Please share your success stories about retraining as an adult

[Studybuddy2023]

I work in a dead end job that is draining me daily. I want to study and better my options. Currently I’m earning £24,000 roughly, but I have to travel 1 hour into work to get the London weighting allowance that I have, without that my wage would be £21,000. I did an access course but it is in a field I no longer wish to go into, due to the lack of job satisfaction and how they are treated in that industry as a whole.

I’m starting from scratch but I’m so lost and can’t seem to narrow down the right career for me. Please give me your stories and share how you are enjoying it or not. I’m open to hear all different ideas so that I might get some sense of direction. I just want to do something that is enjoyable and I won’t be treated like shit for low pay and barely allowed a lunch break. It’s killed my mental health, and I’m ready to break away. I just need to find a career with a better work life balance. I know no career or job can be 100% satisfactory but not being worked to the brink of a breakdown with no support would be nice.

fyi I’m 31 and married so it’s now or never I suppose.

OP Why not have a look through the experiences on the mature study and retraining threads already gathered here?

There’s a huge store of information and inspiration contained in the threads preceding yours. Could you spare an hour to scroll through them? I’d be surprised if you don’t find dozens of posters in exactly the same or a very similar situation to yours.

That might help you to narrow down your options or at least focus on possible routes forward.

I’ve looked already on the board.

Did it not suggest any ideas at all to you?

What’s your highest level of qualification? Do you have a clear idea of your strengths, skills, preferences in terms of work? How much time can you give to studying and do you want a face to face course or something online?

Is there anything you particularly would not want to pursue - to save people from suggesting it?

Your post made me smile....thank you.

I read ‘retraining as an adult’ to mean...’I'm not quite grown up yet!’ and opened to read for ideas....for me and my young adult DC’s. 😀

@MarnieSQ 🤣🤣

I’ve had a good look over the last year and the threads are really helpful. I suppose I would like to know the issues I might face as a mature student. What struggles might pop up, or how other users might have coped with both studying and working. I’m currently working in healthcare but not enjoying the work life balance or the stress. It’s almost like having the position of a manager but for minimum wage and little support. Very frustrating. I am good on the computer and typing etc. I do enjoy working for the NHS as I have an interest in healthcare. I feel like a degree in healthcare would be a lot more interesting for me. I would be interested to know if there are any particular professions that do give more of a positive experience. I don’t particularly wish to work night shifts, also I want to end up in a career where I can help patients without being severely understaffed and underfunded. I do wonder if the whole of the NHS is just like this now.

I did an access course followed by university at 23 - I'm now a lawyer and earning very well in a pretty undemanding job. Prior to that I had only ever done warehouse work and the odd bit of waitressing etc (no qualifications whatsoever, Y9 dropout.). It was a bit of a slog to get here though!

DH (late 30s) is currently retraining as a counsellor with the intention of doing it on a self employed basis once he qualifies. We know some other people who have done this and it's worked out really well for them.

@Whichwhatnow wow well done to you both!! How amazing…

I actually love the idea of counselling and therapy in general. I did look into this as an option and I just kept hearing that there weren’t many jobs in counselling and that did put me off. I also heard that it was quite expensive to train, and that you need to have your own personal therapy as well as supervision, which obviously costs money. How has your DH found this? If the above is true, I have just been researching on the internet so I’m not 100%.

On another note, how did you find your degree and training in Law? Did you attend full time uni? As I’ve seen some courses, both full time and online, but was always skeptical of the online courses. I find both Law and healthcare very interesting and have done for many years. I doubt that I would be cut out to be a lawyer 😂 I hate confrontation or public speaking, so going to court would probably be a nightmare for me. Is it true that not all Lawyers have to speak in court? I know a Barrister is usually hired however, I suppose there are other types of Lawyers… is this correct? What type of speciality are you in now?

I may take a look into legal advisor training, and see what the role would involve. Maybe that could be something more suitable for me.

I recently used a solicitor's services and as it was quite a standard case, most of the work was actually done by a paralegal. Not on as money much as a qualified solicitor no, but still dealing with casework which would be interesting.

I went back to uni and trained as a podiatrist- I got a first class degree. I now work in the NHS. We are underfunded and so on. But I do mostly love my job, and I suppose If I want more money I can go private.

No nightshifts and so on. There are quite a few apprenticeship roles for it coming through now. (I wish I had done that route- no debt etc)

It is more than just cutting nails. (You do need a strong stomach at times though. And most of our patients like us)