What can you retrain to do in your mid40s that will support a family fairly quickly?

[orchidsonabudget]

That really
Dh is unemployed and I am just wondering if there is another stone that we haven't unturned

I think teachers are underpaid for what they do but it's not intrinsically a tiny amount of money.

It's a bit meaningless though if we don't know roughly what amount you need. If your gap is £100k a year then teaching won't cut it.

What did he do before? What does he want to do?

Well it's not the very best paid profession out there but it's decent and there is lots of room for progression. In the Home Counties you'd probably get London Fringe weighting. The starting salary for Newly qualified is just under 27k and by his sixth year he would be on over 38k if he meets his performance targets each year. Not that bad is it?!

If he’s ex-City he must have a high numeracy ability.

Accountancy.

Data analytics.

Coding or programming.

Mortgage Broker.

Lettings Agent.

In those 6 years though he might pick up an additional paid teaching responsibility or even become a HoD which would take him to a better salary again. There is lots of room for manoeuvre in teaching

@orchidsonabudget

We are in Home Counties He used to work in city but has no post graduate qualifications and his network has not been able to come up With anything for him. Oddly his parents are convinced he should be a teacher. I I think a newly trained teacher salary we would struggle on long term. Not sure he is cut out for nursing.

I am currently working part time, self employed business and am retraining myself to Increase my income which won't kick in until next July
We have 4 kids and childcare for full time is crippling.

But what did he do exactly in the city and where has he tried for work? Has he tried recruitment agents?

Security.

What did he do before? Does he not want to do that anymore?

What salary does he ideally want/need?

@Wombat64 assuming things have changed then, I'm in my 40s doing my training. My uni class was 80% women. I don't doubt there are certain areas of surveying that are overly pale stale and male but there is going to be a shortage in the next few years and maybe they realise they cent be so choosy. Atm the average age of a surveyor is 55.

Sales force admin. You can study online for free do your certification ( which you do have to pay to sit the test) then look for something. It is used everywhere so there are a lot of possibilities.

Has he considered one of those company retraining programs like this sort of thing - aws.amazon.com/training/restart/

Driving instructor?

My DH has retrained as a teacher and his salary as an NQT is 30k and he will be getting a TLR next year - we're in the Midlands. Depending on experience in his old role and the degree he has, he may well have an accelerated career trajectory compared to what you might expect as a 20 something recent graduate

What is his degree in? My friend trained as a secondary maths teachers and quickly went into roles with additional pay because maths teachers are in demand.

Teaching maxes out at about £50k unless you become a head or something. It took me 10 years to get there and that's central London/independent. It's not a huge amount to support 6 people in the SE and term time hours can be very long and the holidays don't necessarily match the kids'.

I'd say accountancy although surveying is also a good idea. Have a look at the National Careers Service website for ideas too.

You're being a bit vague - working in the City could be a whole ton of things - what did he do? Also what is your definition of supporting the family "fairly quickly" - a year or two? And how much do you need to support the family in addition to your income - £30k or £100k or somewhere in between? Also how long has your husband been looking for work, if he was in the City, it can take months to get a new role if looking for something fairly senior?

Not sure what he did before? Cyber security/information security is significant

Why can’t he return to a similar role (or what was it to avoid it now?)

Bursa at a private school? Operations Director?

I was just about to suggest cyber security, doing a night course starting in the autumn and picking up some daytime work around child requirements. I know a (young) retired policeman who retrained in cyber/financial security/fraud detection and got a great role with a major retailer; a few years later he is in financial fraud detection. Even though he hadn’t a degree, as a mature student he was able to access uni level accreditation.

Train driving. I know a couple of senior teachers who made the move and really enjoyed it.

Work in recruitment?
Childminding from your home?
Handyman?
Cab driver?

Have a look at the UK shortage occupation list on gov.uk and see if there’s anything that jumps out. These are roles that have been assessed as being in such shortage that employers can employ people directly from overseas without having to show they have exhausted the labour market here first. Might be good to get an idea if nothing else.

Driving Examiner - friends husband did an intensive training course which was really tough, but once you’ve passed it there seem to be plenty of jobs

A skilled trade (eg painting/decorating, electrician, etc) - comparable amount of time to retrain, can do it on the job and earn at the same time, always in demand, if you work for yourself you can go part time if needed and train in something longer term. DH is a skilled tradesmen and has been a higher rate taxpayer for quite a while now - it’s not megabucks but it’s fine if you can top up with part time wage as well.

Estate agent - look into it