lone parents - what job do you have?

larmy16

I work as a self employed domestic cleaner. I come from an office background and have may secretarial qualifications (which are a bit out of date now) and have worked in retail. I have had quite a few bad experiences in workplaces, bullying etc (long stories) and I had just about a belly full of people with their egos, moods, and strops.

Finally I decided to learn to drive (at 46!!) and set myself up as a cleaner. OK cleaning is not the most scintillating occupation but there are benefits. All my jobs come word of mouth. I weed out the petty and mean. All my clients value me and I them. I work damn hard. What I love is the freedom. The work is hard, but you are there for 3-4 hours (listening to the radio) and then you go. No hassle, no emotional dramas. I tend to do two jobs per day. Have an hour lunch, sometimes though shortened by the travelling between jobs.

I get days where I feel that I am definitely an underachiever, but then I think of all the blessings - freedom, better pay than most retail, nice clients, and peace of mind. I am happier doing this than any job I ever had in the past.

PS. My son is older and at college so no childcare worries, but even when he was little I had a variety of (mainly awful low paid) jobs which fitted around school. Its definitely not easy to do.

narabanekeater

Just to let anyone know whos intrested. Teaching assistants need not be qualified but some schools insist on it.
I am qualified but do not do the job. To take a level 1 certificate for classroom asistants by local college charge £32 and thats for 10 weeks work. You need to find yourself a scholl placement and do work experience there. The level 2 certificate I took cost me around £70 and took 20 weeks again with work experience and that cost also included a 1st aid certificate. Yes thats also cheaper on benefits. But the above are the full costs HTH

Prudent

If you get a job with a local authority as a classroom assistant they will usually meet the cost of this course and give you time off work to go. In Scotland its called a PDA. It is though getting increasingly hard to get in without the qualification, so at £32 this might be a worthwhile investment.