I keep waking up in the middle of the night worrying about whether I will ever work in an interesting job again

[TheProvincialLady]

I gave up work (as a museum curator) to have DS1 who is now 2.6, and DS2 who is 4m. I plan to go back to work full time when both children are at school. I have never really missed the work but I do miss the status a bit if I'm honest.

Now I'm starting to worry whether anyone will ever want to employ me again! Museum work is very competitive and I doubt I will be able to return to the same kind of work after such a long break. But I don't have many skills that are useful in other jobs, so I worry that I will end up doing something menial.

I am not 'just' being a SAHM BTW - I have volunteered for LLL since DS1 was very young and have helped set up a baby cafe. I may become a BF counsellor. I have planned a local history project for my husband's school which has been a big success.

What do other women do in this situation? Are there interesting jobs for women who have been out of work for 7 years? I am worrying that my 'career' is over, such as it was.

Hmm, I wouldn't despair of getting back into museum work completely if that was really what you wanted to do - obviously you would be lucky to get a proper job in your area to start off with but I don;'t think the 7 years out would count against you all that much. Pay and conditions are no better than they were 7 years ago but there do seem to still be jobs around despite the credit crunch. (I work in a related field but don't want to give away on here exactly what I do, in case you are wondering why I am waffling on about this so confidently.)
However it doesn't sound like you are that fussed about museum work, so I don't know really!
You probably DO have transferable skills - it's just a matter of packaging them.

Just a few things spring to mind..

Could you offer your services to other schools re similar history projects?

Could you work for wealthy individuals on building certaín collections?

You seem proactive and interested in various different things. You can make things happen when working independently. Your old career may or may not be over but it seems you have a lot to offer.

Your post rings a lot of bells for me. I work in a similarly competitive branch of the 'creative' (hah) industries, and was very worried I'd never go back. Although, like you, I wasn't that bothered on some levels, I like the status, and also the pay rates, which are quite good.

So I've been doing v small amounts of work over the last year (DD is 2.6 now), starting with a project I could do at home in my own time, and now a day a week. It's not work I would choose to do full time, but it is keeping my CV looking up to date.

I would have thought that, depending where you are and what your specialism is, there might be some grant-based work that you could do in your own time - perhaps bigger community history projects, or a part-time post? Or consultancy? Or archive work for a company?

Your post rings bells for me as well, I worked in a similar field to you before DC, worked in same field at lower level and pt after having my DS (now 7) and have mainly been a SAHM since my DD (now 5) was born.

In my case I am pretty sure I want to return to the same line of work in some capacity. Is this the case for you? or are you open to non museum work? As a previous poster has said, you have developed useful skills/experience in other areas while being a SAHM.

I do have a possibility of returning part time to my field (waiting for an institution to hear whether a grant application is sucessful). I got this possible opportunity though doing a very small project which has progressed from there. If you do want to go back into museum work is there some small way you could get/stay involved i.e. volunteering, further local history projects so that the gap on your CV would be smaller when you do want to return and also you could make some useful contacts?

Kathy the pay is awful, which I never used to mind tooooo much but now I do resent the fact that I will be working as hard as anyone else and at least as well qualified (2 BA, MA and various other stuff) plus 8 years experience....yet my pay will be as low as if I'd never bothered.

I don't know whether I am fussed about museum work or not TBH. My last job demoralised me a lot but that could have happened anywhere in any job. I have a long history of thinking I am not good at what I do, which is more of a self esteem issue than a fact (I hope!). Part of my problem is that the experience I have makes me extremely attractive to museums with lots of volunteers as I have managed 60+ of the buggers. There is no way I am doing that again but I'm not sure other kinds of organisations would want me.

I take your point about trying to keep my hand in Kam and Vonsudenfed. I am thinking of setting up a local history society and I have been thinking of approaching other schools with the idea of doing other projects. I need to be more proactive and to work on my self esteem (again). Thank you for saying I have something to offer sachertorte - I think you are right and ultimately it doesn't matter what the job is as long as I enjoy it and earn enough money to make me feel valued.

This must be something that lots of women go through I suppose. Especially as we are more likely to work in the badly paid airy fairy industries.

Managing loads of volunteers sounds like a very marketable skill.... unfortunate if that's not what you want to do! Some kind of charity or fundraising admin role?
Which bits of museum work did you like and which didn't you like?
Why were you demoralised.... was it connected with the not feeling confident issue or was it a very underfunded institution? There are a lot of demoralised people in museums at the moment because of having to deal with budget cuts year on year.

Oh I hated it! Absolutely loathed it! Volunteer managing, that is. In my last role I was responsible for running a very under funded museum and pretty much everyone except me was a volunteer. Which meant that there was no professionalism, no guarantees that work would be done or to what standard. I took a lot of personal attacks and behaviour that would not be tolerated in a normal working environment. And I had to work almost exclusively with people who were 3 times my age, which I found lovely in some ways but it also felt a bit lonely sometimes. Add my confidence issues to the mix and it was a disaster (though looking back I still got a lot done and am proud of a lot of it).

Sorry, how much did you say you charged for these therapy sessions?

What do I like about museum work? Research, management (policies, planning, professional people, budgets), creating databases, answering enquiries, the occasional lecture or talk to a school

What I don't like - the public (too much anyway), giving talks to WIs in remote locations, working with volunteers, poor management above me, working for very small institutions.

Oh and I loved having work experience students of all ages.

Hmm it sounds like you just need a bigger museum.
Is this at all a possibility or are there only little local ones near you?
A lot of people leave the museum profession after 5-10 years because they feel there isn't a clear route to progress upwards and they are going to be stuck at the same (abysmally paid) level forever. Then at the same time the bigger museums are complaining there is no-one with management skills and they have to get people from outside the sector. It's an issue the Museums Association have been trying to deal with in the last few years.
Are you currently an MA member?

Yes I thoughtI would keep up my membership.

Since I last worked we have moved from the middle of nowhere to a large city with lots of museums, so that is positive.

I was considering doing an MBA at some point. I thought it might make me more marketable and I think I would enjoy it. Not whilst my youngest is still 4 months though

Thanks for your advice Kathy, I really appreciate it.

I think MBA is great idea.
It's fab that you live somewhere with lots of museums - in that case then I think you have every reason to be hopeful, even if you end up doing temporary or part-time things at a lower level before you get a decent job. Let us know how you get on!

What about an MA in Museum Education?? Followed by some lecturing and a p/t post as an education officer?

I realise this is a couple weeks late... are you still reading this?

I'm a consultant in the attractions industry, or was until I had my son. Still officially employed, but on temporary leave due to the economy. Have been trying to keep my CV clean by keeping one finger in the game.

I used to manage a museum, and then got an MBA before going into consulting. It was great but definitely not compatible with family commitments, so I'm also trying to figure out what is next.

I'm thinking that lecturing in museum studies might be a good idea, as it's a good fit with school terms, or starting up a company that offers some kind of service to attractions - museums, zoos, theme parks, etc. If only I could come up with a good idea! I'm also thinking that rather than one job, I'd be better off with two or three activities that I can ramp up and down, that can balance each other out, and keep me sane and interested, without having the downsides of a boss, company, etc.

Would love to chat more about it... need some help brainstorming!
BM

I hear you ladies. I gave up a well paid job for the government to be a SAHM (although it wasn't a job I enjoyed). But the DS's are now 8 and 5 and both full time in school and I enjoyed my first 6 months of freedom, but now I can feel myself getting lazy but really don't know what I want to do. I volunteer at the school and wondered about teacher assistant training - but to be honest don't really know what I want to do! And after 5 years, my computer skills aren't up to scratch anymore (don't think facebook/mumsnet counts).

Like vonsuden I had a good job in the 'creative' industries and am now really struggling to get a freelance career off the ground. Am I the only one who feels they've lost the mental skills required to work outside the home? I know I've not lost them forever, but I find it so very hard to focus and set goals, etc.