I need career advice.

[Ozwin]

I'm 23, I'm a glorified shelf stacker/till monkey who occasionally gets supervisor shifts but they are in no means a regular thing.

I'm starting to worry about it, sure it's a job and I should be grateful but the pay is awful, I don't gain anything from it and its really unfulfilling. Most importantly, the pay is awful and I've been there nearly 3 years and have virtually nothing to show for it. This is really the killer, I have hardly anything in savings, I still live at home, I can't go on holidays or do fun stuff, I'm just a bit stuck and I'm scared I'm gonna be in my late 20s and in the same position.

What can I do? Are there any fields that working in retail can benefit from? I don't really know my options and was looking for some advice from anyone who's been in a similar position. I can't carry on doing this.

[Guest MattP]

I'll reply a bit more in depth tomorrow but you actually have the same life I had at that age.

Keep your chin up. Good things are always round the corner if you keep moving.

You will probably have to try and come out of retail though, it's dead end stuff and even the high end ruins your social life.

[Ozwin]

I have no idea what I can do though, like I've done this for so long that its all I know. It's the most basic form if work going, anyone can do it. I actually used to have high hopes in school, teachers always thought I'd do well and this is where I'm at. Proper depressing. Don't even know where to begin.

[Guest]

I had about the same life at 23 minus the supervisor stuff to be honest. I honestly had no desire for the retail life personally (whilst I know many who did and fair play to them) I'd finished uni and was in no way using that education. Ended up moving to London to do a masters (which was in no way necessary in hindsight but it put me in the location) and wound up working for the beeb in part of their archiving team and that lead to a job in broadcasting.

I guess the point I'm making is that by taking a risk to move to a location where the jobs I wanted (music production, I sorta fell into broadcasting really) were I found myself with more possibilities than if I'd stayed where I was. It was a risk both financially and personally but one overall I'm glad I took.

Now admittedly the job market was slightly different then but is there anything that you really want to do as a career? If you know what it is then at least that's a jumping off point to decide what your next step is. whether that be education, a change of location, volunteering in a certain sector or whatever it is that helps in that aim.

I know plenty of people who've found a lot of experience travelling and working whilst doing so and found themselves in careers they'd never really have dreamt of off the back of it too so again that's maybe something to contemplate.

That's mostly just my experience though Ozwin and I'm sure plenty of people on here will have better advice but it really depends on your circumstances and what your goal is really.

[Ozwin]

It's probably just a brief moment of me being an idiot but seeing one of my closest closest friends tell me about what she has planned in life really got me thinking about my future.

I wanted to be a primary school teacher for a long time, Im always told Im great with kids and I honestly think I'd love it as a career but its such a long way off. I wish I'd gone uni I really do, I know I still could but it'd mean dropping everything and having even less money and even less opportunities than I do now and having to cope with that for 5 years. It's horrible.

If there was a way of working and doing the uni course at night that'd be amazing. I really need to look into it.

[Tom17LCFC]

It's probably just a brief moment of me being an idiot but seeing one of my closest closest friends tell me about what she has planned in life really got me thinking about my future.

I wanted to be a primary school teacher for a long time, Im always told Im great with kids and I honestly think I'd love it as a career but its such a long way off. I wish I'd gone uni I really do, I know I still could but it'd mean dropping everything and having even less money and even less opportunities than I do now and having to cope with that for 5 years. It's horrible.

If there was a way of working and doing the uni course at night that'd be amazing. I really need to look into it.

 

If that's what you really want go for it mate. You'd be surprised at how quick uni goes. In 5 years time you could be where you want, or looking back wishing you'd gone for it. Regarding money, you'll be in pretty much the same position as everyone else but you'll get through. I know it's a cliche and I hate the saying but you do only live once, make the most of it, it's never too late.

[Guest]

It's probably just a brief moment of me being an idiot but seeing one of my closest closest friends tell me about what she has planned in life really got me thinking about my future.

I wanted to be a primary school teacher for a long time, Im always told Im great with kids and I honestly think I'd love it as a career but its such a long way off. I wish I'd gone uni I really do, I know I still could but it'd mean dropping everything and having even less money and even less opportunities than I do now and having to cope with that for 5 years. It's horrible.

If there was a way of working and doing the uni course at night that'd be amazing. I really need to look into it.

Certainly worth a look at distance learning. Something I'm doing myself at the moment as I'm looking for a change but studying whilst I work. Not fully up on what's needed to work in education but I'd bet there's someone on here who is. Working and studying means some good time management is needed but if you really want to do something and enjoy it that'll help keep you focused on why you're doing it.

[Ozwin]

I don't know if its too late to apply or what. I was just happy to get out of college by the end of it.

[Soar Fox]

Are you interested in learning a trade? If so maybe you could put yourself through a night school course.

A friend of mine worked in retail (Topman) and he enrolled himself onto a night course learning to be an electrician. He still carried on working then he'd go and do a course 2 nights a week at a college.

Don't let it get you down though, I know plenty of people who have been in a similar situation to yourself and they have all gone on to find something that they enjoy and pays well.

[MooseBreath]

Go back to school. Student loans plus grants available are up to about £7k now, maybe even a bit more. Add on say £6k from a part time job in retail and that's £13k-£14k income per annum, tax free, equivalent to a full time job earning about £17k.

The finances are easy. What you want to study is the difficult bit. Suggest not rushing into any decisions. At 23 you still have plenty of time but any big decision you make now has to be the right one. Brutal honestly is key. Doing a bit of travelling is a great idea, that'll broaden your horizons and give you time to reflect and to think about what you really want out of life.

[Finnegan]

Never, ever too late to go back in to study. I know it's stating the obvious but don't quit your job until you're sorted.

Lower your hours if you need to but you jack it in in this jobmarket and you could end up shooting yourself in the foot.

[Bayfox]

I have my own business. A nice car which i get to chanfe regular. A house. Family. Holidays. Bit of spare cash.

However much i enjoy my job i dont have a real passion for it. I just fell into it really.

I also wanted to be a primary school teacher but never really followed it through. I have considered selling up my company and doing the uni thing but with a mortgage and 2 small kids at nursery it's not really viable at the minute. Maybe once they start school.

So my advice would be do it whilst you can. If your folks can help you out whilst still at home. If it forfills you. Gor to be better than a job you think takes you no where.

Holidays are great!!! Only downside pay isnt great.

[Raw Dykes]

I'd say there's no need to let it get you down - you're only 23. As others have said, it's never too late to back to school, or get any sort of job in a profession you'd rather be in.

"It's better to be at the bottom of a ladder you do want to climb, than half way up one you don't."

[Captain...]

If you know you want to be a teacher that is half the battle, if you are not sure then make sure before you commit to anything, ask schools if you can come in, help out or look around. Once you are sure you have 3 options, full time, part time, or correspondence. I would recommend going into full time study, loans should cover the outlay and you will get into working much faster, you will have time to do a couple of shifts a week.

Don't worry about the ridiculous fees, you will only pay back loans when you are earning decent money and you are giving yourself the opportunity to earn decent money, the sooner you complete the course the sooner you will be earning decent money.

If you contact some universities now to see what chance you have of enrolling next year, it is a possibly a bit late, then at least you will know what options are available to you.

If you know what you want then just go for it, in a few years time, when you are earning big bucks you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

[SOCCERROO FOX]

I know it's fairly topical at the moment, but my mate learnt a trade in the army reserves. Get paid good money and you can take your skills any where.

Agree never to late to do something new, the CEO of our company started off in the mailroom and worked his way up. Now he is on an absolute packet.

[RobHawk]

If you interested in Uni and want info on student finance, PM me! 

[Guest Bilo]

It's probably just a brief moment of me being an idiot but seeing one of my closest closest friends tell me about what she has planned in life really got me thinking about my future.

I wanted to be a primary school teacher for a long time, Im always told Im great with kids and I honestly think I'd love it as a career but its such a long way off. I wish I'd gone uni I really do, I know I still could but it'd mean dropping everything and having even less money and even less opportunities than I do now and having to cope with that for 5 years. It's horrible.

If there was a way of working and doing the uni course at night that'd be amazing. I really need to look into it.

 

I went to uni at 24 and dropped everything, it's nowhere near as financially traumatic as you think when you're already living at home with few commitments. Less so still when you're in a crap job with crap pay, and your social life will increase no end.

 

I haven't looked back because I know the time was right for me, all I'd have left uni with had I gone to uni at 18 would have been liver damage and a third. As it is, I'm applying for funding for my MA next year and have long term plans to undertake my PhD and eventually go into HE lecturing.

 

Ignore all the stuff about being in debt due to the £9,000 fees. It isn't 'proper' debt in the sense that you'll get bailiffs knocking on the door if you can't clear the direct debit, it's structured in such a way that it comes out with tax and NI and you only pay it when earning £21k or over. Don't pay it in 30 years? Debt's written off. Once you realise this and get past the sensationalist headlines, you realise what a great investment a degree is.

 

There's a shortage of male primary school teachers, so you would have two options upon graduation. The first is the traditional PGCE route at university which is another year. The second is School Direct training where you train on the job and get paid for it, though the latter opens less doors in the future as the PGCE is generally regarded as a more academic post-graduate route where as SD/GTP is seen more as a vocational route. Alternatively, there are some undergraduate degrees that offer QTS upon graduation. This would mean you could go into a primary school after graduation as an NQT after three years, look up Primary Education with QTS. Most universities offering this report that 95-98% of graduates are in teaching posts six months after graduation, so the odds are good.

 

Manchester Met looks good, rated as an Outstanding provider by OFSTED: http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/2013/9969/?course_id=9969

Birmingham City if you want something a bit more local: http://www.bcu.ac.uk/courses/primary-education-with-qts

Bishop Grosseteste in Lincoln has a fantastic rep as a teacher training venue: http://www.bishopg.ac.uk/?_id=10188

 

Best of luck.

[Jon the Hat]

Go for it.  The upside of having a job with prospects that are not very exciting is that you have very little to lose.

[Ozwin]

Is there any way of doing all this while working still? Ie in Leicester? I'd feel silly dropping everything like a stone. My dream is maybe to one day move to Canada but its very hard if you don't have a degree or a specialised profession so it definitely looks like the sort of thing to look at. Problem is you need to do a course before you even think about the teaching side of things. I wish there was some way of doing it all in one go but then again everyone would do it.

Cheers for the advice chaps anyway, I was just in a strange place last night, needed to vent a bit. Might be worth talking to my manager about it, if he knows how I feel he might help me out somewhat. I can't be doing this for the rest of my life like the people I work with. It'll kill me.

[Guest Bilo]

There are lots of part-time jobs for students where you can work 16 hours a week.

 

I'd definitely recommend part-time work/full-time degree rather than the other way round for undergraduates who don't have financial commitments. Your degree will take six years if you do it part-time and you get significantly less financial help with part-time undergrad degrees. 

 

Your place sounds like the kind of shop where you could potentially do part-time work at the same time as doing your degree. 16 hours a week shelf stacking and a full-time degree? It'd be a piece of cake and give you some extra money to top up your loans and grants. 

 

Christ, you could even drop it in term time and work full-time hours during the summer breaks if that were an option. I didn't work at all while at uni, but from May to September I went back to the job I had before uni and worked full-time. I was far from well off, but equally far from being skint. 

[Ozwin]

That's what I mean. I'd love to do that! Being a shop there's always hours anyway. I'd be able to sort it out fine if I wanted.

Actually getting into uni though, that's the question. A Levels weren't great put it that way so I doubt I'd be able to do any sort of teaching subject for my degree. It's all a bit daunting but its for the best, I wish I'd looked into it 6 months earlier.

[Alf Bentley]

I'm 23, I'm a glorified shelf stacker/till monkey who occasionally gets supervisor shifts but they are in no means a regular thing.

What can I do? Are there any fields that working in retail can benefit from? I don't really know my options and was looking for some advice from anyone who's been in a similar position. I can't carry on doing this.

 

At 23, I was a dishwasher, fruit picker, barman and office junior...with no supervisor shifts!

 

Are there aspects of your retail work that you enjoy or are good at? Dealing with people/customers? Supervisory duties? Organisational work? Setting up displays? Knowing what sells? All such things could be useful in another, more interesting context: sales, customer/personal service, logistics, self-employment, management etc.

 

This careers assessment looks a useful starting point re. thinking about what you might enjoy and be good at - and what other skills you might need to get into different careers:  https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/tools/skillshealthcheck/Pages/default.aspx#SHCGetStarted

 

 

I wanted to be a primary school teacher for a long time, Im always told Im great with kids and I honestly think I'd love it as a career but its such a long way off. I wish I'd gone uni I really do, I know I still could but it'd mean dropping everything and having even less money and even less opportunities than I do now and having to cope with that for 5 years. It's horrible.

 

 

You say "I'm always told I'm great with kids" but would you enjoy spending all day with 30 of them, year in year out, keeping them under control and educating them, while dealing with all the stresses of targets, curriculums, OFSTED etc? If so, go for it, as they're crying out for decent male primary school teachers (and the fact that most are women could be an attraction in itself!).

 

Alternatively, if you think you'd enjoy working with kids, have you considered work as a teaching assistant or in a nursery? I have a mate who's a teaching assistant and vacancies come up regularly due to high turnover (people doing it for a year, then going off to do a teaching degree etc.). The pay would only be slightly better than in retail and not as good as in teaching, but you could train up quicker and more easily - and it could be an initial step towards qualifying for teaching later, if you enjoyed it.

 

The finances are easy. What you want to study is the difficult bit. Suggest not rushing into any decisions. At 23 you still have plenty of time but any big decision you make now has to be the right one. Brutal honestly is key. 

 

Good and important advice above (from Moosebreath?!?). If you want to go to uni, go for it, but make sure to choose something that is either vocational or where you can excel. You don't want to find yourself aged 27-28 with an average degree in a meaningless subject. You can never tell, though. I started uni at 18, dropped out, and went back at 30-34. I did a vocational degree (languages) and did well, but still found myself doing a mundane clerical job in a car factory at 34, getting rejected for career languages jobs....it only came right(ish) when I plucked up the courage to go self-employed.

 

Never, ever too late to go back in to study. I know it's stating the obvious but don't quit your job until you're sorted.

Lower your hours if you need to but you jack it in in this jobmarket and you could end up shooting yourself in the foot.

 

Another good bit of advice, from Finn. If you do go to study, retail shifts could be what keeps your everyday finances on the level, while allowing you to still have plenty of fun - still possible on a low income, provided you manage your money carefully.

 

The frustration and depression you're feeling now is a good sign. You know that you need to move on to some extent, you just need to think carefully about what you're going to move on to....get positive about the impending change, but don't rush into it until you've researched it - and have challenged your own ideas.

 

In some ways, I'm glad I'm not 23 (the insecurity!), but at the same time....your life lies before you, while only a bit of mine does!

[Guest Bilo]

That's what I mean. I'd love to do that! Being a shop there's always hours anyway. I'd be able to sort it out fine if I wanted.

Actually getting into uni though, that's the question. A Levels weren't great put it that way so I doubt I'd be able to do any sort of teaching subject for my degree. It's all a bit daunting but its for the best, I wish I'd looked into it 6 months earlier.

 

Primary Teaching is more general rather than subject specific; you're likely to need an A Level in a recognised core subject such as Maths, English, Science or a Humanities based subject though. As a primary teacher, you'll be given a class and teach them a range of subjects. To that end, you'll also need GCSEs at A*-C in English, Maths and Science.

 

It's worth remembering as well though that the entrance qualifications change slightly for mature students, which anybody starting an undergraduate degree past the age of 21 is classed as. Universities realise that many mature applicants may have taken their A Levels and GCSE/O Level exams 20-30 years ago in some cases, therefore they look at your CVs and work references in as much detail as your GCSE and A Level certificates. If the references check out, they like your personal statement and you do well at interview should there be one, you're probably going to get a course somewhere.

 

You can apply for up to five courses on your UCAS form and I'd recommend doing that, Primary Teaching is a highly competitive field and you're likely to get at least one knock-back. 

[RobHawk]

That's what I mean. I'd love to do that! Being a shop there's always hours anyway. I'd be able to sort it out fine if I wanted.

Actually getting into uni though, that's the question. A Levels weren't great put it that way so I doubt I'd be able to do any sort of teaching subject for my degree. It's all a bit daunting but its for the best, I wish I'd looked into it 6 months earlier.

You need to look at what courses you actually want to do and where you can do them! Once you know just get in touch with the Uni's admissions department! Uni's are desperate for students at the moment and depending on the course there's a chance they will take you. Even if you don't want to bother with UCAS etc, you can apply to Uni's directly during clearing in August!

 

You just need to get researching now! In regards to fees, Bilo has it spot on, the government expects that around 99.9% of students will never repay their loans in full and they will be wiped after 30 years. See it as a 30 year tax! You also only repay when you earn over £21,000 so if you aren't working or in a job at that level, you don't repay!

 

I work in a Uni, specifically with money and student finance, so if you have questions, just ask!

 

The key is getting organised now, even if you don't get into Uni for September, there's always next year! Whats most important is that you do something you want to do and will apply yourself too! Don't just do it because your fed up of stacking shelves!! Get soul searching my friend!

[Ozwin]

GCSEs I did fine at, every subject was an A-C. A Levels I did Psychology, IT and Business and Economics. Strange mix I know, hated them all, was so glad to leave by the end. None of them are core subjects per se though.

Will definitely look into it, I fear I'm a bit late this year though. What's the process for applying like anyway, I don't know where to begin. I know there's UCAS, but its all a bit alien to me.