How to help partner with job issues?

[Iamkaos]

He has A-Levels but no further qualifications as he's struggled a lot with dyslexia and cognitive issues.
He's been working in retail for 1.5 years now, they pay him living wage as it's known but it's not stable, one week he'll have 37 hours, the next week 23, and so on. Therefore, he never knows what he'll get each month.
He's also been overlooked for a promotion so many times despite the majority of others getting one.
There are students much younger and with much less experience who've been promoted over him. They know he wants to progress but they aren't giving him a chance. The supervisors get guaranteed hours and are salaried.
Anyway, I know he is getting very down about not having a 'professional' role nor a high salary.
He doesn't appear to have the confidence to pursue a degree and is just a bit confused regarding what he wants to do.
It doesn't make any difference to me what he's doing as long as he's happy, but I know he isn't. He doesn't know 'where his life is going' and feels like he'll never get anywhere in life.
I don't want nor need to be a 'fixer' , however I always help him as much as possible, he knows he has my full support in anything.
Just don't want to keep seeing him down and depressed. He does take antidepressants and has had therapy too. Ultimately I know it's up to him but just looking for advice where to start

He's only mid 20s, so he's got plenty of time to find a path

I met my ex-husband when he was 22 fresh out of the army and “didn’t know what to do”.

I filled in application forms for him, got him on a trades course and funded his HGV license.

he’s nearly 40 now and still in a dead-end job.

some people just can’t be fixed.

He needs to look for another job. One with fixed hours.
it sounds like he is never going to be promoted where he is. He needs to be really honest with himself about why that is. If it’s to do with his work ethic, attitude etc he needs to fix it. When he finds another job he should ask for really honest feedback from the current job and take it on board.

In his shoes I’d be looking at job websites every day to see what kind of jobs are advertised that appeal to him and work out what he needs to do to be hired for that type of role I’d also try and get some night work in a bar or similar and save that money towards doing training for any job I was interested in

But ultimately he needs to help himself. You can’t do it for him.

He could apply for supervisor positions in another retail store.

What are his interests and strengths, what kind of thing woukd he like to do?

Maybe he fills lost because he, and many others, think only degree is the way to go. Apprenticeships are great to do qualifications, though may be a hit in a wallet temporarily. Change of company might help as well. One shouldn't stay when one is overlooked.

*feels! And so on...

Has he asked for feedback on what he would need to do to achieve promotion?

Has he looked at moving jobs?

Does his dyslexia affect him in this role? What strategies does he use to manage it?

Where does he ultimately want to get to? What does he want his life to look like?

These are all points he needs to explore, not you.

Your role is to listen and encourage not to do things for him.

Thank you for your answers. I hope he'll manage to get it sorted, he does really need to leave that place

He could look for a modern apprenticeship they are no longer for youngsters only

nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-careers
this website and the online assessments might help him.

An apprenticeship would be worth looking at. Even if he does not want to do a degree, there are loads of shorter courses he could look at like a HND etc - many online as well.

I think it depends if he is the type of person who can help himself.

Is he applying for different jobs? Has he looked at different opportunities like adult apprenticeships? Has he brushed up his cv?
You can encourage him but he needs to make the changes himself.

Get him to look into facilities management/helpdesk - the primary guy training us use to work in a frozen food retail store so very much possible to get out of retail into other sectors.

@Iamkaos I think you’ve had some very good advice here. One thing which might also be useful to bear in mind is having faith in him, that he will make the right decisions, and supporting him in them no matter what can be very empowering too.

My partner did this with me, even when he had no real basis for it. He took my career seriously in a way I hadn’t noticed anyone doing before. He presumed I could do literally anything I put my mind to, I had no third level at the time I met him. I said I was going to leave a job, he’d say “good,fuck em you’ll get something better”, if I was thinking of applying for something long term which felt impossible it achieve (I left school and took a long time to get to third level) he just assumed I’d get in. When I had a crazy business idea when I was unemployed, he agreed I should go for it. Anyway, he didn’t humour me by saying how great I was, it was just a given that of course I could choose whatever I wanted to do, it was just a matter of choosing, he treated it like a fun problem to be solved.

Anyway, I eventually did get a degree, and a masters etc and a professional career path that pays 100k a year, and honestly I attribute most of it to him and his attitude to it all. He didn’t just tell me he believed in me, or spoonfed me solutions, he showed me time and time again that he had full faith in my decision making. He turned out to be right- even though I hardly believed it myself.

If he thinks he might want to do the degree, but just doesn't think he's up to it, an Access course might be up his street - the OU are very good for this sort of thing, as it's done while working.

At the end of the day though, you can suggest options, as anyone can, but it'll be up to him to actually follow them.

You can't fix him, op. He either has the motivation to change his life or he doesn't. Don't burden yourself with a partner who has no ambition or drive. It never ends well.

@Tasmanium your partner sounds wise and wonderful. That said, you were self-motivated. He only needed to boost your confidence and support you in where you wanted to go, but you came up with the ideas yourself.

Hopefully OP's partner will want to change his situation.

If he isn't particularly academic or looking for an office job, then a HGV license is an excellent idea. Increasingly well paid, tons of work, out and about, noone breathing down your neck, very little interaction with the public, etc. I've considered doing it as a career change.