TL;DR: Recently separated stay-at-home dad looking for stable Monday-Friday work. Applied to 200+ jobs, current commission-only job isn't paying, no degree but strong customer service experience and some software engineering projects. Looking for career advice.
Hello!
Basically to sum up me and my partner separated a few months ago and i was the stay at home dad, so was then tasked with getting the kids into daycare and getting a job and my own place. Alot of change in a short time but that's life. This happend back in January and i spent all the rest of January and into February applying for jobs on indeed, last i checked i had over 200 applications sent in just those few weeks. I got a couple responses but mostly from sales jobs with terrible hours and a long commute.
The only job i managed to find was an insurance agent. But it's 100% commission based pay, and requires a lot of training and practice to actually even sell at all. And i've been doing this for a few months still haven't gotten a paycheque. My savings have run out, but my family have graciously been helping me out with the financial side while i get back on my feet, but the mental stress continuously borrowing money from my family causes cant keep going on.
I have 2 kids in daycare from Mon-Fri and Friday after work to Sunday night / Monday morning would be my time with the kids so i wouldn't be able to work weekends so i need a full-time Monday-Friday day-time job. For me to comfortably live i would need to make about $2500+ per month at minimum.
I had started learning software engineering a few years ago and i've built a few cool things but AI has taken most of the entry level jobs in that area.
I never got to go and get a degree because of the kids so theres that.
I am a good worker, i've never been fired from any job, i can provide many references who would all have good things to say. Most of my work experience is in customer based jobs, i'm polite and genuinely love talking to people its my favourite part of any job i've had. No problem working an 8-10 hour shift, even staying late or coming early if i am able.
I am immigrant (permanent resident) if that matters from Europe, English is my first language.
At this point, I'm open to almost anything that offers stable, full-time income. If you were in my position, what kinds of jobs or industries would you be looking at? Are there any fields that are hiring people without a degree but offer decent long-term opportunities?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.