Returning to work after a VERY long break

[Mariemumof4]

Hi 👋🏻
I have 4 kids and for the last 10 years have been a stay at home mum, mainly because my husband has earned enough for me to do that and we have no childcare unless we pay.
my little one is over 2 now and funding will be changed in April 2024 for 2 year olds. My husband now works from home so I have the opportunity to return to work.
I am only 33 and I’m very aware I still have a long working life ahead of me, and I’m in debates with myself as to what job to go in to.
Because I have had 10 years at home I haven’t really developed or continued those skills of communication, IT Skills or qualifications/experience that you see are expected on lots of job posts.
my question is, is there a better way to return to work after such a long time?

are there courses that are worth taking to assist with returning to work?

I feel guilty that I’d still be quite limited, two days or limited hours a week, possibly remote work, something that fits around my family, but then I don’t feel worthy of these jobs because i feel nobody will take me on. How do you build your confidence after such a big break?

Do I start a fresh, whole new career, something I will love as I still have 30+ years working life left? and how?

has anyone been in the same situation and got any advice?

thanks for sticking with my post and thanks in advance for any advice 😊

marie x

What field of work were you in before you had your DC?

Well I suppose the first question is, what kind of job would you like to do and what skills do you need for it?

Dental nursing, but I know that’s not something I want to do for the rest of my life, you know?
its hard to know after 10 years what interests you, when you’ve just been mum. I guess I’m just struggling with that next step of ‘what do I do? If I’m not being mum’

Have you already got a nursery place for your youngest when they turn 2? Only asking as from what I’ve heard the earlier funding is unlikely to be offered at many places as the current offering from the government isn’t financially viable.

sorry just thinking I didn’t mean that to be an unhelpful comment and I don’t have any advice on the actual job front but just wanted to flag that you may want to get your childcare arrangements sorted first so you know when you can get childcare and therefore what kind of hours you are able to work :)

The first step would be to do some research into career options to find something you could see yourself doing. Unless you have a strong vocation, it can be disappointing if you expect jobs to leap out at first sight as really interesting. You have to delve into the details to see what would fit well with your skills.

Consider what skills you already have, what you like doing, and how that might fit with various roles.

Consider at a high level what sort of working environment you want. Do you want to be customer/client/service-user facing, for example? Field-based, office based, WFH?

You could look at apprenticeships if you want to build a new career from scratch.

Would you be prepared/financially able to gain new 'academic' qualifications, e.g. degree in relevant subject, for a career that really attracted you?

Could you look at doing some volunteering to give you some up to date work experience and a reference?
What are you interested in, volunteering in school/playgroup, admin work for a charity, library volunteer, charity shop, day centre for elderly?

That might allow you to have more of an idea what you want and what you don't want.

You're young yet and have a long working life ahead. I'd look at just getting back into some kind of work with family friendly hours for next couple of years and then once all children are at school think about building a career, that may involve going back into education.

Have you tried one of these skill assessments to get an idea of what might be a good fit for you?

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/skills-assessment