To anyone with a job!!!

[ssd]

after being at home for ever and working part time in crappy badly paid jobs I want to study for something that might eventually earn me more than £5.52 an hour.........

trouble is I honestly don't know what to study or what I enjoy doing anymore

so my question is - what would you recommend to study that would broaden my chances of work? I thought maybe learning PC skills?

{my background is retail and childcare} but I don't want to work in these anymore!!

any suggestions gratefully received, I went to a career counsellor who was a bit rubbish TBH, so any suggestions would be welcome!!

ssd

I know this is a bit of a daft post with no one out there actually knowing me!!

just don't know where to go for career advice....................apart from mn!

no one ?

I have worked in various admin roles, took my NVQ3 in Administration whilst doing a part time job and now have a job earning over £10 an hour as a part-time PA/Admin clerk

how old are you?

what sort of thing are you good at? Can you build on other skill?

41, too old to be wondering what job I could do!!

I don't know what I'm good at, I'm a bit of a Jill of all trades

I have background in retail - recently got job in local council in a customer service position.

What were the aspects of your previous jobs you liked the most?

Or the other thing to do is if you know you want to go into e.g. admin see if you can get some temping work to build up your experience.

was only asking as there are various training scheme options, I did an NVQ as I was under 25 at the time, but the 'older' ladies in the office did another admin course that was subsidised by some Government initiative!

PC skills will really help you in pretty much any job, as would any kind of communication skills workshop sort of thing.

Have you tried looking through the prospectus for the local college and seeing what jumps out at you?

I like meeting people, helping them, working in a team

customer services sounds good, do you have good admin skills?

apart from 2 weeks temping I have no real admin experience. Though my role does involve admin as well (handing out forms, logging things as well as a few other bits when I am trained).

actually I like the sound of your job!

how could I get temping experience with no admin skills?

(sorry if I sound dim)

PHone round a few job agencies - most will ask you to send your CV and then will arrange a meeting to discuss whether they could find you temping work and what kind of thing it would likely be.

YOu can sign up to more than one agency.

I just went along to a few (some are better than others) to see what they had. YOu can always tell them whether you are interested in permanent work and ask what your chances are.

TBH although some can be a bit misleading I found them a lot better than the careers advice I was given.

I love my job so far - applied direct to council (through website) and got it that way.

The best thing I found when looking for jobs was to

a) sign up to several agencies

b) sign up to several job sites - keep your CV on computer and you can upload it to the ones I went on. Apply for any job that takes your interest, and you can do it quite quickly when all online. Get them to sen dyou jobs by email so you get updated list every day.

Why not work backwards? Look in the paper for jobs which you find interesting/pay well and which aren't too much of a stretch and then note down what they're asking for qualifications wise and take it from there.

You could also ring agencies and ask what is in demand from employers and train in the area which appeals most to you.

Good luck!

If you have absolutely no pc skills then this would be a good place to start. The majority of office based jobs will require this. Also, once you have these it will be easier to get experience via an agency.

thanks for all of these answers!

I would certainly consider a computer course perhaps ECDL, most jobs will require basic PC skills, so it could be a good lace to start.

Have a look in the library to see what courses are on offer localy.

Volunteering is another option, could be admin opportunities there.

Is there any jobs or areas of work that appeal to you? Any hobbies or other interests that could be developed into a job?

Good idea PatsyCline to look at job descriptions of jobs you might like in the future and see what they are looking for in experience and qualifications.