Preparing for a career change

[tigercametotea]

I have been an SAHM for nearly 10 years and looking for a career change in the future and wondering if I could start the ball rolling now while my youngest is still a toddler by doing some correspondence courses like the OU or NEC. I am looking at a career change towards health sciences, in particular nutrition, as I've developed a real interest in that field over the years. My other interests are in medical fields but I think a medical field is out of reach for me now as I have 3 young DCs.

Prior to being an SAHM I worked in several different jobs, mostly testing the waters to see if that sort of career was something that would be meaningful to me and worthwhile. Did shop assistant and waitressing, but they were not for me. Also was told by a colleague in a restaurant that I was not cut out for work as a waitress... Hmmm... I tried hairdressing, the creative and hands-on aspect of it really appealed to me. But I was not keen on the catty politics in the salon. Also I was often told I was taking too long with serving each client, which was true. I really wanted to attend to them with my all, give exceptional service, make them feel happy, etc I was not interested in factory-line style of going through each client quickly and impersonally. My colleagues told me I wasn't really right for this job. A client told me I should become a nurse! (but I'm squeamish with blood...) But my manager liked me and wanted to keep me on. With my parents being as unsupportive and critical as they could about the work, and me struggling to survive on the apprentice pay of £300+ a month (I had moved out of family home by then and rented a small room) eventually just gave it up and did admin jobs in various types of companies instead, which I found really soulless but paid the bills. The real estate ones were more interesting as I got to meet clients, show them around properties and discuss stuff on the phone and things, but once again I found the office politics really unbearable. I would literally just go home every day from work and sometimes feel like crying.

I graduated with 7 O levels with A's in 2 languages and 2 maths (I did Add. Maths along with the 'regular' Maths), B's in Geography and Chemistry, and a C in Physics. I've always been interested in sciences but was never a good student, truanting and falling asleep in classes, etc. I had family problems and was very rebellious as a teen and my school performance had a lot to do with it. When I was a new mum, I did Physics AS Level at a local college part time as I was feeling quite low and wanted to prove to myself that I could have done better at Physics at O Level, not because I was simply "dumb" at it, because I did like it but didn't put any effort in. I achieved an A for the Physics AS which I was happy about, then we had to move cities again and I gave up studying Physics as DC2 came along and in the new city, the local FE college would not allow me to do Physics A2 level part time, although they did for A level Maths, so I did that just to add an A level qualification to my belt and I did get an A for it but Maths is just something I can do, not something that fires me up greatly iyswim. I later went to a traditional Uni to do a pt degree in Philosophy and Spanish and gained a 2:1 grade for Philosophy and a class 1 grade for Spansh at the end of First Year equivalent. Had to cash in my studies for a CertHE though as husband got retrenched suddenly and we had to move cities again for another job.

I've been thinking of becoming a nutritionist for quite a few years now. I first got into reading up about it as a result of being a mum, being concerned about the food I feed my family. Then I started reading about it all the time lol... It is one of my favourite topics of convo - so I must have bored a lot of people, and my long-suffering husband I suppose! The people aspect of the job appeals to me too.

But am wondering... Should I do an OU degree in Health Sciences and then do a Postgrad in it when my kids are older and if they've gone to school? I'm not sure if the OU route is good as it seems to lack lab work and nutrition degrees seem to involve some lab work. Also does anyone know what the realities of the job entails and what are the career opportunities like? It's either that or counselling/ psychology as other main things that interest me a lot. But somehow I feel I am not ready to be counselling people. Maybe I just don't feel ready or confident to do those. And I am not sure if I would be emotionally drained by the nature of those jobs. I used to cry at funerals of people I don't even know personally - family of frienda, etc.! I don't do that anymore but I still do get quite emotionally affected at seeing suffering. I was hospitalised 2 years ago and went through the A and E wards and what I saw there (having spent 8 houra waiting) upsetted me so much I had horrible flashbacks of the screaming man in pain who was still screaming hours later...

My husband wishes to become self employed and suggests I do a sensible Business degree so I can help manage the set up. I know a Business degree would bore me but wonder if anyone thinks that would be a better path to follow? I do realise I'm a jack of all trades and master of none...

Have you looked at the costs of the OU? They have just put their costs up MASSIVELY and you might be better off checking out other unis to see if any of them do any sort of distance learning or to see if any of the local unis to you do health related degrees. There is an online database of degree courses if you google for it. You should look carefully at the finances as you might be better off doing a full time course to access all the loans etc.

There is no research element to the OU - everything is delivered to you in books so not necessarily that great if you want to go on to further study. They might have lab work in a residential though. You would need to ring them, the people on the phones are quite helpful.

Why don't you do more research into being a nutritionist, and try and get some work experience with one? Or at least have a long chat. It sounds like you have done bits of things over a lot of years. You don't seem to have much recent work history - if you get another degree - what then?

I would get some proper careers advice. There did used to be a govt funded adult careers service but it has been rebranded. Or you could see if your old uni would offer you any careers advice.

There certainly was a research element to the ou psych course I did. There was online access to various databases with journal articles, papers etc. I did several qualitative and quantitative projects including 2 proper 3rd year level ones. It's a well regarded degree.

That's slightly beside the point though, to become a psych would take at least 3 years for the degree then 3 years at least post grad.

Thanks for mentioning the Careers Advice service at my old uni. I have not thought of it. Will try to send an email to them though not able to drop in as I live in another city now.

I was researching the studentroom.co.uk for the Uni closest to me which does the nutrition degrees. The students who got in were saying that the interviewer was looking for evidence of previous experience in care settings as well, so I am now considering becoming a volunteer at my local hospital or care home.

Am in the process of trying to pass my driving practical exam now -first test in July and tbh not sure how many tries it would take for me to pass, but that is the first and foremost thing I really want to be done with before I take on anything else major.

I'm assuming when you say nutitionist you mean a qualified dietician (they are always called dieticians in the NHS) and not a complementary therapist Gillian-McKeith-style.

A few years ago I had an acquaintance who was a trainee dietician and she had to move from one end of the country to the other to do an essential placement, she told me it's a ridiculously competitive field to get into.

The OU has just put up its fees considerably, but it remains cheaper than most campus-based universities. Having studied at a Russell Group campus-based university and the OU I can say I much prefer the OU, as it's more supportive.

Definitely don't do the Business degree! It's clear from your post that your heart's not in it and life's too short! Plus you are unlikely to do very well in a course you are not really interested in.

You are obviously intelligent and sound like a people person, and somebody who is very much about putting people before profit, so I think you should be aiming for a professional role in the public sector and being a dietician may well suit you. But if you do go down that route I would do a degree in Dietetics rather than a generic degree in Health Sciences and then have to do postgrad study on top of that. As you only have a CertHE you'll qualify for financial assistance with an undergrad degree (whether you do through the OU or otherwise), but postgrad study you'll have to find the money for yourself (and I believe it's only a matter of time before postgrad fees go up too).

As you enjoy Physics and have good AS/A level grades in that and Maths could doing a Physics degree and maybe going into teaching be a possibility? There is a need for physics teachers.

Sorry, whether you do it through the OU or not.

I was thinking of nursing as a possibility for you right up until the point in your post where you said you don't like blood! But you'd be surprised how many nurses are squeamish about certain aspects of their job (what makes a good nurse is not the inability to be disgusted by things but the ability to maintain a professional demeanor no matter disgusted you feel). If you work in a care home to get some experience, in which you are likely at some point to come across blood (and poo and wee and sputum and vomit and flaky skin and manky toenails and colostomy bags and dead people) you may be surprised by what you can cope with, especially as a mum of three.

I would repost your post with 'dietician' or 'nutrionist' in the title, as you are more likely to get comments from people doing those jobs that way.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

D'oh! Sorry, that should have been 'nutitionist', of course.

ARGH! 'Nutritionist'!!

P.S. Counselling and psychology are mega competitive. I have two friends who are trying to get into clinical psychology and finding it very hard, and as for counselling see this post here

Thank you for your response Skarsgard. Just as well, because when I called my old uni's careers advice svcs, they plainly turned down my request for help when they heard I did not actually graduate with the full degree despite my circumstances for ending my studies there. I was referred to the National Careers Services website instead, which seems quite informative.

I am aware that jobs in the mental health field are very competitive, which is why I did not consider focusing on that as a goal. I suppose I could get a foot in the door as a Mental Health Nurse, but having read some horror stories on forums about nurses getting assaulted by patients badly, and about the low pay and bad working conditions, it made me quite apprehensive.

I think I might go back to college to do an A level in Chemistry. They offer evening classes 2 hrs a week for the AS level but perhaps not for the A2. I think the A level Chem would benefit me and help me handle Uni level science courses better as it seems more and more clear to me that I would have to look into attending a proper Uni to get a science degree. I like OU but from my research it seems their Natural Sciences degrees are lacking in the lab work component which is quite crucial I think.

The more I look at it, the more I think I am going for the Sciences. Just not sure which, but even the Dietetics degree is a science degree which requires Bio and Chem knowledge. Pharmacology, Biochem, Chemistry and Biology are other possible degree routes I'm looking at.

I will definitely be volunteering in a care setting. I have always wanted to try working in the health sector but always always had doubts about my capabilities to cope in these scenarios. I think the volunteer work would do me well whether I eventually decide to pursue work in the healthcare sector or not.

Yes, I agree for a science degree you are probably better off going to a campus-based university. OU courses do include some lab work, as part of their compulsory residential modules, but a week-long residential can't compare to weeks and weeks with access to a lab on campus. (I sing the OU's praises, but I am doing Social Sciences with them, which is obviously a bit different!).