WHAT COULD I DO?

[MollyMooMin]

Hi! I began maternity leave in october to have my first baby. I'm now getting close to my date to go back and I can't think of anything WORSE! I've been in retail eversince I left school (18 yrs)
Now I would love to do something to earn abit of extra cash that doesn't involve leaving my daughter, eg.. work from home or driving around so I could have her with me. But what the hell do you do when you've no experience of anything but retail? I was in a managerial position,too.

MegandSoph would you mind if i emailed you over the weekend about your job, being made redundant in August and desperate to work from home in some way to fit around my dd.

MollyMooMin, sorry I haven't got back to you but La Redoute messed up my order and haven't actually delivered to me yet . If and when I get any info I'll pass it on (if you still want it that is )

Message withdrawn

Thanks Pinotmum, any info appreciated!

megadsoph,just emailed u,hope thats ok.would really appreciate some ideas as well!
have to get back to work soon as well and babe's 6 months old,b/f and i am just desperately looking for stuff to do from home.

tried avon..its tough.for the effort u put in,u may or may not make a profit.just spent all of last week trudging around in all weather with babe in pram dropping catalogs thru doors and collecting them(i felt 15 again!),made £95 but will get just 20% of that as commission--thats abt £20-most of which will be lost in admin charges...so not much point,personally thinking.worth a try but need somethiing more dependable.and substantial.

aqa is booked full,i just chked.

about advertising for typing-do u need to have any typing qualifications or would just being a fast typer suffice?

how good are these proofreading courses,like the one from chapterhouse??

bump

Going back to work is so hard after having your baby. I found it easier to work from home and fit the work around my family commitments. Take a look at this - it's the perfect job for all parents and you can pick and choose your own hours without any pressure!

The link doesn't work :-(

Hi magnolia1 - sorry the link didn't work - not sure why If you call this numner 01189 197294 and leave your name, address and phone number I can send you a DVD or video with all the information.

Hi Don't know if you are still looking for ideas. I was struggling to get work that fitted in with school times, not many jobs start at 9am and finish at 2.30pm. If you can get child care through the day you could consider in-store merchandising.
The hours are usually flexible so no probs if baby throws up on you when heading out the door on way to childminder. If you have worked in retail you have probablly done this type of work anyway.
I do 3hrs two days a week and overtime when it suits me. There are lots of agencies that do this kind of work as well as more promotional type work. I work direct for a company within a supermarket. There are lots of merchandisers that come in to my store for books, makeup, cards, balloons etc.
Big companies such as Mars and Cadbury also employ (through agencies) auditors who check on displays in stores. One of my fellow merchandiser also does this type of work for Mars flexible hours, free chocolate and she admits the job is easy.
Try searching for CPM, MEM, field marketing, tactical merchandising or mystery shopper. Hallmark are also recruiting for merchandisers on the jobcentre websites.

Thanks skribble, will try those. My strength has always been display... so who knows?

Be careful once you get into merchandising there is lots of work on offer as I am discovering. I have been offered a few hours with an other company and I am on the books of a few agencies and I am getting request for holiday cover too.

I had to turn down a full weeks promotional work at £70 a day because I couldn,t do all the hours. Nice to be offered though.

Starting to worry about the summer holidays as MIL will have to take them and isn't really fit to have them 5 days in a row plus she is going on holiday.

AQA are recruiting again - looks good but I'm not educated to degree level unfortunately but thought it might suit someone else

vacancies

How about Market Research? Big companies like Taylor Nelson and BMRB are always looking for local area researchers, and they offer child-friendly hours.

Also, have you thought about Marks and Spencers? They are supposed to be one of the more progressive retailers, who offer child-friendly hours.

Hi,
I work for Mini IQ (as already mentioned). it's a great job as I can even take the little ones to toddler groups etc. during the day and do parties to suit hubby's hours. Also all the books are educationally stimulating which means I have a permanent supply of fantastic teaching needs for my own children.
I was wary of this type of work before doing it but love it and have made some lovely friends too.
Let me know if you want more information.

Don't know what happened to part of my message as I'm new to this .

My message was meant to say all the books and toys are educationally stimulating which is fantastic as my children have a wealth of resources around them to help them with their development as well, so there's two cherries on my cake - the children and the income.

Hopefully this one will come out OK

Tacha!

Ladies - check out www.trulymadlybaby.co.uk

It's party plan selling quality, practical and adorable baby products. Flexible hours, good commission, plus Truly Mad Rewards an incentive scheme for the consultants.

Hope it's interesting to you.