If you were trained for a very specific job...

[JubJubBirds]

and then became too ill to do that job, what would you do? For example, a surgeon or nursery nurse - very different jobs I know, but a job with a very specific training and experience that means you dont have very transferrable skills.

What if your health meant you weren't strong enough to be responsible for others anymore so you couldnt just go part time in your current role? What would you do about work?

I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the fact I cant do my job due to my health (a job that has been my whole life since I was 18), but I do realise that I need to suck it up and go out and earn money somehow.

I guess I need a part time, non physically demanding job and all I can think of is admin work. But I don't have any admin or office experience at all (and I'm worried I'll miss working in my field).

So... WIBU to go on benefits/rely on savings & my DP and just wait for one of the very rare admin style jobs in my field to come up (which could take years). Or should I stop being so proud picky and just change my job search to junior entry positions and more unskilled work?

It's very hard to comment without knowing the field. I would say that both surgeons and nusery nurses have very transferable skills.

What was the specific job you did before? Can you train others to do that job? NVQ assessor, college tutor? There may be sideways career moves you can make rather than going for more junior roles.

I was a teacher. Sorry, I didnt mean to be precious about not wanting to share my role, now I think about it of course its more helpful for you to know it!

You have masses of transferable skills then!! Of on the school run, but will ponder.

I think you may be concentrating to much on your job-specific skills and ignoring the transferable ones.

To take your examples - I would expect a surgeon to have the following skills:

• Teamworking
• Leadership
• People skills (they need to discuss with patients)
• Time management
• Organisation
• Anatomical knowledge (could transfer into teaching, proofreading textbooks, advising TV scripts, working for a company making e.g. replacement hip joints)

Nursery nurse:

• Responsible
• Empathetic
• Observant
• Teamworking
• Good communication skills (to co-workers, parents)

And that's off the top of my head.

You don't consider that you have transferrable skills - I would very much doubt that, but I think perhaps you are being too task-specific in what you view as a skill. E.g. don't think 'I can juggle three balls at a time' , but instead consider what you have that makes that task possible, e.g. good hand/eye co-ordination, balance, spatial awareness, dexterity.

Thanks Penguins.

I'm having a bit of a pity party I think. My health is really poor at the moment so I'm not able to work at all just yet, but it is rapidly improving (hurrah) and so I'm hoping I'll be able to work in some way again next year. I just cant figure out how. I feel so useless not being able to do my job.

Thanks Where, that's a really good way to look at it.

Have you considered jobs in education but not teaching JubJubBirds? I am a teacher and over the years colleagues and friends have left for various reasons (children, health, stress) and gone on to do jobs such as working for an educational publisher, education officer for a charity, education sector in museums/libraries, working in development for the local authority.

Could you do something like exam marking to tide you over? Were you primary or secondary - and do you have a specialism that would help in the job market?

For what it's worth, I think we teachers have loads of transferable skills, but for some reason we believe that we can only teach. Teaching encompasses organisational skills; creativity; teamwork; leadership skills; communication; problem-solving; management of others - often in difficult/contentious circumstances - off the top of my head but there are loads more.

Lots of luck for the job search

I know you say it's rare for an administrative job to come along in your field, but is it possibly something where you could create your own position? You have a lot of experience in it, which must have some value on an administrative or educational level. If you're considering not working anyway, then maybe you could stand to spend six months or a year trying to get something like that underway.

Alternatively, I'd be looking for a change, but definitely don't resign yourself to thinking you'll have to do something you don't like! Have a think about what your other interests are, and perhaps something in those fields will crop up.

Oh, sorry! Missed your later post. Will have a think.

Is supply an option? Job share (loads of teachers seem to be doing it)? Tutoring? Working for one of the agencies that run group tutor sessions (is it Kumon??)?

I used to work in a conservation charity and they had education officers whose job it was to come up with online activities for parents and teachers to download and do with children. Something like that would use your skills but would be office based and have scope for working from home if needs be.

On a related note, a while ago I read an article about people working freelance creating teaching resources and lesson plans.

Tutoring? Marking? Writing exam papers etc? writing POS? There are do many things you could do? Coaching/ mentoring spring to mind. Fwiw I was a teacher and then had cancer and now am sahm looking after very sick daughter. You get used to it!

Oh you're all lovely!

I couldn't do supply/job share as it's just too demanding. Any job I go for would have to be aware of my needs anyway so I'm not sure I'd even be found medically fit enough to have responsibility of a class of children. I would have to abandon the class if I had a sudden pain or toileting issue, I just couldn't let myself get do that to them.

overthemill I'm sorry to hear of your illness and your daughters, how unspeakably unfair for you .

Isn't it stange that the school terms continue to happen even though you're not there? At different times of the year I think to myself 'oh, they'll be practising for sports day/the nativity/having wet play today.'

coaching, mentoring, tutoring.

Educational services - eg publishing, charities that work in schools (what Needa said)

Retrain as a proofreader or copy editor. Write about education. Educational writer - someone has to create the resources!

Adult education, working with young people who need additional support with their reading/writing (probably accessed through a charity).

There are millions of things you could do!

Night school/adult learning? Exam board consulting?

I used to be a teacher. I now work as an editor :)

Teachers have hugely transferrable skills, in fact they're in demand as they tend to be organised, great at juggling a million jobs, have great attention to detail and be good at presentation, all extremely valuable skills. I could do my current job in my sleep, yet my bosses are amazed at my ability!
When you're used to the massive multitasking that teaching involves office jobs, where you can actually concentrate on one thing at time, seem amazingly restful :)

Gosh, I cant keep up, this is fantastic! I'm putting all your ideas down on my Big Scary List, and it seems a teeny tiny bit less scary after talking to you lot.

and and all round for all your hard work.

If you want to go down the administrative route, try looking for vacancies at your nearest university? Huge range of positions, and your teaching experience would definitely be valued.

I agree with others. I don't know how your disability affects you, so sorry if some of these are unworkable. But:

• Staying teaching, just not a school or a class:

education officers for charities/local authority funded projects/museums
teaching baby groups like singing classes, swim classes, etc
teaching short courses/evening classes
tutoring
running training sessions.

• Using your knowledge of education in another field:

again, certain jobs in museums, etc planning content and liaising with schools
education journalism or creating school resources
editing
administrative work in universities and colleges

And that's before you get onto jobs which simply use skills like organisation, presentation and multi tasking without being directly linked to education.

Jubjub, have you had a look at learndirect's website? They can help you with admin qualifications, particularly if you are on benefits, it's often free.

I,m a mental health nurse due to a lot of reasons I probably won't be going back but i think I have very transferable skill ,s I,m good at communicating, good at managing people ,I,m very good in a crisis good at listening ,very empathetic due too the nature of my job things tend not to phase me!

Just thought of another one - what about working with the interrupted learners' service? Involves working with children who are in hospital, school refusers, who can't attend school for various reasons. A colleague used to do this and she loved it. Hours aren't regular and vary depending on when you're needed, but most of the time I think the pupils' teachers provide the work and you go through it with them, so relatively stress-free.

I was thinking tutoring- you can be paid a lot per hour, it's less stressful one-on-one than having a whole class, and jobs seem to come up for pupils of all ages. Good luck!