AIBU to think a school leaver should be able to earn £1000 a month?

[NotJustACigar]

So my sister is in her mid-forties, having left school at 15 with no qualifications. She has been unemployed for a few years and is looking to get back into the workforce. Previously she worked as a chef but is really burnt out on working with food. AIBU to think there should be a way for her to earn enough to live on? If you were in her situation what job would you try to do?

She can rent a flat for £450 a month. Council tax and all bills should come to another £200. So she wants to take home £1000 a month which should cover her other expenses and leave a little left over to use for fun things.

Bearing in mind she has been depressed and hasn't worked in a few years, she doesn't really know where to start looking for work. If you were in her situation please can you tell me what jobs you would go for in what kind of work that wouldn't be too stressful? How much would she need to earn gross to bring home £1000 net? Thank you.

I feel very sorry for your sister. Mental health issues are hard to recover from and catering is hardcwork so i'm not surprised she burned out. I dont know what trasferwable skills there are (team work, fast paced, practical) but i think buikding on those is the best way forward. One of our caterers went to work in a school as a tecnician in the he department. She have brought in a bit less than 1k though. I would think healthcare if some kindcwoukd work. My mum did carework where you go out in oairs, dress people and prep their lunch, then go to the next person.

Care work will definitely involve personal care. Assisting with toileting, showering etc. Also changing soiled incontinence pads.

Not every patient/resident would require this but you’ll find a lot do.

Without any qualifications, skills and little experience she is going to find it very difficult to find anything. Even highly qualified graduates can find it difficult, which is why many are working for low wages.

Most jobs are stressful. The lower paid jobs are often more stressful because they are usually zero hours, unsociable hours, high/impossible demands, difficult/unsympathetic management etc.

Her best bet is to gain skills in an area she is interested in, or start her own business, or get a friend to recommend her somewhere.

Does she have a passport? She'll need to prove who she is (and will be extra determined to get it, because they're the types that would get checked extra carefully for illegal workers or to pass a DBS check).

She says she wouldn't be able to handle helping people go to the toilet, though, in terms of helping them clean themselves afterwards, I don't know if that would be an issue? Yes, it would be difficult to avoid this. But she might not find it as bad as expected - she'd have a throwaway plastic apron and plastic gloves and ample paper for cleaning. Perhaps try a care home where you're dealing with all care, rather than in-home care where you're there to do the things that can't be managed, which tends to be toileting. You still have to do the toilet care in a home, but it's not such a great proportion of the time.

She could apply to an adult apprenticeship. There is no upper age limit to be an apprentice. Lots more companies are offering them for older people who want to do a career change or are re-entering the workforce after ill health or raising kids. So she’d earn some pay while getting qualifications.
www.citb.co.uk/courses-and-qualifications/citb-apprenticeships/become-a-citb-apprentice/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5e7076KM5AIVgp3VCh106gI4EAAYASAAEgJQKvD_BwE

Here is indeed site
www.indeed.co.uk/m/jobs?q=Adult+Apprenticeship

I really recommend going to the job centre. They offer so much support and guidance and will be able to help with budgeting etc.

Like others have said, her best bet is the job centre.

She should apply for Universal Credit where she'll at least get the standard adult allowance. She'll get a Work Coach who can put her on a course or some kind of training. Since she's interested in care work, she could ask about a Sector Based Work Academy to get the training with a guaranteed interview at the end (not sure they still offer it though).

It certainly is doable.

GP receptionist? I know a few women with few qualifications who started as GP receptionists in their forties once their children were a bit older.

Co-op and M&S don’t ask for qualifications

She could try evening school to gain some anyway, some IT skills are always useful

I wonder if care work/PA work with people with learning disabilities or support work for people with MH problems might be a way forward. There might be some jobs in that without toileting involved, or not much, eg prompting to use the toilet but not actual care?

Care work without getting your hands dirty is a tricky prospect though.

My mum’s cleaner (self employed) charges £11.50 per hour and does the cleaning, laundry, shopping and things like posting letters

The carers get paid minimum wage (through an agency) and do all the personal care and make meals, put on laundry if they have time. They help mum on the commode, wash her, empty catheter bags etc

The night sitter gets paid minimum wage (through an agency) for sleeping in the house from 10pm- 6am, being woken once or twice at most and making a cup of tea when she arrives and leaves. No personal care but often they tidy up a bit, fold laundry but it’s not expected

The gardener gets £15 ph (self employed and provides all tools etc).

Dad’s care home carers mostly do personal care and ferrying of residents to activities, accompanying them to medical appointments etc. Not sure what their take home is but minimum wage or thereabouts I expect

I often see adverts on the local FB group for people to act as near enough full time assistants for teens or younger adults with significant learning disabilities and some physical challenges (poor gross and fine motor control for example). These roles are to support independent living, drive the person to the shops, take them swimming/cinema/activity groups, help them with self care etc. Again minimum wage or not much more working directly for the family/guardian of the person

The Co Op doesn't ask for qualifications indeed, but, along with most retail work, it's very hard to get full time hours. They will usually put you on a contract with maybe 16 hours although you sometimes work a lot more than that, your hours can be very very variable and in winter you may not earn that £1000 a month.

It's the same with a lot of jobs which take on people with few qualifications - many of them are zero hours or part time. A lot of carers work on a very low number of contracted hours basis (they can do overtime, but it's not guaranteed).

Aldi pays well after training, if she could get a 30 hour contract she would take home at least £1k a month.

Working as a care assistant can be just as stressful as working in retail just different demands. Yes bank care assistants can earn a lot but it means moving around homes so would defo need own transport and sometimes very little support shr would need to adapt to different policies, procedures and ways of doing things. You also should be of a caring nature if you are going to be looking after the vulnerable or elderly.

As for working in a pharmacy, assistants do a lot of training and do develop qualifications. This training is largely expected to be done in your own time, all the while the are not paid much more than minimum wage and mistakes can be serious. So unless she is after a job that will develop into a career I wouldn't go down this route.

Best option is to visit the job centre for some career guidance and maybe get a place on a it course. They will also be able to help with a c and cover letter and make her think about skills she already possesses. Also going into a full time job after being unemployed for a while might not be the best idea. Perhaps it would be better for her to ease herself back into work more gradually. Hope everything works out well for her.

*cv

She says she wouldn't be able to handle helping people go to the toilet, though, in terms of helping them clean themselves afterwards, I don't know if that would be an issue?

Yes, this would be an issue.

If she can't do personal care maybe a job in retail would work.

I live in a rural shithole and I barely earn this. I've got a good degree and a master's so...

She could start off with some free online level 2's to look at what she wants to do and also give her up to date qualifications on her CV. Try this link www.lincolncollege.ac.uk/courses/e-learning/

This type of role may suit her in a care home as she likes being around people.
www.barchester.com/care-homes-blog/day-life-activities-coordinator-care-home

B&Q are well known for hiring mature adults.

Would she want to be self-employed?

There are a lot of elderly people who require minimum physical care in their own homes, but who need someone else to do the things they find too tiring now, so they pay for help with cleaning, gardening, fetching shopping, take to Dr's appointments, that sort of thing.

Could your sister offer that type of service?
As long as the clients live reasonably close together and your sister organises her workload so she's not running around in a random fashion to fulfil their needs, it may suit her better than being a carer in a home.

There are a lot of elderly people who require minimum physical care in their own homes, but who need someone else to do the things they find too tiring now, so they pay for help with cleaning, gardening, fetching shopping, take to Dr's appointments, that sort of thing.

I was going to suggest this. We pay my grandma’s caters £15 an hour. No personal care, she doesn’t need it but they take her to the supermarket, hairdressers, to her friends houses, to the dr. Her help also does the washing, folding, a bit of ironing and prepares some simple meals. She does 4 hours x 5 days a week. £300 a week and easily over £1000 a month. She does need to be able to drive though

I was a school leaver in the late 90s. I did casual waitressing work to cover uni costs and have a bit of pin money. If I'd done a regular 5 day shift, I'd have made a grand a month. No qualifications required

Tesco (or another supermarket) if she can get a full time contract she will have a salary of about £15k which is over £1000 a month nett, plus she can pick up extra shifts if she wants to.