Jobs/careers that pay well

[Beachtimeyay]

I'm in a rubbish zero hours job getting the London wage. I have a 3 year old who won't be getting her 30 hours until May so she's with a childminder 15 hours/week.

I completed 1 year of university 3 years ago but I don't want to go back.

I can barely save and would just love a stable income so I can at least have a little great here and there.

Which careers should I be looking at that pay well?

Sorry OP but you will struggle - I thought you only completed 1 year of Uni so would not really be a grad? ACCA is MUCH more technical than AAT by a large factor. I used to work 9-5 then go to college for AAT then self studied ACCA while working full time and starting my business. If you can't manage AAT after work you will not manage ACCA imo. It's bloody hard.
ACCA used to offer something called CAT (Certified Accounting Technician) - bit like AAT but sets you up well for ACCA and gives you exemptions on the first 3 acca exams. You could self study that? Then at least you can flex your study time around work and get a good insight into acca exam style and content.....

Hi OP! Another person saying do not attempt ACCA if you can’t get through AAT. Don’t forget if you finish AAT you are exempt from f1-3 anyway. (Check this as its a long time since I did those exams)
ACCA has some pretty nice exams to start and then they get quite difficult. AAT is also much better imo if you don’t have industry experience at teaching you ‘the ropes’.

Good luck. So I studied ACCA at home as well as on courses and my dh did the whole thing at home, you don’t have to study on a course but again if you’ve no aptitude for maths most courses are intense sit and pass courses and don’t have time for anyone who is just about grasping things. You also don’t get to choose any exams until the final paper so although you say you want to do business management that won’t really happen. Think pure tax or financial accounting exams before any kind of choice and even then the choices narrow down to technical papers such as tax or audit.

Ps I’ve interviewed for junior accountants and I’d pick someone AAT qualified any day over the early stages of ACCA as well.

If I do AAT I would go straight to level 3. I have my level 2 books, it didn't find it difficult to be honest so I could study and test myself from home then maybe do level 3 from home too in a matter of months.

Don't do medicine for the money.

Im 20 years in and working harder than ever for about £500/month more than I earned in 2005.

You have to pay a load of fees and for most of your own courses and training.

For a similar amountnof effort you could do dentistry

You could cut in at AAT 3 and think you can do 4 self study as well. AAT offer a practise license as well if you wanted to start your own company.....

Drug and alcohol worker. U get paid about 30k.it doesn't require qualifications but you could volunteer once a week to get the experience and apply from there. Any qualifications u do do will be on the job
Problem is most well paid jobs need some sort of experience at least so i do reccomend volunteering even if u drop a day at work and claim more benefit
Probation officer is also good and they train you on the job

@otterses you don't need a degree to be a probation officer..they have their own first degree.

I did a degree in criminology..a complete waste of time. It doesn't actually qualify you for anything other than a criminologist and thats with a masters. I am a probation officer. We are all desperate to leave. Your better off training to be a psychologist

If you have customer service experience, try to find a sales support Job in an IT or cyber technology company.
Our sales supports make about £40,000 after about 3 years. No qualifications as such, just strong customer service skills and lots of hours.

Mortgage adviser or financial adviser. Both careers you don’t need a degree for but you will need professional qualifications.

Sadly there won’t be many careers that pay well without professional qualifications. You can get a job in financial services and see if your employer will pay.

I’m training to be an accountant and my employer is paying for my qualification. Is that an option?

Suggestions to do Medicine and Dentistry are unrealistic for the OP if you have RTFT.

Look for admin jobs in large companies or temp to begin, if you are diligent and keen then there are usually opportunities to progress. For example if you worked in a PMO (project management office) this is a good job in it's own right but also good route to progress into project management which is a well paying role. Alternatively if you start with admin you could end up in accounts/hr etc all of which will then offer on the job training, as you're already a known quantity companies are generally keen to train and up skill you if you show willing. Because you're already working in that environment you'll have a good idea of whether you'll actually like it too! You're still young. If you do have any leaning to IT then you're also well placed to learn coding, there are free courses on sites like code academy where you can see if you like it.

@Banana1979 that's odd. I was told a degree wasn't essential, but it dramatically reduced the time it took to train if you had a 'relevant' degree, from about 36 months to 14 I think it was? It made more sense to me to get it out of the way with now, as applying isn't really an option for me for a couple more years. Especially if it reduced training time.

If that's wrong though I will be raging 😂

I went to a recruitment evening last year, sadly quite sold on the idea haha!

Block Management huge shortage of them at the moment, there is one body that offers qualifications and it’s not that expensive to do in comparison to other qualifications. Looking at the hundreds not thousands for them. There is also a well know block management company that have majority of staff work from home which may be an option for you. It’s a really varied job and can leads to loads of other areas. Jobs vary from £35k to £50k within London.

Stay a million miles away from Notting Hill housing, not the greatest of employers and they’ve cut their starting salaries for housing officers. My relative had an awful time with them.

Not an easy job but a solid and ok pay one - social work. 3 year degree, your year of psychology + being a parent would be an advantage. Salary outside London usually 28-33k, options in management up to about 40k. No disadvantage re going into it as a mature student (it's really common) and options for part time work if needed. It's a tough role for parents because of the hours but most manage by leaving work on time then catching up in the evening after kids have gone to bed. It's not a job where international travel is a thing, BUT if you get a UK degree you can usually pass the skills tests for permanent work in Australia, new Zealand and Canada, which are hard to emigrate to. Areas that struggle to recruit (last time I looked, places like Devon and Cumbria) pay relocation and incentive bonuses for experienced staff.

Hi OP
ACCA is a real challenge. I completed it whilst working full time in accounting (so gaining knowledge every day) and I didn't have children. It is very technical and not much business management stuff at all!

If you are really against AAT, might I suggest CIMA? Take a look!

Your best bet would be to get a job in accounting and then get them to put you on an apprenticeship so you would get some paid time off to study too!

Civil service apprenticeship? The are currently advertising an economics one that earns you a degree. Opportunity for international travel is limited but terms and conditions vg

I would have a look at the Civil Service jobs website. I only completed GCSE’s and got a CS job 2 1/2 years ago. In that time I’ve got a level 3 qualification and been promoted a grade. Quite chuffed considering I haven’t studied since school and I’m now 40! Got more out of the last few years than the 19 years I spent working in retail!

International travel is over-rated when it is for work and if you have children won't be very practical surely anyway.

Yes
As a surgeon I often travel for internationally and nationally for conferences but that means I have to spend hours preparing posters/presentations not to mean having to write up if you plan on publishing the work.

Some of this I get back through expenses whilst the rest is often paid out of my pocket.

I would imagine any type of well paid work prepared to cover your expenses wrt international travel would expect you to be high up the rung or academic.