Hello to everyone,
I am new to MumsNet and this is my first posting - I have been thinking about this lots and secretly seething inside. I want to air my views so and welcome the opinions of any other Mums who might be reading this.
I am a senior IT manager who has opted to work in the public sector as to date this has always had a reasonable track record on family-friendly policies and equal opportunities......or so I thought. I will give you some background....
I am in my 40s, hold a number of professional qualifications in IT and management / programme management, am qualified to MSc level in an IT discipline and have two children, 6 and 4. When I came back to work after my second child, a vacancy arose at the next level up from mine, I am a programme manager, and this would have been managing a service. I was more than ready for this and had all the right experience. When I found out who I was up against, it appeared like a no-brainer: I was the one with the most experience, the best track record at delivering and management of staff, had the most relevant qualifications and the others were all known as under-performers with quite a bit of baggage. They gave it to a man who had consistently under-performed but who had big ideas he couldn't deliver and when I asked for feedback, the IT director said "Sorry you were out of the loop too long on maternity leave." I was seething but stayed quiet as I needed a job to go back to, which I did and kept my head down.
Three years on I am still stuck at this level with no possibility of progression and I am feeling trapped; when I first came into this role 5 years ago it would have been a great stepping stone to a more senior position but with the public sector haemorrhaging staff things have flattened out. Do I give up all the flexibility and go for a higher paid job outside, to prove to myself I am worth it, or do I continue to stagnate?
To sense check my benefits here is a summary:
I earn £40K for 4 days work and have good annual leave, can work from home, can do school runs
My DH works at the same place, same salary or thereabouts, same flexibility
Am I completely mad or does anyone else empathise with how I am feeling? Please help!
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3 replies
Gloria1969 · 04/02/2014 20:34
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