Can I quit work without another job?. Help me find a way out

[foodforclouds]

Does anyone know how I could earn a decent amount (I know, how long is a piece of string) in temp/flexible roles where I can work irregular hours?

I can’t stand my job anymore. I’m on the verge of just resigning without first finding another job, and hoping for the best, and fuck the consequences, which I know is not a good idea but might kick me up the ass.

I work in healthcare research, and my manager is some sort of Jekyll and Hyde. You just don’t know which version of that person is going to walk through the door, and I’ve had enough. I’m so anxious. There’s no point trying to deal with this via a formal route either.

I also don’t want to work in research anymore. I want to retrain in a related field but this will probably require working agency shifts in not well paid jobs and volunteering, or I take on a trainee role with a low salary. I think the former makes more sense so I can try to get a better paid trainee role once I have more experience (there are limitations around how many and when one can apply for these trainee roles), so I need to complement my income.

So, can anyone point me in the direction of a relatively well paid flexible job/temp work? I don’t mind more or less what it is as it’s temporary and to enable the bigger picture.

TIA!

Well, 'well paid' has a huge variety of meanings and is very relative to age, stage of career life, type of work, previous salary etc...

Why don't you go to an agency and give them.your CV, and ask what kind of jobs they have.

Might also be wise to.take.a.temp.post at least a bit related to the future career and training post you want.

Could sign up for nhs professionals and do admin work? Pay isn't great. Work not necessarily reliable. I work in clinical trials. It's a hard slog most days #solidarity

Might also be wise to.take.a.temp.post at least a bit related to the future career and training post you want.

yes it’s what I’m doing but I need to supplement my income because what I can get at the moment would be badly paid. So the idea would be to balance it out. Thought that was clear.

Thank you!! Add a manager like that and it’s just not ok!

hope your working conditions are better than mine even if the work itself is pure slog!!!

You need to work out how much you need to earn to cover all of your existing costs. That’s the starting point - if you are really desperate and want to leave now, retail might be a good option to tide you over?

What career is it you want to do?

What are you considering well paid?

By “irregular hours”, do you mean around a full time trainee job?

That’ll be a challenge. Perhaps a night shift at a supermarket, if you’re strong and fit? That pays quite well considering it doesn’t need much training.

I can’t stand my job anymore. I’m on the verge of just resigning without first finding another job, and hoping for the best, and fuck the consequences, which I know is not a good idea but might kick me up the ass.

This is what I do everytime (admittedly I do have ADHD so can be a bit impulsive). I think I've only ever once found a job before resigning, every other time, I quit then panic and 99% of times land on my feet. There was one time where I quickly got another job but required a dbs and that took 14 weeks to come through and that was quite a stressful time waiting (grateful for the gig economy and ubereats and deliveroo pulling me through!) but other than that - there's always jobs out there.
I've just done it again - handed in my notice last week with no idea what I will do in January. But I promise there is always work out there, just as long as you aren't too picky about what you do

Is there an agency that offers locum work?

I once left a job without having another and it worked out because I had all the time in the world to get another so was full available for interviews and agency meeting etc. I couldn’t stay at my current one for a minute longer. It’s like in Friends when Chandler talks about “the fear”!

Oh but to give actually examples of work:

Gig economy- self employed you pick the shifts. Deliveroo, just eat, ubereats, Amazon flex etc. very busy in the lead up to Christmas but January and February very quiet.

Temping Agency - office work, factory work, teaching assistant, cover supervisor, teacher, health care assistant, carer etc

Something a bit different - TV and Film extra work.

Make sure you sign up to multiple agencies though as some you will find work harder for you then others. On and never agree to umbrella companies for pay, only do PAYE for temp agencies or self employed for gig economy.

Sorry I realise my post was rather vague.

I’d like to train as a therapist (umbrella term), in the roles where you can actually work for the NHS (I’m not cut out for making a living completely in private practice). There are a few routes, and the paid trainees roles would be best, of course, but highly competitive. I have a psychology degree and years experience in research (5 years in mental health). I’ve worked in clinical environments but not clinically, so the temp, not well paid jobs + volunteering would be to cover that gap in my cv so I can meet the clinical experience criteria.

so, the option is to get a band 4 full time job (would mean at least a 15K pay cut) or try to supplement my income from the low paid temping that puts me in the right track, with high paid temping.

by decent paid temp I mean something that would allow me to make around, or a bit less than, 30K without tying me to a job, that I can work evenings/weekends, so, it’s more about output than being employed and present during office hours.

I speak another language (native) which is in demand so am looking at interpreting courses and gigs. But that takes a bit of time to set up/do the courses.

I’d gladly quit today but I’m afraid of not being able to pay for basics (I have children). it might be more anxiety than reality, but I too can be impulsive and am glad that some fear is holding me back.

Thanks everyone for your replies and sharing your experiences

Ideally something I can remotely to minimise travel as I have small children and every minute counts.

realise I may be asking for too much!

@fiddleleaffig have you had any experience with eg being a remote assistant?

Is your native language in demand where you could offer tutoring sessions to students learning it, or English lessons to those speaking your native language? Most tutoring can be done online. Just a thought.

I know it’s in demand for eg public service interpreting but unsure at the mo of other ways to capitalise on it so, thank you for the idea, I’ll have a look.

I tried doing remove VA work (I have bookkeeping qualifications as well) but it is a very saturated market, and you are competing for work with people who live in SE Asia and can massively undercut your prices. You really have to sell yourself and your worth to people and I'm just not good at that.

Don't forget a £15k pay cut isn't as much as you think as your tax, ni, student loans and pension will all decrease as well. I know people who have taken £10,000 pay cuts but actually only been £200 worse off a month. Try putting the details into an online salary calculator to see what it will actually be. And, although I would never ever advise it, if it is just a very short term pay cut, whilst you retrain, opting out of work place pension for that very short amount of time could also help.

If you have children have you checked if you can get help via universal credit? We have 3 dc, and a joint household income of £60k and we are still able to claim around £800 a month UC so don't automatically think it's just for the minimum wage/unemployed households.

also there's the side hustles - babysitting, feeding the neighbours cat when their on holiday, those type of jobs that help boost income.