No idea what to do!

BunnieJ

Hi everyone :wave:

This is a continuation from my posts on this thread about uni:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4946086

I thought it would be easier to move this as it was becoming a separate discussion.

My situation:

I'm 25, live with my OH and work full-time as a receptionist. I moved about 7 months ago so that my OH and I could live together. My plan was to work in my current job for at least a year, gain some experience and then look for a better paid/more challanging role when I was settled in my new home.

My problem:

The job I'm in is so boring! Don't get me wrong, the company I work for and the people I work with are all lovely. I don't dislike working there at all. I just dislike the actual job!

Our company was taken over about a month ago and since then we have had no work to do, other than our reception duties. I know some people would be quite happy to sit and chat/surf the internet all day and get paid, but it wears pretty thin after a while!

I have looked for other jobs, but I keep getting either rejected or just not responded to. It's really disheartening and just makes me not want to bother, as I have a secure job with nice people already.

I don't want to fall into the trap of getting stuck in this company not really doing anything, making no progress career-wise or money-wise!

I would like to go back into education as I dropped out of uni after failing my first year, but I have no idea what I want to do!

All I know is I need a better paying, more interesting job that I can begin a career in. However, currently I don't have the kind of money they are looking for to do OU/college courses etc so I'm stuck!

I have lots of hobbies/interests but I don't know if I would like to take them further, or if it would even be worth it!

I just feel like I'm wasting the days away sat in front of a desk, doing nothing and waiting for the clock to hit hometime everyday *sigh*

Help?!

Many thanks

victory

Would any of your hobbies be able to pay you a wage if you went self-employed?

RAS

Your starting point is:

Was your uni course funded by HEFCE or the NHS?

Edit as I realise that you only failed the first year

Are you aware that you you could start another degree/HND if you want as long as you complete within three years full-time?

Either by going back full-time or part-time via the OU (you can get a loan for the fees for both if you have the right to any residual funding)

FBaby

How long have you been looking for another job? It can take many months to find the perfect looking jobs, so you can't give up just because it isn't available at the time it would suit you. You can make other plans, but keep up with the job searching, patience will pay off, don't give up.

Cloudydaze

BunnieJ wrote: »

I know some people would be quite happy to sit and chat/surf the internet all day and get paid, but it wears pretty thin after a while!

Been there. Done that. I know some people will say 'how lucky' but it's soul destroying isn't it? I don't think people can really relate unless they've been there. I was ridiculously well paid for what I was doing which made moving even harder. I ended up getting made redundant.

Do you have any ideas what direction you want to go in?

BunnieJ

Your starting point is:

Was your uni course funded by HEFCE or the NHS?

Edit as I realise that you only failed the first year

Are you aware that you you could start another degree/HND if you want as long as you complete within three years full-time?

Either by going back full-time or part-time via the OU (you can get a loan for the fees for both if you have the right to any residual funding)

I had a student loan (for tuition fees and accommodation) for 2 years and am now in a large amount of debt which I can't start paying back until I get a job that pays over £15,000. I think I can get 2 more years of funding (unless the rules have changed since I went to uni in 2007), but I don't want to start a course and then be unable to complete it when the loan runs out

I don't have any credits as I failed my course and was pretty much kicked out of my uni.

Been there. Done that. I know some people will say 'how lucky' but it's soul destroying isn't it? I don't think people can really relate unless they've been there. I was ridiculously well paid for what I was doing which made moving even harder. I ended up getting made redundant.

Exactly. The only difference is that I make just a bit more than minimum wage, so just enough to pay the bills. I might think slightly differently if I had some extra cash to spend on my hobbies/going back to college.

Would any of your hobbies be able to pay you a wage if you went self-employed?

Maybe they could, but I have no experience in business etc. so I wouldn't know where to begin! (Also, there's the issue of having no money to start up a business).

How long have you been looking for another job? It can take many months to find the perfect looking jobs, so you can't give up just because it isn't available at the time it would suit you. You can make other plans, but keep up with the job searching, patience will pay off, don't give up.

I've been looking for another job for a couple of months so far.

Mojisola

BunnieJ wrote: »

Our company was taken over about a month ago and since then we have had no work to do, other than our reception duties. I know some people would be quite happy to sit and chat/surf the internet all day and get paid, but it wears pretty thin after a while!

I would like to go back into education as I dropped out of uni after failing my first year, but I have no idea what I want to do!

Could you use the time at work to do some distance learning courses?

If you are allowed to surf the internet, watch some TED lectures and see if anything grabs your interest with a view to further studying.

RAS

BunnieJ wrote: »

I had a student loan (for tuition fees and accommodation) for 2 years and am now in a large amount of debt which I can't start paying back until I get a job that pays over £15,000.

The thing is that if this debt does not get paid off becuase you remaine don a lowm salary etc, it will just be written off and there is no benefit in paying it off faster. It is not like consumer credit.

BunnieJ wrote: »

I think I can get 2 more years of funding (unless the rules have changed since I went to uni in 2007), but I don't want to start a course and then be unable to complete it when the loan runs out

True is you were to do a HEFCE course that was three years long; they would insist you funded yourself for the first year of a full-time course and pay you for years two and three.

You would still be fully funded on an NHS course (no fees to pay). Just that in the first year you would get the bursary but no student maintenance loan. That would kick in in year 2.

aileth

Is the boredom to do with being a receptionist or this particular receptionists job? Perhaps try apply for other receptionist/admin jobs but look for a fairly big company where you should be busy.

I totally agree with the 'oh you're so lucky' comments. I had one of these jobs and it bored me to tears. I turned off the PC clock so I would stop watching the time as it went so slow and the days lasted forever. I ran out of websites to browse. Absolutely hated it.

BunnieJ

Could you use the time at work to do some distance learning courses?

If you are allowed to surf the internet, watch some TED lectures and see if anything grabs your interest with a view to further studying.

We can surf the net within reason. Certain sites such as social media are blocked. We can't watch videos or anything like that, just the occasional browse online shopping, reading the newspaper etc.

I was thinking of askign if we could study, but I assumed that they would prefer us to be studying something in relation to our job.

You would still be fully funded on an NHS course (no fees to pay). Just that in the first year you would get the bursary but no student maintenance loan. That would kick in in year 2.

As soon as I left uni I looked into doing something like nursing as it is fully funded. But I realised I had no interest in becoming a nurse, I was just desparate to get back into education and get a 'career' and it would have been free as I'd used my student loan already

aileth wrote: »

Is the boredom to do with being a receptionist or this particular receptionists job? Perhaps try apply for other receptionist/admin jobs but look for a fairly big company where you should be busy.

I totally agree with the 'oh you're so lucky' comments. I had one of these jobs and it bored me to tears. I turned off the PC clock so I would stop watching the time as it went so slow and the days lasted forever. I ran out of websites to browse. Absolutely hated it.

All the reception/admin jobs I have done have pretty much been the same. They're often low paid, boring and have no career progression either

When I gave up uni I was really lucky and landed a job as a support assistant for a statemented child in a secondary school. It was paying £17.5k per year with all the perks of school holidays etc. which kind of spoilt me! I was also living with my parents who asked for rent money (but a fraction of what I was earning). However, it was one of those 'sit at the back of the classroom and do nothing' jobs, so I quit after 6 months. I then moved to another school, doing the same job but with younger children. The pay was alot less, but the work was much more rewarding and I was actually thinking of going into teaching.

After a year I was spotted by another company and they took me on as reception/admin (I took the job as it was more hours and more money than the school...I quickly realised rewarding jobs are often poorly paid and things are expensive!) but it was so boring and no chance of progression to another department in the office, so after 2 years I left.

Then I moved to be with my OH and took my current job.

Now I'm working full-time on reception for £13.5k, living away from home, just making enough money to survive, wondering what on earth I'm doing with my life!

NoGoodNamesLeft

What about a Foundation Degree? They only take 2 years so you should be able to get funding. They often have the option to top them up to an honours degree by doing a third year later if you wanted to.