To consider giving up a professional job ?

[ginorwine]

Am employed as a social worker . Qualified 1990 .love it , the challenges and trying my best to get the best outcomes possible for people .
I do a lot of work in a legal context and feel much responsibility - quite rightly - to get it right.
Recently I've been feeling mentally worn out - am considering doing something different like work in a garden centre .
Any sw s out there changed jobs to something completely different - with less responsibility etc and if so , how did it turn out ?
Thanks .

I'm an over worked secondary school teacher... Give me ideas for a less stressful (well paid!!!) job too!

I am a staff Nurse who is stressed and considering doing something completely different. I'm just very worried about finances though as there is very little else where I could start afresh and earn similar money. I also don't have the money to retrain.

I'm thinking about leaving too but not sure what to do.

I'm a lawyer and dying to get out. Using Mat leave as an excuse for a kick up the arse; if I don't sort what I want to do next in that year I'll have to go back to it!

Have you googled for ideas OP? 'Jobs for ex-social worker' or something..

Do you need / want a certain level of income?

Might working a similar role part time be any better? Or for a different employer or area?

DH and I were having the same conversation earlier. I'm also in social work, in a very specific area and quite high up- with high pressure and commuting over an hour and a half each way. I think I'd be much happier working locally in a small coffee place or in a low key community role.
It always boils down to finances thou, doesn't it?

Low paid, insecure jobs can be stressful too.

For us it is all about the finances at the moment. But three more years and I will be looking for a complete change from healthcare. I really fancy working in a garden centre, OP :)

Mykingdom
Yes I've googled and results are
Probation - no
Inspector for qcc - no vacancies
Lecturer - not for me
Youth or employment guidance - maybe
I do understand that less paid easier in theory jobs can be stressful too - I recognise that in my current job I enjoy using my resources and knowledge as well as years of experience and I would miss the autonomy .
I work a great deal in making best interests decisions re people who lack the Capacity to understand the decision to be made and I take work gone with me in my head , worry about clients and families , and basically bust a gut to to my best .
I hate how sw s are viewed tho and although I get thanked most working days which makes me happy ! I often feel that I have to first get past the barrier of some of the general publics perception of sw s !

Retraining as an perinatal educator and breastfeeding counsellor. I am currently a teacher. 20 years in since I began my training and I feel I need a change. 30 more years of teaching until retrial so plenty of time!

What about becoming a Best Interest Assessor? My friend has recently started this and loves it. Her own boss, still has autonomy and no panels to beg for money etc.

stargirl1701

30 more years of teaching until retrial

Good luck for your 'retrial'!

I did, left after my son was in a horrific accident and have only just went back into a professional role.

I would personally advise against it, I was more stressed in my ) hour NMW role that I was with my CPU role, and as you can imagine we see and deal with some difficult cases.

I went back to social care but in a different role, which is 70% good, and 30% bad in the cases I deal with, I work alongside other companies and manage my own team. I now love it, and I also don't have to worry about paying the bills or going into work to be told I am not needed for that shift, even if that shift was my only shift for the week

Can you ask to cut down your working hours? or maybe work else where in your dept with less stress.

Best typo ever.

and as much as I hate to say it, working in a NMW job, was bloody awful, I got treated and spoken to like shit, because they assumed I was superior to them, because I was degree educated, even the students who were currently doing their degrees. I also had a lady blame me as I was a ex social worker, for having her kids taken away for her... 10 years before I even got my degree

I left my last role due to bullying, the manager last month was sacked, due to this, after the tribunal was carried out.

Lol! Indeed!

I'm in a professional job. I love it most of the time, hate it occasionally, and am frequently stressed (albeit without showing it, which is probably doing terrible things to my body...). I sometimes fantasise about something less demanding.

I have also worked in a decent-but-boring, low-average-paid job, and done various stints at NM-type jobs. I was bored but not stressed. However I was broke.

I remain in my current job because the stress caused by work can be left at work. The pay allows me to enjoy life with family and I can afford holidays, etc. When I was poor, life at work was tolerable but I was highly stressed at home wondering how I was going to pay the bills/put on the heating, etc. I figure spending x hours stressed at work is a lesser evil than spending x+ hours stressed at home.

Pounding
You sound like me ! The difference is I just can't leave the stress at work - I'm moody and snappy at home , cut myself off from family sitting by myself etc .
It feels like I hold myself together at work and feel all tightly sewn up to protect myself at work and that I have to cut people out at home in order to stay sewn up otherwise I will unravel ! I'm a very soft hearted person and don't see the job as a job more a vocation treating each person as if they were my own and I'm not sure I can change !

Camembert
Good idea - I did get approached by the organisation in our locality about something like this - work as an independent mental capacity advisor - again tho it's interesting but stress !!!

If you took a couple of years out (I do like the sound of working in a garden centre) how easy would it be to return to some sort of SW career if you then decided you wanted to return? Is it the sort of job where there's constant updating of skills/knowledge and you'd be behind the times and so unemployable?

Hassled
I would lose my registration to practice .
We have to evidence every few years how we are professionally developing in the job .we pay for this too .
It is a good idea that you brought this up I will check ! Maybe if I read around subjects that we be suffice but I doubt it ! Maybe I could ask for unpaid leave ? Thanks - never thought of that !!!

I think IMCA would be stressful and with much less autonomy. BIA is very lucrative at the minute, but I know a few LAs are trying to merge it into SW role though, plus courses have long waiting list. My friend moved to work as an advisor for Age UK or Alzheimer's society, can't remember which one. It was about 6 grand in a pay cut but she absolutely loves it. She says it is all the parts of SW she loves without the stress and bureaucracy! Voluntary sector might be worth a look.

There are lots of specialist horticulture schemes set up to help people who are in difficult situations, it sounds like you would be very well suited to work in one of those, as you would have a good understanding of people needs.

I would look up which ones are operating in your area and keep an eye on vacancies(also let them know you are looking, go and get involved as that often opens up interesting oppertuinties ). It would be a shame to not use your skills, and you may find that being on the positive end of change more satisfying with few stresses.

Ps checked at local garden centre - just reqruited ! Shall try it ? 🌸

gin - I was the same when I first started the job I'm in (took me about 12 months to find my way through it). Weirdly, I found the commute was one of the key ways to unwinding - I found listening to certain types of music very soothing.

I also had to throw a tantrum run a clockwork house so that I wasn't faced with other people's crap lying around, washing up to be done, tea to sort, etc. I made it clear that I do not expect to pick up after others - after a stressful day I need to come home to a sanctuary, not a shit tip. While I'd never expect my DP to be anxiously plumping up cushions as I come through the door, I do expect not to trip over his shoes on the way in or have to clear the washing up bowl of his lunch things just so I can fit the kettle under it to make myself a cup of tea.

DP share household tasks and DC empty their own lunch boxes, put their own stuff away/luandry in the basket, etc. This helps enormously, as it means I see them when I come in, not an endless list of other demands on me, and it also leaves me enough time for me - whether that's a long, hot bath or half an hour with a book/laptop. I can't overstate how much of a difference that made to me not feeling stressed when I got home.

Hope you find your peace with it all soon.