I want/have to go back to work, but i dont know what i want to or what i can do.

[lucyellensmum1]

The credit crunch is really affecting my partners business - he is a builder and basically the work is drying up. So i am considering returning to full time work. The thing is is HAS to pay well. I probably need to bring home at least £500 a week, whats that a year? If we are to keep afloat.

I don't have much of a work history - this is it.

I was SAHM at the age of 19-24 with DD1, when i went back to college, did GCSEs, access course, Degree (biochemistry). After uni i worked for two years as a vet nurse (didn't find a job immediately and enjoyed being a vet nurse so stuck with it for a while). Then did PhD in developmental biology/genetics and got pregnant in my final year, wrote up my thesis bouncing DD on my lap. I have not done any work since, apart from some part time reception work at the vets and my partners admin and accounts. I had post natal depression and it has completely buggered my confidence, as in i have zero confidence.

BUT it really is looking like DP might battle with the business and it might be that we can't rely on agency work for him like we have done in the past when things have been quiet. I have been planning on going back part time as DD is starting playschool next week. But now it is looking like i might have to do full time, DP will be SAHD until she starts school next year. But really WHAT can i do. If i am honest, i dont want to stay in science. Partly because of lack of confidence but also because my field is pretty specialised and realistically there is no work locally. There is a huge pharmacuetical company nearby but my experience is probably not what they are after, AND i have heard they are not taking on any post doctoral staff for a few years due to cut backs.

I am more than happy to ignore the post graduate qualifications, or even the degree if i can do something interesting, but i do feel that i dont want to waste them. I have been seriously thinking about teaching and was planning (and still may do) my PGCE next year, but could not afford to do this until DD in school due to childcare issues. But i have a year and it really is looking like i have to step up to the plate after three years of hiding my head in the sand.

ANY advice or ideas appreciated. I don't even know where to start looking. I did apply for a job at a local college lecturing part time, but haven't heard anything - that has knocked my confidence as i was short listed last year but declined the interview as it was for supply lecturing and i coudlnt organise short notice childcare.

Any ideas girls - please

Sounds like teaching is the one thing you've really been thinking about seriously. Why not just get a job - any job - for the next year, just to pay the bills, get yourself into a 'work' mindset and regain some confidence? Then set yourself up to do the PGCE once your dd is in school. It seems a bit unrealistic to expect to land the ideal job when what you really seem to be looking for is to get a job quickly to tide you over, and then plan for what you really want to do when your dd is in school.

If you need to bring in that sort of money, you really need to look at using your degrees. Have a look at the pharma companys website, and see if there is anything that might suit you, get a copy of Nature and New Scientist and browse through looking for ideas on things that you might like to do, even if they aren't in your geographical area so that you know what is out there.

thanks for your replies. You both make good points. FTR, realistically speaking i have to earn a good wage otherwise it is not worth my while, for two reasons. Firstly, if my partner is not to be working then i need to replace what he brings home and secondly, the nature of my partners work would mean that if he were to do the SAHD thing, something might come up and then childcare would become an issue. I dont want to work to pay a childminder.

Will do what you say CM. Thanks

What i am interested to know is this though: can i use my degrees to get jobs doing something comepletely unrelated. Transferable skills and all that? If so, what sort of thing should i be looking at? Haven't a clue actually, never really done a proper job search as such as i have fallen into my jobs and degrees really.

www.jobs.ac.uk Useful for clerical jobs in academic institutions. the fact that you have so much knowledge of how higher education institutions work can be useful. Medical research trials administration? With your background, you could play up the analytical/mathematical skills, all of which are in short supply.

www.emedcareers.co.uk
www.jobs.nhs.uk
something like this?
or this?
and there is always this

Thanks slug, i will take a look at those.

slug, i looked at those jobs and i would definately be interested, if they were local but that is really encouraging, THANKYOU it certainly has given me some places to look.

lucyellensmum - why don't you contact healthcare/pharma research agencies and see if they need someone to do transcribing?

MR companies will conduct interviews with health professionals and they get people to listen to them back and 'analyse' them or simply transcribe them word for word.

If you have typing skills, have broadband (so you can receive teh recordings adn send back the word documents of the transcripts) and also have a bit of medical knowledge you might be able to get some work doing that and it pays quite well.

You would do that from home so you could work for companies absolutely anywhere as everything is now sent to and from by email.

Just a thought.

It's the sort of thing that could 'tide you over' and you can be flexible about when you actually do it (e.g. you could do it in teh evenings and on a weekend if you needed to or if you really wanted to boost your income).