Essentially lost my job due to having a baby - where next?

kiss_me_now9

The back story is quite long so I'll do a TL:DR at the top.

TL:DR I have been a qualified OT for 7 years now, working in the same hospital since I qualified. Got a static role as a band 6 in early 2020 and happily started to build my career in a specialist area. Went on maternity leave (took a full year) and on my return as I'm changing my hours I've been moved from my specialism to a generic area that I have no interest in with no way of going back to where my heart lies (I am investigating this with my Union rep as they have done this in a very shady way and not followed policy at all, but that's irrelevant to this post). I have no interest in staying with the Trust any more and can't do my job in private practice. Got turned down for a job recently that was my last option for staying in my specialism without needing to move county. Now not sure what I should do.

I am totally stuck as to what to do. I can't go back to my previous role and I don't really like any other areas of healthcare - the entire aim of my career was to get into this specialism. Now that's been taken away from me and I've lost all interest in healthcare. I have to go back to the NHS until the end of May but after that I am keen to change and do something different. Having a toddler and hoping to have a second baby before the end of 2025, I can't just drop out of work as we wouldn't be able to afford to live on one salary, especially if I didn't receive any maternity pay for our second baby. I can't commit to a training scheme right now or go back to university/do an apprenticeship to retrain and so it feels like I am stuck in a sealed box with no way out. As well as this, I can't really commit to more than 22.5 hours a week at the moment and for the foreseeable future, which is really narrowing things down for me. 

Some information about me: 
- I'm trained as an occupational therapist. A large part of this job is problem solving, information gathering, safety/risk assessment (not in a formal business manner, but more of a healthcare focus), building connections with people quickly, diffusing and managing difficult conversations and of course assessing and providing equipment for people with a variety of needs. My specialist area was palliative care so I'm also very good at quickly changing what I'm doing based on a rapidly changing situation, managing tricky conversations with advanced comms. skills and being in highly stressful/emotional situations. I know I have these skills but because hardly anyone knows what an OT is, outside of healthcare it is incredibly hard to market myself and get my foot into interviews.
- I am terrible at maths/numbers/stats but pretty good with finances and budgeting. I am much stronger with written language and have always enjoyed writing, editing and proof reading things though I have no qualifications to back this up. I am very good at talking to people and getting information out of them but if I'm honest it's not my favourite aspect of the job. 
- I cannot do a job that doesn't have some element of benefit for others around me - for instance before going into healthcare I strongly considered both marketing and HR but decided that I didn't want to be pushing things on people they didn't need and would rather work for the good of others than a strict set of rules that don't make sense. 

Emmia

Charity sector, civil service? Do you want to stay in healthcare?

LightFlare

kiss_me_now9 said:

The back story is quite long so I'll do a TL:DR at the top.

TL:DR I have been a qualified OT for 7 years now, working in the same hospital since I qualified. Got a static role as a band 6 in early 2020 and happily started to build my career in a specialist area. Went on maternity leave (took a full year) and on my return as I'm changing my hours I've been moved from my specialism to a generic area that I have no interest in with no way of going back to where my heart lies (I am investigating this with my Union rep as they have done this in a very shady way and not followed policy at all, but that's irrelevant to this post). I have no interest in staying with the Trust any more and can't do my job in private practice. Got turned down for a job recently that was my last option for staying in my specialism without needing to move county. Now not sure what I should do.

I am totally stuck as to what to do. I can't go back to my previous role and I don't really like any other areas of healthcare - the entire aim of my career was to get into this specialism. Now that's been taken away from me and I've lost all interest in healthcare. I have to go back to the NHS until the end of May but after that I am keen to change and do something different. Having a toddler and hoping to have a second baby before the end of 2025, I can't just drop out of work as we wouldn't be able to afford to live on one salary, especially if I didn't receive any maternity pay for our second baby. I can't commit to a training scheme right now or go back to university/do an apprenticeship to retrain and so it feels like I am stuck in a sealed box with no way out. As well as this, I can't really commit to more than 22.5 hours a week at the moment and for the foreseeable future, which is really narrowing things down for me. 

Some information about me: 
- I'm trained as an occupational therapist. A large part of this job is problem solving, information gathering, safety/risk assessment (not in a formal business manner, but more of a healthcare focus), building connections with people quickly, diffusing and managing difficult conversations and of course assessing and providing equipment for people with a variety of needs. My specialist area was palliative care so I'm also very good at quickly changing what I'm doing based on a rapidly changing situation, managing tricky conversations with advanced comms. skills and being in highly stressful/emotional situations. I know I have these skills but because hardly anyone knows what an OT is, outside of healthcare it is incredibly hard to market myself and get my foot into interviews.
- I am terrible at maths/numbers/stats but pretty good with finances and budgeting. I am much stronger with written language and have always enjoyed writing, editing and proof reading things though I have no qualifications to back this up. I am very good at talking to people and getting information out of them but if I'm honest it's not my favourite aspect of the job. 
- I cannot do a job that doesn't have some element of benefit for others around me - for instance before going into healthcare I strongly considered both marketing and HR but decided that I didn't want to be pushing things on people they didn't need and would rather work for the good of others than a strict set of rules that don't make sense. 

You could try contacting Macmillan or any local Hospices to see if they have any vacancies.

As much as it probably sucks, be wary of making any hasty decisions. At least give the Union a chance to try and get resolution.

Good Luck

Brie

Is it possible you could move into your local authority doing OT for people coming out of hospitals and care homes? 

I know that when aged MiL was being pushed out of hospital via a care home we had a number of visits from someone looking at how our home might be modified to make this easier.  Admittedly a lot of if was not feasible (no funding available for changing a bathroom into a wetroom) and some of it not acceptable to us (giving up all of our parking to build a wheelchair ramp).

kiss_me_now9

Emmia said:

Charity sector, civil service? Do you want to stay in healthcare?

I'm not particularly fussed any more about staying in healthcare. I've tried and applied for several Civil Service jobs as we have a large CS office in my local area but every time I've got through to the interview stage (which has taken months) and then been rejected as I can't demonstrate that the skills I have are transferable enough to what is largely office work. There isn't a lot in the charity sector in my area and nothing that would pay a band 6 wage that isn't clinical. 

@LightFlare there is only one hospice in my local area (for the entire county... I know, this annoys me a huge amount as well) which is where I was recently rejected from. They only have a small team of therapists - 3 OTs and two physios - apart from the vacant post which I was unsuccessful for, the other OTs are slightly older than me with their own young families so very unlikely to move on soon. I was deemed unsuitable for the post after interview as I had too much inpatient experience and no community experience. 

@Brie there certainly are jobs there but it's the area of OT that I dislike the most and I would rather just cut my losses. Likewise I have considered working in mental health - which there are several posts going in my local area - but all of these jobs would have the same complaints as my current role/Trust. If I'm honest maternity leave and how they've acted towards my return has really cemented the dislike I had of working for that Trust and in the NHS as a whole - completely undervalued and overworked with little to no rewards or benefits.

Savvy_Sue

You say they have acted shadily, but the reality is that if you take Additional m/l you don't have the right to return to your original job. If you added to that by asking to reduce your hours, they may not feel that they've acted badly at all. See what the union say ... 

I am just wondering if the role of Activities Coordinator in a local care home would be of any interest? Not sure what the pay would be like (although possibly pitiful), but there's often a crying need! 

Marcon

You're sending some rather mixed messages here - or at least they are likely to look that way to a potential employer eg

kiss_me_now9 said:

My specialist area was palliative care so I'm also very good at quickly changing what I'm doing based on a rapidly changing situation, managing tricky conversations with advanced comms. skills and being in highly stressful/emotional situations. 
- I am terrible at maths/numbers/stats but pretty good with finances and budgeting. I am much stronger with written language and have always enjoyed writing, editing and proof reading things though I have no qualifications to back this up. I am very good at talking to people and getting information out of them but if I'm honest it's not my favourite aspect of the job. 

Could it be that you're lacking - or not using to maximum advantage - a key skill: marketing yourself?

I googled on 'occupational therapy and palliative care' and there were, predictably, loads of links. What was interesting was how many of these links were to articles/journals etc. If you enjoy writing, have you ever written for professional publication? Or to raise the profile of OT in palliative care?

You also come over (based entirely on what you've posted) as rather rigid and inflexible:

kiss_me_now9 said:

I have no interest in staying with the Trust any more and can't do my job in private practice. Got turned down for a job recently that was my last option for staying in my specialism without needing to move county. Now not sure what I should do.

I am totally stuck as to what to do. I can't go back to my previous role and I don't really like any other areas of healthcare - the entire aim of my career was to get into this specialism. Now that's been taken away from me and I've lost all interest in healthcare.

I can't commit to a training scheme right now or go back to university/do an apprenticeship to retrain and so it feels like I am stuck in a sealed box with no way out. As well as this, I can't really commit to more than 22.5 hours a week at the moment and for the foreseeable future, which is really narrowing things down for me. 

- I cannot do a job that doesn't have some element of benefit for others around me - for instance before going into healthcare I strongly considered both marketing and HR but decided that I didn't want to be pushing things on people they didn't need and would rather work for the good of others than a strict set of rules that don't make sense. 

Something has to give, so possibly thinking hard about your priorities/areas where you could compromise - at least for the next few years - might give you a way forward, but the picture you've painted is of someone whose attitude is 'my way or no way '. From the sound of it, 'my way' isn't an option currently on the table...

Emmia

kiss_me_now9 said:

Emmia said:

Charity sector, civil service? Do you want to stay in healthcare?

I'm not particularly fussed any more about staying in healthcare. I've tried and applied for several Civil Service jobs as we have a large CS office in my local area but every time I've got through to the interview stage (which has taken months) and then been rejected as I can't demonstrate that the skills I have are transferable enough to what is largely office work. There isn't a lot in the charity sector in my area and nothing that would pay a band 6 wage that isn't clinical. 

What type of job(s), which department(s), what grade(s)?

Based on the pay scale information I've googled, salary wise you're probably looking at a HEO/SEO role - but I wonder if perhaps you came across not well in the interview (I'm picking up @Marcon point about "my way or the highway"). Which depending on the role / manager / team might make you a difficult (disruptive?) prospect.

Did you apply to social Departments like Health, Education or the Department for Work and Pensions... Or ones more driven by economics like Department for Business and Trade, or Transport?
If you're good at writing, and fairly numerate the latter type may be better for you.

The trouble is, whatever you do in the CS, you can and do end up pushing things on people that they don't want, but which are for wider benefits like safety, economic growth etc.

I also wonder whether your rigidity (as you're essentially stomping off from OT as you can't do the only thing you're interested in) may hamper you in your search for a role - really how willing are you to pivot?

Elliott.T123

You wont want to hear this but as someone who has worked in Recruitment for over 15 years and who has a close family member that has been an OT 15+ years I feel like I have some pretty solid knowledge in the area.

You are unfortunately very very unlikely to be able to find a new job that ticks your boxes. From what I have read your must haves are:

22.5h maximum week
Must be a role that helps/benefits others
Must have similar income to band 6 (lets assume mid point so £37k ish)

Yes OT skills are transferable, unfortunately the more senior (read the better paid) you get the less companies want transferable skills and the more they want ready made skills.

Also looking at roles that help/benefit others outside of healthcare the opportunities do drop significantly, in our society private companies first aim is profit. So as others have suggested charity or public sector is probably your best bet. Those sectors also tend to be a bit easier to find part time roles.

I think if you were willing to take a decent pay cut you will have a much better chance of finding something ticking the boxes, say £25-28k range a company will take a punt on you not having relevant experience but I appreciate that may not be an option.

Your only other choice is far from ideal but.... suck it up and accept you are working to provide for your family and not for a job you love. In an ideal world we would all get paid well doing work we love but that doesn't happen for a lot of people. I cant speak for you but most people I know would take a job they dislike paying half decent vs a job they dislike paying badly!

   

kiss_me_now9

Thank you all for your responses. I've read them and appreciate you all taking the time to give me some ideas and feedback - I won't lie and say I enjoyed reading them all, because I am still so disappointed and upset that this is the note my maternity leave is ending on. Getting my (old) role in the first place was a massive undertaking, which started with dusting myself off from a disastrous time at sixth form to get a BSc, then a MSc, two dissertations, 5 years of university, 1000 placement hours, and then so many more hours of outside learning to upskill myself in my first job to get the promotion. A lot of hard work and effort just gone. I know I sound dramatic and I acknowledge that but that's how I feel at the moment! I worked bloody hard for my registration and have overcome so much to get here and definitely saw myself staying in palliative care for a very, very long time. It's the first time I've ever felt settled in a job and am so passionate about people receiving good care at the end of their life.

This year has been so hard for me, I'm not good at change at all (which is feeding into the anger and disappointment a lot I think) and I've struggled pretty hard with PPD/PPA so probably put far too much weight on this last interview as a 'final hope' to getting some of the old me back. Yes, I am hopelessly stubborn and fierce when I believe in something (part of the problem with not doing a job where I feel like I'm actively helping people) but equally that means when I believe in the goal of a task and the ethos of a company I will work as hard as I can to make it happen. 

A pay cut isn't really an option, if I did take one I'd be working just to pay childcare and would be better off pulling him out of nursery and leaving him with the childminder 1.5 days a week (he's currently going to nursery 2 days a week, childminder 1.5 days a week). However, childcare spaces in our area are like gold dust so if I did find a job that I wanted and was successful for, we'd really struggle to get him back in anywhere. We don't have any family nearby who can do childcare and some of the nurseries around here have waiting lists that run from the first trimester of pregnancy for a space when they are 1! I actually had a job offer before Christmas when I heard where I would be moving to (informally) but had to turn it down as it was a band 5 post and I couldn't afford childcare at that rate.

Much more thinking, processing and soul searching to be done.

Marcon

kiss_me_now9 said:

Thank you all for your responses. I've read them and appreciate you all taking the time to give me some ideas and feedback - I won't lie and say I enjoyed reading them all, because I am still so disappointed and upset that this is the note my maternity leave is ending on. Getting my (old) role in the first place was a massive undertaking, which started with dusting myself off from a disastrous time at sixth form to get a BSc, then a MSc, two dissertations, 5 years of university, 1000 placement hours, and then so many more hours of outside learning to upskill myself in my first job to get the promotion. A lot of hard work and effort just gone. I know I sound dramatic and I acknowledge that but that's how I feel at the moment! I worked bloody hard for my registration and have overcome so much to get here and definitely saw myself staying in palliative care for a very, very long time. It's the first time I've ever felt settled in a job and am so passionate about people receiving good care at the end of their life.

This year has been so hard for me, I'm not good at change at all (which is feeding into the anger and disappointment a lot I think) and I've struggled pretty hard with PPD/PPA so probably put far too much weight on this last interview as a 'final hope' to getting some of the old me back. Yes, I am hopelessly stubborn and fierce when I believe in something (part of the problem with not doing a job where I feel like I'm actively helping people) but equally that means when I believe in the goal of a task and the ethos of a company I will work as hard as I can to make it happen. 

Much more thinking, processing and soul searching to be done.

Plenty of us aren't good at change - and you've had the one of the most major imaginable: becoming a parent.

What is rather harder to follow is why, having worked so hard and for so long, you appear willing to throw in the towel so readily (phrases involving the words 'babies and bathwater'  or 'toys and pram' seem particularly apposite!).

kiss_me_now9 said:

I'm not particularly fussed any more about staying in healthcare. I've tried and applied for several Civil Service jobs as we have a large CS office in my local area but every time I've got through to the interview stage (which has taken months) and then been rejected as I can't demonstrate that the skills I have are transferable enough to what is largely office work. There isn't a lot in the charity sector in my area and nothing that would pay a band 6 wage that isn't clinical. 

If the CS applications have 'taken months' then you were clearly applying (and applying more than once) well before things got to this point. I wonder why you did so, if it is only now that your wish to change to part time hours has been the driver for the unwelcome change of role?

Why give up now? You may have to settle for doing something less than wholly amenable while you cope with the very real strains and demands which come with being a working parent (especially a working mum who may not have recovered brilliantly from the birth and its aftermath), but you've only been working for 7 years. You could have another 35 years of working life ahead of you. Why write off your hard work and major achievements and condemn yourself to three decades of doing something which falls far short of your ideals when a couple of years of compromise could set the scene for a much more promising future?

Read your own post: Yes, I am hopelessly stubborn and fierce when I believe in something (part of the problem with not doing a job where I feel like I'm actively helping people) but equally that means when I believe in the goal of a task and the ethos of a company I will work as hard as I can to make it happen. 

...and believe in yourself, especially in the medium and longer term.