Any suggestions on what to do/retrain?

[somethingnewandexciting]

Hi all, I'm hoping this is a good place for advice or ideas to get me back to work.

Backstory: I worked from 16 in McDonalds for 2 years, then Pitman trained as a legal secretary just after doing A Levels, worked as secretary to Partners for 8 years, went abroad and was an EA for a year, came back and did temping for a year, worked in events for 2 years, worked in an estate agents (negotiations and legal chain side) for 2 years and then had my DC. Volunteered for 6 months at a MH hospital in their admin dept. Did a BSc in Public Health when DC were at Primary and got a high 2:1. The next year Covid hit and I had to be home for DC. At that point I lost a lot of confidence and began to feel quite irrelevant in the world of work.

I got a high 2:1 for my degree and was very keen to do Public Health work at the time. I do feel I have forgotten a lot of it now (well I used to know the authors and dates of studies and I am not sure I'd remember all of the terminology for epidemiology any more which is what I was applying for pre-covid) and I am worried about being on my feet for long periods of time. Ideally I'd like to do something in Women's Health, as I feel more interested in helping people where I have lived experiences. I got firsts in the modules on Sexual Health Education, Epidemiology, Ethics and Law and Psychology.

In all it's been 14 years without working and I have absolutely no confidence in my abilities. Had a bad year health-wise 2 years ago which included getting panic attacks, which are now under control but I am nervous that I might trigger this again, which happened when I did try to apply for an NHS admin role at the start of the year and went to an interview, but didn't get the job. I think the panic attacks came after this because it fed into my low self esteem as it was Band 2, entry level. I've not tried to apply for anything since.

I often feel bad when I hear all of the shortages but then don't have the confidence to try again, partly because I feel silly applying for entry level work when I am so much older. I think a short course or something might help? I do love the academic side and am good in exams but I can't really afford an MA as the flat I rent only brings in about £22k pa and I am a single mum to teens now. Unless there are any supported courses or ways to get funding? I am 45 and don't want to not contribute any more, as I do feel I have some skills but need to re-boost myself, if that makes sense! Thanks.

I didn’t get the job when I applied for hospital admin work, it went internally so don’t let that knock your confidence x they did however suggest I go on the admin bank which might work for you if you want to dip your toe and choose your hours. What about research assistant or go back to your uni and ask for career support. Open university do free courses, I looked at one on resilience.
did you ask for feedback after your interview? It’s always a good way to find out what they’re looking for. Good luck xxx

NHS trusts have huge issues with budgets and staffing at the moment. It happens every year, usually between Dec & March, with posts refreshing in April with the new financial year. Unfortunately that hasn't happened this year and posts are still frozen, so posts advertised externally on NHS jobs will often go to internal candidates who are on secondment or at risk. It's just how it is, please don't take that personally or as a reflection of your own worth.

Regarding funding for further study, you could do a pre-registration healthcare course (nursing, physio, OT, radiotherapy, radiography, etc) at Masters or BSc level. MSc is the BSc content compressed into 2yrs, designed for graduates of suitable undergraduates (yours would be fine, I think). You will get second degree funding for that and you are entitled to an annual £5k non-means tested payment every year of the course to assist with living costs. It can be topped up to a max of £8k if meet certain criteria, but you are guaranteed £5k pa. Look up NHS Learning Support Fund for info on that.

If you did the 3yr BSc version, you could work on the NHS bank for a bit of extra money and experience alongside, but the MSc version of the course is very intense and likely wouldn't allow for it.

Wow! I had no idea this existed! I did seriously consider doing radiography when choosing my degree but got drawn in by the psychosocial side and imagining I might help more people with Public Health - ideological! I spent a long time wishing I had gone with the more vocational degree the first time around but I guess I can get a second chance now.

Thank you so much for posting.

I would just be really aware of the recruitment crisis in the NHS. I'm in hospital with DD2 right now. The care assistant for our bay is actually a newly qualified nurse. She can't get a job, and she can't register for the nurse bank until she has 6 months experience as a nurse, so she's working as a care assistant. The same is happening for radiographers.

I am a qualified nurse who considered retraining in Radiography. I'm not sure it's wise now, given the issues. I even considered doing a return to practice course but if newly qualified nurses can't get jobs, it's probably not worth it.

Social Work doesn't seem to have been hit so hard. Probably because lots of people leave, but it might interest you.

Thank you. Yes I heard on R4 yesterday that Social Work is having a growth moment - presumably a belated attempt to take pressure off NHS.

It's ironic that so many with health related degrees can't get relevant jobs while NHS has a shortage of staff.

I was also wondering about becoming a neurodiversity assessor as I know they have a lot of backlog.

You normally have to be a nurse, speech and language therapist, occupational therapist, social worker or psychologist first to get into neurodiversity assessments. It's a highly specialised role, so you'd probably have to do something more general first.

Yes, as @Lougle says and an extension of my first post, the recruitment crisis extends to registered HCPs. Obviously there is work outside of the public sector but they do represent a huge chunk of jobs for newly qualified HCP/AHP and with that sector in crisis, there are more candidates (and more competition) for posts in other sectors. It's definitely something that needs to be considered before undertaking any training.