Adult Apprenticeships, Career change & Paying the Mortgage....How?

MissB1990

Hello.

I hope you are all well?

Currently I am living in Derby, 28 years old with a mortgaged house and bills. To pay these bills I work as a data administrator within an office. I have been doing this kind of work for around 4 years now. But I have done a lot of job hopping from office to office, shop to shop since I left school over 10 years ago, trying to find somewhere that I will enjoy, but never do.

I am miserable been stuck in an office, but with a mortgage and bills I feel like I have no other choice, and it has gotten to the point now where I am severely depressed, struggling to cope each day. I am awaiting help from the mental health team, but the waiting list is so long. Going to work each day is such a struggle.

I really want a career change, I would love to go into a land based industry. I have always been interested in nature and the environment, so feel it would be the perfect career for me, the only downside is that I have no experience or qualifications, so no one even takes my CV seriously.

Apprenticeships are something in which I have looked into before, but never really gone for one due to the wage. I was just wondering if the wage is still £3.70 for someone going on nearly 30 and if employers even take on people my age as apprentices? Also does the wage increase to minimum wage after a year? I also currently have £3,000 I owe on a credit card which I am frantically trying to pay off, which is another reason why I have stuck in an office job in which I do not like. I was unemployed for 6 months last year. January this year I have taken on another role as a data admin, but I am just not happy, the company pressures you into working from home, even when you are sick. They have lost around 12 employees in 6 months as people just come and go and I just do not like it at all, hence why I feel it is time for a change once and for all.

I have read so much about apprenticeships and things but never really know what is right. I am at such a loss and really do not know what to do going forward in order to gain my dream career.

Just wondering if anyone else has been in the same position, changed careers or even got an adult apprenticeship whilst having a mortgage and bills. How did you do it? Can you claim any benefits to help with the low wage? Is there a way to cope when you have such financial pressures?

I would really appreciate any advice, sorry for rambling on.

B x

DCFC79

You say nature and the environment but in what way ?
What kind of outdoor job would you want to do ?

NBLondon

MissB1990 wrote: »

I really want a career change, I would love to go into a land based industry. I have always been interested in nature and the environment, so feel it would be the perfect career for me, the only downside is that I have no experience or qualifications, so no one even takes my CV seriously

Have you done any relevant volunteering that shows you have an interest and builds experience?

I was just wondering if the wage is still £3.70 for someone going on nearly 30

That's the National Minimum Wage that an employer can't pay below and yes it applies in your first year. An employer can offer any wage they like above that to get a better candidate.

Also does the wage increase to minimum wage after a year?

Yes - to NMW of £7.38

and if employers even take on people my age as apprentices

There's the rub.... Yes they do - if the candidate is good enough. If the employer just wants cheapest labour and doesn't care about the quality then they may well go for the cheapest option of 18 year-olds who can be ditched and replaced after a year. If they actually have a real job to train you up into they may prefer a slightly older person who has life experience, proven work readiness and a genuine interest in the field. But you've got to hunt down the job first. This one https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeship/-367436 is about to close but here could be similar. May also depend on whether you can get to a wider area - Derby, Nottingham, Mansfield etc. In fact - a clean driving licence and being over 25 may be a big asset if the employer might want you to get in a van at any point.

Good Luck!

Doshwaster

https://www.ratemyapprenticeship.co.uk/ for reviews of schemes from different employers. I'm a big fan of apprenticeships but they do vary massively in quality from the really good to basically tea-making duties.

As for extra money, how about a part-time evening/weekend job during your apprenticeship?

tacpot12

I've run some numbers through the EntitledTo benefits checker, and it looks like even when you are on the First Year Apprentice rate you would not be entitled to any benefits due to low income. In one way, this is a good result in that you don't have to worry about anyone suggesting you have moved to a low paid job just so you can claim benefits!

You biggest hurdle to making your dream happen is the first year of the apprenticeship, when the rate of pay is so low that it is a certainty that you won't be able to met all your commitments. (And it's not a given that you will be able to do so when the rate rises in your second year!) So, you will need to save up enough to replace the lost income. This is going to be impossible while you have the Credit Card debt, so focus on clearing this debt first. Then open a regular savings account and pay in as much as you can afford. You are going to need about £7,500 to cover the loss in earning in your first year.

You might also consider other ways to increase your income. Taking in a lodger is a great way of making your mortgage work for you. You can earn upto £7,500 a year without paying any tax on rent a lodger gives you. You won't be able to earn quite that much in Derby but if you earned £2,500 a year, you would have all the money you need within the next four years. If you can do some part-time work in evenings, say bar-work, this will reduce the time it takes to clear the CC debt and save the money for your first year. Four year can sound like a long time, but it will pass, and you will feel better when the time you spend at work has a purpose - to make your plan a reality.

You should also keep looking for roles that are not apprenticeships. The suggestion about volunteering is a good one. You could volunteer with a nature/wildlife conservation trust one day a weekend, and this might provide some useful contacts and experience you can talk about to an employer.

MattSt89

Have you done a benefits check?

Regardless of your wage, because its going to be low in the first year you might be entitled to some help?

naturaljazz

Jobs in the outdoors are hugely popular. My son aged 29 is a National Trust Woodland Ranger, full-time permanent role. He got that by doing the following; Volunteering at various community woodlands, getting tree management training (chainsaws etc) via the volunteer roles. He sits on a Board as a tree specialist (not paid). He is largely self-taught regarding tree identification etc, does Forest School activities and also is a Green Woodworker for a hobby and this also crosses over into the job role. So for you; volunteer roles are available widely. Do as much free training via those as you can, get a DBS and maybe help in a Forest School. A 5 year plan would be good. If you decide to do the outdoors apprenticeship, then do a job pulling pints in the evening to meet the bills and rent a room out too. The jobs are hugely competitive, but it is achievable.

74jax

I work for a new build company and we run a fantastic apprenticeship scheme. I was involved in the recruitment of this for my area for 3 years and we wanted really good quality candidates. We paid above the odds for first year (pretty much just over minimum wage rather than the apprenticeship wage) then 2nd year was around £2 more and we then had the option of taking into 3rd year but most chose to stay with us as self employed.

Interviews were hard, we expected a lot from our candidates, whether they were 15 or 25. But we trained them well. We put many as we could up for apprentice awards, as it gave them something to work towards for them.

I would look at the area you want to work in, look at big companies, see if they run specialised apprenticeship schemes, look at their pay - not all just pay the minimum apprenticeship pay.

Marcon

This may be wholly unrealistic, but could you rent out your home at a level which would cover the mortgage + bills, and live in rented accommodation close to a suitable apprenticeship, assuming you can find one in a part of the country where rented property is cheap enough to make that viable?

Alternatively, could you rent out your property and spend time as a volunteer somewhere which offers volunteers free board and lodging in return for their services?

Final - and much more radical - thought: you're only 28. Do you really want to go on being saddled with a mortgage if it prevents you from progressing your career? There's no law which says you have to be a property owner, however much people (understandably) aspire to it.

Brynsam

MissB1990 wrote: »

I have read so much about apprenticeships and things but never really know what is right. I am at such a loss and really do not know what to do going forward in order to gain my dream career.

You're talking about a 'dream career' without having much of a clue what that career might be or how to go about it. The dream could actually be a nightmare...so why not do some preliminary planning now, which might make your current unpalatable job more bearable if you can hatch an escape plan?

Start by looking at the qualifications and experience you would need to gain to get this 'dream career'. Could you get some of the early qualifications at night school? Could you get some relevant experience by volunteering (which would also enable you to test out your belief that this is what you really, really want to do).

Drawing up some sort of short/medium/long term plans should help you to feel more in control of your own destiny. It's hugely motivating to be able to tick off items on your careers 'to do' list. It is utterly dispiriting if you get months down the line and haven't met any of your goals, so keep the steps small and achievable.

Neil_Jones

The old Working Tax Credits pre Universal Credit you were eligible for since you'd be doing over 30 hours a week so that would top your income up from the apprenticeship since they are all over 30hrs a week. Presumably that still applies as such for UC.

Having been made redundant myself, an apprenticeship was ideal for me. I live alone, have low outgoings and as above, WTC as it was then boosted my monthly take home pay by a couple of hundred quid. I was 36 when I did this apprenticeship.

Yes it meant working for peanuts for a year but I applied for and won a job with the place I did the apprenticeship in (the local council) doing the same job. It's a higher wage, but it is part time - however I worked out that for the same amount of monthly take home pay on a 37hr a week apprenticeship I now only need to do about 60hrs a month (with a few time and a half sessions).

If you want to go for it, go for it. Sometimes we regret what we don't do. Just make sure you can afford working for £3.70 an hour (soon to be £3.90).