Starting new career early 30’s. Fashion or law?

[Catsonthemats]

I am planning to do an apprenticeship or access course then progress from there but not sure which direction to go. Fashion or law?

If fashion I would hope to work my way up to become a buyer and if law, I would hope to do a solicitors apprenticeship or paralegal and then work my way up to solicitor.

I understand I have a lot of competition compared to my younger peers but I really need a career path and I have a 3 year old so need to factor that too. I am a lone parent so it will be challenging but I do have grandparents/ nursery to help with childcare.
I was supposed to join a fashion course 3 years ago then fell pregnant so put it on hold but I don’t know if I should study fashion as planned or go down the legal route for a better future for us.

I’ve chosen law as my other option as I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer since I was younger but life happened and plans changed so I never actually went to uni.

For context I don’t have any skills or qualifications, having worked in only retail/ admin/ hospitality previously. Help me decide you experienced people, thank you!

I remember being in your shoes when my youngest was a toddler. I wanted to study law, but the cost put me off. Instead I became a financial planner and it was a great career choice for me. It overlapped with law in so many ways (estate planning, matrimonial property etc). I have a husband but I was the main breadwinner. On the other hand, if you can find a feasible career path as a lawyer - given that you've wanted to do that from a young age - then I'd say go for it. In comparison, a career in fashion seems insecure and competitive. Good luck!

Choose what you love the most and dedicate yourself to being great at it. No point in choosing something you don't feel passionate about as your motivation with lag after 5-10 years top. Find out more about each career path then go with your intuition. Good luck! X

I missed this at the end of January.

Bumping as I’m sure there must be plenty of people with more up to date knowledge than mine.

Thats really bad advice. There's more to it what your heart wants.

Law is one of the top professions and the reason for that is, it is difficult, stressful and demanding. It isn't family friendly either.

I don't know why law is often considered as a career choice later in life for those with no skills or formal qualifications. You might call me bitchy for saying it but there's a reason it's a top profession. Like medicine, won't people won't be able to do it.

It was bad enough doing everything at a younger age, straight out of uni, into law and then straight to looking for a TC.

The course fees are ruinous and you'll be in debt for years without any guarantee of a job.

For context my paralegal has a stellar degree from London School of Economics. She's struggling to find a training contract and is working as a paralegal. There's always someone better.

Don’t know if you’re still attending to your thread, @Catsonthemats - but I feel it’s worth pointing out you have a long way to go if you genuinely have no (exam?) qualifications at all. So you don’t need to decide between the two now.

The important thing would be to work through your access course and see how you get on with the study. Then you narrow things down at the next stage. There are more routes into Law nowadays but most employers still expect candidates to have a degree. And it doesn’t have to be in Law. The access course will give an indication of what you’re best at. Do that. Then see where you are.

(I completely agree with @ThisUniqueDreamer - but you’re not at that stage yet.)