to have no clue in my 30s what I want to do with my life (career related - help me please!!)

[themachinestops]

So I am currently sitting with lists of hundreds of career and job options and have no clue what to do!! Past while I've been going through the lists, something will jump out at me, but then I think oh I'm not clever enough for that.. I do lack confidence.

Can anyone help me out with some options. Has to be -

Something which doesn't require a DBS check as I have a record Nothing heinous or anything to do with children or vulnerable people at all but it would still show up for the next 10 years, I've checked with DBS service - I really wanted to do nursing or care assistant but that is out ): ):

Something I can start now or start studying for now - I have good GCSEs but that's it, and only experience is in retail 5 years many years ago and 1 year recently

Something not likely to be taken over by automation in the next 20/30 years. Yes I am a worrier!! but don't want to spend years training for something if I would need to retrain later on as my job becomes obsolete

Hours or pay not really a deciding factor, I can live on a low income if full time but would obviously prefer a higher income. DC older now so not too many childcare restrictions

I am a single parent and somehow I have got to my 30s without having any direction in life at all.. Have spent the last 14 years raising children whilst with ExP and I have very little in the way of qualifications or work experience.

Now the DC are getting older, I want (or rather, need - in the current economic climate) to train in a job that will support me in the future.

AIBU to ask for help in choosing a path that is within my reach, and to stop procrastinating and actually do it??!!

As school SLT we made the decision when CRBs (as they were then) came in with notes. It might be worth speaking to a care Home manager to see if the incident rules you out.
Best advice I ever got was to sit down with all the adverts and cross off anything I couldn’t do and go from there.

How about bookkeeping/accounts?
You could start off at college doing AAT then once you have the first level get a job in the accounts department of a company and keep studying. The higher level you go the more you will be worth you can go as far as you want just depends on how much you want to study.
There always seem to be plenty of jobs going

When I was between jobs I did an exercise that involved writing down what I enjoyed doing, what I was good at and the 5 occasions when I was most proud of what I'd achieved.

If you do this properly and really think about your answers, it is surprisingly illuminating in firming up areas that you'd like to work in.

As far as I understand for nursing/care (I am a nurse) you can have a record but you will be asked to a meeting to discuss it and its relevance to the job, so as long as you are completely open it may not be a problem obviously only you know what it was for so I may be talking rubbish. That said I wouldn't recommend my job unless you absolutely dream of doing it its not a job you can do unless you love it.

What drives you? What was it about nursing that appealed to you? What excites you? Why do you want a career? Are you more into sitting at a desk or moving around etc..?

Thanks everyone so far.

I think the record will always be a problem, not because it's something like violence or robbing old ladies, but sadly there are multiple offences on there not just one, and it is something which is never eventually 'filtered' out so it will always come up.
I recently applied for loads of voluntary positions in care work and every single one was declined due to my record ): ): Even though it's years ago now and I will never be involved in anything like it again, it was something I was involved in along with my ExP , why he's been EXP for the last 4 years.
I'd rather pick something where I know for a fact it won't reduce my chances.

What do I enjoy doing?? spending time with my DC, gardening, reading, anything about history, watching films, travelling to different places and cultures (if I could afford to haha), I quite like medical stuff and statistics as well.

What drives me?? Not sure My DC really that's it, my family and friends and hobbies.

Why do I want a career?? To be able to support myself financially really is the main reason

Nursing appealed to me because I love helping people, feeling like I have made a difference to someone's life in whichever way. That is the one thing I DO know and that came up in all the career tests at school..

I am not too bothered if the job is physical or sedentary. Although too physical wouldn't be good as I have a couple health issues.

Teaching assistant
Go receptionist/ office manager ?

What about social care, psychology, counselling, addiction studies, that kind of area?

They’d all surely also need an enhanced dbs?

What about a medical coder?

gardening.....starting a gardening business? Just cutting and clearing grass as a start? Clearing leaves in autumn. Lots of places (retirement homes/villages, residential buildings, churches, eldery with large gardens) pay for this work. You'd need a few bits of equiptment you can get from secomd hand sites, and flyers, maybe business insurance.

Depending on what your record is, maybe there is something you can do working with people who need help, ex cons or drug users often do mentoring for people trying to sort themselves out. That would be pretty full on and not well paid, but it could be an idea for some voluntary experience and would show future employers in other areas that you really have left the past behind.

I understand you may not want to disclose but it might be of assistance to know what the offences were. Some things matter more in some jobs than others.

Yes Social Care requires advanced x

DBS !

Leisure/beauty management?

I don't mean you could just parachute into a management position but you could retrain in that field - it's a broad church. It's still hands on and offers room for progression or horizontal move without being saddled too much by your past record.

I used to recruit carers and my company allowed me to make a judgement call on whether to go forward with an application from a person with a criminal record. I basically had to produce a written report showing that I had fully risk assessed that person in terms of the offences committed and whether I felt that they posed a risk to the vulnerable adults in our care. You would have to complete a form with sections explaining the circumstances around what you did, and how and why you were now a suitable person to work in this role. I would then monitor them closely in their first few weeks to make sure they were working safely. So depending on your offences you may still be able to find a role in care if you feel this is a path that is right for you.

Obviously we would have a face to face discussion at interview stage before all the aforementioned paperwork.

Thanks xx

I am actually a self employed cleaner and gardener at the moment!! I'm doing ok but I hate being self employed and would rather have a fixed salary to rely on every week.

I am looking at one of the following -

Doing a History Degree and then Museum work (it looks like only the posts which require direct work with groups of Children etc require dbs), or..

Management (not sure how to get into that), or..

Food Science Degree then employment in the private sector as a Food Scientist (doesn't seem to require dbs).

If anyone does any of the above I would be VERY grateful for advice, and I will do searches also.

Museum work following a history degree is not good odds.

Doing a History Degree and then Museum work

Depending on what you mean by 'museum work' - jobs like curator etc are highly competitive and few and far between. You would probably need to do a post grad degree as well (at least one). And the you would require a good deal of luck, as well.
Easier jobs to get in museums would be running workshops/ education officer type jobs (Though EO jobs are a bit dead man's shoes, as well) but obviously that would be a problem because of the dbs issue.

Tour guide/ ticket sales type of jobs would be easier to get - but wouldn't require a degree, I shouldn't think.

When I was at uni we all wanted to go into museum work ... none of us did

If you love helping people, how about being an information officer - anywhere from stations and airports or tourist offices to working at the ocuncil.

Not a career exactly but you could work as a GPs receptionist, library assistant or in retail somewhere like Build A Bear, an amusement park or one of those soft play cafes where I'm guessing you don't need clearance but will pick up related skills if once your record is clear you want to work with children or as a nurse.

The people I know who do museum work all have PhDs and are paid pretty much minimum wage, if that (long unpaid internships).

There will be way, way more opportunities in food science than museum work (which is highly competitive and underpaid).

Management is vague - what do you mean?

Food science is a good idea.

Lots of opportunities because it's not a very sexy industry.

Management is way too vague.
Did you like retail?