Aibu to ask for career suggestions 😂

[Careersstressmeout]

I’ve recently decided I want a complete career change back to o college the works but I have no clue what I want to do 🤦‍♀️
Ideally I want to go back to college and retrain I have some time I can’t work for and want to use this to retrain I currently have no qualifications above gcse and having worked retail ect for years I want a career I can progress in
Any suggestions are most welcome 🤗

Look at courses that offer experiences in the workplace you fancy - get a load of prospectuses from various places. Decide if you want to be on your feet or at a desk, in a uniform or not, a job with travel prospects or not etc. Think how important pay is to your choice. Good luck.

Pay is definitely a factor and travel isn’t really doable I have four children I’m currently looking through college prospectuses so far the criminology and accountancy and the most appealing I’m aware their both very different 😂 both also have the possibility of uni after which definitely appeals I really suck at making decisions though and I really don’t want to make a decision and then realise I missed a option that appeals more

Accountancy, if it appeals.

There's always demand for accountants and bookkeepers... And there's a variety of levels of qualifications. Check out the AAT.

Criminology is interesting, but I'm not sure where it would lead. If you're thinking of doing some sort of degree level course, you might be better doing an access course to get some sort of level 3 qualification (A levels equivalent). Usually they are broad based, so arts, sciences or social sciences. If you do social sciences this will give you a background to some of the areas covered in criminology - particularly psychology and sociology. If you can't travel, check out the Open University. They have access courses too.

What do you do now? What do you NOT want to do?

There's so much out there that it might help to narrow it down a bit by asking yourself some questions!

What are you good at? What do you like doing? Do you want to work with people? What sort of environment appeals to you - office, outside, hospital, etc.? Which parts of previous jobs did you enjoy and which parts do you absolutely not want to repeat? How much studying are you willing to do? What level of pay would you be happy with? What sort of hours do you want to work? Do you want something where you can easily go part time or self employed?

Loads of questions there, but if you have a think about them (any maybe let us know the outcome) it might help you narrow down your focus a bit more.

For example, I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I decided by focusing on what I wanted from the job: opportunity for flexible hours, option to work from home a lot of the time (obviously if I chose, for example, nursing this wouldn't be an option!), not a lot of involvement with people, no expectation to work extra hours unless we're super busy. That helped me narrow it down a lot! I liked the idea of primary teaching until I realised that a lot of things that are important to me lifestyle-wise (those things mentioned above) would be completely at odds with it, so thinking about how you want your job to fit into your life could help, too.

Also, my degree is a BSc in Criminology. Qualifies me to do fuck all, but I really enjoyed it!

We have a college in our town that offers a accounting Aat course in levels 2 and 3 foundation and advanced that if I’m understanding the information correctly means I can then go on to do a uni course with the university centre at the college in accounting there’s no entry level skills required other than a basic maths assessment at interview and is one full day a week at college the only down side to this compared to the other courses offered is it’s the only one not available over Microsoft teams rather than on site

From the two options you mentioned - accountancy will lead more directly to a career.

But we need more details really.
What hours do you want to work?
What are your strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
What do you enjoy?

What do you find yourself doing in the evening when you're DC are all sorted for the day? Are you active naturally or would you like to work from your lounge on the sofa? What type of people do you naturally veer towards? Extroverts or introverts? Do you have attention to detail or are you more of a big picture person? What do you read or watch in your free time? Are you fairly dextrous or a bit clumsy? Work out what you naturally like doing then go from there.

So far my work has been bar work retail and supporting adults with additional needs in a residential home setting and also dementia care
The retail work was mind numbing the bar work was unsociable hours and didn’t fit well around children and the care work was horrendously long shifts (30 hours)
I’m not shy to hard work in the slightest and am happy to put in hours and hours of studying to get where I want to be
I enjoyed the problem solving aspect and file keeping aspects of care work and definitely need something with stable hours as one of my children has asd and needs routine
The criminology interests me as when leaving school I was going to do forensic science but had to get a job fast instead and never got to do it but that’s always been something that’s interested me

If you do AAT you don't need a degree. You can work part time alongside the AAT , it's a great way to build understanding and experience whilst getting qualified. You can do AAT level 4 then claim exemptions from CIMA , to become part qualified relatively quickly. That is a MUCH more useful qualification than a finance degree.

Accountants are in very high demand, there is a lot of flexible work available and you can often work from home most or all of the week.

It isnt always a lot of fun but I'd take it any day over a retail job.

It might be easier to get work with AAT than criminology. It makes you very employable.

Sorry for butting in but is there a recommended study from home payroll course / qualification?

How about thinking of developing from the care aspect. You could consider forensic nursing - which often work with the police/prison service/secure hospitals etc. You could combine the criminology with a career which would always be in need….

Forensic accounting maybe, further down the line?

Forensic science has no bearing on Criminology. Criminological studies includes sociology, psychology and history based subjects. Then analysis of crime and criminal behaviour.

Forensic science is a focus on scientific subjects. It's not even slightly similar.

You're better off getting a low level finance/pay roll/bookkeeping type job with a company who'll fund your training than you are doing AAT full time at college.

Have you considered a degree in social work @Careersstressmeout

My first degree was Criminology and Social Policy. Waste of time in terms of obtaining a career from it but it did teach me how to right a half decent essay in preparation for the social work degree.

I can’t work for just over a year I can do the course from home through the college which is why I was looking at courses rather than employment based training

I think where you live can have a big influence to what jobs you can get and a career path. Accountancy could help in most towns and cities but then other jobs are going to have more opportunities for progression in larger cities. (Of course not always the case but I think this can make a big difference)