Went for a job and got offered a cleaner job instead I feel miserable.

[Aw4foxsake]

I applied for a job working checkouts and everything went well they asked me if I would be interested in a cleaning job and that I could sort of have a dual role where I could clean and do the tills but the starting pay would be less but it would allow me to have extra hours when I'm free.

Went to the contract signing and it's just the cleaning job that has zero chance of extra hours and I will not be put on checkouts.

I have to take this job as my hours have been radically cut from my previous job so I'm left with no choice right now.

I feel like this is a step backwards as for the last 2 years I've been working tills. Which was a step backwards from my previous job as a graphic designer.

To make it worse I feel like I'm being discriminated against because I have a child since they said " we feel like this job would provide better flexibility with your commitments"

My availability is during school 9-3pm and 5-10pm and weekends are fine. I also share custody with my son's father who works 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off so I have him when he is away working and he has him when he is home. So I can work any hours when my son is away. I can't find a job that is willing to work with my availability which I think is pretty reasonable.

I've been trying all of the shops but no one is willing to hire me. All of the office jobs in my area start at 8am and finish 5/6pm but I would have to pay for a childcare space that would go unused 1/2 the time.

I'm miserable and I will have a really really low income with no opportunity to even make more.

Am I just overreacting I've been crying ever since I signed the contract. I wanted to learn how to drive I will not make enough money to even learn it will cover the cost of our food without much left over. I feel like once people see I've been cleaning on my CV they will not hire me for anything more.

What do you think ?

* in *

I am so sorry you have found yourself in this situation.
Life sometimes throws these curve balls and your new employers were not honest with you, I would feel pretty down atm too if I were you.
However, taking this job will give you some financial stability and some space to reassess and plan your next move, and that is what you should do.
Cleaning is not what you want to do for the rest of your life but neither was working on a checkout.
The job you are going to do is essential to the smooth running of the supermarket, without cleaners they would not even be able to open their doors in the morning.
It is an important and undervalued role.
However for you this will be an important, but temporary role, that you will be proud to put on your CV.
I went from a management job paying £40,000 a year to washing pots in a hotel for minimum wage and for the first couple of months I wondered how I had ( in my head) fallen so far.
It was a temporary blip, I met some fabulous people, had some laughs, got some great experience and learnt humility.
For you this isn’t forever.
This gives you time and space and some much needed income, and you will be ok.

I've done cleaning and been a checkout operator when times were tough and the DC were small. I hated checkouts and much preferred cleaning. Don't be embarrassed. A job a job and it puts food on the table.

You can earn good money as a cleaner if you set yourself up privately.
I work in a different industry now the DC have grown up and I've retrained, but have close contact with cleaners and housekeepers in my current role. If you are in an area with lots of holiday lets then changeover cleans can be quite lucrative.

Care industry? I know plenty of our services are desperate for bank staff so you can pick and choose what shifts you’ll cover.

In our organisation plenty of jobs in head office have gone to people who’ve started in care but actually are qualified in different professions previously. They then found out what you can do, roles come up etc.

I went from a qualified profession into care, and this is how I worked up to my role in head office. So I know it happens!!

I don’t know if anyone else has replied down the thread (please forgive me if someone later on already replied similarly) but retraining as a counsellor is probably not a good option. I do not mean to do anything other that explain because I know not much is known about counsellor training costs.

It’s extremely expensive, once you’ve got through the certificate qualifications (there are loans for some people cost wise for these) to get to the end higher level training ones most placements are unpaid, with huge travel and resources costs, as well as course costs. Many places want you to do a masters now, which range between £4-12000. You can do a level 4/5 but these still cost in the thousands. Not everyone qualifies or wants to take out loans.
You then have to pay for memberships and external qualifying exams.
You also have to pay for a monthly (approx) supervisior (about £25-50 a time) and often student insurance.
You then need to gain enough hours to apply for jobs (sometimes up to 400, placement is approx 120). This means lots of volunteer work before you can earn.

It is obviously doable and very rewarding and enjoyable for many people but with the cost, I’m not sure it’s the answer here. Unless OP wants to do it, which she may thrive at.

The low number of counsellors is not because no one wants to train/do the job. Like all health careers there are issues as to why there aren’t as many as needed.
I don’t mean to come off as shooting down the idea, I just wanted to show the honest costs.

Yup, exactly.. OP is better to going back to office job and sucking up childcare costs for couple years (Nursery) than pay for can do drop off and pick ups and use her lunch hour to do them. She can also work from home/hybrid/remote! In addition build up her salary, get promotions and career. Not to mention, pension!

Pay for the childcare and get a job which doesn't have to be limited to school hours. (an office job, another graphic design job etc). You will still make more money overall even if half the time the childcare space isn't being used.

Do you get any money from the child's dad? Seems pretty jammy that he has found a job where he doesn't need to pay for any childcare at all..

In terms of graphic design jobs, I would look at being imployed as an in-house graphic designer somewhere, the government, a company, printers etc. There is still lots of demand. Don't listen to people saying ai is taking over the job - we are a long way from that happening! It's a great skill to have.

I would personally stay away from doing freelance / having your own clients. It sounds great as an idea, but the reality is quite different, difficult dealing with clients / contracts / issues that arise / getting consistent enough work in / doing your own tax etc..

I agree with others who are saying you try getting back into graphic designing. With a far better pay job using your qualifications and experience you will be able to afford wrap around care. There is no way I would have sacrificed my career and I have paid for nursery and now breakfast and after-school club for my son so I can work and earn considerably more. There are other roles that might let you work from home and be more flexible and will utilise your skills and qualifications.

Yes. I agree. If you are a Graphic Designer, this job is way below your capabilities and qualifications.

Is there any way you could do GD work, even freelance?

How long were you doing graphic design before? Were you in a specific industry or specialising in anything?

As a fellow graphic designer, if you have enough experience and skills, you should totally get back into that! I was made redundant during covid and decided I had nothing to lose by going self employed and it was something I'd always thought about and never had the guts to do.

I'll admit I've probably been quite lucky and my previous job gave me an incredible portfolio with amazing photography of stuff I had worked on, but I've been inundated with work. There is absolutely tons of it out there for graphic designers and creative artworkers right now. Even if you don't want to go self employed, it's a profession that is also very open to remote employment, especially post 2020.

Do you have a computer? I hate pcs but you don't technically need a Mac, and pcs are way cheaper.

Get yourself a free month trial for Adobe, along with a free trial for Adobe stock (and if you need to just keep signing up with new email addresses until.you can afford to pay for it!), plus use free websites like pixabay and unsplash to find templates and mock up images for whatever work you have that you can put into a portfolio, (if you have wall art/posters, put them in a photo of a living room with a frame on the wall, if you have packaging or product there are boxes/cans/bags etc) and if you need to, work on some personal projects to boost your portfolio.

Use chat gpt to give you briefs, or just create some posters, or some packaging or some branding for some made up company, ads in magazines, social media posts etc.

Behance is free and really simple/easy to use to put your portfolio online. You can even get templates on Adobe stock for printed or pdf portfolios if you need one but only employed positions seem to want that, most people are fine with a website/Behance link.

I get most of my work from Facebook groups for the industry I am in, but linked in also has freelance and employed positions, I've not used fiverr but there are lots of websites like that (they don't pay amazingly well but it's a good starting point). I haven't found the time to do any of this, but you could also sell your designs to greeting card companies, stock websites, use print on demand services to sell your stuff on t-shirts, mugs, bags, literally almost anything you can think of someone will be doing POD for it. Some of those sites will literally handle everything for you so you just upload your stuff, set your price and they sell it, make it, shop it and pay you.

Sign up for the Adobe MAX conference for free online in October too.

I did also do some content mill copywriting for about 6 months when I first started too, which paid really badly but kept me topped up until my graphic design stuff really kicked off.

Screw working for someone that's lying and treating you like crap before you've even actually started working for them. Although if they've not given you many hours I guess you could work for them (or someone else) to tide you over until you get your portfolio sorted and start getting work from your graphics.

Good luck!

I've been a cleaner a few times. I really like working as a cleaner. It's v satisfying work, and at the end of the day you feel like you've worked hard. It keeps you fit.

I've also worked the checkout tils a few times. It's ok, a bit boring and the bloody 'beep ... beep ... beep' as you scan the food used to drive me insane!!

I've a PhD now and a professional job that's quite well paid. You don't need to be a cleaner forever.

I'd clean again if I needed to. It's a nice job. Most cleaners I've met have been pretty decent people too. It's a good job for good people.

Yes, indeed

But it is not about being a cleaner to be a nice or not nice, or good or not good job.
In the company she was offered the contract, they get paid less money.
The OP was offered a different position, with better pay, a bit of a mixed role. But then the contract itself was for less money and different role. That is shite!

Just to say counselling is a hard job and think to manage the training and client work you have to really want to do it. It’s also very expensive to train and lots of extra costs including supervision. I think trying to find freelance work in your knowledge area makes more sense

I just started a job back in feb after being a sahm. It's basically customer service for a housing association but 100% remote but they told me I can work whatever hours I like between 8-6 Monday- Friday. I do 14 hours over 5 days. A colleague works 9-3 term time only!!
There are other options out there op!❤️

Personally if you are stuck I would take the job and see what you feel about it and if it's not right apply for something else in the meantime. It's easier to find a job when you have a job x

I feel for you. I was a website designer and I could see myself ending up in a supermarket when I had my children because of the hours. So I left the UK. Its been tough and I nearly had a breakdown, but there are so many opportunities again and I'm a Web designer in my spare time. Rather than dwell, can you take yourself out of the environment you are in? Get creative. Turn down the cleaning job!

It's hard, but please don't feel too disheartened, things will turn around once your children are older. I've worked so many jobs, was even a manger at one point after being a cleaner. Now I am training for my level 3 in childcare. (Childcare pay is terrible BUT I love the job) keep applying for jobs while you are working and something better might come along. It usually does when you're already in employment. I know it's hard and upsetting but keep your chin up, better things are on the horizon and you're doing the right thing by accepting work, even though it's a step down xxx

You have graphic design experience, so get childcare and get back into that. If you don't enjoy the graphic design then start and shift sideways into development, analysis, marketing, sales or whatever after a year. You'll get more money and an easier life than doing unskilled shift work. For childcare - school is cheapest, then in the holidays there are summer camps and your holiday to fill the gaps around your ex's working pattern. You'll be surprised how well it works.

Can you not set yourself up privately?
You’d get a lot more money and flexibility.
It could give you the time to work out what you’d really like to do.
Don’t think of this ‘as it’. It isn’t.
Our school has breakfast and after school clubs that you book every week, is there one that works like that?
Childminders are often slightly more flexible with school age children too, maybe ask about?

Make it be temporary. :)
Yes fair take this job, but apply to others.

You can try setting up a sole trader graphic designer.
Get some initial work by asking friends and family if they need anything, then show off your reportoir online.
Then. Contact businesses.

You got this :)