To ask you for job/business ideas?

[Loathemyjob]

Posting here for traffic and feeling desperate. Woke up at 5.40am in panic about the forthcoming work day and how much I am unsuited to my job.

Background: I suppose I'm fairly intelligent (at least academically). Oxbridge degree in history and MSc in International Relations. Am currently working as a litigator in the City and hate it. Have been doing law (including training contract) for four years now and it's becoming increasingly obvious to everyone that this is not sustainable.

I don't care about my job. I don't care about the clients. I don't like a lot of the people I work with. My lack of care manifests as lack of attention to detail, occasional errors and feedback that I am not sufficiently enthusiastic. No shit.

So, please, please people of mumsnet, give me some ideas.

About me - I have been described as a maverick. I am impatient, clever, not especially "good" with people (I'm not a people-person particularly - I can get on and make polite conversation but I'm not naturally warm or bubbly), I do not like being told what to do and am not great at taking criticism. I have generally enjoyed fighting against the norm - fighting for the underdog (I enjoy CSR and lead a lot of CSR initiatives at work), fighting inequality (I'm involved with LGBT rights), sticking my head above the parapet and challenging a lot of "City" attitudes. This does not always make me popular.

Ideally I want to run my own business and be my own boss. Ideas I've had include starting a tutoring business, a nursery (but lack of premises is proving difficult), going into property development/buy-to-let and buying and running a B&B. In theory, if push came to shove, I could probably free up around £80,000 in capital to start a business.

So - please, please give me some ideas. Re-training is a possibility (I've always been drawn to midwifery as I love babies and like medicine, but fear that I would be awful at building a rapport with women).

Just throw some ideas out there - am all ears!

I don't know if this is bollocks or not but could this be a starting point? Myers Briggs

You made me think of these types if jobs but I'm not sure if they would match your salary needs with your dc.

But that's the sort of job that sounds like it would suit you, fighting for the underdog?

Not liking to be told what to do sounds pretty standard for a lawyer! Depending on where you are in your training, you could go in-house. You will still have a boss everyone has a boss, even if they're self-employed but it's a bit different if you're employed as an expert, and your boss isn't in the same field.
You actually sound a bit like my DH, who started studying law until he realised he hated it! He then became a social worker and was a fantastic advocate for his clients, although that job eventually became very stressful indeed. It's not particularly well paid either.
Why don't you pay for some really good careers advice, psychometric testing etc.?

If you're not a 'people person' then I would rule out all the caring professions that you have mentioned.

It's odd that you are a solicitor (are you? I'm not great on legal terms). Did you not think about being a barrister?

What about buying a hotel and running that?

I believe a different kind of nursery would do well. The sort I've worked out myself.

A permanent 'christmas village' type craft place. There's a few about.

I would focus on emerging markets and look at what the margins are. I would advise against buy to let if you are going to deal with welfare recipients as if universal credit comes in there are going to be a lot of landlords owed rent.

Could you go into academia ?

I think you have to find a way of working out if you're a real maverick, or just a maverick in terms of the law - which IMHO is one of those professions where people who are acting outwith a very rigid system think they are a lot more creative/flexible than they really are.

Just reading back your OP. Please do not do medicine. You are clearly academic enough to do it but if you do not like being told what to do you will struggle. Although things are improving, medicine is still pretty old-school and hierarchical. I worked on a firm as an SHO and was told by the consultant that the registrar must walk behind him on ward rounds, and as the SHO I should walk behind the registrar. I was gob smacked! How could it damage a patient if I walked in front of them? It would make no difference, just perhaps damage the ego of the big headed consultant. When I was an orthopaedics SHO a guy came in who needed the same procedure in each foot. The consultant did the right and I was given the left. This was the most cack handed consultant I have ever dealt with-he botched everything. Anyway we cracked on in theatre and did the job and 6 weeks later I was tasked with doing the post op out patients clinic and the patient limped in. Patient was angry. One foot had healed beautifully and the other foot looked like it had been attacked by Hannibal Lecter. When I explained I had done one foot he started ranting at me that a junior doctor should not have been let loose on his foot and look at the mess I had made. I showed him the theatre notes which clearly stated I had done the good foot, not the botched one. He said he wanted to speak to the consultant, so I went and got him and then he rollicked the consultant saying a junior was better than him. The consultant threatened to sack me for not lying and said he had done the good foot. I was fuming about it. Got a dreadful reference from him. I hated every day of it.