Journey to £0 by 2020, with a few bumps along the way

chelseablue

enthusiasticsaver said:

Hopefully something will come up soon.  At least you have a good savings buffer and your husband still has work.  You will be fine and the right job is out there.  I am not sure what line you are in but is it worth applying for temporary contracts in the meantime? 

Yes I’ve been applying for 12month, 18month, temp to perm stuff. 

I’m a PA/Office Manager 

Lookafterthepennies2020

Just coming out of lurking, good luck with the job hunt  I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason and hopefully this will lead to bigger and better things for you and your family ! x 

chelseablue

Still no luck on the job front, been applying since July! 
Unemployment looms on 1st February  
Would love some advice actually; if I don't get a new PA role in February I'm thinking of becoming a carer. Probably the type that goes round and helps people in their homes. What do you all think? 
Obviously its quite a bit less money but there's tons of vacancies and we're always going to need them, full training is provided before you start of course. You just need a driving licence and own car 
Im thinking any income is better than claiming JSA which is about £75 a week
I'll still be applying for PA jobs in the hope of getting back there one day! 

enthusiasticsaver

Sorry that you haven't managed to find another job and unfortunately I think this pandemic has impacted on office jobs with so many working from home etc and businesses cutting back wherever possible. I certainly would look at other options rather than JSA in the meantime. Certainly there are always carers jobs available with high staff turnover probably because of the low pay which is incredibly unfair as it is a worthwhile job and no doubt can be tough. My son in law took a carers role after returning from travelling whilst applying for social worker positions and enjoyed it although he was supporting disabled children rather than the elderly. At least it's a job. 

Lookafterthepennies2020

Are you applying for a variety of admin roles too or just specifically PA roles, if not I would widen my search as they are probably a lot safer than carer roles in terms of exposure to covid x With that being said, if people weren't brave enough to be out there I hate to think how worse off the elderly would be right now. My mum has been made redundant in Oct she has 16years plus working within universitys, a degree in business admin and isn't getting shortlisted for half she's applied for. It's such a tough time at the moment, hang in there!!! 

chelseablue

Thank you both. There seems to be lots of PA jobs around, maybe there's lots more people applying for them at the moment than there usually would be? 
I've had a few interviews, maybe I just interview badly  
Doing something low paid for a while will give me the incentive to keep applying and get back to where I was 

Lookafterthepennies2020

I think it's better to be low paid and looking than no income, as that will put more pressure on you on interviews etc. X

Sarahwithlove

It's a very rewarding role but there are a lot of negatives. In particular the time constraints and the usage of your own car. If are able to do 8-12 hour shifts then look for support worker/care home roles instead as they tend to be treated a bit better by the companies. I work with a lot of agencies in my LA so be sure to look around if you do sign up and see what incentives and support they offer and look at them on cqc as if they have done badly on there then good chance they treat the carers themselves badly as well. 

Fighter1986

chelseablue said:

Thank you both. There seems to be lots of PA jobs around, maybe there's lots more people applying for them at the moment than there usually would be? 
I've had a few interviews, maybe I just interview badly  
Doing something low paid for a while will give me the incentive to keep applying and get back to where I was 

Any work is better than no work. I know that some office admin / PA / management type jobs are attracting over 1,000 applications each depending on where they are in the country so I'm not suprised you're having trouble.

Working as a carer is emotionally rewarding but low paid - as you say - but it keeps you in work and is far better than any kind of welfare, as you say. 

hugglemonster

HI I've just gone back to care work to top up my hours, I've been doing the job off and on for 20+ years in a variety of environments and can say it's definitely rewarding and this is the first time I'm working for a council run establishment and the pay and training is so much better than anywhere I've been before. Homecare can be very low paid and obviously some private companies are better than others so ask around to get honest opinions. If you do go for homecare check what you get paid for mileage, check times between calls and the training package. 

Happy to DM with more advice, H x