just looking for helpful advice / support

[TheHazeleyes]

26 year old single parent to a 7 year old. before taking a break I have never not had a job. Even only took 1 months mat leave so that I could continue working. I recently took a year off work after going through DV now I'm better and healthy I'm trying to work. sadly its not going well.

I feel like the way the world is going its the hardest thing to try and start over work wise without having an educational background. Before the break I was working as a private nanny for many years now that I'm doing it on my own I don't believe ill have the energy to go and work with children all day then having to go back to my own.

I would just love a fresh start but sadly it's not looking like an option. don't even think a supermarket would take me anymore.

Any ideas for a parent looking to start over?
Honestly anything and everything helps.

Regards,
overstimulated parent

I'm sorry OP, this sounds really hard 💐

Have you considered setting up as a childminder maybe? That way you can work around your own child's pick up/drop offs more easily. Another option might be for looking at nanny roles that you could bring your daughter along for - I think the term is Nanny With Own Child. The general rule of thumb is it pays about 25% less, but still more than a min wage supermarket job.

If you're set on getting out of Childcare completely, beware that supermarket/most retail jobs will require weekend and evening work. Possibly look at entry-level admin roles in industries that interest you instead, so once you're ready to progress you already have a foot in the door. If you're not an experienced candidate, tailor your CV for each role and think outside the box about what might qualify you for each part of the job spec. Chat GPT is great for this (you can ask it questions like: 'A job spec is looking for X, how can I phrase my experience of doing Y and Z to show I'm qualified for X' and it'll give you examples - you can pick the relevant ones) however rewrite it so it sounds like you, and not AI!

Finally, don't get discouraged with all the rejections (easier said than done I know) ~ I'm in a similar boat (single parent, had my son at 20, when I had no qualifications) and have been in the position where I had to apply for over 100 roles to get 1 offer. However, when I got it, it was a great offer, a good fit for me, and a really good fit for my career. Keep going and don't take the rejections to heart 💜