New career for childminder with a handful of o levels?

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Hi hive mind. Please can you help?

I've looked at lots of websites and done questionnaires but nothing is standing out right now re my next career move.

Experience:
Management of staff (in job before having children and maternity leave)
Planning and managing budgets
15 years self employed childminder (current job)
Good English and maths
Very patient
Very highly motivated
Excellent with people, and in inspiring people.

Everything I look at seems to need a levels or a degree

I'm aged late 40s so can't really afford to spend 4 years qualifying for something.

Any ideas? I'd really appreciate any thoughts or ideas as I'm at a bit of a loss as to where to go next. Job hunting right now is so hard.

Thanks !

Might be worth thinking about what kind of work suits you, rather than trying to fit yourself into one of many different roles. What about your current work do you enjoy, and are you good at? What about your current work do you dislike/want to get away from? If you were to write your ideal job ad, what would the role look like - working by yourself, with others, £ or £££, deadline driven or not, in the office or at home, location etc?

What about something in your local authority working with families? Something like a family support worker with social service, behaviour support assistant or traveller support assistant? Obviously depends on what salary you are looking for but i know people in these roles and they are really varied and interesting?

Everything I look at seems to need a levels or a degree. I'm aged late 40s so can't really afford to spend 4 years qualifying for something.

Can you afford not to gain some sort of formal qualification to re-set your career marketability? Unless you're planning to sell your obvious expertise in a self-employed way - writing a book on childcare or running a course on you tube, for example, you're surely going to want an up to date qualification to interest employers.

You wouldn't have to do A levels! I believe there are access courses and other routes to the next level of study. And you probably wouldn't need a full time three year degree, either. But if everyone else has a piece of paper, why try to compete without one?

I don't think you should see this option as a negative, more as opening up opportunities.

Why do you want to leave your current job? What is it about it that you have had enough of? What parts do you like?

Its difficult to make suggestions for you without knowing why you are looking to change?

Hello and Thankyou so much for the Replies

The need to change is driven by logistics - the CM is just too disruptive for the rest of the family.

Retraining over 4 years is difficult as I need to earn money (CM earnings are good !) .Doing it part time over a few years is an option but by the time I'm finished I'd be late 50s, so it's probably not all that practical.

Really enjoy the independence of the job, the kids (of course!) and being out and about. The creative element is fun too, and I like being of use and helping people, especially when they are having a hard time, I like to keep fit and active. it's rewarding to be part of the children's lives too - I'm still in contact with many of the parents and kids I've looked after over the years.

Maybe a self employed option might be better?

Sorry, I still don't understand your reference to Retraining over 4 years - is there something in particular you are thinking of? Because there are millions of courses at various levels for different things. Spending four years is not compulsory. So I'm a bit confused.

Perhaps also because you use the word career in your title. That implies training of some sort. (And an element of dedication over a period of time.) Whereas your latest post suggests you may simply want a(ny?) job that fits in with other priorities?

I have a friend who works in neonatal intensive care as a support worker. She previously worked in the community offering parenting support. Sometimes these roles offer in-service routes to qualification?

Nursery work, or nursery management? Or something like family support worker? Tou could work for a charity that supports children with disabilities, or those who need support through social services? I think if you have level 3 you have quite a few options to go into.

How about taking an assessors course and looking to deliver the level 3 qualifications to apprentices?

How about social care? You can be a self employed personal assistant if you would prefer to be self employed. You may need some additional training, but this shouldn't be too time consuming and you may find that loads of your skills are transferable. Social care are crying out for caring, professional, responsible people who are motivated by helping people.

If I were you, I would consider doing an OU degree alongside whatever else you opt to do. Yes, it will take a few years, but those years are going to pass anyway whether you do it or not. And, even if you find an alternative role now that doesn't require additional qualifications, you may need to job search again in future, or find your progression limited without additional qualifications.

I’m a nursery Practitioner and just started at looking at re-training as an early years assessor. £800 for a level 3 assessors qualification which takes around 6 months. Might something like that suit you?

There will be something. Have you tried civil service? The application for that is not based on qualifications and you can get family friendly hours.

If you would welcome some help sorting out what direction you want to take, I’m a career coach and I offer people an hours free coaching via zoom - in fact I was working with a client recently who was in a very similar position to you. You don’t have to buy anything or anything like that - you can just have the free hours call. It might help you get the clarity you need. PM me if you fancy it 😀