How to get out of this situation?

[ivise]

Hi there , so basically, I want to ask anyone who has gone through or is going through same situation, how can u get out of low paying jobs to more successful career or even job , yes I know I need to try but where do I start, I live pay-check to pay-check ,I want to start something , even if it's studying courses but how if I don't have enough money , how do u get out , I don't have any savings to just concentrate on one thing , how to get out ? I am so desperate for bettering myself and my life for me and my child , I don't say I want to be millionaire but to earn more than just for bills and food would be great, I don't feel fulfilled living like this and doing jobs just to survive, I have changed so many jobs to and end up in the same situations, unhappy and low wage anyone can help me out pls ?😫😫😫

What do you enjoy doing OP?

Most higher grade jobs will either require a qualification or be performance related - sales etc.
If you aren't a natural sales person, I would start by looking for an employer that has a general policy of in-house training and embraces CPD. Councils, public sector, NHS, bigger corporates etc. Then take every opportunity they offer you.

You haven't said what you currently do, or what skills you have so it's difficult to advise.

My oh works in IT and worked his way up from nothing (no qualifications in the field) and after 5 years was on 30k and now is contracting for 60k a year.

I considered changing to IT from my area (design) because of low pay so was looking into online training/qualifications and most all but guarantee a job afterwards.

IT security or data side of things have lots of jobs near me. Not amazing pay at first but a very high ceiling going forward. OH never specialised, he's just an experienced IT guy.

I would look on your local indeed site and see what kind of decent jobs are hiring. Then see if there is a way into them. If nothing is interesting, is it the area you live in? Could you move?

You really need to think about what you want out of a job. You've ruled out personal care but do you like dealing with people? Solving problems? Processing information? Something creative?

Think about the things you enjoy in your current job and also in your personal life. Think about the skills you have and would like to use more of (and the ones you don't want to use more of).

Without at least a general idea of the long term goal, it's very hard to advise. There is no one thing you could do that would automatically make you more employable.

Where is your current job? If it's in a big company, then are there roles that you would be interested in moving into - you can then make a plan for how to get there.

My friend's daughter is 25 and a manager for a pub chain on £45,000. No qualifications and started as a casual bar worker on minimum wage. She's worked hard, is unfailingly bubbly, positive and full of initiative.

@Luckydog7 I have mainly worked in customer facing roles , like sales assistant, waitressing, personal assistant (very basic )
Just any random job that I was able to get , after having my child I don't want anymore do that, I want more like a stable job or career with a better income , I don't really have much qualifications, just college and not finished level 3 in business administration(long time ago) I am 30 now , maybe I should finish off my course I have no idea if it's possible,because all the courses online costs thousands ,I live in small town so all the jobs going is carer or cleaning , waitressing , when I look up higher paying jobs they all require qualifications and skills I don't have

@ivise It is absolutely doable with your skillset then, you've been customer facing which is hard. I started work when I moved out of home at 17, waitressing - then became the restaurant supervisor and was the restaurant manager by 25. I wanted out of hospitality so applied for a job working in complaints in a local call centre, while there I took on every opportunity they gave me to train, a little admin course here, an extra one there, they were big on promoting within so I applied for and got an admin job internally - I moved into the payroll team, then at 30 I applied for a job as a senior payroll administrator in another firm, I've now been here for 7years - am being funded through a business degree and manage a team of 5. I left school at 16 with just GCSE's.

I think some of the stories on here are really inspirational and very useful to you op. It might help for you to have a vision of where you'd ideally be in five years time. So you'd need to think about what your perfect job would be and what salary. Include what you would be able to get with that salary (where you'd live, what holidays you'd have, what savings you'd have) be ambitious but realistic. If you want to carry on living where you are look at people in your community who have the sort of jobs you would like to have. I'd definitely look at local authorities, schools, big businesses (including hospitality) who are more likely to offer training and career advancement. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for your input , there is some great advice that I will take on , I really need to sit down and have a plan and get on with it

If you do a Google search for “free online courses uk” you will find websites listing many hundreds of free courses. The Open University alone do loads. You could have a browse and see if anything clicks with you, take the course for free and see where it goes from there.

There are lots of free government-funded courses that are sometimes specific to your county etc. Have a good Google.

I started in customer service call centre work for a large organisation with a clear progression structure.

Then applied for team supervisor > team leader > Manager roles progressing every year. Then moved into more specialist team manager roles to develop experience until I moved into IT Service Delivery Management.

That gave me an in to IT and GRC roles.

Now I'm Director level in Info security & GRC.

I didn't finish uni and have no qualifications besides some really bad A-Levels.

If you have customer service/admin experience have you tried applying to supervisor level roles?

If you do decide a degree is the right option for you, keep in mind you can apply for a student loan to cover the cost of open university degrees, if you've never had one before, which it sounds like you wouldn't have.

I paid for my OU degree with a student loan. It covered all the course fees, and they provided all the materials and books and stuff. They also have other support for low earners, parents, etc too. So worth considering if you do want to go down the university road.

I agree with a PP though, it's a lot of hard work to do, it's worth doing if you're looking to go into a role which requires a degree, and can open a lot of doors, but choose wisely, and be sure that you really do need a degree for what you want to do. Otherwise there are lots of other educational options. As well as Open Learn which is the OU free course section, you could look at Coursera.com which has a bunch of free courses and tasters on it, to give you an idea of things you might enjoy. Most industries have industry specific qualifications too, would your employer consider sponsoring you to do something to advance your skills?

Just for perspective, I started out doing admin, then call centre type customer service, went on to account management, some sales, and now work in software, as a kind of client liaison role for new clients getting set up with our software products. I got this job because I understood from my customer service background what the client's customers want, having worked in the same industry. I've moved job a bit to increase pay, change roles, and to move away from poor employers, by far my biggest pay jumps have been from moving rather than internal promotions or payrises.

Good luck OP, the fact that you're thinking about this is a good start!

@shepherdsangeldelight I love working with people but not so much serving them if that makes sense( like waitressing or customer facing role ) I love giving out ideas , or being part of project,solving problems ,kind of like being a leader ,I also love everything about nutrition/health, basically everything about wellbeing (that is more like my passion but I have no idea if that would be smth I could make money from ) ,just a quick overview of what I like

That's a good start. So maybe a supervisory role would be the next step? Or project management? Look at jobs going in the local area at that level and if you don't meet the criteria work out how you can get there. Also you could talk to your current employer about taking on more responsibility. I'd see the health/wellbeing field as a longer term goal. Again, look at jobs you'd like to do in that area and what skills and qualifications they're asking for. Good luck!

Do you not need to be a qualified nurse to be a care home manager?

No you don't @Scottishshortbread11877

Sales. Business to business. In frankly the least sexy stuff. Plastic. Metal. Widgets for cars/planes/boats. Medical supplies. Logistics. Packaging. If you’re good with people you’ll be fine.

I did wonder if working as a nutritionist or dietician with the NHS could be a long term goal. It looks like you can get degree apprenticeships but I suspect it isn't easy. You might also be able to access free level 3 training if you meet government income criteria. Information at this site https://www.skillsforcareers.education.gov.uk/pages/training-choice/free-courses-for-jobs

Look at the local college website. I think that ours offers some assistance with course fees for those on a low income, so maybe you would qualify.

You could rent out a spare room if you have one. You could try a side hustle, you could do some extra qualifications. You could try to move somewhere cheaper.

You could look at something like social prescribing link worker roles. They're often in the NHS so usually good scope for additional training and development opportunities, you don't need formal qualifications but good people skills and basic English / Maths / IT. No personal care. Room for progression into team management etc. and could move up through NHS or sideways into the VCSE sector. Starting salary probably around 25k. Likely to be 9-5 ish Monday to Friday with some flexibility.

Sorry should have added, it would be "customer facing" I guess but it would very much meet your interests in health and well-being, problem solving, some project work, sharing ideas. Lots of working with other teams and agencies.

That's a great suggestion!

Train as a PT?

What about getting an admin type job in a local authority or community support worker role and then apply for one of their grow your own schemes? Many do in house apprenticeships for things like occupational therapy or social work. Then they will pay all associated costs and you get your degree and a better paid job. Think most require English and maths gcse ( or equivalent) but if you don’t have that they can usually link you up with a short course to get you to the qualifying level.