Username says it all really...

[Dontknowwhattodowithmyselfnow]

Mum of 4, due back after summer into my clerical role within a school, paying childcare for youngest. I just don't want to go back and just about be breaking even on poor salary.

I want to retrain/go to college/do an open uni course but I am stumped.
Currently have no qualifications post school. I don't know what to aim for. What to do?

I am good at organising, find it easy to adapt to changes, quick to learn, love writing, love numbers/calculations, enjoy problem solving. At school, my favourite subjects where sciences, social sciences, English and maths.

What would you do if you were me? Time is running out. I'm 35!

What sort of sectors are you interested in? If you think about the type of company you’d like to work for, where you might grow and upskill, that would be a starting point to decide if you want to train into an area. There always seems to be a demand for accountancy/finance, digital skills, HR, but I think loving a sector is a great gateway.

I would decide what specific job role you would ideally like within what sector and look at the job requirements in terms of qualifications and experience - and start from there.
But first of all -!! It’s never too late!!

Time is definitely not running out.
What would your dream job be like?
Have you seen the book 'What color is your parachute?'.
I worked through that to find out what sort of thing I wanted to do.
Left my job, went to uni.

I'd think more about the maths, science, problem-solving.
IT/tech is more family friendly than accounting, IME.

Is there any scope to progress at school and do qualifications. I know someone who was admin and now is a school business manager.
Anything on local council website? School appeals, registrar etc
Other thing to think about is holiday childcare if you move out of term based role.

35?! Time is most definitely not running out!!

What are you interested in doing? Have you looked at the OU courses?

Same situation here, but 27 with only 2 kids. Nothing post GCSES apart from years of admin experience which isn't worth much. No idea what to retrain as, willing to do it but just don't know how or what considering I've got to fit around the kids. Following with interest!

@doingitalllagain , is there anything you particularly enjoy and are good at in your job?

I started an OU degree at 34, finished it at 40. It's defiitely not too late.

If you go to an FE college then you can claim some childcare - not sure of the details.

The OU have some free courses so you could look at those and see if that suits you.

A warning, education is addictive, I went to uni at 32 and ended up attending 5 unis for different courses / qualifications.

I'm currently taking an OU degree in maths.

You might like the 'Open' degree, you can take units from different areas of study and build your own degree.

You have plenty of time!

You might not want to do something general if you feel time pressures look at an industry you want to get into and the qualifications needed. Based on what you've said you like maybe HR? or Accounting?

There's lots of jobs in software development - if you're good at maths, you might enjoying coding (and many of the jobs you work from home).

Project management?

Very versatile, and if you find you hate one sector you can move to something completely different.

And, let's be honest, who doesn't love a gantt chat?!

I wouldn't advise HR or Accounting. HR is popular but is basically dealing with problems, and is also one of those jobs that people assume is cushy. Accounting is week end, month end, quarter year end, year end, tax year end, ...

Project management, programming, events management etc far more flexible.

I disagree with the idea of choose what you want to do, then go for it.

I think the opposite approach often works better. Investigate what training and jobs are available locally, and then see what grabs you from those options

It might be something you have never even heard of before

Your skillset looks good for a career in the third sector - perhaps fundraising? Particularly if you work for a small charity it can be a very multi-faceted role.