Torn between work and family..

dearbarbie

defo go see a careers advisor - you seen to maybe have too much choice and its just confusing you! they will look at your skills, what you like doing etc.
i use my old uni careers service so not sure who to recommend - maybe look online, try your local council, or connexions?

Oldernotwiser

Both nextstep and learndirect can offer you this help; they're both free services for adults over the age of 20.

http://www.nextstep.org.uk/

http://www.learndirect.co.uk/

They don't have a magic wand but should give you the opportunity to assess your skills and discuss what you want from your future and how to achieve it.

G-G_4

Thanks again everyone, I'm so pleased so many of you were kind enough to answer, it really has helped me bring this problem to a head and deal with it.

After a good few days thinking I have decided on my plan and am going to do my best to stick to it.

I have decided:

1) Make sure I work 2-3 hours a day at least on my OU studies and to see them to completion in September this year.
2) Look at finding some part time temp work to get me started.
3) Aim for Uni next year to study Radiography.
4) Stop worrying / moaning / feeling sorry for myself and changing my mind.
5) See the plan through to the end (2012 graduation!)
6) Diet :rotfl:

Thanks for all your help guys and I will try and update this thread with my progress incase anyone is interested..

Gemma x

ppolly

When I was totally confused in the 'Who am I? What do I want' phase of life (which, frankly seems to reoccur every few years) a book that really helped was 'I could do anthing if only I knew what if was' by Barbara Sher' Also I had a few hours of professional careers counselling - which was extremly useful. Don't be afraid of trying things out - if you try something and find you don't like it or aren't suited to it, you are at least a bit closer to knowing what you do like. Good luck

belfastgirl23

G-G wrote: »

Thanks again everyone, I'm so pleased so many of you were kind enough to answer, it really has helped me bring this problem to a head and deal with it.

After a good few days thinking I have decided on my plan and am going to do my best to stick to it.

I have decided:

1) Make sure I work 2-3 hours a day at least on my OU studies and to see them to completion in September this year.
2) Look at finding some part time temp work to get me started.
3) Aim for Uni next year to study Radiography.
4) Stop worrying / moaning / feeling sorry for myself and changing my mind.
5) See the plan through to the end (2012 graduation!)
6) Diet :rotfl:

Thanks for all your help guys and I will try and update this thread with my progress incase anyone is interested..

Gemma x

sounds like a plan, well done! Do keep us posted.

Baz333

Hello there, I wondered if you'd done any work experience in radiography? I was thinking of re-training as a radiographer and my local hospital were happy to let me spend a day going round all the sections of the radiography department, so even in that short time I got a good idea of the different aspects to the job- some radiographers spend a lot of time with patients whereas others were more involved with operating equipment and had virtually no patient contact at all. I decided it wasn't for me in the end after fainting while watching someone have an injection- good thing I realised I was too squeamish before spending 4 years at university!

Good luck with your plans

G-G_4

I did actually apply for a Radiographer Assistant job but didn't even get an interview, also I have asked to go in for the day but not heard back.

I won't be able to go uni until next year, so I was going to spend a day there before re-applying for uni. (I did apply for this year but OU points weren't going to be ready).

Well, little update, I have an interview with Norwich Union on Thursday for a Insurance claims advisor, sounds really good actually, so i'm looking forward to it.. just hoping that it is as good as I am hoping. Fingers crossed.

I'm going to try and get my head down and work hard at this job if I get it and then when my OU courses are over, and I hopefully pass I can think about how the job is going and whether I want to apply for uni to do Radiography.

Thanks for the info Baz.. was there anything else you didn't like about Radiography?

Savvy_Sue

G-G, I can relate to a couple of the things you are saying: when we moved here I was really conscious that I don't have the regional accent and the mums at my sons' school all seemed to, so I thought they would all think me very snobby and posh, but since I can't HELP not having the local accent I decided not to waste time worrying about something I couldn't change, and honestly, it's never been an issue.

Then there was Catching a Bus. I got a job, my first full-time one for 12 years. But I was going to have to get the bus. Well, the night before I started I was in a complete state. Where was I going to get off? What would I do if I missed the stop? How would I know if I had or not? What if the bus didn't come? Where was the bus stop for coming home?

And then I thought "My 12 yo son has been catching a bus to school since we arrived. He didn't know where he was going, he didn't know where the bus home went from, he didn't know where the 'home' bus stop was." (We had intended to do a trial run, but he had a headache the day we'd planned it for, so all I'd been able to do was link him in with some other local lads.) "Surely, if HE can do it, so can I."

And I coped. Yes, it's not my favourite way to travel, but you do sometimes see the same people and strike up conversations, especially if the bus is late or doesn't stop or things like that.

You also said you only wanted to work part-time because anything you earned over a certain amount would go towards paying off your debtors. I won't comment on that, more that you also said your OH has debts. Surely if you are bringing anything into the household, that will mean he can put more towards the debt. And surely that's a good thing?

You have a good plan, now get out and do the rounds of the agencies with your cv to get it going!

Zeddy

I know what you mean about the starting a family/career thing. I spent 3 hard years at uni, then three tough years getting an accountancy qualification, and then thought I'd live the life, work hard, play hard and climb the career ladder - but became broody as soon as I'd finished studying, I think as for the first time since I was young, I didn't have something all consuming taking over my life. I also feel worried about what colleagues and family would say, as in both circles I don't know anyone who has had children under 30.

I think I'll break that tradition though!;)

As for radiography, my husband is a radiographer and loves it. It really is a passion for him. He tells me it's a career where you are helping and caring for people, but maybe in a more indirect route. It also is intellectually stimulating - especially the route he has gone down and it is a lot easier than some jobs to fit around having a family.

If you've any questions let me know and I'll ask him.

Baz333

I was quite similar to you in that I was looking at all sorts of careers at the time- I'd just done a degree in physics, but didn't fancy going into research or accountancy, which seemed to be what all my coursemates were doing. The main thing that put me off radiography was having to do another undergrad degree- I ended up doing a part time postgrad course in journalism instead so I didn't have to go into too much debt. If I hadn't already done a degree then I would have been very tempted by radiography though- I think it's particularly good time to go into it at the moment as there are a shortage of trained people and loads of different things you can specialise in.