To worry I'm going to be stuck in a dead end minimum wage job forever

[jemenfiche]

Retraining is definitely not an option.

I have a degree but for a myriad of reasons can't really use it for anything purposeful.

Am in a minimum wage job. I never used to mind but recently things have changed at the company I work for and now it's just awful and I've been in tears most days this week

I really need inspiration for something else I can do before I go crazy

Ok that's good, it makes a difference! Keep going and don't give up

I'm in a similar spiral.

Boom your post is brilliant.

I was a teacher, was ill for a bit, had kids and seem to have lost confidence or even energy to be standing teaching each day. It feels like it's just minimum wage work out there (which is often physically demanding). I'm not slim and young so not sure temping will be easy (as well as sorting childcare).

I was initially hoping to retrain as a psychologist (before I lost confidence!/had second kid) but it's logistically impossible even if not madly competitive!

I'm not against retraining but I think I'm frozen in a mix of not knowing what I want to do /have energy to do and know what o can do. Most "mums" in our area do m/w work around the children and I don't really have the stamina to be a ta. I know I was really bright though (2 good degrees, used to love teaching) so it must be finding the right thing/gaining confidence again

mov1ng could you do some volunteering to gain confidence/ explore new options?

I did a little bit of work this last year (few hours a week) and as little one starts school was thinking of volunteering with Homestart.

I feel a bit trapped in needing childcare for real work/ knowing what I want to do. If i had a well paid career to go back to or some goal I'd follow it! It is hard to return after time out/nearly 40. Id love to have made different decisions younger - I'd lw to use my brain more....

Anyway - don't want to hijack ops thread as out situations are slightly different but can so empathise how coming out of teaching uyou can feel so unable to do anything else and no longer the right age /stage for graduate training programmes/entry point for glittering well paid careers.... And the choice seems to minimum wage or retraining. You can't leap across it feels like you might with accountancy/law/finance/marketing once you don't want to teach.

Without kids though you really are free to find something now! I hope it works out for you.

It's really hard to find the motivation to do anything when your current job has burnt you out. Just take note of any little sparks of interest - whether they are practical to pursue or not. I am in a similar situation (although with a family) also with a 2:1 degree in English. I made an effort to get to grips with grammar and now tutor English from home which I love.

If you could do anything what would it be?

I did a distance learning masters around full time work then part time work and a baby. If there is funding now, then I am sure there are lots of courses you could do like this that you fit around existing commitments.

I've retrained doing one very long day a week for 3 years and fitted work around that. It was post grad and didn't matter what degree you had. I got a discount for having a 2:1 (so don't say your degree is useless!).

If you have a crappy minimum wage job you hate then I think that opens up so many doors. You're not paralysed by the reliance of a large income you cannot replicate by moving into a new field, and you are not in a job you love so there is hopefully no emotional ties that are holding you at your current workplace.

You could do anything you wanted really.

Depending on when you did your first degree you could do another one under how funding works - dh did one pre 1998 student loan and post 1998 student loan as they changed the rules. It was the best thing he ever did for himself and is now a lot happier and has a great career.

Funded hcp routes might be worth investigation, you might have to get in debt to do them but you will earn more than minimum wage once you qualify so over say a ten year period you'll be quids in.

To get a 2:1 and to qualify as a teacher you must have intelligence, a work ethic, stamina and determination. To stick at a job you hate for little money again this shows work ethic, stamina, determination, maybe even stubbornness!

I also wanted to say thank you for your thread. I am having a difficult pregnancy and I am struggling and worrying about the future. Being able to see the options for someone else helps me to see I have options too.

I appreciate people are really very genuinely trying to help, but very genuinely in return, I can't just do anything. How would I pay the bills? :)

It's fine, it's my own fault, but the myth of just being able to go and do whatever is just that, it's a myth.

Handbag, sorry, I honed in on the negative part of your post (to me) then, unfairly.

It's just that in a different life I'd be married with children by now, and people proclaiming this as a positive hurts me a bit (it's my issue 100% by the way!) but it just does.

But on practical grounds, when you are on your own, you still need to pay council tax, electricity and so on, you still need somewhere to live, and pay for it, you still need to put petrol in the car and keep it roadworthy, you still need to buy friends birthday presents and occasionally socialise, you still need to eat. It's not just as simple as 'I've no children so I can go and retrain.' My own mum retrained in her 40s but she could only do so as my dad worked; I don't have that luxury.

I'm a bit fed up at the moment; I genuinely can't foresee the situation changing, so I posted in a bit of desperation last night. Thanks.

Well nothing will change as long as you arent willing to change it for yourself. I dont mean that in a snappy way, i mean it literally but you dont want to see it now, which is fine. I can see that right now you are happy to wallow in this self pity and Its pretty clear you are depressed but until you decide you've had enough of that then no-one can say anything that will help.

Go to an agency, honestly. Just google employment/ recruitment agencies in your area, ring them up, arrange to go I with your CV and passport and register and after that, voila! I almost guarentee you would get work, either perm or temp. Office, receptionsist, low level admin etc. It will be a start and you should earn more than minimum wage.

It honestly isn't that difficult- do it on Monday, you won't have anything to lose, it's free and you could (and probably will) gain a lot.

To add also, I agree with you that retraining just isn't feasible right now. I think you just need to get out of your dead end, minimum wage job and do low level admin or something and then work your way up from there in a years time. This is utterly realistic and could happen in the next couple of weeks, but you really need to go around and hound all of your local employment agencies.

Jackie, do you know what, you might think your 'tough love' stance is helping, it isn't. I don't think I am depressed and I'm pretty sure you don't either, unless you're a qualified doctor and can diagnose from a few words on a screen when I'm exhausted and irritable anyway. I really did wonder if there was something obvious I'd missed, as it seems insane I'm doing such an awful job that I don't even need GCSEs to do, when I've actually got good qualifications, but so I am and so I do, and I DO it. And I've done it for two years without much moaning, and then I have a moment on here and I'm depressed and not helping myself and blah blah.

Thanks Money, I'll have a look into that, although I'm not sure - I think the market is a bit saturated round here.

I don't think I am depressed and I'm pretty sure you don't either, unless you're a qualified doctor

So what were the pills the qualified doctor who saw you in person wanted to prescribe you when you went to them?

They were heart tablets, because I was experiencing some symptoms of anxiety and one of those symptoms was my heart beating very very fast. Is that okay with you or would you like any more from my medical records?

And if you arent depressed then catch a fucking grip of yourself, open your eyes and see how bloody lucky you are to have so many options and stop whingeing. Or at very least stop whingeing on a public forum where people will offer support that you are just going to dismiss without even considering. You are your problem OP.

Yeah, you're right, I should stop whinging, except I wasn't really

I was just asking for advice, unfortunately there wasn't really a huge amount I could take (which doesn't of course mean it wasn't kindly given or gratefully received) and for some reason you really seem to have taken a huge dislike to me and you really have made me very upset today and yesterday with your posts.

I don't imagine you care though do you?

Yesterday and Friday I was 'on the go' from early (half six or thereabouts) and that's half six at work so waking up at six, and only finishing at gone eight/nine at night, I was driving in heavy rain and traffic, dealing with some very difficult people and situations and I didn't even want to think about how much I didn't earn so I guess I didn't feel very lucky. Of course I am compared to most in the world but I guess you could say that about most people on here so could you please go and do that and leave me alone? Your posts are just upsetting and flustering me.

Two mins googling
www.slc.co.uk/services/postgraduate-loan.aspx

www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/courses/arts/english/english-studies-ma-online

The brilliant aspect of having a minimum wage job if you are not willing to change this aspect is that you'll not have to pay the loan back! Stick it to the man :)

If you really want marriage and kids then throw yourself into that. See if you can get a fertility check with your GP and find any and every opportunity to find like minded men.

In the meantime taking out a student loan to do a masters might give you something to focus on that is a positive. It might not lead to a job as such but it could be good for you to focus on something you are interested in and one positive might lead to other changes in your life.

What is stopping you applying for a distance learning course that can from August be paid with a (free to you) student loan?

I can't get a student loan. I have already explored this as a possibility - it was the first thing I asked :)

Anyway people - please, could we wrap it up there? It's a bit upsetting when someone takes a dislike to you and someone has and I don't want to keep arguing with people.

Well your posts are upsetting and flustering me too! Go and give your head a wobble, pull yourself out of this negative headspace and do something for yourself.

And no i havent taken any dislike to you, i have no idea who you are. I dislike the attitude with which you are approaching your problem. Or not approaching it as it happens.

Jem, I totally agree with pp who suggested joining some agencies talking up your transferable skills. They have their disadvantages but can open up opportunities and shake you out of a rut. How much notice do you need to give in your current role?

Why does the fact that I am unhappy make you angry? I'm trying to do something about it but I can't think of anything and you're just haranguing me and it's really fucking unfair. I haven't been abusive or nasty, on this thread or anywhere else, I haven't given anyone a hard time. Back off, please it's HORRIBLE.

2 weeks, supposedly venus, I'm not sure though. The uncertainty of work - I get precious free time as it is. Anyway, it is fine. I've done it for two years, it's not the end of the world, it's just we've got a new lot of clients who are really making life harder than it needs to be just now! :)

OP, I wonder if you could do some part time tutoring and/or exam marking to help you boost your income? Just having a few extra quid in your purse can help you feel brighter.

You sound very down and I think you need some proper RL support to help you find a way through this.