m going to start brushing up on my admin skills though just incase!

Childminder would absolutely be the most convenient choice but I have an extremely sensitive DC who does not cope well with change and I know that the transition to school is going to be a very difficult one. We don’t feel comfortable adding another new environment. And I’m not actually sure that I’m comfortable with using a childminder anyway if I’m honest. I’m sure there are loads of lovely ones and I know some families love it but it’s just not for me 😊

Do you have a civil service office anywhere near by? Depending on Dept there can be quite a lot of flex with these in terms of hours and WFH.

Elsewhere, you do see admin jobs advertised from time to time as mornings only.

The other obvious one is an office job at DS's school.

@MoreRabbit Thank you 😊 civil service offices are around 25 miles from us so probably a bit far to fit in any decent shift. I have been keeping an eye and most roles seem to be hybrid rather than full WFH but I will continue to keep an eye 😊 and I’ll brush up on my admin skills in the mean time!

School would be ideal but I’m sure every parent is on the hunt for those so I can’t imagine they are easy to come by 😊