Career advice please! 38 year old in London with anxiety problems...

Yoga_cat

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Mee

I'm sure other MSEs will offer some good advice.
You may be suited to many roles in the publishing or assessment sectors.
You may find the universities you mention offer careers support for alumni.
Good luck!

Ozzuk

Are you getting counselling for your anxiety? I'm in a senior role, extremely high pressure and have had significant anxiety issues over past few years. Counselling helped, as well as reading up on the subject as much as possible to help myself. I still get borderline panic attacks before presentations for instance but its much more manageable.

Also you mention caffeine...I assume you are drinking coffee. Stop! Anxiety reactions are very similar to those induced by coffee so you really should not be drinking it. I was definitely worse on days I drank coffee as it's almost pre-loading you in an anxious state.

BTW I'm not a doctor or any kind of expert, I'm speaking based on my own experiences.

I read a really good anxiety book written from the perspective of a sufferer, not an expert, really helped with my perspective. I'll try and find a link.

Cloudydaze

What about going down the company secretarial route? It would fit with your interest in legal.

https://www.icsa.org.uk/professional-development/careers/being-a-company-secretary

Also smaller companies don't often need a full-time company secretary so you could potentially do it 3 days a week (for the money) and 2 days a week doing something yoga-ish (for peace of mind).

jobbingmusician

I was wondering if you could do a law top-up and become a lawyer yourself? Could you bear student-type jobs to see you through this?

Yoga_cat

Thank you so much for your replies!

Mee, the universities I attended regularly send me mail-outs asking for donations or if I'd like to mentor a young student. They do probably have services available to alumni, though! I think last time I checked they refer you to a paid careers service. More usefully once I've embarked on a new path I could tap into the network to see if I could find anyone already doing it.

Ozzuk, I had a lot of CBT a few years back. I've just started with a Gestalt therapist. Right now I'm allowing myself one or two cups of good coffee a day (I.e. artisan coffee, not a gallon from Starbucks) and I don't allow myself any caffeine at home, it can only be in a cafe. I agree that coffee is rocket-fuel to anxiety and I'm tying a hand behind my back if I continue drinking it. But I found myself in an awful cycle before of 7-10 days cold turkey, then I'd drink one and go really crazy drinking it all the time. Rather than denying it myself, right now I'm letting myself have a bit of it, while recognising it has effects I don't entirely like.

Do let me know the link for the anxiety book, and anything else that worked for you. I started eating oily fish for breakfast each day and that's definitely made a difference!

Yoga_cat

JobbingMusician, thanks for your suggestion. The thing is I've never opened a legal textbook, while I'd be competing for a training contract against legions of would-be lawyers who've done degrees and conversions and paralegal work, and whose profiles are much more straightforward than mine.

It does happen, though. I remember at one good London firm there was a woman who over the course of 20+ years went from being a corporate legal secretary, to I think a paralegal, then getting a training contract with the firm, and then working as an associate in the department where she had been a secretary!

I'm not sure though that it's what I'd want.

Yoga_cat

Cloudydaze: by Jove, I think you've got it! That's a brilliant idea and I hadn't considered it, so many thanks for your suggestion! I think I'd once considered something in compliance but then forgotten that this type of job existed.

At the corporate law firm where I last worked I often talked to a friendly paralegal who left the firm to take the company secretarial route. I could in future look him up. In my role I would prepare bundles of documents from Companies House for lawyers and was often filling out forms to be filed and typing out resolutions, as well as doing anti money laundering checks.

I do notice that the eventual salary can be pretty decent! I would like to be able to get a mortgage and have a decent life at some point so breaking the £30k ceiling as I go through my 40s would certainly appeal!

And the opportunity to learn and study yet not to be going down a path that was too overcrowded, or where my age was a problem.

I do have an ability to communicate with senior people, and I am punctilious and thorough. It is very easy for me to get to the City or West End. I see also that there's a training path and I could start out as an assistant to a company secretary.

So, thanks a lot for your suggestion! I will do further reading on it this week and plan how to get started!

libramoon175

Have you thought about teaching? With your qualifications, you could teach FE, and if you complete your PhD, university level. English, creative writing, or both. That's what I studied! It's a role where you would really be valued, and get to use your brain rather than feeling like a zombie. Although you would have to take a substantial pay drop for the academic year you're training, it would pay off in the long run. If you're interested, check out the school direct salaried route. Just an idea!

Mee

For those dealing with mental health/confidence issues do make use of the Richmond Fellowship employment support services.

Just for others looking at what UCL offers regarding careers advice - check:

Recent graduates services
Alternative Services