If you had to start completely again at 54

[MisguidedOptimist]

what would you do?

As a woman who has been rinsed financially by her stbexh, was a sahm to five kids, no skills and is looking to rebuild from scratch but is ambitious and wants to earn good money, where would you start?

I am lost. I want to train. Build a career. Be self sufficient. I would like to aim high as I may as well. But it’s all new to me!

What direction?

What are your skills, and have you ever worked?

Edited as I spotted you say you have no skills. Everyone is good at something, what are you good at?

Well, that would depend OP on whether you need to work straight away, whether you can afford to /want to study, what you want to do, what you think you might be good at, etc. I went back to uni in my 40s and did a degree in something unrelated to anything I'd done before (OU allows you to do this), and I'm now working in my new profession, so it is possible to completely reinvent yourself in midlife, but paying for education isn't cheap and it takes time to study and gain qualifications, which you have to balance against how many years you will have to work in your new profession and how much you can realistically expect to earn.

I would be reliant on courses like UDEMY or Coursera.

I don’t think I have the luxury of choosing something I might love. Don’t even know what that is. I need some skill acquisition that will serve me in terms of good employment.

The job centre will point you to free courses

or just a search on the government website

You don't have to rely on the online places you mentioned, they are pricey

Does Google still have free courses, worth checking. Also there used to be an accreditation you could put on your LinkedIn.

Do you have basic admin skills? If not, try a returning to work course, and then try to get into either the civil service/arms length body as an assistant officer, or in local government. The roles may not immediately set you on fire but at your age (the same age as me) they will set you up for a decent pension by the time you retire, plus you can move between departments in search of other more interesting vacancies. They also have decent annual leave and flexy working policies in the main.

I started as a counter assistant in a pharmacy and now I'm training to be a dispenser.

Do you have GCSEs in English and Maths? I’d apply to a nursing degree. You say you’ve not got any skills but you were a SAHM mum to five kids, that would’ve taught you a ton of transferable skills. First thing you need to do is work on your confidence!

Have a look at Brave Starts OP.

I just don’t have have. I’m really looking for something I can skill up on quickly.

I’ve been total and utter idiot.

Social media management? Or bookkeeping?

Start off in a care agency for a year or so then join a local authority in adults social services as a trainee and work your way up - you could even get a social care degree as you work - but there are other pathways into middle management without a SC degree

You ran a house and raised 5 children. You have skills but you need to figure out how they equate to a job with a good career trajectory. Bookkeeping, project management, HR?

Social media management isn’t always easy to do, it’s not simply posting - it’s following trends, creating content, being engaged with followers. I did it for a few years and wouldn’t do it in the current climate, not least because the market has been flooded with people doing it so that they can WFH.

Could you say a little bit about what kind of work environment you’re drawn to (or ruled out)? Public, private, third sector? Employed or self employed? Would you do a year’s professional training?

Thank you for this but I can state that this kind of work has zero appeal to me.

Not social care or nursing.

I would like to start on something that I can progress in quickly. Perhaps book keeping is the answer?

what ages are your youngest DC? If late teens then you have more options IMO in terms of your working and study hours. Would seek something that’s initially not well paid but with prospects to progress and get qualifications.

Following along with this for up skilling ideas im 50 need to work but very bloody restricted due to disabled children and a dying father

You could see if there is one of these near you

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7v1qgy6m12o

Start with anything to begin with - hotel receptionist, retail, care assistant, estate agency etc as half the battle will be gaining any type of work experience behind you. Once you have got that sorted so some online courses (future learn & ou do some free ones) to progress further.

If your DC are now of ages that can work whenever, would start in whatever job you can get, to bring in some cash while you look into things.

Driving instructor? Having navigated 5 teens you'd probably have excellent soft skills with them. There's a shortage of automatic teachers at the moment though I imagine set up costs can be high.

Driving examiners also have a surprisingly short training course, and 50% of them have no previous experience as instructors. I think the exam is quite tough though and they are not super high paid. But regular hours, more 9-5, lower set up costs, plenty of demand.

What about starting your own child care agency?

Social media, no. Too much skilled competition.

retail?.