I need some help please. I am thinking about going to college in my 40s.

[VolPom]

I worked in care for the past 16 years. I loved what I did but it can be so so so so so hard. Intense and draining at times. I hate the long days and sometimes without a lunch or a toilet break sometimes.

I need to get away. I am drawn to hairdressing in a big way. I think this is the path I want to go on. I love looking after my own hair. I made some big transformations to my own hair in recent years. I love looking after my hair. I love looking online at hair tiktok and other videos. I think I would love to help people with their hair.

I am drawn to hairdressing.

A 12 hour shift in a hair salon would be a half day for me. Imagine that.

I am looking online and in my local city. There's a full time day course.

Any advice for me? It will be a huge thing for me.

I am so sick of working in the care industry and hardly able to digest a meal or go to the toilet and there's constant demands and intensities and sometimes my boss can be a scumbag and I hate how one day can roll into another without hardly any time off except for a sleep over in work and then keep on going.

I am drawn to hairdressing.

Go for it. I did a degree in my 50s

I’m in my forties and I’m not dead yet! I’m retraining though in a much more closely related field to the one I was in and love it. I think I know myself better now and can make a better career choice than the one I feel into because someone told a teenage me I could make money in it!

If you think you'll love it, do it.

I did a nail tech course at college last year just for fun and the ages were very mixed but of the 12 of us, about half were 40+ looking for a new career.

Only thing I'd say about hairdressing is that it would be hard going. The hairdressers I know suffer from back issues. You're on your feet constantly. If you wanted to do it as a career, maybe it would be good to add something else too that would allow you to sit down at various points in the day - nails might be a good shout, or brows/lashes?

I was 43 when I did my L3 Children & Young People's Workforce...

You CAN do it op!!

I have an interest in haircare. I avoided it when I was younger because I saw the profession as too glamorous and I was a tomboy and dressed too masculine but I did a complete overhaul of my dress and everyday wear too and I love wearing dresses now.

Hair dressing is something that I would love.

I got my hair done in recent months and I mentioned it to my hairdresser about how much I thought he had such a cold job. I was definitely admiring his job and work.

I'm on my feet already most of the day as it is. A day in hairdressing would be a walk in the park compared to the care industry.

My only concerns would be financial for a year or too.

I knew someone who wanted to study medicine and went to Poland to study medicine. The course was through English tok.

I wonder would there be any hairdressing courses in Europe and I like Poland too and maybe it might be shorter in Poland and maybe cheaper. I would like to explore some studies in Europe if I could and preferable in an English speaking country.

Go for it. Does your local college not offer it part time on the evening?

No the local college doesn't offer a part time course and even if they did I would likely continue working and my position in the care industry would never allow time to study part time.

I am so so so so sick of working in care. It is so demoralising. You could break your back and be worked overtime that is often argued and unpaid and not only the long hours but I am looking after everyone else's bowel and bladder elimations and messes and meals and the same is never afforded to me. I hate the long days and the days without hardly any breaks. The summer time is always the worst because it's now being run in sketolton staff while everyone f*cks off away on holidays abroad or golf evenings and I am just so so so sick of it. So sick of it.

I like the idea of hairdressing as a career.

What qualifications do you currently have, if any? That is the point you start from.

You mention Poland? Do you have connections there?

There is a lot of repetition in your posts, @VolPom - whether through exhaustion or some other cause. But you would need to be in a position to focus on learning if you want to study for a new career.

The National Careers Service might be a good place to start.

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/

My only concern about hairdressing is that depending on where you are it is very competitive and you are up against young girls with buckets of energy to be on their feet all day in a busy environment. If you can't keep up in that sphere, it could be precarious.

On the other hand, I know two women who opened a very successful hair, beauty and nail salon near me, and they work very hard but they have very varied days, are their own bosses, and employ a couple of girls. They're both very talented and experienced though, and have attracted a particular niche market. But it doesn't seem easier than care work.

Thinking about financial security and the long term, and leaning on the enormous skills and experience you have as a carer, would you consider something like social work? educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/03/21/social-work-week-how-to-become-a-child-and-family-social-worker/