Twice a week we publish problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Saturday Guardian so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy’s own insights. Here is the latest dilemma – what are your thoughts?
My mother is a healthcare professional who has worked in NHS children’s services for the past 30 years. She has become increasingly unhappy with her job over the past 15 or so years, to the point where it now makes her depressed. She feels scared of the serious repercussions of potentially doing something wrong, drowned by her caseload, and unable to cope with the IT developments (her computer skills are limited).
My parents’ finances mean that she will have to continue working for the next 10 years. I hate to see her so unhappy and it is clear that she needs a career change. Every day she says she wants to quit, but doesn’t know what else she can do. She doesn’t want to stay in the NHS or in a caring profession.
In my opinion she has lots of transferable skills – she pays attention to detail, has a caring personality and is intelligent – but her lack of IT skills poses a big problem. After a bad day she says she’d be happy working on a supermarket checkout, but I know she’d be underused and probably unmotivated. She is enthusiastic and reasonably knowledgeable about art, classical music, gardening and sewing. Where can she start in terms of planning a career change?
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or to reply personally.
