Almost qualified OT but now regretting it

[WildflowerWildfire]

So I’m almost qualified as an occupational therapist (4 months to go). I’m having the worst surge of anxiety and panic that I’m about to start work in a few months, and therefore won’t be able to do any school drop offs or pick ups for my dd.

It makes me enormously sad, and I’m starting to doubt the whole thing when I have family/friends who have call centre jobs, working very reasonable hours from home.

Am I making a huge mistake? Should I finish the degree and get a “normal” job until my dd is older? (She is 7). I will be relying on childminders to do school runs when I’m working full time 😢

Is this just a last minute wobble?

It's a wobble, lots of people can't do pick ups. Could you arrange some flexi hours or something so you could at least do 1 drop off or pick up?

You won't do pick ups and drop offs but your daughter has watched you work hard to get the job you wanted and will have nice things because of the commitment you show to your work.

Your sacrifices are worth it.

Its a wobble and completely understandable.

Do you have to work full time ? Do you already have the job planned out. Personally I would persevere and see if there are any flexi options z bit further down the line.....

And well done thats a great achievement.

I don’t have to work full time no. Hopefully there will be part time jobs available when I start applying

I’m just thinking I’ve made a big mistake and should just do something with more flexible hours.

Have you got anyone to share the childcare with? There are part time jobs but they are harder at the start as lots of OTs start on a rotation and they all tend to be full time.
If you can find a way to make it work I would recommend working for long enough to inbed your learning before you become too part-time. Some jobs are now 7 day working so if you asked for fixed days with one at the weekend, do you have a partner who could look after the kids?
The other ideas would be to apply for a bank post and say you could only work school hours like 9-2.30 or similar. It is quite hard to recruit at present and there is also a big move to offer more flexible and family friendly hours so you may be fine.
It is a great profession. Don't give up on it.

DD will be fine!

If you have a partner, would they have similar qualms?

Look for part time or if you can bear it and can’t find p time, go full time and keep looking/ask for p time.

There is a massive shortage of OT's currently so even if a job is advertised as full time, I would have a chat to see if they will consider part time. I work in a Learning Disability team in adult social care and we have OT's in our team that are part time, working for the council rather than the NHS might give you more part time opportunities. We desperately need more OT's at the moment.

OP whatever you do finish your Degree. Whether or not you decide to stick with it it will open many doors you otherwise wont have.
As previous posters have said, does it have to be ‘all or nothing’. Do you need to work full time? The NHS can be a very flexible and supportive employer particularly for roles that do not require shift work and OT roles would generally be around office hours.
I’m a nurse and work flexibly i do all school drop offs and three pick ups a week! (I do 22 hours). Most of the IT’s in my team are Mums and part time. Also don’t forget NhS have generous annual leave (it builds up but I get nearly seven weeks a year plus bank holidays pro rata).

Finish the course! If she's 7 there really isn't going to be long before she's at secondary school & more independent. You'll kick yourself if you don't finish the course. Get a OT job - full time if you have to, and once you are in it then after a few months ask for different hours if you feel the need to by then.
I have a work from home office job and while I love it, the grass isn't always greener, you'll still find restrictions with any job.

You’ve worked hard for this, so finish it and give it a go. Once you are working if it really is too much you can look to drop hours, or for a better pattern, but you’ll have some experience behind you then. Do the school do wrap around? Ours offers drop off from 7.30am with breakfast club, and a lot of the children stay late for after school clubs even if parents don’t work, just because they enjoy them.

It's true that first jobs are harder to get part time, but it's a candidate's market out there. Ask for what you need - if you could do either drop off or pick up, what about that? If I were you I'd choose pick up - ask to start as early as you possibly can and leave at 2. Contact employers who are close to you and ask to meet the Head of OT, really campaign to get a job there. Honestly a reliable person who works hard 8-2 five days a week would be strongly considered anywhere at the moment.

Do prt time, compressed hours, longer days.. you could do all drop offs to and from wrap around care if needed

You might settle to a part time role with one or two days where you could do the drop offs as you are off work, then accept the other days you dont!

Very common to work 4 days as a parent in the NHS

Occupational therapy can be a really family friendly job! Its certainly not one where shifts and weekends are almost inevitable especially early in your career like nursing or midwifery.

Wobbles are understandable but really this specific wobble is a bit misplaced!

Good luck (my DD is studying occupational therapy too but via an academic apprenticeship which is the usual route in Germany, and my youngest has had occupational therapy so we've experience from that end, and I work with OTs too - it's definitely an office hours type career mostly).

Working for a Local Authority as an OT will
Or community health team will Probably give you more flexibility than working at in a hospital. A lot of community OTs are working at home.

You may find there are locum opportunities, particularly in local authorities, so you could pick your hours as long as you don’t need the regular income and benefits that permanent work provide - it may balance out with the childcare costs if you’re not paying for wraparound care, at least until the children are a bit older

It's highly likely that if you can find a community role and have reports or admin to write you will be allowed to do this work from home.our ot always works from home on Fridays

Thank you for the replies everyone. I’m really, really hoping I can find a job where I can negotiate some sort of compressed hours, or maybe a community role where I’d be based from home rather than in an office.

I start my final placement tomorrow and I think I’m just having some sort of anxiety attack because it’s all beginning to get very real.

OP, you can work in community centres, charities, hospitals and other places. You can ask for part-time, flexi work or job share.

I worked with OTs and Physios in the past and some had job shares or flexible working hours.

You worked hard for your career, if you leave before finishing the studies you may struggle to go back.

OP, as a newly qualified Occupational Therapist I think you would struggle in a community based job if you weren’t office based with on hand supervision and support. Community work tends to need experience, as you have to think on your feet and make often very complex decisions using a broad knowledge base, single handed. That’s why they are mostly Band 6 posts.
Definitely finish the degree though. There are lots of opportunities for Occupational Therapists at the moment, and I’m sure something will suit the hours you can offer for the few more years that your dd needs you around.

A wobble.
It is perfectly normal to expect to use wrap around care when you are working, but, I presume a bit of a wrench if you have never had to before.
It does depend what work you get, but some jobs might have some flexibility.

I have a 7 and 11 year old and actually I think they need you more as they get older and would be perfectly happy in after school care at 7. So if you can’t get the perfect part time job now, don’t worry. Get that experience and it will be easier to get part time in future

Good luck with your new placement

As others have said look at social care. That is where I work and we have a range of flexible working arrangements and can work at home. I have worked part time since I qualified well over 10 years ago and I am now a manager.

How did you manage on placements? I assume your DD was ok then?

However as newly qualified you will need to be around colleagues more than your more established colleagues especially during our version of your proceptorship year. There is A LOT to learn wherever you work but it’s a fab job with so many opportunities so don’t give up too easily.

Bump