Why do most jobs require GCSE or equivalent?

[nickinickers]

I find this quite soul destroying as someone with no education or ability to learn.
I would be so good at so many jobs but because I’m academically challenged I can’t even apply.
AIBU to think this is so unnecessary and cruel?

I agree, they have to be quite good at calculations, weights, measuring everything to the exact mm, also assessing distancing and spaces. They are skilled trades.

The op hasn't come back and told us what she likes doing, that is a factor.

Yes - I agree. Didn’t mean to imply otherwise - I was thinking of basic things like grounds maintenance etc.

The question OP asks about why basic qualifications are needed is…trainers and employers need to see that you CAN actually learn, study, apply yourself and comply with standards. It’s limiting if you can’t demonstrate those aptitudes.

But you actually think you would make a good police office if only they’d give you a chance?

Delusional is the word.

You need to try and think critically about what a job requires and what you can actually do.

Whether this is real or not I am quite agog what jobs people suggest to op who said she can't remember where things are, who people are, has short term memory iasue wtc.
Builder, driver , "yes you could still be PC", looking after kids, self employed.
Theae are ridicolous suggestions for someone OP described and some are downright dangerous

Police officers need to know the law thoroughly.

But some of these things could well be addressed if any underlying issue was identified and copying mechanisms learned

Yes, maybe some self employment with support so op wouldn't end up with issues around basic admin, but certainly not a bus driver. That's basicaly public safety issue....

You've an 'interesting' learning profile @nickinickers and as everyone has already suggested, it would be of benefit to see an educational psychologist (privately) or go to your local FE college where they may do some other more simple assessments if you're looking to enrol on a course.

Your literacy is excellent which does raise questions about how you didn't manage a GCSE English pass grade. How long ago was that? If you were 16, you may find you do far better as an older adult.

But what would work for better would be to look for current vacancies where, as a mature person, your GCSEs from 30 years ago won't be relevant.

You could start by volunteering in a charity shop so you'd build up your confidence handling money etc. Or, perhaps as a volunteer in a school, helping with reading (because you can read!)

I'd suggest you sign up for email alerts with your local volunteering organisation (they are national site but you choose your county) and see what's going on . No one will want to know about your GCSEs just how good you are with people.

You're joking right?

It’s not just the classroom setting, I tried to do a course in nutrition not long ago, not as a career choice but recovering from anorexia I wanted to learn about healthy eating habits.
I could read the modules ok but by the end of the page I had no idea what I’d just read so even to answer recap questions on the next page I had read and understood the text but retained none of the information.

I can drive and managed to pass a driving test before there was theory tests but I learned because I was actually doing and being talked through it so I can learn by doing something lots of times which makes me wonder if I can do something enough it becomes part of a habit and so is not short term memory.
So if I go on a journey and my husband tells me directions I will not remember the way on my own abut if I did that same journey with him directing me every day until it became a subconscious state then I am able to eventually remember the way but I have no sense of direction so I do journeys I know well, like the school run or supermarket that I’ve been to hundreds of times.
I could read an instruction leaflet a hundred times and not understand it but if someone talked me through it while I did it myself over and over every time that would be a subconscious habit and I’d be able to remember then. It’s hard to explain.

Have you looked at data entry jobs maybe, becuase it is repetative and you can follow clear step by step instructions iver and over again?
Sounds like you need something where every day is the same and the task is a repetative one and doesnt involve lots of new faces each day and potential for chaos. Assembly line, packing, data entry could be a good avenue.

Op that definitely sounds like working memory issues.
Are you using some sort of predictive text, or speach to text software?

I think Care Work would potentially suit you, where you can actually see what is needing done.

I think you'll struggle to get any sort of data entry role without GCSEs.
I had thought driving but that sounds like it could be very stressful for you.

I did try care work years ago and I enjoyed it, they let me go because I had difficulties remembering how the hoist went and there was medication to remember and forms to do.
I could probably get there in the end but I need someone with the patience to keep showing me and reminding.

Sometimes my husband will ask me to remind him to do something and I’ll remember he asked me to remind him of something but I won’t remember what or I’ll write something down I need to remember but I won’t remember that I wrote it down or go upstairs to get something and by the time I’m up I’ve forgotten why.

I seem to infuriate people who either mock and ridicule me or show utter frustration and despair.

If you really want to get to the bottom of what's going on, you need to be assessed by an educational psychologist but that will cost you around £600. You could get a similar but not quite so in-depth assessment at an FE college if you were enrolled on a course.

There are various ways of learning and remembering and you clearly don't learn just by reading.

For example, one way round this would be for you to make your own notes ( a summary) of a paragraph, or draw a diagram as a 'prompt/ memory jogger'. You could highlight key points in a paragraph (with a highlighter pen) and focus on the key information. You can create visual images in your mind as memory joggers.

You have IMO a learning difficulty that has never been diagnosed. Where you go from here is up to you and what you want to do next.

Out of interest, if you know, did you have a difficult birth and was there ever any hint of damage to your brain? Or, is there a family history with your parents or siblings having these same issues ?

Sometimes my husband will ask me to remind him to do something and I’ll remember he asked me to remind him of something but I won’t remember what or I’ll write something down I need to remember but I won’t remember that I wrote it down or go upstairs to get something and by the time I’m up I’ve forgotten why.

Use your phone? Set an alarm and use that to remind you. Write it down on your phone or on a sticky post it.

You are very possibly dyslexic which is not just about being able to read or spell, but short term memory problems.

Care work is a lot of running about to get stuff from different places, remembering where to take it back to and what job you were half way through when the buzzer went. Plus meds and forms which absolutely have to be right. No good with memory problems.

I agree repetitive tasks sounds the way to go. Not something that's constantly changing.

I think my birth was fine, my mum has never said otherwise.
I was a bit on the small side 6lb 1 but that’s still within normal range.

To be fair, I can't really see any kind of job that would suit you if your short term memory is really that bad.

Any "home services" type of job like cleaning, gardening or dog walking, you'd have to learn and remember the way to various clients (though have you even tried using a satnav?). Even doing office cleaning you'd have to remember all the jobs that needed to be done & which you have/haven't done already that day, which cleaning products to use where etc.

As pp have said qualifications are required so prospective employers can be sure that they won't have to tell you every single time for long enough so it becomes habit. Stepping back a bit, would YOU want someone caring for your child who had to be reminded for weeks or even months that they have an allergy, or need meds at a certain time, and even then you couldn't be sure they will remember? Or caring for your pets?

https://cdn.bdadyslexia.org.uk/uploads/documents/Dyslexia/Adult-Checklist-1.pdf?v=1554931003

^You might find this helpful.

And this

www.dyslexia.uk.net/service/adult-screening/#1689146859098-ed672fce-f8e0

You need ways of remembering stuff.
You know your working memory isn't great so you need to find ways round it.

A too do list, ticking stuff off when you have done it.
A book constantly highlighting when a task is complete
Or a million post it notes

Yes you could spend £600 to get assessed and it might be helpful to know what exactly your weaknesses are. And a confidence booster to know where your strengths are.

When you did your nutrition course, if you read the questions, could you find the answers?

I agree with you and no I probably wouldn’t want someone like me doing those things but I am me, and in life I’ll be expected to work, If I like it or not. I can’t just say no that’s not for me.
I have been fortunate enough to be a sahm but I cannot do that forever as my children are getting older and I’m too old to have any more.
I had my first at 17 and my youngest at 32 she is nearly 10 and only has one more year at primary school.
I need to plan for the future.

@nickinickers Look at the links I left and do the quick self assessment of the first one. It's free and gives an indication of what you may have. It includes a lot of the things you've mentioned like directions, forgetting stuff, etc.

Would you be able to clean - do you clean your own house? Are you able to recognise that "this floor needs mopping", put the correct cleaning chemical in a bucket, mop it, done. Are you able to work out that e.g. you don't just chuck bleach on a stain on the carpet, or you don't combine different chemicals together in a toilet at the same time? If you can do those sorts of things and could clean someone else's house if you took your own supplies with you, then you'd just need a way to record that you do "Mrs Smith's house at X address every Monday at 10am" - in a calendar app on your phone.

Cleaning, but for a business rather than domestic cleaning might be a good place to start.

Your certainly not coming across as stupid or thick. But you are forgetful and probably lacking in confidence.

When people ask you to do stuff, you absolutely need to write it down.