Career change

[Whatwouldyoudo2021]

Hi all

i have recently had my second baby and I’m looking at returning to work in the new year. Now that I’ve had children my whole outlook has changed on life and I want to change my career from a hospitality manager to helping people. Be it a nurse, a midwife, working in care or for the ambulance service, anything really, I just want to help.

I have a 2.1BSc from an average uni in a field that I can’t now use, think a minor medical issue which means I wouldn’t be accepted on medical grounds but I’m perfectly healthy. I chose the degree when I was 18 and so very unaware in what I wanted to do in the future.

I’ve been looking at other career opportunities and they all seem so hard to get into. I know all of these sectors are crying out for staff and I am willing to commit to training and I will work my hardest in a new role but I just can’t afford a whole new degree whilst not earning any money. There must be so many people out there who would be a great asset to these roles but are unable to afford to do the training. I do have a loving and supportive husband who would do his upmost to help pay for university but with our mortgage going up and childcare for 2 children it’s not going to happen.

for reference, I did start a masters but didn’t manage to complete it in hospitality as I had my first child and I couldn’t work full time, do a part time masters and look after a baby.

I so desperately want to work for one of these roles that’s crying out for staff.

AIBU to think the government should step in and create more avenues into these careers?

Have you considered training to be a careers adviser? There is a HUGE skill shortage at the moment and it's very much a career where you get to help people.

It would require some training and ideally a postgraduate qualification but there are loads of jobs out there so it's worth the investment. There are postgraduate loans available.

Have a look here and see if anything speaks to you.
www.healthcareers.nhs.uk

No I hadn’t thought about being a careers advisor, that’s a great shout I will look into it, thank you.

I am willing to do almost any role, in any sector. As long as I’m helping people I really don’t mind.

I just don’t understand why it’s so hard to get a job or training if these roles are so desperate for staff. Train me and I will commit to it and work hard.

unless I can afford to retrain, I’ll be going back to my hospitality management job. I’m not even sure I’ll get a post grad loan as I’ve already started a masters?

Thank you, I’ve had a look through the website, there’s no apprenticeships in my area. Otherwise it would be going back to uni, which I would do in a heartbeat but I just can’t afford to give up my very small salary after the childcare bill.

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying it's hard to get into these careers because you will need to go back to uni and you can't afford to? I don't think expecting nurses or midwives to have studied to gain their qualifications is unreasonable. It's not an indication that anyone is making it hard for people to get into

Don't care agencies train staff on the job? My friend is a carer. He certainly doesn't have a degree and has never paid for any training himself. He signed up with an agency and they provided him with training

My consideration would be can you work shifts with two kids? Night shifts, bank holidays, Christmas day etc? That's for training and the job itself when qualified. I know it's not possible for me in my situation so just thought I'd mention it.

No I absolutely understand that nurses, midwives etc have gone to uni, have studied hard to get to where they are.

what im trying to say is that these job roles are crying out for staff and I am willing to train and put myself into debt to get into one of these roles however there is no way I could afford to do these courses without significant loans which just aren’t available. I have a family to provide for, I can’t afford to stop earning a salary for 3 years to go back to uni where I would have to pay to do it.

when I was 18 and chose my first degree, I had no idea how useless it would be to me now.

all care work I’ve seen has said you need a nvq and experience which I have neither.

Yep, I can work shifts, I already work all shifts in my current role as a hospitality manager. i actually like working shifts, I have never done a 9-5 job, I like having different tones off work.

Are student loans no longer available? It's hardly a surprise that training with two kids and a mortgage is hard, that's why most people go to uni at 18, to get it over with. What about applying for Healthcare Support Worker jobs? Band 3 and no formal qualification needed?

I had no idea at 18 that the degree I would choose would become so useless to me, having had 2 spinal surgeries before the age of 30 really put a spanner in my career plans.

student loans are available but would barely touch the sides of the childcare and mortgage costs. I’m also not sure I would get any more student loans as I already have a BSc and started a masters

I will look at the health care support worker roles, are they similar to a health care assistant?

Tbf seeing you've had spinal surgery x 2 I'm not sure nursing would be great.
HCA work could be an idea then once you've shown an affinity for the job, you could apply for a nursing apprenticeship or become a nursing associate.
And yes those areas are desperate for staff but equally there is a lot of competition for places on nursing and midwifery degree courses.

This is outing but I wanted to join the police, I was a special Constable when I had my first surgery, I have no long term problems with my spinal. My current hospitality job is very physical, 20,000 steps a day running around hotels, so I think I’d be ok with nursing or midwifery.

my local nhs trust don’t seem to do apprenticeships, which I would definitely apply for.

@Whatwouldyoudo2021 Yes same sort of thing, I'm not in that area so not totally familiar with the terminology. If you've had spinal surgery how is your mobility? Can you lift heavy things? Nursing/HCA roles can be quite physically demanding. To be honest the working conditions in the NHS (particularly on wards) are pretty terrible so I'd think long and hard about a career move there.

What about something like NHS24/111/999 call handler? Also, what sort of salary are you aiming for? That's very important.

Thank you for your reply,

i am perfectly fit and healthy, train at the gym a couple of times a week etc. I can lift things fine, i in-fact had my first surgery due to injuring my back doing a triathlon.

I fully understand the nhs is a hard place to work right now, I think that’s why I’m driven to try and help, I want to help people.

I had thought of being a call handler, that is an option.

Thing is there are lots of jobs in the NHS you can apply for without formal qualifications - clerkess, physio assistant, pharmacy support worker, HCA, domestic, OT assistant, porter. Once you have a foot in the door you can likely hold onto part-time hours while you go back to uni, if that's what you want to do. There are ways and means, it's not inaccessible, and it's not really the government's responsibility to sort out your career plans. Nursing/midwifery etc are graduate roles so I'm not sure what other routes you expect other than university.

How about police control room operator? Good money and helps people every day, plus can do an apprenticeship in emergency call handling that doesn't affect your pay

I’m not saying it’s the government’s responsibility, what I’m saying is that these roles are crying out for staff and I would love to do these jobs, its just I can’t afford to go back to university and not earn any money. An apprenticeship or learning on the job degree would be perfect.

I will certainly look at other roles to begin with.

I could do a police call handler role.

Social work?
In my county council they employ people doing same job as sw but 'unqualified' then run apprenticeships annually for those staff to apply for and get qualified.

If you have a degree already have you looked into fast tracking? Or nursing associate?

I’ve looked at a masters in social work at my local university, it’s a 2 year course with placement, I think with help with childcare we could just about make it work but I’ve missed the cut off for this years intake, which is a shame.

I’ve never looked at nursing associate, I’ll look into that thank you

BTW good for you choosing a different path and having passion

Thank you @pocketvenuss
Its just so hard to afford to go back to university, I’m ready for the challenge and do think that I’d be good in a challenging role,
you’d have just thought for how desperate they are for staff they would be more inclined to get people through university to become qualified

Have you researched apprenticeships? That’s what you’re talking about isn’t it- some way to earn while you learn?

quick google - www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/career-planning/study-and-training/nhs-apprenticeships

Allied health professionals get a maintenance loan plus a £5k top up each that doesn’t have to be paid back. Or they did. I retrained recently.