If you could retrain in anything now, what would you choose?

[HelloGreen]

A friend’s just announced she’s starting a social work degree (at the age of 48) in the autumn and it’s got me thinking.

If you could choose a completely different career path to the one you have now, or just tweak it slightly, what would you retrain in?

I'd go to medical school! Have always regretted not becoming a Doctor

Veterinary medicine or nursing so I could specialise in something interesting.

Otherwise, trading so I could make lots of money then retire and make cheese.

Physiotherapy! I am actually thinking of retraining into something now (profession under threat) but I couldn't afford a physio degree, but I find it super interesting as a job.

Archaeology

Voice actor, I have no idea how you'd get into something like that.

Speech and language therapist - when I went to uni didn’t even know it existed

Therapist, I'm 50 and seriously looking for ways to make it happen, hard when you don't have extra money for courses and still need to work to pay the bills though.

Here you go, @HelloGreen:

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

An entire board’s worth of responses.

Fashion! In particular fashion history.

Some hospitals/universities have degree apprenticeships in physiotherapy if you can live on a band 3 NHS wage.

Cyber security

Dentist.

Tiler. Or painter and decorator.

@Trickedbyadoughnut there is an apprenticeship route to physiotherapy where you are paid to train...a quick NHS jobs search of apprentice physiotherapist has one role at the moment.

I am a children's nurse and wish I trained as an adult nurse which would've opened up more roles such as opthalmology which I am really interested in. If I could retrain now I would study orthoptics or optometry! There are no universities near me that offer it, but I keep looking for apprenticeships as a way of re-training just in case an opportunity arises!

Thanks but I am abroad and, although I am British, my EU DH wouldn't be able to come to the UK on a visa sponsored by me on a band 3 wage, sadly.

Midwifery.

Otherwise, trading so I could make lots of money then retire and make cheese.
This sounds like a tremendous idea.

Aw thank you!

Scientist, doctor or lawyer. Only the latter was possible for me at the time but I chose social work. That was before having depression, anxiety and a disabled child. Now I would love to do something intellectually but not emotionally challenging.

I’d love to be a courtroom lawyer or a crime investigator of some sort.

Unfortunately I have the working memory of a fish.

Paramedic, or mental health nurse.

I’ve just retrained as a midwife, qualifying at age 40! Was hard going but love it. My next move is sonography in a couple of years

Same! Although I don’t think I’d have the patience in practice.

Law. I have dabbled and kind of get my fix a little as I'm a Magistrate but looking back I should have gone that route.

This is something I consider on a fairly regular basis. I'm quite crafty (very skilled knitter, reasonably good at a range of other crafts) and I would love to become an artisan maker/crafter. A proper one, not someone selling random stuff stuck together with a hot glue gun....

Probably a heritage craft, leatherwork or willow basket making, or weaving, or embroidery.