How I escaped working in childcare without a university degree (UK)
Long story short, I dropped out of university in my second year. I then did a Level 3 in Early Years Education- I quickly realised that childcare is such a toxic work culture in addition to the low pay and back-breaking work. But, I got my qualification and developed my CV, and used my qualification to work abroad several years ago.
I now work in further education at a college. It is THE MOST cushy job I've ever had. I got promoted after a month; can wfh during the holidays; have been encouraged by my managers to leave work 1-2 hours early on several occasions; no one checks on my work (my managers don't even know what my job is!); I get 6 weeks holiday a year; and the whole college have had two pay rises in the past year- and that is before my annual increment and promotion.
I honestly feel so happy. Dropping out of uni was the best thing I ever did. I'm limited with applying to certain jobs that require a degree as mandatory, but there are so many other jobs out there that value equivalent experience, which I now have.
For anyone interested in the specifics of how I got the job, I left childcare to work as an Assistant Employment Advisor. The job was basically minimum wage and part time, but I used it to develop my CV. I then got a Job Coach role at my current employer- my colleague left after a month, so I applied for and got the promotion into his role. It took me several years to get here, but it is such a relief to feel comfortable in a job like I do now.
Good luck:)