Return to the workplace not working out

[bettybottersbetterbutter]

Has anyone gone back to work after a long career break and realised they just aren't cutting it anymore? I work in a sales driven corporate environment that I loved (& excelled at) in my 20's, had a 10 year career break and after a lot of indecision and procrastination, finally bit the bullet and got a full time job 4 months ago. And I'm miserable

Aside from finding the transition to FT really bloody tough especially now my DC (13-15) are home alone for long days, I just don't have the same drive and passion for securing a deal that I used to. I'm on a 6 month probation period and wouldn't be surprised if they blame covid downturn and let me go as I'm not hitting my targets but even if they do keep me on, I just can't see a future there. There are people in my team who are much better performers who know doubt wonder why they hired me & I'm not sure how much longer I should stick at it. The team are lovely and it's got great career prospects, but I find the whole long days, daily sales meetings and target hitting talk tedious.
My family would be gutted as the pay is great (although after probation I'm on commission so this will drop if I don't start hitting my targets soon) and we finally thought we could afford nice holidays and to have some savings, spending money. And of course in a pandemic it wouldn't be easy to get another job even if I knew what else I could do! Feeling really torn and not sure what to do for the best. Any advice?

Could you have a think and plan for what might interest you

And in the meantime grit your teeth for the money. If you have a 12 month exit timetable??

Hi OP, I hope it doesn't sound like I'm stating the obvious, but 10 years is a long time out of the workplace and 4 months isn't long at all to get used to being back. I was similar in that I had 9 years as a SAHM and then went back to work. I'm not joking, for the first three months I spent a lot of time feeling stressed and terrified. That was six years ago and now I really love my job and can't imagine not working.

Give it a bit longer before deciding it's not working out. Could you cut your hours slightly? Can you think of alternative careers which would use some of your skills but would be a bit less high pressure? Are the rest of the family pulling their weight at home to make the transition easier for you (I hope you're not coming home and doing all the chores)? Is there anyone you could talk to at work - a mentor, or someone else who has had a career break?

Well done. You're back in the door. It's just not the job for you. Start looking around. Something with some working at home, maybe. Nice to at least see children during the day. Good luck.

Thanks for the replies. @HappyFlamingo I agree it's probably too early days to do anything dramatic just had a particularly bad week when nothing is going right and not yet found my groove. Will definitely be giving it the full six months before making any sort of decision but might start thinking about alternative options.