AIBU to not want to move to find work?

[Studyingmummy]

I am just a few weeks away from graduating as an Allied Health Professional so am currently looking for posts to apply for. While many of my much younger fellow student are applying for jobs further afield I have limited myself to the areas I can easily travel to (about 5/6 hospitals). Because of this I have only applied for one job so far (word on the ground is there are 5 posts) and am awaiting another health board releasing posts (likely to be 10+ posts across the city).

Because I'm a mature student with 2 DC in school and many ties to my local area I am reluctant to look further afield. My DH has a progressive chronic condition meaning he cannot work so we are reliant on benefits to an extent, although he also has a small pension from his previous career meaning we don't qualify for child tax credits beyond the basic £500 pa. We are also in council sheltered housing (3 bedground floor flat ) and receive some HB.
I am worried that if I dont get a post in my area soon I may not get another opportunity for several months, maybe up to a year. In the meantime I will look for other work to get me earning again. So AIBU to not apply for jobs involving moving area?

Bowlersarm I am worried that there may be a lack of jobs locally but as it not particularly doable for my DH & DC to move (Dh disabled, council sheltered housing etc) I may have to consider a job where I will have to live away from home & go home when I have a few days off while continuing to look for work nearer home, definately not my ideal situation but may be my only chance to get my career started. Other options would be to look for unrelated work locally if I can't get a suitable post by end of summer.

To be fair, many people take on degrees and end up doing something completely different and I think some posters are being a bit harsh. We do have to look at the system - why is the govt encouraging so many people to study these courses when there just aren't the jobs? Not everyone will get the job they want so don't let that bother you, OP.

I think you're in a good position for a local job and you should make the most of what you have to offer. You're mature, you've deliberately chosen this path (rather than fall into it because of a bursary on offer) and you have local ties so are less likely to up sticks and leave the dept in the lurch.

You've achieved so much already - a degree, looks like a great grade while having to contend with a partner's poor health, bring up children and organise a household. You bloody deserve a job locally - the NHS would be lucky to have you.

Well done you!

I'm sorry for your husbands ill health. Can I give you some practical advice?

1. Practise interview technique as much as possible, ask previous mentors from placements to write a short paragraph about how wonderful you are! Keep these for the interviews.
2. If ( and it's only an if) you don't get work apply for assistant job and ensure you are invaluable to the team. You are then best placed to apply in case of retirements or maternity cover.
3. I wouldn't move away for my first clinical job, I did it childless and in my early 20's. I was extremely lonely and isolated. I can't imagine leaving my daughter.
4. You haven't wasted tax payers money, even if you get a health care job then you will have transferable knowledge and skill.

Good luck!!!

Have you investigated doing a council house swap?

Hmm op, I think it depends what job comes up. And I think your family needs to be preparedto uproot if it keeps the family unit together. Easier said than done, I know. Hopefully something will happen locally, but if not your family need to support you about all moving, if it's a possibility.

It sounds like you have a lot on your shoulders.

Yanbu and there are so many harsh replies on here. Unbelievable. The advice to leave your housing, which sounds ideal, or to work away and get an au pair (Wtf! !) is bonkers.

Why is it bonkers if the husband is able to do the childcare to work away i the week? That way it's win win - she gets the career she and her children deserve and themoney, her husband gets to stay where he is, they preserve their position in relation to housing. I think it's a brilliant solution!

It's not always that ideal. I know a few 'work away all week' relationships which broke down directly as as result of being apart. Far better to keep the family together. And I don't think her dh is able to take care of everything alone all week is he?

You may be able to swap your tenancy with a council tenant in a different area here

As so often happens goalposts move whilst you are still playing and this is what has happened to you so I don't think you were unreasonable to opt for this course and well done for seeing it through, especially to a first class honours (I did my degree whilst raising 2 children, working full time and running a home. My husband suffered from mental and physical health problems, so although he was still working, I appreciate how difficult it is to keep all the plates in the air).

You have to hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Set yourself a timescale to look for work in your local area and degree subject and make a plan for what happens if this is not successful - take a closely related job locally, or in your field away from home. Does your council have any links with other councils for home swaps? Does your husbands illness have a support group who could assist you with finding accom elsewhere? What exactly is your benefit situation if you work part-time/ in a related but lower paid job? Is there a particular area that advertise a lot of jobs in you field (and why - are they bad employers, or is it because there is a specialist unit). If the latter what are the local schools/support networks etc like in that area? Good luck

I don't know much about radiography so maybe try a thread asking what questions are likely to come up?
However I would imagine questions around the job description and what experience you have gained from placements to be able to fulfil the role.
The legal aspects
Senarios around patient care, managing time, dealing with others, etc..
"A child has become really upset and refuses to go into the x-Ray room to have his arm x-ray. What do you do?

Think about the stuff you have done on placement and try to relate it to what they are asking you!

Try not to think of getting a bedsit. Where I used to live people often advertised rooms in a family home for professionals to stay in fairly cheaply - sort of an inexpensive B&B type arrangement. Also you could do it for a set period of time and then try and get agency work more locally.

Certainly my friend does radiography as agency/on call and has ended up with pretty much regularly shifts across 2 localish hospitals.

If you could rejuggle the bedrooms at home to accommodate an au pair that could be an inexpensive solution to help out with the dc.

Don't move. The people advising you to get a bedsit or get an au pair haven't got a clue about what it's really like to live with a disabled partner. You are absolutely right to wait for a job that fits in with your family situation so that you can stay in the same location because that is better for everyone. No job is worth uprooting your children and giving up your council accommodation.

You have done brilliantly to get a degree given your circumstances and should feel very proud of your achievements.

Good luck Op! If you are on course for a 1st then you will be walking into the interview room head and shoulders above practically everyone else.

As someone who was an ahp and possibly the same as you! I would say this:-

A) those who did what you say eg local only, where those who didn't get posts and by the time they realised 12 months later they were going to get posts as employers wanted to know what they had been doing. 3-4 years later many did not have posts or only assistant posts.

2. once you have a job it's easy to move jobs. I shifted my life for my first post and then the job offers all came at once for my ideal jobs. Because I had some experience and I was known. I was only a few months in that first post. Can you make it work?

3. also part time/temp etc often become something else. I know it's a gamble but I know of many who take these and then get the extra hours, mat cover, sick over etx to make it full time until they get permenant. If offered ask the employers etc.

4. assistant posts do get your name known and current experience

5. be honest, I turned down a permed any post when they were hens teeth as it was 30 hours. When I told the boss why she said, don't be daft we'll find you seven hours somewhere on a temp basis. She took it off the maternity xover they were advertising. By the time this ended I was permenant.

Lot of options that you often don't notice when you see it advertisd first.

From my cohort those who were flexible got the best, an have gone the furthest.

Hospital accomodation is another option and is really cheap if you ca. Stay a night etween shifts?

Thanks for your replies and support . I have applied for a job today which is too far to commute but will also be applying for posts locally which are apparently being released on Friday. I am thinking at the moment that living away is probably not practical but the interview experience will be good & I don't wan to limit my options just in case. So that will be 3 health boards I will have applied to. Meanwhile, I have completed my final essay except the dreaded referencing so need to get stuck into some revision & interview prep. I'm trying to stay positive that a local job will come my way .

Oh and forgot to say I am keeping my eye out for suitable assistant posts too.

good luck !!!

Wishing you all the best. I would certainly only suggest living away posts as a short term thing to get some experience to add to your CV as a long term option it's not viable nor is moving your family with the circumstances.

I commuted 250 miles each way for work 3 days a week for 3 months leaving dh to look after 3 pre teens and 1 older teen and he doesn't drive, settling into a new area - school too far to walk for the youngest etc. It was a very difficult time but doable because we knew it was 13 weeks only. Not to mention we were in a shitty rental rented property and I was camping out then sofa surfing and then hotel rooms.

Good luck! I think you've had some harsh respsonses, sounds like you've done very well with a lot to juggle. I wouldn't want to move in your circumstances and a degree is hopefully going to open other doors even if you get a different job to the one you hoped for. You are a star and i really hope you get a great job and this is the start of a long and fulfilling career.

Yanbu to try for plan A - staying where you are. Ywbu not to line up plan B and go where the job is. Beds it idea a good one if keeping your social housing important or gives you time to find suitable accommodation wherever you move.

My sis is a doc and she said you apply and accept for a post then can't apply to more suitable ones that come out later. Is this the same for you? Or can you apply to unsuitable jobs now 'just in case'?

Do NOT move. Do NOT move.

You'll be fine. If you have any placements coming up:

tell them how much you like their department/speciality/team.

Go the extra mile -answer the phone; stock up the omnipaque as it gets low; stop for a brief chat with the patient stuck in the corridor waiting; ask relevant but not unusual questions as you work; read around the subject and clarify your learning with your mentor; discuss organisational pressures as well as the pressures you see directly.

Make yourself stick out.

Then apply for the job.

Alternatively, see if there is a radiographer bank Staff that you could join.

Thanks for the advice Lougle. Am currently on my last 4 weeks of placement at the site i have been based at for 2 years and working as hard as I can. Will also look into bank jobs however I don't think being NQ with no experience is suitable for bank work as the inductuon period for us tends to be around 12 weeks in most hospitals.

Zen we have been advised to apply for everything going for the interview experience! Not sure about accepting one post then continuing to apply, would seem unprofessional if nothing else! Hopefully
any interviews would all be in a short period and I would have the opportunity to choose between posts (if I am offered any!).

Agree with those who say some posts are a bit harsh. While I totally agree that healthy people should be working & contributing as much as possible,life happens! I do think that my family's wellbeing is more important than ensuring the 'taxpayer' gets value for the money spent on me doing this course. I will work, I just might not end up in the field I trained in.
I'm 100% sure now we won't move away, council swaps for sheltered accomodation are extremely rare as are 3 bed sheltered flats in the 1st place, most tend to be 1 bed. Living away is not really an option, DH has barely coped with kids this school holiday ( I have been on placement most days inc shifts & days off have been essay writing) and that is with me cooking all meals. An au pair is something I have no experience off and isnt practical really. A cleaner will be hired regardless of where I end up as we will really need it. Anway I have a reference list to write & dinner to cook before my backshift!

Thanks again to all for your advice and support

Hi everyone just to let you know I have now applied for 4 posts, 2 local healthboards ( various sites) and 2 individual hospitals further away. The further away ones are not really doable but hopefully I get interview experience. Fingers crossed I can get a post nearer home, 2 hospital are within 20 mins driving and on a regular bus route (I share a car with DH so will only have it the odd day) so would be my ideal. Others are a bit further but doable. Just finished my last coursework at the beginning of the week, feels great to have all of that out of the road! Just one more week of placement while swotting for exams & interviews. I hopefully will have an interview the day after my last exam so need to shop, get hair done etc !
Thanks for all your advice, ladies