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

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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?

PS From having worked in universities for many decades, I wouldn't give up just yet on university admin. Although you would be competing against younger people with recent experience, recruitment for student facing admin roles also values experience, wisdom and maturity. For example you need to be able to read behind 'the dog ate my assignment' and judge when to apply rules firmly and when to flag someone who may be in crisis. Do you have relevant voluntary experience already to draw on e.g. with your children 's schools? If you have funds to last a couple of years you could find an entry level post with initial salary in low-mid 20s where you would be far better qualified academically than most other applicants. University posts are always on a scale so the salary would rise each year for at least four years, and within a few months you could apply for promotion. Universities also love academic qualifications more than most employers. You'll have to work harder than most applicants to sell yourself, but I wouldn't give up. The only note of caution I would add is that many universities are in financial difficulty at present, so see what you can find out about any you are applying for. However, a history of redundancies is not necessarily a bad thing for you as several institutions have shed higher paid staff and created more entry level posts. Not the best approach for a good working environment but a way in for you and things will probably have settled down in a few years. Good luck.

You can't retrain to do most of those within 2 years, plus you'd need science A levels. You could for a dental nurse, but they don't earn £30K

@Ramblethroughthebrambles thanks. I like the idea of working at a university and have been applying for the sort of jobs you describe. That would be ideal and a role that I'd be happy to grow and maintain, It's also a good point about not underselling what I've achieved. I'm published by a traditional publisher and that took a lot of determination (not unlike applying for these jobs).

NMW from April will be nearly £24k for a 37.5 hour week so if the OP can get a job that pays London weighting she's likely to be nearly at her £30k target.

The lack of success with applications so far indicates that these might not be good plus not working for 20 years will be putting employers off, OP will you even be able to supply any references?

The return to work course might help with some of this but you also need to get up to speed with MS office applications, Word, Excel, Access and Teams as even entry level admin or receptionist will expect you to be competent with these. Perhaps look at temp agencies as a start?

Well done on persevering enough to get published. My DH has been trying to do the same for several years and I know something about how hard it is. I hope you have 'freelance author' on your CV for the several years it must have taken to write and publish two novels.

This is a fundraising role in Shoreditch that was on a third sector jobs email.

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From experience, university Research Services is full of arts graduates and mature workers. If you're a good writer, you might be interested in grant writing - that is structuring applications for funding and making them coherent and engaging. Perhaps you could contact university HR or research services directly for a short internship or meeting

https://universityaffairs.ca/opinion/the-art-of-grant-writing-write-rewrite-and-write-again/

The problem is that charity employers recruiting to these kinds of roles almost always want someone with direct experience in a similar role and a proven track record of fundraising, preferably exactly the same kind of fundraising (i.e grants, major donors, legacy, supporters). The stakes are too high for charities to take a chance on someone from an adjacent field.

Universities pay poorly for comms professionals (it’s shocking as this is my world and I’d never move to higher education). You also don’t tend to walk into a comms officer role without experience I’m afraid - everyone thinks they know comms but it’s a skill.

Look at nhs job site and see if anything appeals though.

Teaching in FE? You would be teaching 16+ including adults and you train part time while working.

English teachers are getting rarer and those who fail GCSE have to continue studying.

That will need extensive experience and a proven track record in fundraising.

This. Sorry, but it's just not realistic for OP to get a Comms or fundraising role without any direct experience of same and after twenty years out of paid work.

What is rhis roll called and is it in civil services sector? More info or link please

Any Paralegals I know are considerably younger than the OP and are doing the job post-law degree not pre-. Training contracts are impossible to come by nowadays so most of my children's friends have ended up doing paralegal work while applying for the ever more rare and increasingly demanding application processes for a training contract. I don't think the OP is going to be an attractive proposition against that kind of competition.

www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=cGFnZWFjdGlvbj1zZWFyY2hjb250ZXh0JmNvbnRleHRpZD0xMTI3MDE3MDQmb3duZXJ0eXBlPWZhaXImb3duZXI9NTA3MDAwMCZwYWdlY2xhc3M9U2VhcmNoJnJlcXNpZz0xNzM2NzA1MjQ1LTY0OWZhMGE5NDVlYjM2ODA4YmIxMTJlMmY2Yzc2NTI4NjZmNDAzMmU=