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?

I completely changed career aged 50. Do you have any interest in coding? There are online courses by an organisation called code first girls. If you have some artistic flair you can look at web designer, then there's software engineer, data analyst etc. It's difficult to get your first job though.
What about working in insurance (as an underwriter) - my friend had a brilliant career doing that, and she says everyone she knows in the business has fallen into it somehow, no person/child/student ever thinks "I'm going to work in insurance". She got a training position after A-levels (which she mostly failed) and then had to pass a load of exams. Lots of statistics, if you're into that kind of thing. She earned good money.

Nearly all the options mentioned so far are badly paid traditionally ‘women’s’ roles eg nursing or caring OR about to be eaten by AI.

This could also be under threat by technology but did you get your DC through entrance or school exams to a high level for selective schools/universities? If so, I would look at tutoring for instant cash, especially English given your degree.

Otherwise I would look at doing a trade. It is highly paid, doesn’t take years to do and you can use your social media skills to drum up business. People trust women more especially if they’re female clients. I paid through the nose for a female electrician recently. You could then build up to managing building projects.

The OP clearly doesn’t want to do menial work and thinks they can slide into the working world into some high-flying role without any skills or previous experience. Don’t pooh-pooh the suggestions of retail etc because right now, you need to just get a job. You can work your way up.

I just wanted to say that I sympathise OP.

I am 54 and had to leave my last job in marketing/comms after I raised a grievance (they gave me a settlement) two months ago.

At the moment I am freelancing for a local business as a part time virtual assistant (I do anything from web design, social media, mailings to clients, dealing with queries from clients) which I am quite enjoying but I am not sure what to do next.

I half-heartedly looked into teacher training but a chat with a teacher friend of mine who was really honest about how bad discipline is and how stressful it can be I realised it is just not for me. I am not sure I would enjoy the civil service either.

How old are your children? Accountancy will be a lot of studying/exams to begin with. If they’re older and independent, you should be fine. Although the exams are tough and have a high fail rate. Are you numerate?

That successful mums site looks amazing. It’s good to not feel so alone. And worried.

I have heard teaching is a nightmare in uk nowadays.

These are two wildly different careers which would require different skill sets. SMM is likely to need some creativity, whereas bookkeeping needs attention to detail and at least some aptitude for numbers. While they will exist, I can't imagine many people would be well suited to both of these roles.

I think you should start at what you enjoy doing / what you're good at doing / what you have come up with transferrable skills for during your time as a SAHM and finding what jobs might suit that, rather than throwing out random potential jobs.

Could you train to be some kind of junior accountant (sorry I know nothing about accounting but if appeals that could be the path you investigate/focus on?

Most people have something they're quite good at. Do you enjoy writing, drawing, crafting etc. Or are you more science minded ?

You could go into the insurance sector via the customer service centres. No experience needed. You can fly through the ranks and become an underwriter.

Look at super mums, they train you in salesforce, would help if you were ok with tech, don't expect the first course will sort you but do a couple of follow up ones and you could be earning good money within a couple of years and OK money from when you complete the first course.

https://jobs.accaglobal.com/article/retraining-in-accountancy-in-your-50s

I agree with this. OP needs to work their way up, they can’t just land in accountancy and crack on.

Oh rubbish. Because I said I didn’t want to work in social care?

Because every single solid suggestion that has been given to you, you’ve shot down. I appreciate you are in a stressful situation but there is good advice on this thread, and you said yourself you don’t have the luxury of picking something you love. You’ve got a strong academic background and transferable skills from your years as a SAHM. Find a job and get out there.

I have not shot anything down apart from social care. Read the thread again. Show me where I have shot anything down apart from social care.

It’s all food for thought.

I don’t know why people are suggesting OP aim to become a “junior accountant”. That’s a starting position, not where OP would want to end up. Once she has the ACA qualification, what’s stopping her from striving for an established / experienced role? Mid-level accountants are very well paid, especially in London. I know a few and they’re on £100k+ a few years after becoming chartered.

Edit to add: @ OP, if you have an aptitude for numbers then accountancy is a great option. Plenty of progression for anyone ambitious.

And I don’t know why I am being accused of shooting down suggestions either or that I think I should be able to swan into some high paying role. There is zero evidence of this at all.

In terms of book-keeping, if you are numerate and good with spreadsheets and quick at picking up new software packages look at the AAT qualifications which can be done online (there will be a cost) and then consider setting yourself up as a freelance in this area. While I appreciate that some aspects of book-keeping are likely to end up being done by AI, I'd suspect there's going to be a market for a while for freelance book-keepers to work for small businesses or sole traders. What they often want is someone who will take all the finance pain away and get their accounts to a point where they can be audited by accountants. There is also the fact that the government is pressing ahead with something called "making tax digital" which is increasingly bringing all freelance workers into a world where they have to complete quarterly returns using specific software - quite a lot of these people won't understand how to do this and will need some help. I'm now mid-60s and have gone down a different route for the last few years of my working life, but I did look at book-keeping about 10 years ago and have been constantly impressed by the demand that there is for good book-keepers.

No to nursing, social care, and teaching.

Other than accountancy, what interests you?

Maybe look at apprenticeships OP

You said that care work didn’t interest you but when I had to start again from scratch at 50 I took an admin post with a care service and then moved across to management, taking a care management qualification along the way. The pay was actually very good and I didn’t actually do any care work at all. You could also look at paralegal work or maybe join a temp agency and try out various sectors to see what you enjoy most.

You've got childcare and housekeeping skills for a start which includes organisational skills, maybe even accounting, ie paying the bills skills.

I didn’t say no to teaching. I said o had heard it was awful at the moment. Not really the same thing.