Help me figure out what to do with the rest of my life!

[Richandstrange]

I'm 50, no real qualifications (was a straight A student in every subject until the wheels fell off when I was 14/15, fairly sure now that I'm autistic) and worked a variety of jobs (admin and retail mostly) from leaving school til I had DD in my early 30's. Been at home since then (for a variety of reasons) until last year when DH's business went tits up and he had to take a massive pay cut which meant we needed an extra wage coming in.

I obviously struggled to get anything with such a massive gap on my (already unimpressive) CV but eventually managed to get a cleaning job last November. I actually don't mind it, it's very physical which I struggled with at first (and worry I will struggle with again as I get older) but actively enjoy now (I've lost weight and am considerably fitter!) but it's not mentally challenging and I'm already a bit bored if I'm honest. The company is ancient and quite set in its ways which can be frustrating, but it's also family run and offers excellent job security, I pretty much have a job for life if I want it.

Or I could retrain before it's too late, I'm only working 25 hours so could fit in part time study and would maybe qualify for some help with cost (depending on what I'm studying) so it's not impossible, just incredibly daunting and I lack confidence that I could actually do it. So it feels like something of a crossroads and I have no idea which path to choose. No idea what I would retrain in/as, I've looked into a few things but am struggling to settle on anything. I have an interest in psychology and MH and would like a job where I felt I was helping people but I don't know beyond that. Does anything jump out for anyone that would suit me, or should I just stay put do you think? Happy to answer questions if anyone has any, I just feel a bit lost with it all.

https://apprenticeshipguide.co.uk/adult-apprenticeships/

https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/search?q=adult%20apprenticeship

I would look at adult apprenticeships as there's funding available for it.

Will have a look, thanks x

Where are you located? I’m in Leeds and they have a life long learning centre at the uni you could look at. I assume other unis do too. They do all sorts of interesting courses! And they are for people like you!

Doing any course will do wonders with confidence and connecting you to other people. You never know what will come from it. Assume you can get a student loan as you won’t have had one before.

then obviously there are colleges where you could do evening courses like counselling or something in business or IT.

Sounds like a great idea OP - I just wanted to give a little word of warning about studying Psychology - it’s really interesting, but a degree doesn’t actually qualify you for anything specific. To work as a Psychologist you need years of post graduate study and it’s really competitive.

I sort of wish I had thought more about that when selecting my degree. After 4 years I wasn’t qualified for anything, and most of the people I studied with didn’t end up in Psychology related jobs either.

So I would recommend studying something that you are actually able to register as something at the end of it - there are Allied Health Professions like Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, Speech & Language Therapist, Radiologist etc. where once you complete the degree you can register and start working in that role, although I don’t know how many of them are run part time. Also, I believe they have work experience as part of the degree so you may have to do weeks of placement which may not fit around your job.

Or you could look into Social work or mental health nursing, but I’m not sure how long qualification takes with them.

Mental health nursing is a three year degree. There are social work apprenticeships in some areas.

It sounds as though an Access to Higher Education course would fit around your job. They are usually evening classes. Google Access to HE at your local college. 50 isn’t too old to retrain.