Can I ask which jobs did you retrain in so you could work from home…

[Southlondonmum76]

I have worked in the NHS as a nurse and in various admin roles over the years. Currently a SAHM but looking to return to work next year. Currently looking into updating skills as been out of workforce for 5 years.

Ideally working from home would suit as I have two children and elderly parents, one with Alzheimer’s (early stages)
I’m aware there are opportunities in secretarial roles/transcription, virtual assistants, also looked at Book keeping.

Just curious to know what was your work background and what did you retrain in to work from home. How did you find transition?

Try looking at something in the pharmaceutical industry where you can make use of your clinical knowledge. Perhaps data entry e.g. in drug safety where you need some understanding of what you are entering. This can be done at home although you may have to undergo some in person training.

I came from a Med Sci background and retrained whilst a SAHM to be a Web developer. I taught myself from free online resources, mostly in my babies nap time. It took me a couple of years before I knew enough to find work because of how little time I had to devote to learning, but my SIL who also retrained as a Web dev did a paid online intensive boot camp and was ready to look for work in about 2 month. We work together now actually as freelancers, mostly with clients from Shopify, and usually charge £200 a day. I'm still only working part time because I'm still the main childcare 4 days a week but hoping to go full time when the youngest starts nursery. I really enjoy it, it's very creative and flexible work, and I like the problem solving element. If you have the time and money to do a boot camp then I'd recommend that, but if you're interested in free self directed learning then let me know and I can try and remember which resources I used.

I worked in the NHS delivering courses to young parents and pregnant teenagers. While doing this I did my PGCE, I was made redundant when funding to support young parents was cut and I then worked from home for a few years as an on line tutor delivering a range of courses for an e-learning company. Learners worked through the course materials then submitted assessments which I marked and returned with guidance if they hadn't passed, they then resubmitted the work etc. I delivered on a range of courses including E&D, Working in the Health Sector, Infection Control and several others. A PGCE wasn't an essential criteria

coaching, counselling, advice related.

I now work as a trainer and consultant in the third sector.

Home based, some travel still required though.

Definitely look at the third sector if you want WFH.

Its not the best for pensions and sick pay, but good for flexibility.

Previously worked in the public sector. Better pay and conditions but very bitchy and stressful.

Thank you. I will look into these and see if they might work for me. I didn’t think about pharmaceutical industry.
@ByGrabtharsHammerWhatASavings that’s role sounds very interesting and different to nursing so would be something to get my teeth into. Do you need to have excellent IT skills etc.. ? I’m ok probably a bit rusty on things.

@listentomydeclaration your role sounds very interesting also. Coaching, counselling and advice related is something I could do with relevant training.
@alloutofcareunits I have delivered some training in my time mainly to nursing students. I’m sure if I look into things further and again with further training I may find something online.

Thank you!

@Southlondonmum76 it was interesting as I wrote some of the learning materials for new courses as well as tutoring on a range so it didn't get to repetitive. I had a wide range of learners including those who didn't have English as their first language, learners who wanted UK qualifications, older learners who hadn't studied since school, and Uni graduates adding to their CV. It suited me well at the time as my DD was a teenager so worked well being around for her. I was paid for learners who passed, I made a decent income as I can type quickly!

I was a complete beginner OP and if you'd told me 5 years ago that this is what I'd be doing I'd have told you I had a better chance of growing wings and learning to fly! Once when I worked in an office I called the tech support guy to help me because I didn't realise my computer was unplugged. So no, you definitely don't need to be a tech whiz already. You need to be comfortable solving logic puzzle and be motivated enough to get over the initial learning curve, but after that you get to a point where you pick up something new and realise it's actually really similar to something you already learned. If you're interested you can go to www.codeacademy.com and either sign up for a free Pro trial or just use the free resources. That was where I started learning. Start with HTML and CSS, don't go near javascript just yet (I made that mistake and it set me back quite a bit). If you find it interesting then you can find videos on YouTube that will walk you through creating a simple Web page from scratch. Then the best thing to do is just have a go at designing and creating your own layouts. That's the best way to get started if you're doing self directed learning I think. Once you're happy with that you can move on to Js and other things. It's definitely worth looking into if you think it sounds interesting, I really enjoy it.