To retrain?

[extremepie]

Background: I'm 28 and 2 years ago qualified as a level 3 chef - spent 3 years at college training & was happy with my chosen career.

Fast forward to present, I moved to a different part of the country for work & had no trouble getting jobs. Recently DH & I split & he moved away.

This means I have had to give up my job as I work mostly evenings & weekends, very long hours & earn not much more than minimum wage so can't afford childcare & don't have anyone willing to help me out!

I don't really want to be a SAHP, for financial & persona reasons so would really like to return to work at some point but I am really feeling that chef work is just not going to be doable while I'm a single parent & even if I wasn't I'm starting to feel like it's not a job very compatible with family life.

It has been mentioned to me several times that I am good at massage & I'm wondering whether I should retrain as a massage therapist? It seems like a better option hours wise, not necessarily 9-5 but certainly not 11-11 like I was doing! I also really like the idea of being able to heal & help people whereas chef work seems a bit superficial & meaningless by comparison (no offense fellow chefs, I know it isn't always like that!)

WIBU to retrain after only recently finishing my chef training? Should I persevere with cheffing? Am I being naive about what massage therapy entails? Would it be better for me & DC's? Anyone have any insights? Sorry for all the questions!

OP: Do you have a spare room that could be a treatment room?

Are you interested in beauty treatments too?

It depends where you live if you could get enough clients.

At the moment I don't have a spare room but I am due to move soon so I might in the future!

Not really interested in the beauty stuff just the massage :)

I live in Cornwall so not super remote but not exactly London population either :/

Thinking laterally...could you find something to do with food that you could do during the day? eg cookery classes, setting up a little business making posh frozen meals for people...

Thinking similar, stinkingbishop. - OP, can you do a QTS and teach Food Tech? Work in a cafe? Cook lunches for a nursery?

Problem is, I don't drive and so any job opportunities would have to be very close for me to be able to get there & unfortunately none of the kind of jobs mentioned are available near me :(

You need to check out the competition.
To put not to fine a point on it I know loads of people that are retraining as massage therapists at the moment.
There can't be that much demand.
Not being able to drive would put you at a disadvantage too if you are relying on clients having to come to you.
Why not diversify with the skills you have?

You might get some advice and info on www.salongeek.com - a forum for beauty and hair professionals. I have used it myself as I would like to retrain to do bridal hair & makeup (not an option at the moment, but on my 'to-do' list in about 3 years). From what I have seen on there, massage is physically very demanding and can result in injuries if you are doing nothing else. Would you be planning to do half a dozen massages a week or work full time as a therapist? I think there is high demand for massage as a treatment but you might want to consider doing other, less physical, treatments too - have you thought about facials??

And re: diversifying - could you do catering? Weddings, funerals, conferences etc... You would need transport, but really if you are going to be self employed and live outside of a city then you may want to learn to drive anyway if you can. Is there a reason why you can't? It would open up more options for you I think.

OP: Are there enough local people with a spare £20 - £30 who would want a massage?

Cornwall is an area of high unemployment and low wages - as you no doubt know already.

I do need to learn to drive but it's just cost that prevents me at the moment!

Yes I have heard that it is quite demanding physically, which is why I'm trying to find out a bit more about it. Having said that working 12hrs + standing on your feet all day & no breaks is physically demanding so I'm no stranger to that!

Learn to drive, buy van, do holiday cottage catering.