AIBU to consider a degree instead of full time work while struggling to find a job?

[Karma1387]

I'm hoping the hive mind of mumsnet may have some suggestions on what I should do to improve my life.

I am looking to return to full time work (if I can afford to) after my maternity leave ends but the job market just seems super super tough. I need a 9-5 Monday-Friday job but everything I find online wants people with years of experience.

I want to improve my kids lives but it is looking impossible at the moment. Am I better off going and doing a degree and praying the job market is better in 3 years?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I feel a bit stuck but the world is crazy expensive and I have a lot of debt and I know the longer I'm not in a proper job the harder it is going to be to get into one.

If you are interested in finance, but not sure about getting a job after the degree or student debt, have you considered financial advice? You don't need a degree and there are a number of academy's now that offer the training. I didn't pay for the one I did, just didn't earn for the 6 month duration (but that's no different to being a student), and my exams were also paid for. It could be self employed after, so also consider if you can cope with a variable income that could take time to build, but you can choose your hours too. Or you could look at an entry level employed position like paraplanning or administration to see if the industry is for you and train alongside working.

If you are planning this, research the role and the degree very seriously to be sure it will actually help you. Obviously the uni will claim that it does. They are selling a product.

These courses are available to do online these days you don't have to go in person to do them

OP you could look into this
An Accounting "Top-Up" degree is a fast-track program that lets you turn a vocational qualification—like an AAT Level 4 Diploma or an HND—into a full university BA (Hons) degree in just one year.
Instead of doing a standard 3-year university course, your existing Level 4 qualification counts as the first two years of a degree. You just enroll directly into the final year (Year 3) online.
Why do it?
• Two Qualifications: You get both a practical professional qualification (AAT) and an academic degree (BA Hons) on your CV.
• Save Money: You only pay university tuition fees for one year instead of three.
• 100% Flexible: It is widely available online through universities like Derby, so you can work full-time while finishing it.
• Exam Exemptions: It still gives you exemptions from higher chartered exams like ACCA or CIMA.

she is only looking to work in something part time until retirement so likely wouldn’t trigger paying back very much at all and it’s doing her so much good

How will you fund yourself whilst you doing the degree, can’t claim benefits. I doubt the job market will be any better and you’d have the 9% extra tax on the debt. You’d have to have a very clear idea of how it would help. What sort of job do you want tto
do.
re: accounting or finance, you don’t need a degree for this.

I’m seeing a number of maternity fill roles popping up, usually for a year. Employers are being very cautious but it’s a foot in the door..

Top advice.
OU degrees are usually good. Fees are around £24, 000 for the full degree and paid for on a module basis. No accomodation and travel costs

Also must be lots of digital online degrees about.

You really need some career advice to identify what you need to study for your would be job.

Don't do some kind of weak Humanities degree which will get you nowhere.

Also have to think about the relentless march of AI and what sort of jobs will be available in the future.

Hope you can get sorted and make good choices.

This is what I did when I was made redundant when youngest was 2. I did OU though - in case I did find a job as I was actively looking.
Not sure it has increased my job prospects as such....but I am noticing that when you show you have a degree people assume you are aorganised and focused😂

You would be better doing an accounting qualification in those 3 years as that’s more what employers are looking for. However, as a recently retired accountant I believe a lot of accounting entry level jobs are now done by AI and this will spread throughout the profession as AI progresses.

Which uni,'s do everything online other than open uni? Lectures you can miss, not tutorials/seminars. I'm prepared to admit if I'm wrong, but I only graduate a couple of years ago and that wasn't the case. Nor is it the case at the uni's my teenager is applying for for next year.

I reckon it depends on what qualification you did
These are the ones I know about
• Arden University
• The Open University
• University of Derby
• University of Essex
• University of London

Oh, ok. My degree was law and in Scotland. Genuinely thought only open uni did that, but I appreciate I was wrong. Every day is a school day as they say!

Urm where have I stated that I only want to work part time until retirement? This entire thread is about me trying to get a full time job!

The repayments look small to begin with but the more you earn the more you pay back . Look into vocational training or maybe an AAT course to start. And do some deeper digging on student loans and repayments to see how much you could be paying on the salary you'll be getting because it looks ok on a 25k a year job but when you earn more you pay much more on the debt itself

If you are considering doing a degree then make sure it is AI proof and has good employment prospects.

The point of the apprenticeship is that you’re getting experience though, so instead of waiting 3 years to get your degree and getting further and further into debt, you’re earning a smaller amount, whilst getting qualified and also getting experience. As soon as you’ve completed the apprenticeship and got the AAT (again, in typically less time than a degree) you can get a higher salary. My sister did this route to get back into work after kids and within 5 yrs of starting the apprenticeship got a £50k salary.
it sounds like you are looking at the student finance aspect as a way of getting your hands on immediate cash without fully considering what it means for the future

Yes 100% and if I was 18 without children, debt and bills so pay then I wouldn't mind the £8 pay. But it just isnt doable in my situation.

You’ll have a degree…..but still no experience. Just like the other thousands of job seekers.

Which is why it’s best to do a vocational degree with a mandatory placement element.

Sorry what is a vocational degree? And I am assuming the placements are unpaid?

Vocational degree = nursing, physiotherapy etc. You don't get paid on placement as it is part of the training.

The problem is that doing a degree would put you in far more debt, and there are absolutely no guarantees it would help getting you a job, well paid or otherwise.

Sounds like a massive can-kick OP and may have worked in the 90s when degrees were free. But in the 90s you'd have a job by now...

Ah I don't think I could do unpaid placements due to my part time job.