Single mum looking for work during school hours

[Reflektor]

I am looking for work. I have no criminal convictions and hold a Masters Degree in Art from Sussex University, but I haven't been able to find any work.

So far the work I did before motherhood: retail, bar and cafe jobs, have turned me down. I am nearly 50 and an immigrant, some ageism/nationalism could be at play but mainly the issue is finding work within the school hours.

I am allergic to bleach and pet dander so being a cleaner wouldn't be appropriate for me. Apart from my university degree I have no qualifications or skills. I don't own a car or have a UK drivers licence, so Uber is not an option.

Please don't tell me to go home, I would if I could but my child's father will not agree and has stopped us leaving the country even for a visit several times since our separation. He is permitted to see our child but chooses not to. CMS deducts a very small amount from his benefits each month for child maintenance. I cannot rely on him for childcare nor financial support.

NHS admin? Ward clark type of role. Any sort of retail work. Just apply to anything. Maybe volunteer church or a charity shop to gain recent experience.

No help op but bumping for you. Hope it gets easier x

Nursing home or any health care role also always need staff.

I’ve recently returned to work in the Civil Service after a long break. Entry level AO role. Some roles can be flexible with hours and I managed to secure school hours. Opportunities to develop and also some home working. Maybe worth a look on the gov jobs website - you might find a good opportunity.

Good luck - I spent 15 years looking for a school hours job with no success.

School hours is incredibly limiting and it’s going to be your main issue rather than racism or ageism.

Why do you need to be set to school hours specifically at 50?
If your children are older you don’t need to walk them home, and if they’re in primary you can use wrap around.

Have you learnt any skills? Admin, typing etc? Have you volunteered to learn some skills, shop work etc?

You need to put yourself out there, walk the streets, ask everywhere.

And learn some skills whilst you are looking.

P.S if someone was to tell you to go home I hope they would be banned from this site

Care work? Lots of care homes will happily have you in school hours only.

School dinner lady/playground assistant

Two useful Instagram sites might be:
The Work from Home hub
Five Hour Club

best of luck

What is your first degree in? Also art?

How old are your children? Childcare is your main problem, if you can access before/after school care then many more doors will open.

School hour jobs are hugely in demand, for obvious reasons, but you have to often be there prior to school opening and stay till after the end of the day, so if you have to take / collect children, it won'twork in most instances. There are learning support roles and depending on your first language, area you live in, this could be an advantage when supporting a child, but again the hours could be an issue. Dinner / playground roles might suit, but will depend on logistics of travel.

I was going to say dinner/playground supervisor at a school! That’s a great job for working around school pick up/drop off.

What languages do you speak OP? Where are you based? London? South? North?

Translator for the police, prison or immigration services ? Civil servant for the Foreign Office?

Something related to fine arts? I'd make a list of all the museums and galleries within 50 miles are target them with your CV. Have you contacted your home country's embassy for help or supportive contacts?

Interpreter? Schools employ them in translating to EAL children . They get additional funding to employ people who can speak the child’s first language . Ours were provided by the local council ? The NHS would also probably have a similar service x

This. It's not really viable to do bar work in school hours and cafe/retail work in those hours is extremely limited. How old are your DC? Could you not use childcare? It would massively open up the possibilities as otherwise you're up against every parent who wants school hours and the job pool for that is tiny, mostly school-based if you've also had to rule out driving, cleaning or dog-walking. These are your biggest hurdles and I can't see the Masters in Art being too much help, although you could offer tutoring or run art classes - if you did art classes for little ones they could happen in school hours maybe, or you could do them at weekends and bring your kids along.

Teaching assistant
online tutor
proof reader
content writer
kitchen assistant in a school
library assistant
carer/support worker
telephone psychic
telephone sex talk
if you are creative - make things to sell?

I do volunteer at a charity shop now, I was an Area Visual Merchandiser for a high street chain before becoming a mother it was an admin have role with lots of reports so I do have experience and it would seem transferable skills but nothing recent.

Can you not access child care at all? Presumably you would get UC so would get the childcare element. For example I work in a library 10-4 one day and 10-2 another day so childcare costs total £7 per week. I earn £115 per week.

If you’re nearly 50 how old is your child and what have you been doing up until this point?

Yes, sadly, also Art. My child is turning 11 and can walk to and from school but the after school program ends at 5:30 while retail jobs don't ended until 6 or 6:30. I don't think my child is old enough to wait for me to return each evening.

Have you had any advice on your CV and or Applications?

I am an employer. It’s obvious from applications whether they really want the job or are just applying for the sake of it. I get that it must be disheartening to not get responses, but if you write a good covering letter showing proper interest then you are more likely to get an interview.

I was going to suggest interpreter too depending on your languages. Also some civil service departments really value staff who can speak other languages.

Do you like children? You could train as a childminder. Or get a nanny job that allows you to have your children after school too