I've wasted my working life and now have to start all over again

[TeamMeerkat]

So I'm at the tail end of maternity leave (first child) and being made redundant. I wasn't very happy there and don't want to go back so I'm not too devastated about it. It's all above board and by the book so that's not what this is about. My question now is.... where do I go from here?

I don't want to say what job I was doing was as it's quite outing. But it's a very niche and getting another job in this industry is not only unlikely, but not something that I want.

Half of my working life has been in bars and restaurants, then my most recent job (of 10 years) focused more on organisation and management. Plenty of transferable skills in there, but no actual qualifications, and lots of experience that doesn't really apply to most other places.

We can't afford for me to not work so I am sending off job applications left right and centre. But I don't want to just find something to get us by - I want to finally start a career in something that will eventually pay a good salary and offer some kind of progression. I don't want to find myself in my 50s still working a low salary dead end job.

I don't want to go back to uni (open or otherwise) because I don't think I can manage studies alongside childcare and a basic job. I know that there are bootcamps for coding jobs etc but I tried a beginner kickstarter course while I was pregnant and was absolutely hopeless at it. Apprenticeships seem to be just as in demand as actual jobs at the moment, and many of them won't pay enough to cover childcare costs. My partner travels a lot for work so anything with evening shifts is ruled out because of childcare.

So to get to the crux of it - what can I do that will get me a foot in the door of a long and lucrative career that doesn't need any direct experience or qualifications?? If any of you have retrained in your 30s, what did you do and how did you do it?

Thank you all so much in advance for your help.

Hard to say without knowing your experience even in vague terms or your idea of what's lucrative.

Civil service is an area you can enter and make use of your transferrable skills to find an area of interest and move up.

Can you try looking at big companies or public sector organisations with career progression and thinking about whether any of those appeal? For example, if you looked at the civil service or local government or the NHS, they will all have project teams, comms/media teams or non-specialised support functions, which all have team leaders/management and opportunities to rise up the ladder. I’m being quite non-specific deliberately as I’m not sure where your interests might lie. At least in a big place there will be options, whereas in small companies it’s far less likely.

It doesn’t sound as if you’ve wasted your working life. (Trust me, I know what that looks like.) But qualifications are always a help at points of change. You said you don’t want to go ‘back’ to uni - so does that mean you have a degree? Postgrad? While you may feel you need a new job pdq, can you really afford, financially or emotionally, to take a job that doesn’t require qualifications? That is, a job for which there’s less competition and less possibility of advancement.

You won’t want to hear it, but a change for one half of a partnership should mean a change for both. What changes is your partner willing to make in order to help you move forward in a way that benefits you all?

Thanks for your response.

For a frame of reference, I've topped out where I am at £28500pa. I know starting in a new industry would take a pay cut, but as long as it would have an upwards trajectory beyond say £30k I'd be happy.

My experience is all customer service and staff management. I have been applying for civil service jobs, they advertise a lot which aren't asking for qualifications. But I think in the current climate they're probably overwhelmed by applications from people just like me so the competition is huge.

Yes, as I said in my reply to the person above, I have been applying for civil service jobs, but the competition is huge because they must be inundated with applications. I'd happily take a job in somewhere like the NHS but finding someone to take a punt on me is proving difficult which is why I'm wondering if there are any courses I could do (that won't take several years) that might give me a leg up.

Regarding my interests, I've done the whole "do what you enjoy and you'll never work a day in your life" thing and this is where I've ended up. So I'm actually not too bothered about what industry I end up in, but I've been leaning towards finance. Otherwise looking at admin roles because they would be best suited to our new family situation (and also be a refreshing contrast to my last job). An EA job would be amazing because they can be really well paid and I feel like I have the skills for it but they're all asking for EA specific experience

OP you already have a key asset that will stand you in good stead - a good attitude! You sound really keen to work and provide and develop a career for yourself. It’s refreshing to read . Good luck to you!

Have you thought about care work? Often you can enter with no qualifications but will have a condition of your registration to obtain the necessary qualifications. These would be work based not college or uni. The employer would pay for this and once qualified you could move into supervisory/management roles well upwards of 40k. It would likely require shift work to start off though.

What academic or other qualifications do you currently have, @TeamMeerkat?

You haven’t responded regarding your partner but I’m wondering where in the country you live - because the salary you’re receiving after ten years is shockingly low. Have you actually talked about bigger changes you could make as a household to increase your income and improve your long term prospects?

Thanks. I might be catastophising a bit saying I've wasted my working life. But that's a bit how it feels when I wonder what situation I'd be in if I were to have trained in something more substantial when I was younger.

I should have been clearer - I did go to uni for a short time but dropped out due to injury (music). Otherwise no, I don't have a degree, or anything beyond GCSEs and two A Levels which I did so poorly at they're barely worth mentioning.

This is why I'm worried, I don't have significant qualifications so it's limiting my options. So many places just want you to have a degree - in anything! Even if not related to the field of work.

The partner situation is a tough one. I know he would do whatever he can to help me succeed in whatever I want to do. But he started a new job that will be amazing for his (already established career) which means a long commute and semi-frequent travel, so there are limits to how much he can help. If we relocate nearer to where he works that will help significantly, but he still will be working away sometimes.

I don't really like that I've been caught in the stereotypical situation of the woman/mother being limited in her career in favour of the man/father progressing his. But every step of the process was made as a joint decision which made sense for us as a family at the time, and made without knowing that I was going to be made redundant. Had we known what the future holds we probably wouldn't have taken this job and things would look very different. But it is what it is and this is the situation we are in now!

Thank you! Positive thoughts!

As part of your redundancy package can you ask for career coaching / job hunting advice?

Re-working your CV and application technique is valuable because the recruitment market has changed so much.

I have considered it. It doesn't really appeal to be honest but I would do it if it came down to it, especially if I could advance through to management roles. The shift work would be an issue though because of childcare.

I would go and talk to a recruitment consultant, perhaps more than one. A good one will get to know you a bit in order to sell you.

Sorry, I'm blitz responding now while the baby is asleep!

Just GCSE and A Levels. We're in the midlands.

I have responded above to the other poster about my partner. We're pretty stuck at the moment with how much he can change his work around to accommodate whatever I need to do, but he is really quite dedicated to helping us find a solution that would not only improve our finances but help me succeed in a career that I enjoy. He was worried about me going back to my old job because he thought I'd end up stuck there and unhappy.

Civil service/local authority.
Despite the cuts we're really struggling to recruit. Job applications now are very good for being able to show transferable skills and not just qualifications
Some skilled areas like Town Planning will often take on decent applicants and support them through training

We haven't discussed what the redundancy will look like, but it's a small independent business so I doubt they'll be able to offer anything beyond stat redundancy pay. My boss (the MD) also is not the person to ask about career coaching with his background as he's never really been in that position himself.

I've already re-written my CV and had it looked over by a retired HR guy that helped me out. But he admits he's several years out of the game now so I definitely want to seek professional advice. Not quite sure where to find it but I'm going to start at the job centre once the redundancy is official.

On a side note, no where seems to want CVs anymore?? So many places don't want to see it, they just have application forms where they want you to write essays on their set questions. I get why they do it but it makes it much harder when you're trying to apply for jobs around a baby that has just learned how to crawl 😂

Yes I've applied for several jobs with both of those. No luck so far.

Weirdly my best friend is a planning officer. She was saying that they have a position they need to fill in her department but they just don't like anyone for it so they leave it empty!

(Apologies, our posts may have crossed earlier, so I was asking about things you’d already answered.)

It does sound as if it’s the time for you to be allowed some investment in your future. Certainly moving closer to your partner’s job so he spends less time commuting should be a help.

But you’re remarkably short of proper - by which I mean up to date, knowledgeable - help with your career search. That’s probably the first thing to tackle.

There's a bit of an art to civil service applications, you'll get good advice on here or try the success profiles.

I would suggest playing to your strengths. Maybe start with something customer service based. Probably EO grade for that pay to start and get an idea of the organisation, say passport office or Home Office visas then once you're in, you can soon start looking for training opportunities, have a think what interests you, any projects, qualifications, the Fast Stream even (you don't have to be a grad. I would argue the FS it isn't necessary for achieving the same things).

Even an agency will get you a foot in the door and some good competencies to write about.

How's your Linked In profile? I genuinely know people who have got jobs from it. And you can look at proper recruitment people on it as well and make contact. The right agency will help you with other possibilities in the local job market.

Oh, it's definitely my turn to start getting something back in that respect. I'm sending out lots of applications, but I'm wondering about retraining in something as a contingency - I don't know how long it will take me to find work in the current climate. It's just difficult to know which direction to go in.

But yes, you're right. I've always found work via unconventional methods so this world is very new to me and I need help.

Railway?

I did 15 years, DH nearly 40. Front line roles are usually shifts but there are lots of office-based roles too: HR, Finance, Contact centre/customer relations, property, marketing, training.

Usually decent salary, free/reduced travel for you and dependants. Could be an option?

I'll have a look, thank you!

Bit pants - I've only just registered on it so still exploring!

What sort of thing do you enjoy? If logistics ie needing x training wasn't an issue, what could you see yourself doing?