I want to retrain - doing what?

[LizzieMint]

At the moment I'm a SAHM with 3 young children (oldest nearly 8, youngest 3). I didn't go back to work after my third child. Previous to that I worked in a bank in IT/business systems. In my employment I've pretty much always worked in financial companies (pensions/investments/banking) but always in IT. In between my 2nd and 3rd babies, I did the PRINCE project management course (requested to do so by employers) and passed the exam so was working as a project manager - this didn't suit me at all and I've no desire to go back to that.
When my littlest goes to school I'd really like to retrain and do something 'proper' - my jobs before have always been quite vague! I am good with logic/science/maths but no good at managing people. I have been wondering about bookkeeping or actuarial work - I have a degree in physics so maths is ok for me. I love analytical work.
Is anyone working in these fields who can tell me what it's like? Or has anyone retrained after children? I will be 41 by the time littlest goes to school, it's a bit worrying to think of doing several years training and having to start at the bottom of the ladder again!!

hopeful bump

Consider becoming a maths teacher. Shortage of them so you'll be welcomed with open arms by the authorities. Would fit in well with your children too.

I don't think I could ever be a teacher, I'm not sure I have the patience! Maybe adult education though? Hmmm

I retrained and now work in the 3rd sector doing monitoring and evaluation. Sounds like you already have the skills for this work (my background was completely different) so you could go straight into it. It's mainly number crunching and report writing, but not as boring as that sounds.

Have you considered training to be a patent attorney? It takes a minimum of 3 years to train, and you need to have a degree in a STEM subject (physics is perfect - a lot of the training positions seem to be in physics/electronics/software). The training is done on-the-job, so you are paid a normal salary while you are doing it (and then get a significant pay rise once you qualify). Analytical skills are very important. I retrained while the children were small (they were 5 and 3 when I started my training). I was 34 when I started my training - I expected to be the oldest person on the courses I went on, but I actually met plenty of people my age and several who were older (e.g. I know several trainees in their 40s aiming to be qualified before the turn 50). There is a lot of revision for the exams, but the job itself is usually only office hours. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or want more information.

I would suggest building on your what you want to get from work list i.e. If you could have the perfect job for you, what would it give you. For example, freedoms, security, variety, routine, flexibility, travel. When you have built your wish list with around 8 items, prioritise them. This can be your internal check list to assess potential careers against. You might not get everything you are looking for but you should aim to get your top 3 otherwise you probably won't enjoy work that much.

As for thinking about doing several years training, don't underestimate the transferability of the skills and experience you have. You may not have to start from the bottom!

Good luck.

Stripeytop and oubliettebravo, both of those sound interesting, would love to hear more. I can't figure out how to pm you from my phone, I'll have to do it later.

I applied for a job at the patent office back when I was a new graduate, never got anywhere!

Exams and revision don't worry me, I've studied a few courses with the OU in my spare time.

Debbie, thanks for your advice, I will have to think about it, all my career so far I've stumbled into jobs that just (largely) happen to have suited me!

If you are interested in becoming a patent attorney, I'd start by looking here:
www.insidecareers.co.uk/professions/patent-attorneys/

CIPA often have jobs advertised:
www.cipa.org.uk/pages/home

If you want to know what you might be letting yourself in for with regard to exams, have a look here:
www.cipa.org.uk/pages/Patent-Examination-Board-PEB
and here:
www.epo.org/learning-events/eqe.html

I presume being some kind of IT consultant is out? Judging by the IT consultants who we hire there is a quite a variety of specialisms and not all of them get involved in project management.

I also suspect that being some kind of accountant/financial adviser may well enable some working at home which might be useful for you?

sisterofmercy, I did some consultancy earlier in my career and loathed it, although there were lots of reasons behind that. I've never considered it again though, I think you have to be quite 'forward' about your skills to be a consultant and I'm not sure that's me. I could be very biased by the parade of IT twats consultants I've worked with though.

I also have a financial planning qualification and considered being an financial advisor but it didn't seem quite me either.