At a crossroads!

[Nasreen]

Hello
Just looking for a bit of advice re: jobs/training and what to do right now.

Background is secondary school teaching but I have long said good bye to that as a career. Spent a few years at home with children, before securing a job with an organisation not dissimilar to this one. When funding ceased for that role, I got a job in a school as a one to one support in a primary school. Once again funding ceased and I am unemployed again. I don't really want to pursue TA work, but wouldn't mind one to one if a permanent post came along. I am also training to be a CAB advisor (only started last week). I plan to go in a couple of times a week before the formal training starts in May. Then they are going to pay for me to work study for the NCFE certificate in information, Advice and Guidance.

I am mid forties, so feel I have another 20 years of working life ahead of me. But I just can't work out what career to pursue.

Has anyone retrained later in life? What did you retrain in and how did you fund it? Did you secure employment at the end?

Or would it be better to just keep plugging away at jobs until I strike lucky?

I like helping people, supporting others and ensuring they know their rights etc (hence the CAB work) but feel that I need a job also, for my own income.

It feels as though age isn't on my side!

Anyone???

It's tough if you haven't yet found the thing you're really brilliant at or really love doing and feel really energised by. Age IS on your side. I retrained when I was about 48 ... I used to work in technology and now work as a career/confidence coach.

When I work with women who aren't sure what they want to do, I often ask what did you used to really love doing as a child? What were your imaginary games all about? What did you love reading about (if reading was your thing)? If you could sit and do something all day, what would it be? When do you notice you feel 'in flow' like you could keep on doing it all day?

There is a book I sometimes suggest: What Color is My Parachute by Richard Bolles. I got it out the library myself a few years ago before I made my career change.

Good luck.

Hi Sherry
Thanks for your reply.

Yes that's the problem, I don't really know what I am good at or what I want to do with my life. What route did you take when you retrained as a career coach? How did you fund it?

Well my journey was a little different. I wanted more flexibility at work, to have more time with my children. So I decided to leave and start my own business. To be honest, I didn't know what I was going to do when I left. I'd spent years working in technology in law firms. It's quite a niche sector - people tend to stay in the sector for years. I sent an email to everybody I knew when I left - telling them I was now running my own business, here are the services I can offer. To my surprise, coaching was the one that 'sold' first. Then I thought I'd better get a proper qualification if I was going to work with law firms. Until then I'd been a coach & mentor inside my organisation. I did a free 2 day weekend with The Coaching Academy and then invested savings into doing their Personal Performance Diploma, and the Corporate Diploma. And it's just gone from there.