To ask what a 30 something mum whose barely worked could do?

[Hazelflies]

Hi, my youngest is 18 months and DH and I were planning on me remaining a SAHM until dd attends school....she is very attached to me and still bfeeding... but financially we're just not managing on one income and I need to contribute.
Before youngest DD I was a self employed dog Walker earning pretty good money, but I don't want to go back to this because liaising with clients constantly and doing so much driving every day was very stressful.
I have two older school age DC.

Preferably evening or weekend work would be great because it would fit around my family, but I know 'starting a career' in something is mainly in the field of 9-5 and DD would have to go into nursery.

The problem is my patchy work history between having kids, I also struggled with mental health due to PMDD but have been stable for a while now under a private consultant that a relative has kindly funded! Life changing.

I have GCSEs, 3 A Levels (dropped out of a Law Degree) but I don't think these count for much if you don't have much practical work experience behind you. I'm very well spoken and articulate, I have good communication skills and that's about it!

I'm 34 any ideas on what an undesirable candidate could do? I'm up for apprenticeships but have no idea what to look for.

Once DC is in school, you could be a TA?

nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/teaching-assistant

You’ve probably got enough knowledge to do clerical work in a law firm, you could maybe even pick up study again with OU.

How about working in a library? Or
Teaching assistant
Nursery worker
Childminding
Gardeners assistant
Lunch time worker at a school

What kind of work do you want to do?

The experience as a TA would be a good basis if you wanted to develop your career once your children are older. You could look for a post as am HLTA eventually. I’ve also known TAs go on to do teaching and social work degrees, join the police and work in HR. It gives you good people skills.
School admin could be another option?

Call centre work for customer services / local authorities can often do weekend shifts or evening.
Care assistant / health care assistant / mental health support worker again can do weekend shifts

I work as a nurse I do 25 hours per week ( 2 x 12.5 hour shifts ) usually work a weekend shift n one day shift I pay for Son to attend nursery 2 days per week on the day I am not put down to work I do some overtime or housework

Forgot to say call centre work can often be done from home

If dealing with clients was stressful, it will somewhat limit your options for non regular hour work.

What elements of it did you struggle with?

Teach english online. Do an £89 TEFL course and go self employed. There are lots of teachers groups on FB. Good luck

TA jobs are very popular, we had qualified teachers and people with PHD’s apply last time we advertised.
What about a call centre or a supermarket?

You would still have to deal with clients, but if you like working with dogs then what about becoming a dog groomer? This type of work could be mainly done on evenings and weekends too.

Dog grooming or something else with animals but not self employed?

@BullOx

If dealing with clients was stressful, it will somewhat limit your options for non regular hour work.

What elements of it did you struggle with?

It was stressful because I had many clients, messaging all times of day, evenings and weekends to schedule/confirm/chat about arrangements for their dogs. There was no break from it mentally.

Are there any other dog walkers that you could work for? Then hopefully you wouldn’t have to deal with the coordination side.

Haha, snap @UnbeatenMum

Or a dog trainer maybe? There will be lots of unruly dogs bought in the first lockdown that could do with some help no doubt 😂

As you found dog walking stressful, I would rule out call centres (pressure to meet sales or service targets usually), TA isn't well paid and usually no progression within the school. I assume you don't want to be a teacher, or you would have said.
I would train for something which doesn't have direct customers or intense targets. Until you know what that is, I'd look for jobs in garden centres, bakeries or cafes, preferably something that doesn't close during lockdowns.

Hi OP, why not look into becoming a copywriter? That can be done on a freelance basis, in the evenings and weekends. You'd have to deal with clients as well but generally speaking I wouldn't have thought that this involved inappropriate times, you could specify when you're reachable.

It's a job that can be scaled depending on how much time you're got, can definitely be done at home around family. It may take a while to learn how to become a reasonable copywriter that can charge money but considering you're well spoken and presumably English is your first language, you're ahead of many others in that space.
Best of luck!

Look at jobs in logistics, many run operations 24hrs a day so often have late or early shifts. Not all the jobs are glamorous there are operatives and also office admin type, but once you get in somewhere you can see what else is available and may be able to do on the job training. Other suggestion would be to join a temp agency and explain your requirements, if you get a job temping it can sometimes lead to permanent, but also gives you an option to try something and see what you think.

@DianaT1969 not sure id compare dog walking and call centres, I’d fine working in a call centre easy, running my own dog walking business not so much. What about supermarket ? Online shopping assistant in the evenings ?

Sounds a bit way out, but what about seeing if there is any admin work at local hospital? Or look at becoming a CSW/HCA working in a GP surgery or outpatients? At my hospital, they do apprenticeships for all sorts of positions, CSW, TNA etc. Might be worth a look in? x

What are you interested in? Are you willing to give anything ago? Or are there things you definitely don’t want?

My first thought was home care. Evenings and weekends only are completely possible and you can make it work for you. It’s not for everyone though and can be stressful. It’s is thought one of those jobs people often use as a spring board to other careers. Lots of people use it to gain knowledge, experience and relevant diplomas and the go off to train to be nurses, social workers or OTs (this is what I have done myself).

If you want less stress then supermarkets are always an option. They normally give you quite good in work benefits. It’s boring, but secure and not too stressful.

Being a TA might be something to think about. Fits well around the kids as school hours and term time only. In my experience though there is a lot of competition for positions, with qualified teachers often applying for less stress roles while their own kids are small/ they are winding down to retirement.

Apprentice degrees are a thing now. I noticed my local NHS Trust was advertising for a nursing apprentice degree.

When I went back to work after getting a SAHM for a few years I started my own childminding business. Later I became a learning support assistant and now I'm a HLTA.

Don't look at what you don't have, lol at what you do have :
Gcse's
A levels
Experience running your own business
Experience liaising with clients
Experience balancing the needs of different clients
Good work ethic
Excellent communication skills etc etc

*after being a SAHM I meant to say

Any interest in coding/programming? Many are self taught, no qualifications required as long as you can do the work, it's easy to do flexible hours and work remotely.