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.

There is some dodgy advice on this thread! Don't try to become a freelance copywriter without any experience. You won't get very far it's quite competitive.

For flexible hours or hours around the kids I found hospitality and hotels good, but obviously not right now. Admin and receptionist type work depending on how much experience you have in offices, but the dog walking could help with this.

Ultimately I think you need to work the other way, think about what you would like to do, then see how feasible it could be time wise.

If you want evenings and weekends it reduces your chances of employment I've done it for years DS has an attachment disorder.
I always have pmdd and find full time work harder to hide the monthly demon in me.
Overnight call centres or a caring role.
I'm in a call centre it is boring and people are rude.
I have started teaching myself Makaton sign language I'm going to do an online adult disability course then an sna course I'll earn 15/16 an hour afterwards plus there is room for progression.
It might be an idea?

Based on your previous dog experience I was also thinking dog groomer(employed or from home if space permits) or dog trainer(would require some additional training of course but could be exclusively evenings and weekends. Like others have said there will be huge demand for skilled trainers after lockdown). Also dog walking but employed by someone else potentially so you can focus on the dogs.

I also second coding/programming/software engineering. It would probably be WFH 9-5 Mon-Fri though.

Do you have any hobbies you can monetize? Perhaps through Etsy or similar?

Could you go back to dog walking but rethink your communication with clients?My dog walker only takes bookings for set days.She does 2 'shifts' a day,one morning and one afternoon.She has online payment set up and you have already booked in advance with your contract.If not health might be your best route...as others have said work as a health care assistant and get into nursing through the nursing associate scheme where you train whilst being paid.I'm a nurse and work from home now managing my own diary in the community.I wouldn't work in a school again but I did when the kids were younger....Great team and loved the kids but the pay was so bad it ended up not being worth it once I'd paid the dog walker!However working in nursing isn't stress free hence why I say consider dog walking again.Working with the general public is rewarding but It is a stressful job.

Just posted this on another thread:

If you need income now, stop applying for jobs and register with as many temp agencies as you can. Office Angels, Reed etc

Someone said that the main nhs agency (NHS professionals) is desperate for temps for reception or admin and other stuff.

Agency work will help you build your confidence slowly, help you see what it's like to work in different environments, get your foot in the door at places you wouldn't get a look in, good excuse to leave something if it's not working out and gives you fresh references.

The census is looking for people now and they are massively desperate for staff at all levels and offering lots of different options for hours.

www.censusjobs.co.uk/search-for-a-job/

My advice on your home situation though you didn't ask is don't limit yourself to wkend/eve work believe me I'm talking with experience my super attached DC is 6.
Try find a child minder in a home environment if you can't an evening retail job BUT put time aside for training even a small social community course be ready to fly when they hit school.
In the meantime keep weaning the DC off you. Weekend/night work kills any friendships or sex life we are a strong couple but it strained us like cohabiting strangers now I'm furloughed i see the damage it has done trying to keep DS happy meant we're all unhappy I'm retraining.

NHS admin! We are always looking for reliable and personable staff! Although some days might require working until 5pm to cover phones, there's often room to negotiate another day with an early start/early finish if it's more letters and computer based work.

Vet nurse apprenticeship?

I also know a TA who is actually a fully qualified teacher too! So this is definitely true they are massively oversubscribed positions

There is big demand for secretarial support for property lawyers at present. You could even consider the CILEX legal secretary qualification whilst you work.

Decent secretaries who want to progress often take the paralegal route to qualify as a CILEX lawyer if you wanted to stretch yourself a bit more.

www.codecademy.com/

Do you have a children's centre near you? They sometimes run volunteer training courses - perinatal support, breast feeding peer supporter, early years volunteers?

My sister did the Access to Healthcare course and now does bank shifts as a HCA. She is thinking of nursing once kids are older

Civil service - if you start at the bottom (18-20k a year) you don’t need a degree and can work your way up.

One of my colleagues did that. Started at 28 (kids started school then) on £18k, she’s now 35 and a SEO on £37-42kish.

The dog Walker in our village felt the same as you so she got strict. Website based bookings into a calendar, contacts had to be to a separate work phone or email and would only be answered/replied to during set hours and days and clients were capped at a set number. If you enjoyed it could it be something you go back to on a smaller scale with strict hours of communication?

Lots of museums have part time work. So does National Trust.

TBH dog walking (properly) requires a fair amount of experience, skill and/or training. Unless you really limit it to just the very easiest of dogs in groups of just 1 or 2.

OP, I don't know how much £ you need to earn but is it worth seeking out the £10 a day threads on here? Lots of people there have found a variety of ways to bring in money while working from home. Whilst some of them require skill, they are skills they picked up doing the work (e.g. internet forum monitoring).

Might that be a starting point for you?

If you want something that you don't really have to think about and can get straight into to earn money and want specific hours then work in a call center. I'm a manager in one and we cater to people who can only work evenings or weekends as we find they're the shifts that are hardest to cover and it's normally parents or older people who we are able to recruit in those hours. I know it isn't for everyone and the work that the agents do can be quite monotonous, but a lot of places promote internally and I've been able to form a career on a good salary since starting in one at £13k when I was 20.

I wish people wouldn’t suggest TA for everyone that asks for job ideas that has children.
Yes it’s lovely that it fits in with the school holidays but there are still inset and training days to allow for, you still need wraparound childcare,
And it’s the kind of job you can only truly do well and progress in if you have a real love for working with children, School staff often undertake tens of other unofficial roles during a school day, TA is a job that requires huge motivation & ‘fire in your belly’ and can be exhausting for even the most willing of person.

Hi Op,

The £10 a day thread on Mumsnet is your friend:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/4153470-feb-2021-10-day-february-let-s-round-off-winter?msgid=104332012#104332012

It’s full of excellent, real, money-earning, work-from-home suggestions from Mumsnetters.

I started looking for a bit of extra income last year and just last month made an extra £700 doing online jobs, fitting it between the kids and my part-time real life job. Some mumsnetters are making up to £1000 per month.

Most (if not all) of the online work you don’t need any qualifications for.

Dip your toe in the thread, one of the first posts is a huge list of options for legitimate online work. If you don’t what something means, just ask in the thread. Everyone on the thread started in the same position you are.

Good luck!

@Highfalutinlootin

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.

This!

Museums and National Trust tend to have a lot of voluntary workers .Maybe try that first for dome experience in the workplace? TA jobs are good also ,but lots of competition as well.Maybe start out as a Healthcare Assistant , with a view to Nursing as a Career long term? Good luck and dont worry if you dont find a job straight away .There is a lot of competition at the moment

@PlanDeRaccordement

Lots of museums have part time work. So does National Trust.

Highly unlikely to be recruiting at the moment. They're mostly desperately trying to avoid more redundancies.

I'd recommend the police as a great employer. As a civilian employee there are Family friendly working hours, training, opportunities to progress. You don't have to be an officer and once you are "in" and your children are older, you can move within the organisation to something more demanding and interesting.
With your communication skills and desire to work evenings and week wet, I imagine you'd be snapped up in "Comms", the police call centre, only with better benefits than your normal call centres. If you are nosey with an eye on what you could do within the organisation in the future, go for it and have a look at the jobs on your local force website.