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.

Also I have had a successful well paying job before so I know I will get there again it will just take time and patience and hopefully some of the advice on here will help!

Then when would you find time to study and do your assignments between contact hours, 2 nights working and the kids? To do a degree you actually have to do a lot of work and reading and attending lectures it’s not just a loan.

Yeah I know it would be an awful lot of work trying to juggle it all.

Sorry I haven't read the entire thread so not sure if this has come up already, but why not consider an apprenticeship? There's no upper age limit, it would give you a modest pay (and in some cases more than modest - they can pay well over MV), work experience and a qualification?

Is it an OU degree you are hoping to do, my nephew did one and managed to work alright while doing it.

I have applied to a few that pay adult minimum wage with no luck but most only pay £8 an hour which I can't afford with the added childcare/commuting costs.

No I am looking at a in person university as that is the only way you get the maintenance loan.

A student loan is not quite enough for one student to live on never mind a family. And as far as i know you are not eligible for any other benefits while you are a full time student, so you may end up worse off.

Why are you so obsessed with that 21 year old?
I haven't logged into my student debt account in years. I know I am not paying back enough to cover interest and that's OK. Apart from £200-odd coming out of my paycheck every months, I am not thinking about that debt at all!! It's not 9% of my salary. It's 9% over the threshold which is a big difference. Enough of a difference that I have a mortgage in my sole name and still have enough left over to save, invest and live a damn good life.
I have a job that I love with excellent job security and about double the amount of money I had before I decided to go to uni. I was employed fresh out of uni at the age of 37 ahead of your metaphorical 21 year old, aggressively applied for every higher post going and got it precisely because I had more life experience than a 21 year old. I made a leap that takes an average graduate in my field 3-5 yeas in 18 months and couldn't be happier with my decision.
Is this going to be everyone's story? Maybe not. But that's where the choice of degree in the context of job availability in your specific region is an absolute key.
Luckily, I had zero people in my life telling me I was too old to do it and won't get a job because there is an army of 21 year olds breathing down my neck.
And guess what, if OP can't find the job at the end of her degree, she never has to pay the loan back at all.

It might be worth looking at anything voluntary you can do alongside any retraining - for instance, being treasurer for some voluntary organisation you're involved with (sports club, PTA, church, etc). Some might bite your hand off if you said you were interested in the treasurer role; the current one might be only too happy to show you the ropes and hand over! One of our local kids groups recently advertised that they would fold unless someone offered to become treasurer - so it might not even have to be something you're currently involved with.

It’s not a bad idea considering the job market is so awful, but it’s only worthwhile if you can do a vocational degree. Your A-levels are fine and being a mature student will help you get in. With AI on the march, I wouldn’t advise anyone these days to do an accountancy course, unless they’re rich and can pay for it all themselves.

It is also unlikely you’ll get the full maintenance loan, therefore your partner would be implicitly expected to financially support you.

I would research all ideas over the next few months before possibly applying, as well as the finances (student loan repayments and bursaries). Have you thought about doing care or support work on a casual basis as an extra source of income until you get yourself sorted with your career?

Someone on the average wage would pay back £80 a month on plan 5 student loans, so not too bad. It’s when you’re earning big bucks is the time you really feel that money coming out.

I keep on referring to a metaphorical 21 Yr old because why would an employer pick a 32 Yr old with the same qualifications and responsibilities for 2 kids over someone free and easy with no responsibilities?

The only argument is for 'life experience' but in the OPs case she devoted her recent life, by that I mean most of her working life so far, to bearing 2 children and part time shop work. Before that she wasn't a professional in anything because even today she isn't a professional in anything...

She has no real life skills relevant to say, an accountancy office. Yes, mummy skills.. But again, irrelevant.

99% of employers will go for the youngster, the metaphorical youngster. With straight As, a 2.1 or 1st, and no child care responsibilities.

Even if the OP gets a 1st grad job, it'll barely pay more than minimum wage, so if she can't as she says afford childcare for 2 now on a nanny wage, she won't be any better off on a grad wage... So she won't afford childcare then, either.

Accountancy firms understand not everyone has had the same chances in life, yes, but the OP did badly at a level, had kids young, made her choices.... Harsh, but they'll go for the youngster.... (who also deserves the chance from the 100 applicants)

God, when was student loan debt nothing to worry about. If the govt can change the interest rates and different deals, they can one day find a way to make people to pay it back on death... Ah, a student loan inheritance tax!!! It's only a matter of time if only 50% pay The debts back....

You think your children will inherit your home on death, er nooooo... Not any more. Mummy owes £100,000...

God we are naive in the UK. The goalposts can be changed at the swish of a new policy and new government.

Do you have 2 kids and a husband who hasn't got a tenner a month spare to help you out if you need it?

That seems to be the deal here.

Don't encourage people to get in debt when they have responsibilities and no back up. Yes the OP has a partner with a wage, but not enough to make any inroads on her plan...

Essentially, she needs a good talk with her husband. What can he personally cut back on for 3 yrs.

The advice on this thread is good. Volunteer. Set up own business in something easier. Consider childcare. More hours in her present work. Save more now. Do professional exams but not an expensive degree...

I have a feeling though that she thinks she can get a £50k grad job with a BA. Hons. When she's 32.

"the jobs market is terrible" quoted here a lot. Ta dah!!!!! Don't borrow big sums....

No life skills for an accountancy office? So 6 years running a company, dealing with invoicing customers, dealing with employee contracts, HR, company insurances, negotiating prices with suppliers, handing customer quotes and querys. Then running my own coop store managing employees, dealing with customers, upper management, stakeholders, training staff. None of that is life skills?

I am 29 and my eldest is 2.5 years old. I have spent more of my life working than being a mum. Yes I had to give up my management job after having kids and go part time but that doesn't mean thats been my whole life.

The job marked is bloody brutal and no I don't have any accounting experience but to say I have no life experience or career experience is a load of crap.

For a start not my husband. And our finances are combined so there is nothing to cut back as he is subsidising me where I only work 2 days a week.

And your attitude frankly stinks! If you actually read my replys you would see that I would happily take minimum wage for a trainee or graduate job. I have worked proper roles and know how things work I am not expecting a huge starting salary.