Getting back into work after 15 years off!

MoodyMand45

My partner is looking for work as a cleaner despite having NVQ 3 Business Administration and various IT qualifications.

To cut a long story short he trained as an office administrator to better himself and had to leave his first admin job during the first week to go abroad to care for a relative but this went on for 15 years but now he is back home looking for work.
He does not want to look for an admin role claiming he has no confidence to do that sort of role but although it's not really my business i think he should at least try and use those qualifications and not waste them.
Does anybody know of a way he could get confidence back to do this because he can get the interviews for administration roles and is having no luck searching for cleaning jobs.
If i had these qualifications i would at least start an office role and wing it until i failed and at least i could say i gave it a go but he is very nervous about taking the risk.

I have tried searching for admin or reception volunteering to boost him up but does not seem to be any around so i have pleaded with him to approach some job agencies and just ask.

His jobcentre work coach is also telling him that cleaning is mostly part time and he should be pushing the office idea although i think she knows that getting him off Universal Credit into a full time role is better than part time for her and the jobcentre.

Any ideas of what i can do to help him.
 

Brie

I'm wondering if it's sexism that is blocking his path into cleaning.  I mean other than some janitors being male most people when you say "cleaner" will think of a woman instead of a man.  Net result is that someone hiring would wonder at his motives for taking such a job.  

I wonder what would happen if he approached cleaning/caring agencies asking about personal care roles (for which he has a lot of experience) with an eye to getting into one of these and then slowly moving more into the admin side and from there could get into more standard office work.  I know that in the care industry it can be sometimes difficult to find someone appropriate to care for certain gentlemen and having a male in the team to go in and provide care and cleaning support might work out quite well as a starting point.  

sammyjammy

He could try applying to Civil Service at a lower grade to build his confidence, they have a website for jobs with a wide range of opportunities at all grades.

MoodyMand45

Brie said:

I'm wondering if it's sexism that is blocking his path into cleaning.  I mean other than some janitors being male most people when you say "cleaner" will think of a woman instead of a man.  Net result is that someone hiring would wonder at his motives for taking such a job.  

I wonder what would happen if he approached cleaning/caring agencies asking about personal care roles (for which he has a lot of experience) with an eye to getting into one of these and then slowly moving more into the admin side and from there could get into more standard office work.  I know that in the care industry it can be sometimes difficult to find someone appropriate to care for certain gentlemen and having a male in the team to go in and provide care and cleaning support might work out quite well as a starting point.  

Good idea i never really thought about him being a carer but after caring for a relative i suppose it would be a natural move into work from his current position.

MoodyMand45

sammyjammy said:

He could try applying to Civil Service at a lower grade to build his confidence, they have a website for jobs with a wide range of opportunities at all grades.

Great idea, i will push him to check this as it might be a way in.

SensibleSarah

A friend of mine was in a similar position after being a stay at home mum and carer for many years. Confidence in her abilities was rock bottom. She joined an admin temp agency to help build her confidence back up in that area and it really worked and added to her relevant experience because she worked in several different places/sectors. She said that expectations from the hirer in every new role were pretty low, so they were very easy to impress just by being cheerful, organised and proactive - asking plenty of questions etc. 

One of the temp jobs ended up becoming permanent, and she stayed there for several years. 

The civil service idea mentioned earlier could also be a good way in. 

Marcon

MoodyMand45 said:

My partner is looking for work as a cleaner despite having NVQ 3 Business Administration and various IT qualifications.

To cut a long story short he trained as an office administrator to better himself and had to leave his first admin job during the first week to go abroad to care for a relative but this went on for 15 years but now he is back home looking for work.
He does not want to look for an admin role claiming he has no confidence to do that sort of role but although it's not really my business i think he should at least try and use those qualifications and not waste them.
Does anybody know of a way he could get confidence back to do this because he can get the interviews for administration roles and is having no luck searching for cleaning jobs.
If i had these qualifications i would at least start an office role and wing it until i failed and at least i could say i gave it a go but he is very nervous about taking the risk.

I have tried searching for admin or reception volunteering to boost him up but does not seem to be any around so i have pleaded with him to approach some job agencies and just ask.

His jobcentre work coach is also telling him that cleaning is mostly part time and he should be pushing the office idea although i think she knows that getting him off Universal Credit into a full time role is better than part time for her and the jobcentre.

Any ideas of what i can do to help him.
 

There's an awful lot about you, your attitudes, what you'd do etc etc in the post above.

Maybe the best way to help your partner is to try and see things from his point of view.  Looked at realistically, your partner did some training about 15 years ago and then went abroad to look after a relative. Whatever training they did would now be largely out of date - certainly on the IT front - so it's no surprise they are, wholly realistically, rejecting the idea, at least for now.

Why the objection to cleaning? It may not have the same kudos as an office role, but good cleaners will always find work - and round here, that work is paid at way above minimum wage rates (think upwards of £15 an hour, frequently £20+ an hour). The householders provide all the equipment, so all he needs to do is get himself from one place to another, by public transport or just plain old pushbike!

Don't let outdated snobbery or prejudice blind you to the possibilities - he could be running his own nice little cleaning business, and be very happy doing so, in a surprisingly short space of time.

General_Grant

For a carer role he would need to be DBS checked.  This might take some time because of the absence abroad.