What do you do for a living?

Enjoying reading about people in this thread! I’ve been using SSIW for a while but only started reading the forum in the last few days.

I am an academic (a philosophy lecturer) and I work mostly at home or from another location that isn’t my place of employment - generally I only go into my place of employment when I’m teaching or for meetings. It’s a 1.5 hour drive away. I work full time and haven’t been in the same job since I left school. Since you asked, here is the full story:

I went straight to university after leaving school, then did degree after degree until I had a PhD, planning on becoming an academic. I did the usual sorts of jobs to support myself through that - waitressing, cleaning, office skivvying, and later on a bit of teaching and freelance editing work. By the time I finished my PhD, though, I was so fed up of studying and so full of self-doubt that I changed tack and went to work in IT. It was truly horrible - I met lovely people there, but the work itself was not my cup of tea at all, and I was completely rubbish at it. I stayed for 3.5 years, and in my spare time I worked on my academic CV (by writing and trying to publish articles in academic journals - that took a while) and also started writing novels (have written 3 and a bit since then, but yet to hit the big time). I left when I was offered a voluntary redundancy and spent 9 months out of work. Eventually I got a 3-year postdoc (i.e. a temporary academic post). Towards the end of that, I became pregnant. I had 2 children in a bit less than 2 years. I lost interest in work and planned just to be a full time mum indefinitely, but I was in an abusive relationship which led to us living on a council estate, claiming all possible benefits, and using all my spare time to update my academic CV so I could return to work. Eventually that happened. I now have a permanent academic job, a book contract, and no abusive partner :smiley: That means I’m raising my kids with no financial or practical help from anyone, except the odd bit of babysitting. I juggle work and family life by having no hobbies or social life, unfortunately - or rather, my social life is comprised of faffing about on social media and going out for drinks/dinner when it’s part of a work event.

Incidentally, this story is a great advertisement for the welfare state. Had I not been able to live in a council flat on benefits when I was at my lowest, I would no doubt have gone ‘under’ with the children. But with that support I’m working and paying more in tax than the state ever paid me in benefits :stuck_out_tongue:

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Da iawn ti!

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I have a close friend who’s done this with her two kids - with brilliant courage and determination - and I don’t think there are any greater people in our society than mothers who bring up children on their own. Thank you for being a genuine hero. :star: :star2: :dizzy:

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It sounds from your Bio that the only thing holding you back is confidence. You obviously have a creative bent and are a people person. You dont need to work in a traditional school or shell out on a property to teach. There are lots of distance teaching options at the moment and this means locations aren’t crucial now. I was taking one-to-one Italian lessons a few times and paid a small fortune for the tutors. There are some remote learning websites out there where you can state your rate and the hours you’re prepared to work. This could be an option. I’m sure there are others out there like me…I’d happily pay for extra Welsh tuition because my work means I cant make it at the times most SSiW sessions run. I’m sure there could be others out there in the same situation. That would leave you to find the time for teulu, roc a rôl a celf.

Btw, I left school at 17 and started work as a Cartographer, hated it and became a telephone engineer for 8 yrs. Then I retrained and jumped onto the IT bandwagon where I am now. I had a bit of a breakdown about 10 yrs ago, walked away from computer software and retrained as a plumber. While training I worked in a supermarket warehouse and a few cafés and also qualified as a Barista. I’ve worked for about 3 years as a plumber too (last year this got me out of a fix when my it contract ended during lock down) . I’ve even done a stint as a courier rider. I don’t know many people who have had a career job from when they started work and I’d encourage anyone to explore the available opportunities the new ways of working give us. With all your life experience I’m sure you could find your niche somewhere. It might mean you just need to promote yourself rather than wait for an employer to find you.