To ask if you could retrain as quickly as possible what would you do?

[Timewasyesterday]

Background - admin, low paid (19k) age 35, little qualifications and hate my job. No major interests or callings as such, not great with numbers and stupidly squeamish.
I have around 5k available that could be used for training.
Would like to retrain as quickly as possible with the ideal scenario being earning approx 30k within 5 years.

If this was you what would you do?

Are you ambitious?

I'm not.

I like mon-fri, 9-5 (well 4.30 in my case), don't want to do anything stressful, and I certainly don't want to take my work home with me, physically or mentally.

I'm 43 and am a secretary in the NW, and I earn 30k.

I am just thinking, that there are higher paid admin jobs out there if you enjoy that line of work.

I always recommend software engineering. It's a really family-friendly career and often has several WFH options.

When I got my first job I started at £21k (2013) and it easily fit your progression plans.

I never officially trained, I'd always done web development as a hobby which is what got my foot in the door. From there once I had my first job I started to take training seriously and have completed several different courses and professional qualifications.

I've used Pluralsight quite a bit, they have different pathways you can follow depending on what sort of software engineer you wanted to be. If you were to start/complete some basic programming or web development courses and then apply for graduate/entry-level roles that would be a good start if you were interested in this sort of field. You could also reach out to specialised IT/Software engineering recruiters on LinkedIn to see what their clients are looking for in entry-level software engineers.

What about doing a HR degree? Well paid and admin experience would be relevant x

Nurse

Radiographer

Pharmacist

You can train as a teacher pretty quickly and probably get to 30k before too long, but by God it’s difficult IME (actual teaching)

I'd hold onto your £5K for the time being and spend a couple of days (if you're in a rush) browsing a few job websites to see what inspires you.

It's pointless throwing thousands of pounds on courses which are unlikely to get you any further than if you try out a few free online courses first. There's no quick fix if you're wanting to change careers.

It would be more realistic if you get some more temporary admin work that's undemanding and do a few months of training courses online at the same time, so you're 'earning while you're learning'

Consider roles in Construction. There are loads of opportunities.

I think we need more info. No major interests of callings, not great with numbers and squeamish leaves most professions out.

If you have few qualifications and all you are interested in is in earning more money then maybe you need to think about an apprenticeship.

Are you a practical person?
Creative? Artistic? Don't mind getting your hands dirty?
Interested in people?
Considered self-employment/running your own business?
Do you have any hobbies or interests which you could make a living from?

Apply for work with the Civil Service then try and get onto the fast stream programme (you usually need a degree but they waive this for existing employees)?

I think we need more info. No major interests of callings, not great with numbers and squeamish leaves most professions out.

Yes my op was rather vague, apologies.
My main interest is health and nutrition, however I have developed joint problems so a physical career has been ruled out. Dietetics interests me but full time study for years isn’t an option as the sole earner.
I’ve also considered HR and think I would enjoy doing the CIPD but from browsing job sites it seems work experience is necessary for even entry level roles.
I spend several hours a day browsing job sites and I think a role that allows me to help others but is not physically hands on would suit me best. I really want to start taking steps forward this year as I’ve been miserable at work for so long now.

It would be more realistic if you get some more temporary admin work that's undemanding and do a few months of training courses online at the same time, so you're 'earning while you're learning

I have done a couple over the past 2 years.
CACHE Level 2 Nutrition and Health
NCFE level 2 business Administration
NCFE level 2 information advice and guidance

But these aren’t useful qualifications as such just areas of interest or were relevant in my current role.

Healthcare - nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacist, medicine, radiography etc..

Clinical coding in the nhs ? Something I've looked into before

How about project management?

What about becoming a paralegal? You could start by volunteering a half day on weekends to get a foot in the door?

Sorry I meant Legal Executive

Those courses you've done are a good foundation to build on.

You could try and build some experience in a charity, coordinating projects and initiatives, and then try to gain promotion from there. They'd be glad of someone who wants to use their initiative and gain experience.

Where are you @Timewasyesterday as you can get free uni funding in Scotland so could do O.U whilst still working. I fancy doing a stem degree at the moment, but I just graduated in June so finance isn't right now.

What about counselling? You could then work privately where and when you want.
Good luck whatever you do.

Ex colleague was in admin on 35k, retrained very quickly (months) as a mortgage adviser: lucrative & she enjoys it. Works long hours though

Can you try to get some HR experience? Why can't you do the CIPD?

I'd be a vet.

The only reason I'm not is that I wasn't allowed to sit Higher Maths at school, because apparently I wasn't good enough and they were concerned I'd pull the pass rate down.

Somewhat ironically, I'm now a senior director in a statistics-based IT role in a global firm, earning six figures.

I taught myself the skills I needed and am now considered a thought leader in my field, including contributing to the development of an new open-source programming language.

As it turns out, I wasn't 'bad at maths', I just suffered from poor teaching. And yes, for all that I love my job and the places it has taken me, I am still quite bitter.

However, now that I've got my rant out of the way, in your shoes, I'd think about project management - ideally look for a PMP qualification or similar.

Qualified PMs can expect a starting salary of £40k in the private sector, and, unless you're going into a very specialist field such as product development, the opportunities are very wide-ranging.

OP has said that they are “stupidly squeamish” so I think those suggesting hands on healthcare professions are barking up the wrong tree. 🤮

Thank you for all the comments and ideas. I will be researching them all.

I have been following a few charity job websites as I would love to work in this sector, unfortunately I haven’t found any entry level roles.
I am strongly considering the CIPD but my worry is that without experience the qualification alone won’t get me in the door. I’ve been checking indeed for assistant roles but even those want HR experience.

Lots to think about, thanks again 😊