What's a stable job I can train for quickly?

[howtocope]

I'm going through a divorce after 20 years as a SAHM. I've applied for 67 jobs so far, had two interviews and no offers. I'm applying for admin, reception type jobs. Can't do cleaning, catering or retail as I have disc problems in my back. No lifting, standing for hours or repetitive movements.

I have a BA and an MA in art history, an MA in creative writing and have published two novels in the last two years, but I don't make enough money from writing.

I need to find a career where I can make a decent wage (£30,000+) quickly. I have a little time to retrain if necessary, say two years, before the money runs out. What can I do?

I looked at teaching and shadowed a friend who teaches, but I don't think I'd be good at it. I looked at training as a therapist/counsellor but two people have said that the market is flooded with therapists. But I think I would enjoy and be good at that. What does Mumsnet think?

Any other ideas please?

In case it's not been suggested, rail industry (good benefits, lots of roles) and project assistant or manager maybe? Can do courses inPM. Good luck!

I second the poster who suggested getting a PCV licence. I fell into this due to the foot and mouth in 2001. It's saved my arse enough times. Most of the larger companies are fine about up to six points. They will usually provide training for free in the form of a training bond. I could walk into any town and city in the UK and get hired on the spot. The wage isn't amazing but it will keep you afloat. Depending on the location and company it can be a nice job.

I was also going to say civil service. Depending on the department and role, you could start at £32k - EO grade, or £37k - HEO, good pension, flexible working in many roles.

Copywriting jobs would attract that sort of salary. Have a look on linkedin. There are lots where you can work remotely: eg Check out this job at Braintrust: www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4085339525

Short TEFL courses will qualify you for entry-level f2f teaching, often overseas, and online work. In the UK entry-level jobs are often seasonal or p/t. ESOL in FE is rewarding but often precarious, short-term and p/t in my (UK) location because of funding cuts. You might do better teaching functional skills but I don't know much about it.

Academic skills and EAP teaching in university - permanent jobs are highly competitive. Some require a PhD; others want a relevant Master's + experience. There's also been a drop in international students but it may be worth looking at e.g. Kaplan, Study Group etc to see what their requirements are. Most people I know who work there have a CELTA or similar + TESOL dip and/or Applied Linguistics Master's + substantial experience, so while it can be a good long-term career, it's not great if you need $ fast.

Haven't rtft but the UK is crying out for teachers.

‘Psychotherapist’ is being brought inline with Scoped regulations so this is becoming more complicated. You might be able to become a psychodynamic counsellor in two years but psychotherapy now requires four years of training. Something I discovered partway through a course!

@Wirelessbird but she could do an MA in Art therapy since she has an art degree which is a pre requisite and art therapy is actually a protected title. Counsellor and psychotherapist are not protected titles and scoped will never make a difference to them being protected titles because BACP and the rest are not mandatory and are only membership bodies not awarding bodies.

Speech and language therapist
If you do the masters it's 2 years full time
Depending on experience you already have you'd need to organise some shadowing or volunteering with relevant client groups to show some awareness of the profession

I don’t know much about art therapy, someone up thread said they were thin on the ground at the moment.

I think scoped is a move towards creating some space between those who have done rigorous training and accreditation and those who haven’t. As someone said it’s the Wild West but I know the work we do (in a low cost community service which offers long term therapy) is very needed. It is a complex argument (which I’m interested in but I doubt that OP is). If you do train as a counsellor/therapist OP it’s fantastically rewarding work but do give yourself time.

Yes, the implications of the Scoped implementation will be interesting. But what won’t change is that anyone who does a fast track Level 3 course and a diploma at level 4 or 5 (cheaper than a diploma at level 6 or 7) can go onto work as counsellors or psychotherapists having trained for two - three years. I know plenty of people who’re doing really well in their private practice or working as counsellors or psychotherapists.

So confusing! I am a student member (MSc) of the BACP and current scoped info states that for a BACP/BPC/UKCP accreditation as a psychotherapist we need four years training. Despite all of us holding a degree, a diploma and soon a masters (three years) we are looking at one year conversion courses to obtain the additional year needed.

Yeah OP did NOTHING for 20 ywars !

MA in libraries and information handling.

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/taught-degrees/library-and-information-studies-ma

There is an open evening coming up soon.

SLT is exactly the same pay as all other AHPs - physio, OT, radiography etc it's all AfC banded. All new starters start at the bottom of band 5. I'm a band 7 and get paid over 50k - don't think that is poorly paid?

You can do a Masters in SLT at some unis for 2 years. Undergrad courses are 3 or 4 years.

How many schools have librarians? How many public libraries have actual librarians? The public libraries that still survive are heavily dependent on volunteers.

Not a bad shout, but the pay is pretty low - around 20k.

Librarian is possibly the worst suggestion on here.
There are very few paid jobs in libraries these days. Almost all staff in public libraries are volunteers.
Obviously there are university libraries but jobs are like hens teeth and entry level jobs are always unsocial hours (6 to midnight eg). Friends of mine who work in university libraries tell me they typically get 300 applications for each vacancy.

Working for a local authority in adults social care - you can get on a career graded ladder starting as a community support worker (a little under 30000) get your care certificate (12 weeks) and then your NVQ diploma (2 years) and then on to a Step up to Social work programme all paid gif by the council. Best thing I've ever done.

Those are public libraries. Universities, schools, museums, galleries, big companies with archives all need librarians.

I did. I did some care work for a year and then applied to a county council for a community support worker job - all they required was gcse maths and English - I earn close to 30000 with good training prospects paid for by the council and good promotion prospects. I didn't believe it either - but here I am

I second this. There is demand for people to write good funding applications for charities and you have the writing skills.

I also think English tutoring is better paid than TEFL, with more opportunities for those without experience.

I did Art Therapy training and worked as an art therapist pre children. At the time it was necessary to have experience working in education or social care, as well as a portfolio of current artwork to be considered for the course.

When I got divorced after being a SAHM, I looked into doing a 'return to practice' course, which I would have needed to re-enter the profession and regain my HPC registration.

I looked around and found there were not enough jobs to make the financial and time investment worthwhile.

So having previously been both a TEFL teacher and an art teacher, I was able to do tutoring, which was the best way I could find to earn money.

I also funded myself to do a 3 year part-time, distance learning masters degree in Computing and now work full-time as a web developer.

Chimney Sweep. Courses from 2 days+ (£870). Growing market (increase in wood burners). Female sweep = usp.

I'm afraid you are probably being unrealistic to think you will walk into a 30k plus job with no experience or freshly trained in anything that doesn't require 3+ years of retraining unfortunately.

You have been out the workforce for too long and will be going up against school leavers and younger people who will cost less to businesses.

What reasons have you been given for the rejections (other than the points one) as that will give you a guide as to what your next steps need to be.

Ultimately without a work history you are going to struggle. I would be looking for volunteer opportunities so you have up-to-date skills and recent experience and then go from there.