As title says, I didn’t continue with A levels due to Anxiety/Depression (was pretty much housebound until my mid/late 20s).
I’d like to explore the idea of working but worried that I wouldn’t get a look in due to my age and lack of experience/qualifications.
What would be my best option to find employment?
Applying for jobs? Volunteering? Studying? Anything else?
Edit: I’m in England. My GCSE grades were ok (mainly Bs and an A in Maths).
Thank you to everyone that has responded, I’ve read (and still reading) many helpful suggestions – a lot more than I anticipated.
I’m currently leaning more towards an apprenticeship as I think that’d be the most beneficial in the long term.
37 comments
Volunteering is your best option for starting off. The charity shops usually have signs up asking for volunteers and you just go in person and enquire about it.
Try Remploy. They are an organisation that help people with disabilities, whether they are physical or mental, find work.
You can apply online.
Volunteering is good for experience, also look at paid apprenticeships, I did one in my 30’s. There’s usually a studying element so you get a qualification and they’re fixed term.
Agency/temporary seasonal work this time of the year will pretty much take on anyone as long as you fill some forms in and show up every shift. It won’t be the best work (think production lines, packing etc) but will be a start. You may have to be ‘economical with the truth’ regarding your past few years work history but you can probably get away with blaming covid and lockdown sand explain personal health issues have hampered you but your eager to work.
If your more of an outdoors and hands on person then I suggest you get your cscs card (quite cheap and it’s just a very basic health and safety test to do) as labourers in many forms are always wanted on building sites again mainly via agencies this day in age.
Good luck, I admire your drive to make things better even tho the circumstances are less than ideal.
Presumably you are somehow self-sufficient even without working through some means. Rather than jumping in to whatever kind of job might take someone so inexperienced (and presumably unskilled), it might be more worthwhile upskilling somehow first.
For example, going back to study something (Open University has no prerequisites for most courses and is highly respected) if you’re academically inclined. Otherwise, local colleges will have courses to teach you how to become a skilled trades person (this would also need an apprenticeship, but a good college will help you find one).
You could also self-study something if you’re not up for something formal. IT, Software and Finance all have options for you to self study and get certifications that make you more desirable to take on. Accounting in particular has lots of opportunities to those with basic certifications and you can start working as you continue to build up your qualifications.
Just wanted to suggest something other than the more obvious choices of going to work in retail or a factory / warehouse.
If it doesn’t appeal to you, then another good option is the NHS. They’re desperate for staff and most roles have some options for progression built in. My niece has been a CSW (Clinical support worker) in the NHS for a couple of years, which is an entry level jobs that involves cleaning and caring of patients. This year, the NHS has agreed to sponsor her to train as a nurse. She will be paid a full time salary whilst she studies and will do a mixture of studying, working and placements. At the end of this she will have a guaranteed job as a Nurse, earning at least £25k as her starting wage with endless opportunities for overtime and progression (But of course, the NHS is stretched incredibly thin so this will come with the downsides of being in such a workforce, which shouldn’t be downplayed).
Best of luck to you. It’s not too late, and at 30 you have plenty of time to start fresh and really make something of yourself in terms of a career.
Edit: _Care_ to _Clinical_, thanks to /u/CarryThe2 for pointing that out.
100% volunteer. Plenty of places looking for help to keep the doors open, and it can be pretty rewarding. It’ll build up your confidence too, which will help a lot when you look for a paid job. Also looks great on a CV.
And good for you! Way to go, trying to get out there
Nearly all factories/hospitality/warehouse/retail are absolutely desperate for staff at the moment. Easiest option would probably be factory work, they won’t care what you did previously – the interview will be a formality mainly to check you are eligible to work in the UK and aren’t a raving lunatic.
Good luck on your journey, it’s fantastic that you are wanting to get involved in work and probably really rather brave of you. I hope it works out for you.
I think volunteering would be a good start to build up some experience, see what you enjoy/ don’t enjoy and see how you get on or go from there!
Volunteering for confidence.
I’d try get on to some form of training that guarantees work, events could be a good start if you work near a live venue. Then think about your ideal job and take steps to get there.
It won’t be linear and life is not perfect but having a plan in mind makes things go easier.
If you’re competent with a computer and happy to be on the phone there’s a few roles on government help lines. Things like the covid vaccination hot line or the Universal credit hot line. They’re run by serco and companies like adecco do the recruitment.
The jobs not too bad, and it’s temp work so if you hate it quitting is very easy.
Look into doing an apprenticeship. Youll get paid and you get a qualification out of it.
Issue is be ready if you go to work to have to deal with challenging idiots. Make sure you are in the right headspace.
Find a website where you can advertise to be a cleaner in people’s houses.
Ask as friend/family member to show you how to do a good cleaning job if you don’t already know.
After a while (6 months -1 year) apply to be a cleaner at an office/factory/shop etc (the private clients you’ve had will be your references)
It’s not very well paid, but its honest work and will get you into the world of employment.
The Prince’s Trust sounds like it will be perfect for you!
They help people in a pickle get their first steps into employment. I used to work for them. Give me a shout if you need any help.
Volunteering is how I did it! It had multiple benefits. First, helping the community brought me purpose and joy and helped people. If you spent all your time inside using a computer you have an incredibly valuable skill almost any volunteer organisation is desperate for. I started teaching Microsoft word to immigrants with mental health problems, it was great.
It gets the job centre off your back.
Its the perfect way to take some of the risk of hiring someone with no job history. A good reference from a voluntary organisation will get you in many doors!
It builds confidence, etc.
I was in your position 10 years ago. Now im kicking ass and taking names. Just don’t demand too much of yourself, I was and am terrified most of the time.
Peer support is a good place to start if you want to do something mental health related!
Good luck you can do it
Get yourself into a college course there might be help locally with your local job centre or there’s schemes about helping people gain qualifications
Maybe work part time as a volunteer someone will take you on then. Offer to work for cheap to gain their trust
Be careful tho people might take advantage of you and have you work and always dangle the carrot of a full time paid job
I went back to college at 30 took 3 years to become an electrician but it was worth it
Good luck on your journey keep at it and you’ll get something
Lots of good advice in this thread already but wanted to add a couple of things. I don’t know if you’re under the care of MH services in your area but many NHS trusts have employment services now. Employment Coaches can help you with CVs, interview skills, finding suitable training and getting work placements. They also help with other things such as building confidence and talking about disclosure if that’s a concern. If not, as you’re 30, depending on when you turn 31, you could also try The Princes Trust for advice and guidance. Good luck!
Volunteering will get you out of the house and into a routine of getting ready and going to work. Build your confidence and experience. After that the transition to a paying job should be almost seamless.
As others have said warehouse job is probably the one, truck driver is another one that’s in demand and you can make decent money with decent benefits. The problem with these is they can be a bit mind-numbing. If you find that’s the case then there’s a few other options:
1. as you’re working in one of these get a CSCS card, you have to pass a test, think it’s about 50 quid plus another 150 once you’ve passed to get it permanently (you just have to do an induction). Use this to find labouring jobs, again the only work you’re doing is physical, try to find a company that will either sponsor you for an NVQ to specialise in something construction related or use contacts to in there to help you get some kind of job or apprenticeship where you specialise, these are generally higher paid than labouring (which you can always fall back on).
2. Another option if you’re decently smart/driven is to go back to night school alongside working, re-do your GCSEs and do some a levels (or a btec) and this opens you up to better apprenticeships, some of which may offer you a degree, for example software engineering apprenticeships can give you a good base to earn a fair bit further down the line.
Contact or visit your local job centre for advice. They’ll always have a programme on or some kind of support in place for people like yourself. My most recent job was helping people with mental health issues, physical health issues, previous convicts and ex drug abusers gey back into employment. Many people left with a job or the skills to obtain one. Some people never had a job in their life and others did and just really struggled. We worked closely with the job centre (that’s how we obtained most of our clients).
There are also free courses at universities for people that are unemployed or earn less than a certain amount per year. The National Careers Advisors can help you with this. I would take full advantage of their services. You can contact them via the Job Centre (they can arrange appointments for you) or contact them directly via their website. Honestly, any free courses online provided by most universities for personal development are also extremely beneficial.
Volunteering would be a great place to start to gain some experience. Retail is also great at skill development even though it may not be for everyone. You can start off slow with a part time job or even apprenticeships if you have anything in mind. I’m in Admin and they do a lot of relatively well paid apprenticeships that aren’t your regular minimum wage payments.
If you need any support or advice, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Is there any one thing that you are particularly interested in or talented with/at?
What do you want to do? That’s a good start. It’s important that you wake up every day being happy to do the work you do instead of just getting any job for the sake of it.
Don’t worry about your history. There’s plenty of career paths nowadays that don’t care about your school grades. So don’t think there’s a lack of opportunity out there. First establish what you’re good at, what you like doing and what your goals are. After that you can look into the specifics of actual jobs.
It’s important that you look at what you can bring to the table instead of what you can’t. Just because you don’t bring formal qualifications doesn’t mean you’re useless, the same way that someone who is qualified on paper for a job isn’t always going to do the job well. You can always get qualifications but you can’t teach stuff like work ethic, passion, composure etc.
So I would say figure out what paths you’d be interested in going down, what you think you’d be good at, what you like doing and then simply googling entry level jobs that use those skills. If there’s something they ask for that you don’t have, ask yourself how you can get that. You’ll rarely see people asking for GCSEs and whatnot unless it’s necessary to the role. But if it’s skills that you don’t have, you can always do courses and work towards those skills.
Get yourself a job at Mcdonald’s / Dominos, they’ll hire literally anyone. I walked into Dominos without any previous employment or qualifications and I had my first ever job within 10 minutes. I was 16 at the time but I don’t see why your age would matter.
There are some free courses that you can do online with the government or companies like vision2learb that will bolster your CV in relevant skills across many sectors 🙂
Good luck with the hunt.
Start anywhere and be the best you can at that role, be it pot washer, dustbin man or checkout. Get your self a routine and nail it, you got it!
Volunteering.
You can start anytime & any age! I’m 19, I know we have an age difference by quite abit but I’m in a similar boat. I suffer with mental health disorders and have now just felt comfortable facing the world, I’m working as a support worker & enrolled into college to finally do my GCSE’s. I understand your worry but you will be accepted somewhere, it’s never too late to start! Hospitality would be a good place to start I’d say as there’s always vacancies, even care work as you get trained on the job. You may be questioned on why you haven’t worked and that’s your decision on how you answer that. ‘Indeed’ is good for job applying, if you’re claiming any benefit you can access ‘Reed’ and ‘Reed courses’ they’re free to access for people who are claiming benefits. Volunteering would be a good start but it can get a little boring when you see no reward for your work. Good luck OP!😊
I did a similar thing but only for a while, my issue was I was a waster who sold and took drugs.
I moved away when I was about 21 through a friend luckily having a spare room a couple of hours away. Honestly the first couple months was pretty shit, I was on all sorts of 0 hour contracts and I remember my first job was a bin man. I’d had a couple of little jobs in the past but usually sacked for being late, not turning in ect ect… I did do 2 years of college also, again being late ect but I left it so long afterwards to try get a joinery job that everywhere I applied just said they have to train me from scratch again. That kinda sucked because I love joinery and my college tutor was gutted I didn’t apply for my lvl3 saying he let my lates slide and saw a potential…
So yeah, a few years later I was a bin man, then I went around giving out letters to a few businesses and ended up with a valeting job. Did that 3 years, moved to another dealership as a valeter for a year, settled in quite well and asked to move into sales. Now I have a company car, good record at work, my own flat and really just chilling for a bit.
My issue was I messed up my credit in my early days and have no real savings. I realise I’m stuck in a rental market but I’m cool with that atm from what I once was.
Good luck with everything!
You would get a job washing pots in a restaurant easily enough.
The concern employing someone with a CV like that will be their work ethic. If you get your foot in the door somewhere, make sure you prove them wrong.
Try apprenticeships. Even banks have them these days. Maybe do some volunteering first though.
And good luck to you, I dropped out of uni for similar reasons and struggled for sometime. I’m now in a job a love, that pays for 4 holidays a year and have a vibrant social life. It wasn’t always easy but I struggle to even remember what it was like to be depressed now. I hope your life is on the up from here.
Also, if you’re mathy, a free online coding course or learning excel can go along way- I owe my career to it
Go through an agency, plenty jobs with plenty agencies that are entry level. I joined my current job with zero experience or relevant qualifications and I get a generous salary
Depending on what you want to do you could look at doing an apprenticeship. Do you have at least a C in English and Maths? If not I would look to get those – I think the job centre can help there.
Hi OP,
I was very much like you and didn’t continue with my A-levels and hadn’t studied since my GCSEs. I also had terrible anxiety during my 20s and rarely left the house unless I had to. After having a child and having bad post natal depression I decided to do something to occupy my mind and I studied with the Open University. My mental health greatly improved over the years and I really enjoyed studying. I graduated this year with a first class honours in Law and I have just completed an internship with a law firm. If there’s something you enjoy studying the Open University can definitely be useful.
A franchise that will train you and want staff like, dominos or mcdonalds.
I’m in a similar situation. I’m 29 and I’ve only ever had one job. Left school at 16, dropped out of college a year later. Didn’t get my first job until I was 24. Had it for 3 years
Few thoughts:
Your local area may well have a social prescribing service who can point you in the direction of local resources.
Jobcentre might be able to help. It’s what they’re supposed to do, at least!
This is a way to get some more skills for the workplace.
https://skillsforlife.campaign.gov.uk/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=AdultSkills22_202207__all
Volunteering is often a good start as it lets you demonstrate that you can reliably turn up to work on time and have a decent work ethic. Also will get you a decent reference. Often the roles are part-time too, which is important if you’ve been off for so long and you’ve been so poorly with your mental health. Work of all kinds and the new routines, people, learning etc is tiring and it’s important you stay well. If it’s all going well you can look at using the rest of your time to get new skills and qualifications which all boosts your CV and makes you more employable as well.
Best of luck to you, hope things go smoothly!
I thought I had it bad being stuck working at ASDA until I was 31.
I doubt for basic work a lack of experience will matter, I don’t think it would do you good to jump straight into something full time though.