Return to old job that I hated?

[User37652]

Hello!
So I qualified in a pretty niche area almost 15 years ago, I worked in this area for 10 years and it is well paid and fairly flexible. HOWEVER I hated it from pretty much day 1 after uni and it is well known in the industry that it’s very stressful. After 10 years, I took a career break to look after my family. Now I would like a job/purpose and I’ve been applying for jobs outside my previous industry that I think I would be great at and feel I am qualified for but I’m not even getting a response!
I’ve also looked into retraining eg law but my confidence is so low I don’t know if I would be able to do it or it would just be another rejection.
it would be fairly easy for me to go back into my old career at the same level and salary as before but I would probably still hate it. What would you do in this situation?
I probably have another 30 years until retirement age.
Thanks!

Hello. I decided to return to work after being a stay at home mum for 7 years. Confidence being low, I volunteered for our local Citizens Advice Bureau. I did it part time a couple of mornings a week and definitely helped increase my confidence. I bagged a paid role in an organisation I wanted to work for, flexible round my school runs too 😊 I have no regrets volunteering for Citizens Advice Bureau at all, it gave me a step ahead definitely. There are lots of opportunities and roles available to suit your interest especially as you say you’re interested in law.

I would try talking to someone at the National Careers Service, we've found them very helpful with regards to advice on CV, applications etc even for an experienced professional and they've funded some important training for my husband to move into a related field he was experienced in but not formally qualified in as it's quite a tough job market atm in his area atm.