At a bit of a crossroads not sure of the next move

This is something I have been wondering about for a while now. Is it time for a change?

I have been self employed since 2009, when I made redundant from a regular job, it didnt really matter as I was already in the process of setting up a business long before that happened.

So that first business didnt go as well as I had planned, I wouldnt say it failed, I made some money enough to pay the bills but not enough live off the money too, so I closed it down and took some time out as I had a lot of personal, mental and emotional problems that surfaced throughout that time, which I wont go into here.

I started up another business a year or two later, I went back to college in those years I took time out. Again, I made more money this time round and without the overheads, I was able to work from home so didnt have the overheads of the previous business.

So what I have been wondering is, is it time to wind down the current business and look for a regular job again? Half of me says yes the other half says no and its keeping me awake at night.

There are a few things that are keeping me from making a move to regular employment again.

First is that I dont have a degree, that excludes me automatically from a lot of jobs, that I want. For example if I apply for jobs through online websites, I rejected automatically by the system because I dont have a degree. Personally I dont see this an issue because I have a lot of qualifications, a lot of them are from major software companies. Plus I take a lot of college courses, maybe 1 every two years. So I have a lot of qualifications, they are based in some degree in the same subject, design.

Secondly, I feel my work history is another thing that is holding me back. A lot of companies, I find, wont hire people who are or have been self employed, I dont know why. My work history is great, continuous work or college since 2001. I lecture part time, run my own courses from time to time and have a good relationship with clients, who I get repeat work from. Next week I start lecturing again part time.

So if you were to look at my CV / Resume, it makes for some impressive reading, when you look at the education side and combine all of my qualifications, it would amount to greater than a degree, master, major whatever you choose to call it. When you look at my work history, it also makes for some impressive reading, business owner, founder of a school, lecturer, lead web designer. So there is no reason why I shouldnt be considered for the jobs I am going for.

Which leads me to thinking should I start dumbing down my CV / Resume, like leave out parts of it, the self employed etc, but that wouldnt make sense as it took up almost 8 years of my history.

And that leads me to todays issues with being self employed. Im getting tired of it, I get tired of fighting it out, giving quotes etc etc etc and not landing the clients, they always go for the cheaper option, not that I am pricing myself out either, its just there is always someone cheaper.

I get tired of the gaps in between work, the start of this year was mental, 4 months straight I was working round the clock, then it went quiet for a while, then busy.

At this point in life I am wondering if I should make a move, I want to have regular income. I have got a bit of an income, from work I do during the week, it is enough to get by, until recently, when I am getting money in from my business I put it by and it covers for the quiet times but today, my account went into the minus for the first time in a long long time. I have the only income in the house, the girlfriend, stays at home minding the babies.

We have a roof over our heads, we always have food, the kids are looked after, put it this way, we are not rich at all but where I live we are a lot better off than most.

I guess I am just wondering if a move to regular income is the best thing for now. Because today was just one of the hardest days Ive had for a while, I woke up to a minus in the account, so I said I would be positive and get busy looking for work, first person of the day it resulted in me getting majorly p*ssed off after something the person said about my work, so I told him I would pass and not deal with him, he then went on to have a go at my customer service, in which I replied, that i have the right to pick and choose who I work with and I am choosing not to work with him, I know from experience who to work with and who not too.

So throughout the day, I was working from home, I had the kids as the girlfriend is sick, the 1 year old was crying all day, the 3 year old had Lego, blocks and just about every toy all over the floor, i cleaned the place twice and within an hour it was back to the same, while I had the 1 year old crying and wanted to be held.

So I am stressed out, tired, p*ssed off, out of money and dont really know what to do.

I guess I see this as simple. Right or wrong, you need a degree to qualify for the jobs ou want. The work history isn't an issues if you eplained it well on your resume.

You just needd to decide if you would be willing to finish school. Because, it seems, that's a mandatory requirement you cannot get around most times.

Yeah that is just it, there is no avoiding it. I will be able to do an online degree with one of the Universities here, which are a year long rather than 4 years of going to the University itself. So will start looking applying in the morning. Thanks

Good luck to you! In a short year, you will poised for that regular job you are looking for!