Although unemployment remains sky high in the UK, a rise in house prices and new job vacancies in certain sectors would suggest that we are emerging from the recession. But what do you do when you have spent months seeking a job and have found nothing? Below are 10 careers that will help you beat the recession and most will be flexible enough to fit around your family needs or other commitments. Never has the term 'Work to live' had such true meaning until now that is. So, if you are stuck in a rut with your career going nowhere, read below for the jobs that are likely to help survive a recession:
1: Catalogue sales and Party Plan
Catalogue sales and Party Planning are great ways to make money. You need not be a natural sales person so long as you enjoy meeting new people, are organised and sociable. Depending on the business, you can start with catalogue sales at first and as you grow in confidence and your business develops you can eventually move on to Party Planning. As with most work, the more effort you put in, the more you get out. An added advantage of these forms of work is that they are flexible and can be done on a part time or full time basis; you get support from a Team Leader or Sponsor so you never feel alone and you get to do a job that you love, working for yourself. Party Planning companies include: FM Perfume, Ann Summers, Avon, Virgin Vie, and Oriflame to name but a few. What about people cutting back on spending during the recession? I hear you say. Well, whilst many people will indeed spend less during a recession, people also want to feel pampered and invest in themselves to cheer themselves up through hard times thus allowing themselves 'treats' to feel good.
2: Pound shops / Discount stores
Pound shops have been reported to be extremely successful during a recession as people want bargains and high quality products. No, I am not advising that you set up a pound shop, but it is certainly one good way to make you money in a recession. Think Poundland, savers, Lidls and Aldi who's sales have done very well during a recession.
If you intend on setting up such a pound shop or discount store, look at your location to ensure that there are no others in the vicinity as you may not wish to position yourself too near a similar shop unless you are selling different products or are able to make your business unique from your competitors.
3: Childrens Activities / Childrens after care service
Imagine a parent who works and has no family or friends who can collect the child from school and entertain them? That is why there is always a need for children related services which are tailored to the needs of parents especially those who are in work, working inflexible jobs. Recession has meant that many mothers have had to return to work soon after having a child or re-enter the workplace after years of not working. Because of this, there is a greater need for nursery places as well as childrens activities and after care services to keep children occupied. If you have a qualification to do a certain activity, hold a current CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) which conforms to Government regulations and guidelines, then you could rent a hall and market your activities in defined areas where your target group are likely to visit. When ensuring that the activity is tailored to the needs of children, you will need to conduct market research to gage the views and opinions of parents and carers. Once a demand is noted and feedback is positive, analyse your results and use that knowledge as part of your business.educationeasy.net business plan.
4: Fast food/Take away
Now you may be saying to yourself that during a recession people eat out less, thus favouring to cook at home to save money. Whilst this is true, it is not always the case if you are offering people something different to what is out there already. If, for example you want to open a Caribbean food shop and there is limited competition in your area you can monopolise that. If the food is reasonably priced, features a take away option and the quality is high, with great customer service and service delivery then your shop will be more memorable because you stand out. When people don not want to cook they may choose to visit a take away, especially if it is easy to get to and convenient. Two such shops that have never been short of customers even in a recession are called Take Two and Ting and Ting. These two shops have the following in common which make them stand out and ensure that customers keep returning.
- They both offer efficient service. Especially if you are in a hurry and cannot wait long for your food
- The staff at Ting and Ting are warm, friendly and welcoming so you do not feel like a stranger and have charming charisma to draw people in
- Good choice of food for all tastes
- They are positioned in ideal locations and the type of food offered means that there is little to no competition
- Quality of food is high and offers value for money
- You can either eat in or take away
5: Become a Doula
A few years ago, media reports suggested that there was a shortage of UK midwives. This would heavily impact on mothers to be as they may have been sharing midwives which lead them to become anxious. Such a revelation caused mothers to seek doula's to help support them and their spouse's through the birth of their child. Doula agencies also responded to the need by offering to either train or refer new applicants to train to become doula's. So if you are a mother who has a caring and supportive manner, you may choose to train as a pre or post birth doula offering parents advice, support and even practical help, helping out with light domestic chores in the home so that the parents can spend time with their new baby. It must be noted that a doula cannot perform the same role as a midwife; however they are trained to offer parents practical and emotional support in a variety of ways. As mothers continue to have children and require one to one support, a doula will soon be seen as a necessity rather than a luxury service. To find out about training as a doula, contact the British Doula Association.
6: Ironing service
If you have a few hours to spare in the day and you enjoy ironing, you could offer an ironing service. There are many people who see ironing as a boring and time consuming chore that they would quite happily pay someone else to do. You only have to look at some of the adverts on Netmums to see that there is indeed a need for such a service. Consider doing door to door pickups and drop offs as well as a quick turnover in getting the clothes ironed. If you become good at it - word of mouth (a great tool for marketing) will spread thus bringing you in more business and money. If you find that there is competition in your area, look at how you can make your ironing service stand out from the others without adversely affecting the profit you make.
7: Home Tutor / Host Family
There is always a need for good teachers especially in Maths and, Science therefore whether you are already a teacher or a Degree Educated person you can offer home tuition in the subjects you trained in. This is a good profession where you may be able to work within your own area; the pay is from £20+ per hour and is flexible. If you have not taught before or it has been some time since you last taught, you will have to study the curriculum in your subject and be highly knowledgeable enough to teach and assist the young person but it is a great way to supplement your income. If considering this role, ensure that you have a current CRB check and fulfil the requirements of an agency in order to join.
Some agencies will pay you a greater sum of money if you even have a spare room in which to host foreign students and have a certain number of hours to dedicate to teaching English. Now, not all host family agencies require you to teach but some do and may ask that you are educated to Degree standard. You will be required to supply food, clean towels pick up and drop off students at school, but the money paid should cover a large portion of these expenses.
8: Debt Adviser
During the emergence and heart of the economic downturn, an increasing number of people sought help when faced with mounting debts, repossession, and loss of earnings; this lead to debt agencies advertising in National, as well as local newspapers. Adverts suggested that they could help people manage their debts and could suggest ways in which they could be cleared. The competition in this field was high but was in response to the growing trend and financial problems people were experiencing. Although, many debt agencies may have been acting unscrupulously during these times there were many that abided by regulations and guidelines. One company that I became aware of made applicants pass two interview stages and take a psychometric test before being allowed to train, as a Qualified Debt Adviser. If you were unable to pay for the course in full, you could apply for part funding. Once training was completed, you would be assigned work in your own area and work on a self-employed basis earning money according to the numbers of cases that were referred for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, or where clients acted upon your advice. Now, I am not suggesting that this job is for you as you will have to conduct your own full and extensive research in this field however, it is a serious consideration.
9: Virtual Assistant
A Virtual Assistant assists small businesses with secretarial, technical or administration duties especially when businesses expand employers find that they need help with certain tasks that they may find overwhelming. Most virtual assistants work from the comfort of their own home on a flexible basis negotiated with their employer. So if you have a good background in administration, secretarial or technical work, you can apply your skills to this profession. Duties could involve answering phones, book keeping, and sending emails. The more skills you have, the more useful it may be to businesses. You may find that you could use your marketing skills and experience to advise a business on how to market to a different target market, or market effectively. Furthermore, using your skills and knowledge in PR you may be familiar with writing Press Releases for different mediums and audiences. The key is to look at your skills, qualifications and experience and ask yourself how can businesses benefit from your knowledge. What suggestions can you make to enable businesses to:
o Generate more clients
o Gain publicity
o Encourage website traffic and exposure
o Increase sales or service users
o Make service delivery faster or more efficient
As an increasing number of people seek self employment to fit around the needs of their family and other commitments, the need for virtual assistants is ever more needed.
10: Social Workers
According to media reports, there is a shortage of social workers after Victoria Climbie and Baby P's cases came to light. Many people were put off from entering this profession however the fact remains that there is still a need for well trained social workers to deal with vulnerable groups in society. You only have to look at the numbers of children in care to see that the need for social workers will not fade through the recession. One of the routes to social work is by taking a Degree in social work.
Samantha is a Certfied Life Coach specialising in career, parental and confidence building coaching as well as offering generic coaching. To find out more about this and to acquire further articles, please view positive-vision.co.uk positive-vision.co.uk. Although this article makes reference to UK terms and information, the tips mentioned are applicable to a worldwide audience.
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