I'm a band 7 specialist nurse in the NHS; I've branched out somewhat from my field and I genuinely love my job. We're now working from home which has all but been confirmed as permanent which works perfectly for me as I have a 1 year old and my commute would otherwise be an hour both ways so this is valuable time with my daughter, not to mention the saving on fuel. I've only been in this role 2.5 years (including 9 months mat leave) and I still enjoy the job, am regularly challenged by it and there are good long term opportunities but right now, it's pretty much perfect for a good work life balance whilst I focus on my family. We would also like to try to conceive a second baby which we planned to start next month when my daughter turns 18 months.
A job has come up in a specialist role much closer linked to my original field. Still band 7 but back to clinical and patient facing work which I do miss. It's a fairly niche role and as such, does not come up often at all (I've had NHS jobs programmed to tell me when it comes up and this is literally the first time in 4 years that is has in my area. It is a job I would love to do one day. I never planned to stay in my current job forever as I want to keep my clinical skills strong (I work bank shifts now to ensure that as and when I can). But the thing is.. and there are a lot:
- It's part time. I've already had confirmation that there is no budging on this initially and I have to work full time (main earner) so I'd need to work as a band 6 in my original field to make up the difference which would cause a pay cut. My current job are extremely unlikely to agree to reduce my hours as it really needs full time to be done properly.
- It's a different Trust so in order to qualify for ordinary maternity pay I'd need to put off TTC for at least 4 months which is fine but not what DH and I had planned or agreed.
- It would not be working from home so I'd be away longer hours out of the house.
- I currently work full time over 4 days, this would not be an option so that's an extra day at childcare for my daughter and an extra day not seeing her.
- I am genuinely happy in my current job and it meets this stage of my life and family situation perfectly.
- It involves a residential stay for training which is just really not going to work when I have such a young daughter.
So, there's no point going to this interview. I can. There's no reason I can't go. It's virtual, it's at a time I can do with work without affecting my work day, and I am interested to know what sort of questions I'll be asked so that one day when it's a better time, I'll hopefully have a better chance being somewhat more prepared. It's a highly competitive job that only people from my specific branch of nursing could apply for and it's kind of the dream role that everyone does for so I'm not that optimistic that I'd even get it but it would be a good advantage to know the kinds of interview questions when, someday, I might be in a better position to actually accept if I were lucky enough to get it.
But is that just wasting their time? I feely oddly anxious because I both want them to offer it to me because I do want to do the job but I know I can't really accept it so what is the point?!
Sorry for how long this is. What would you do please?