Do I need to be in work for a new employer to consider me

[avecmum]

Hi, hoping someone out there can help or has been in a similar situation. I am currently in my final year of an undergraduate degree in web design. This is something I have always wanted to do, it has taken me a while to get here, I'm 50 next year and it's really hard trying to hold a job down, look after a family of 5 and work 3 days a week. I went straight into the second year of the degree due to previous knowledge of the subject, i don't think I could have done it if it had been the full 3 years.

Another reason for starting the course was due to my job, I work in education and they started a total restructure of staff in 2014 and I never know if I would have a job. It's taken this long and I've just been told in the last couple of weeks I will have a job but it is in an area I know little about and nothing to do with web design as far as I know and I will have to take minutes for large committees which is something I hate and dread. I already really dislike the job as my boss is a very domineering woman I have been there 8 years and only stayed as it paid the bills and i had 3 young children to look after. I just don't know what to do :( I don't know whether to give notice on my job and give all this time to the degree, I know I will not be able to give the degree all my attention if I am still in work. Money will be difficult for a few months until I finish but my husband has said it is ok for me to do it. I don't want to waste my degree I have learnt so much already and its only a small group of us so it's like 1 to 1 education but I am getting on a bit :/ My main worry is will employers look badly on me for not being in work when I apply for a job when I finish my course? My current employer is making some people redundant but I won't be able to apply for this as they have offered me a job. I'm worried about handing my notice in and don't know what to do. Has anyone else been in a similar position? It's starting to make me ill, I can't sleep I'm feeling the pressure already of handin dates for my dissertation etc.
Thanks

Realistically, what kind of job are you hoping to get? I know a lot of talented people with web design qualifications who are currently working in bars/call centres. One close friend who has been self employed doing web design for a number of years has just taken a full time job in sales because business is drying up. He puts it down to web design becoming so much easier to do yourself, and too few companies want to pay reasonable money for a professional service.

If you were assured of securing a well paid job in the sector then it would be worth finishing the degree. Do you know where previous graduates with your course are working - what level of job, how secure, salary etc?

Unless your family can afford you to be out of work for a while, I'd be tempted to stay put and hope for the next round of redundancy. At least that would give a couple of months pay to look around.

I disagree. If you don't like the job and it is going in the wrong direction then I would be inclined to leave and focus my efforts on finishing the course and getting some work experience.

I really don't understand this attitude of staying in employment for continuity purposes. Some of the best people I know contract and spend a month or so of the year in South America or some far flung place. They're good because they are fresh and enthusiastic not ground down by years and years of saying yes to the corporate machine...

Yes flopsy but she's not going to spend an enriching fee months traveling around the globe on her non existent money. She has 3 small children to still look after and they grind you down much quicker than "years of saying yes to the corporate machine". Who still says that? Or has it made a comeback since the late 1980s?

Few not fee

If you can afford it I would quit but use the time doing some work experience relevant to what you want to do when you finish. Web design is very competitive as there are less jobs now. Some work experience would help I think

Hi, thank you all for your help. I know realistically I'm not going to be able to find a job doing just web design. I'm hoping to find something which I can also use all my past experience i.e. sales/purchasing, sage and office work. I'm open to anything really it just has to be more interesting than what I do now, most of the time I absolutely hate it :( this was one of the reasons I did the degree in the first place to give me a chance at finding something else. I think the next few weeks are going to be the deciding time as I'm really struggling to get the work done while working. Although my children are older now, 23, 21 and 18 and they do understand a little more, they are not as helpful as they could be :( I'll see what the next few weeks bring and how I get on but I just don't want to waste this chance of being able to learn especially at my age. Thank you

OP - that's a pretty good bundle of skills for an SME. I would suggest putting a CV together and emailing it out with a targeted cover letter to a select few companies.

Also, I did two post grad degrees while my kids were growing up (while working full time). It was far harder when they were older. Bloody tough.

Job with a small company doing a varied workload? Will keep the money coming in and you could potentially do something more interesting that might touch on what you are studying now?

Giselaw, there are plenty of corporate machines out there screwing their staff; BHS, Hermes, Uber, Deliveroo, Sports Direct. In fact, the Government have launched an inquiry into pay and working condition in the UK. So no, it's not rosy in everyone's world.