Advice for change of career/finding yourself? *desperate for advice*

[happydontjudgeme]

Hello,

anyone that times the time to read this.. thank you.

I’m genuinely in the biggest slump I’ve ever been in, my whole life… where I work is closing in a month and I don’t know what path to take.

ever since I went back to work after maternity leave and my relationship broke down; I’ve felt lost. Been from job to job, doing admin. And don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful I’ve had jobs but I feel numb with no satisfaction. I’m financially not doing well, I don’t have a passion for anything career wise that I want to peruse..

I qualified as a hairdresser when I left school, and never really got into it (I’m now 30) and predominantly since I left school have worked admin/office manager type jobs with little to no progression.

I don’t think I want to sit and work in an office anymore, and I would LOVE more than anything to work for myself doing something I genuinely enjoy.

but I feel it’s too late to find my passion.. and quite frankly, where do I start?! I’m too late to ‘trial’ things, I don’t have the financial freedom of trying courses.. honestly I feel in a pit of helplessness and don’t know where to turn next.

my current job is closing in a month.. so I have a month to figure out what I’m doing.
it’s hard enough to find a new job anyway, let alone one I want to do and feel a true interest for…

has anyone else completely started over at 30, whilst being a single parent?! (I don’t want to not work and claim as an option, financially I have debts I need to pay, a roof to keep over our head) how do I discover myself? I don’t feel I have any real talents or trades.. :((((

I genuinely don’t know what to do

It is really hard after having children and all the responsibilities that come with that to retrain and go for something new but so worthwhile if you can do it. What are your interests? Is there anything you are passionate about? Could you be studying towards something in the evenings or at the weekend alongside work with a longer term career plan?

If you enjoyed hairdressing the you might need something more creative, and personal.

I also worked as a hairdresser for a few years after school and loved it. I then switched to the travel industry and hotels for decades. The only thing there is the shift work but you could look at something like event planning.

Or, retail but maybe a small shop or a book shop or something like that? Or a local historic site, perhaps where you could really delve into history? I think you really need to think about what does interest you.

Thank you both @Byron1990@GoodGirlFaith- honestly, my actual interests in life are music, anything creative, dance, design.. but I’m not good enough at any of those for a career out of them. I think I’ve got myself in such a burnout stage that studying of an evening feels undoable but maybe I need to put more faith in myself.

i really appreciate your ideas, I find that it’s hard to find a job that doesn’t want someone to work weekends (can only do every other) or really early starts or late finishes unless it’s a general admin job. I don’t want to ideally be working all the hours under the sun and putting my child in loads of different clubs, it’s the first time in ages recently I’ve felt like their mum, like properly. But maybe finding myself and my passions is too much right now?

i think bcos where I work is closing, it’s making me think of it as an opportunity to create a fresh start.. I don’t know whether to take this next month to really try get myself back on track and find something I really enjoy, or whether to just secure another job asap so I can pay the bills.. it feels the first one is a risk that may not pay off but the second one just leaves me feeling stuck in a cycle yet again.

its hard to explain without going into too much detail so appreciate the responses. Usually I get a gut feeling but I feel very lost with direction right now!

Hey @happydontjudgeme I would just apply for loads of jobs and see what comes up. Take one that fits in with your children. It might be something you can really get your teeth into but in the meantime, at least you don't have to worry about the bills while you continue to think about what you'd really enjoy doing.

Meetings and events people in hotels quite often work office hours. That is a job with a nice mix of admin, creative and meeting people.

I actually found a job in a different sector though applying for all kinds of different jobs online. Something came up that was in a different industry and it's worked out really well for me.

Good luck!