AIBU to even contemplate this at 38?

[fourandahalfkids]

I am in a job that I love but it pays peanuts I mean literally peanuts. I work 40 hours a week for around 12 grand a year. I have 4 children and chose to put my life on hold to raise them. I don't regret this in any way. But they are now almost 17, 16, 13 and 10. I never went to uni but got a job straight out of college to start building a home with my then fiance (now dh for 18 years), and then was at home with my children for 12 years (from when the oldest was born to when the youngest started school).
As much as I love my job (been doing it for 6 years), the progression is pretty dead end unless I undertake a degree anyway. Too be honest i have seen too much from the inside, mine is a supporting role in a profession where people are leaving in there droves because of the stress and work load involved. So it is not something that i myself would like to go into.
I am thinking of embarking on a degree to enable me to gain better prospects. I love English and was very good at it way back when and had desires to have a career in a writing capacity.
But dh doesn't have an amazingly well paid job, better than me but we couldn't survive on his salary alone. I have done some research and found out that I can study part time (around 16 hours per week) and I could work at the same time. I should get student loan assistance. Alongside my work hours I currently do a few hours voluntary work a week connected to a group I am part of. Is this too much? I can do this right?

I’m not sure if this has been suggested yet, but what about children’s nursing? I’m not going to lie , nursing is hard but it can be emotionally rewarding. I worked as TA before earning around £660 a month net. Now as a newly qualified nurse I get around £1600 net. You would be very employable too.

English, @Moomimfan. For about the 11th time. You know, that useless degree that only equips you to teach apparently.

No need to get a degree to work in marketing. Op, work out what kind of marketing you want to get into and reach out to recruiters who specialise in that industry to pick their brains. So, for eg, I work in professional services marketing (law firms, accounting firms, engineering, etc) and a good place to start is by talking to the PSMG (professional services marketing group). There'll be similar recruiters for banking, FMCG, etc. AMDIS is marketing for schools - it might be interesting for you to do this line of work because there is the possibility of having school holidays. Also join a fb group called Careering into Motherhood (I'm sure there are others). You'll get great advice there too. Whichever marketing stream you choose to go down, do some work experience to get your CV up to scratch and go from there. If you could organise to do 4 x one week work experience stints, that would put you in good stead. Good luck! Feel free to DM me - if you live near me, I'd happily get you in for some work experience. Fine to wrap it around the school run and all that.

I hate my job and am retraining to do something completely different to get a better wage and still fit in with my young family. I’m pushing 50. The study is hard going but it’s the only way to go for me as I my current wage hasn’t gone up in the past 4 years as prices of things have

What are you training to do, Pink? I'm looking at retraining too and I'm in the same age bracket as you.

Speaking as a writer and second year English degree student; it's really hard to make a living as a writer unless you find your niche.

Bit you're only a few years older than me so I say give it a shot.

Go for it but do a degree that will guarantee you a job at the end of it ie. law, nursing, accountancy, education. I spent a long time doing ou degree only to find that humanities was not take seriously by employers and I ended up having to do further studies in accountancy to get a job. The open university is a fantastic institution and I would recommend it to anyone but just choose the right degree to save time.

I've just finished a Masters degree aged 38 with two young children. I'm SO glad I did it.

Have a look at prospects.ac.uk, it gives you ideas of jobs that match your values and interests. It could be a starting point and then work backwards for the qualifications you'd need.

I understand wanting to work with kids but not teach, what about children's play worker in a hospital or prison visits centre, support worker for women and kids who've experienced domestic violence etc, something where you're with vulnerable kids and families and can put your vast work and life experience to good use Good luck in whatever you decide.

Go for it but do a degree that will guarantee you a job at the end of it ie. law, nursing, accountancy, education

I can’t speak for the other courses, but there are around 19,000 law graduates in the UK each year (plus lots more from conversion courses) and 5,500 training contracts available, so I would hope no one is advising prospective lawyers that they are guaranteed a job at the end of their studies...

How inspirational! Of course you can do it! This is a lovely post and I only wish you the very best of luck X Follow your dreams x

I’m a writer. You don’t need to have an English degree. You are also not likely to earn much! In general, I have found my humanities degrees to be useless in terms of getting a job, but absolutely brilliant in terms of life and thinking and ideas.

I have built my career on experience and contacts. Unfortunately the arts and creative industries in general are badly paid and dominated by people with family money and networks, so it can be hard to get a foot in the door.
Having said all that, I think a mature and sensible 40 something with the gumption to do a degree later in life is a much more interesting candidate than a 21 year old whose parents have paid for him or her to study straight from school. So I’m not sure you will be exactly competing with people younger than you.

I have an English degree, am an ex NHS head of comms and now run my own marketing & PR agency.

I would say this:

If you really, really want to work in marketing and communications, consider a Chartered Institute of Marketing or Chartered Institute of Public Relations course.

If you want to study for the love of study, and English is your passion, do that.

Is it about job prospects? Or study for the love of study? Because an English degree at 38 won't lead to improved career prospects, whereas a vocational or professional qualification will.

I would agree 100% with what @OrangeSamphire just said.

I have a degree in English (20 odd years ago) and my career path has been very similar and led to the same point as Orange.

I also don't think an English degree will qualify you for anything in particular at this stage. And you would be competing against all those people with an English degree and plenty of experience in your chosen field.

If you want to improve your career prospects, you need to decide what you want to do and follow a specific vocational course to qualify you to work in that field.

If Marketing is what you want, the courses Orange suggested are good.

Good luck!

Yabvu
Arts degrees are what young wealthy people, who have connections and the ability to do unpaid internships do.

Do something with a more direct pathway into employment.

I wonder if we know each other @OrangeSamphire? I bet we do, NHS comms is a very small world.

etta - a bit harsh - I've got an English degree. I'm distinctly not wealthy, first person in my family to go to university, have absolutely no connections and never did any unpaid internships, or any internships at all. I did it for the love of the subject. But that was in the era of no tuition fees. But I sort of agree - at the OP's age, if the aim is a better-paying job, go for something more vocational.

If you want to be a writer (I'm a writer), you don't need an English degree. What kind of writing would you like to do? Journalism? Creative writing? Copywriting?

You can do degrees in all of those specific things, and many other niches, and you'll leave uni with a stack of things you've written.

Plus you can start a blog. Loads of authors get discovered via their blog these days.

Or you can write children's books and make the most of your built-in focus groups!

First time I've ever commented on here whatsoever but I just had to tell you to get your UCAS application started and just go for it. I left school without a qualification to my name , had my son at 18 and then in my mid 20s I went back as a mature student. I did GCSEs then an access diploma and then I took myself off to the university of Liverpool to study psychology . I loved every minute of it ❤️best of luck whatever you decide but 38 is no age to write yourself off in terms of higher education at all . Don't spend your life wondering what if?! Much love

I'm in University. The oldest on my course is 60 the youngest 18 and there are 5 of us between 35 - 47. We are all planning on working at the end of it as its a vocational degree. Do it!

OP - my DH is a TA and on minimum wage for 38 hours a week (although he often works longer hours for no overtime, it's kind of required, i.e. one has to stay in the playground until the last child has been collected etc). Breaks and holidays are not paid (other than standard minimum hols as required by law). I don't think he is even eligible to pay tax or, if so, it's pennies a month. DH is doing OU degree in Arts & Humanities and finding it no problem at all to fit in the studying / assignment writing required. There is lots of choice on which topics you can study including creative writing modules and English Lit. Definitely go for it! He has got a student loan to cover the fees.

Is it possible to work 40 hours and only get £12k a year in the UK, this sounds like below the minimum wage.

Missmother it's because TAs are actually only paid for term time - they're also rarely paid for a 40 hour week, more like 30 or 35 hours maximum, though working 40 hours may be the reality. A 35 hour week for 44 weeks per year is under 12k.

That's been covered already.

Do it, OP. I did an OU degree in my 30s. Please don't feel it isn't worth the time and money unless it's 'leading somewhere'. You will be a different person, who thinks in a different way, by the time you finish it and that, rather than 'having a degree' is what will create opportunities for you. Though fwiw, employers rate OU graduates very highly because they've demonstrated not only that they know stuff and can think, but also that they can organise their time, juggle multiple projects, maintain motivation and take responsibility for themselves. The OU is a highly rated research institution. (And if you're a bright, motivated multitasker, it won't take 16 hours every week.)

I’m thinking about going to uni to do the adult nursing degree. I will have 1 child at primary school and 1 at nursery who is not old enough for funding.
My husband is self employed and doesn’t earn enough to support me so wondered if anyone has any advice about finances etc to help support uni for 3 years. Thanks