Aibu to feel worried that I'm 26 and have never had a proper job?

[user1480954406]

I fell pregnant with ds during my second year of university, took a year out and then went back and graduated. Before falling pregnant I had intended to go straight on and do a masters in speech and language therapy, but oh and I decided that it would be easier in the long run (and we wanted two together) to do babies now
And start my career once the kids are at
School. I love being a stay at
Home mum but all my friends from school are really getting on with their careers and I'm starting to panic a bit that when they go to school too much time will have passed between graduating and getting a job. Oh says I'm overreacting but I'm really worried... aibu?

I graduated from uni with my SLT degree when I was 25. I'm now 37 and a clinical lead in my field.

At the time I felt very young on the course as SO many were older and had school age children. It's very normal for that course/profession. You would totally fit in and no one would blink an eye that you'd been a SAHM etc.

I would also agree that the masters is incredibly hard to get on to. Small numbers and masses of people applying who apply year after year - some take 3-5 years to get a place. I tried, didn't succeed and went straight to undergraduate - it was quicker even with adding an extra year on. I got some exemptions from my previous course and worked a bit to offset the extra time.

Important things: (I only work with adults so think of suitable things for children too!)

1. plenty of reading, for example, RCSLT website, stroke association info, NICE guidelines, clinical guidelines, keep abreast of news around ageing population/dementia/cancer etc. books by Oliver Saks or autobiographies of people with relevant conditions like Nigella lawsons husband. There are also some lovely entry books on communication skills with those who have difficulties.
2. Get some experience. Shadowing an SLT is great to get an idea but I would more impressed with someone who volunteers regularly in a care home and maybe spends time talking or organising small memory groups there etc, or volunteers to be part of a conversation group or volunteers at stroke associations or headway.
3. Look up dysphagia (swallowing disorders) - it's a HUGE part of what SLTs do and very overlooked until you get into the course.
4. Talk to people who have experience of SLT - parents with children who have speech issues, clefts, hearing impairment etc, people with strokes, dementia etc to get an idea of the impact of communication and swallowing disorders on everyone - very important.

Good luck!

Newbrummie - true, but then I'd bet that a fair proportion of them met those men at work!

And how's that's relevant where they net?
They're Lucky to be mc enough to have a prosperous life that enables career change

It is really very normal to find more mature students training in as allied health professionals and I really don't think that you need to worry about prospective employers seeing a gap on the CV in future. As long as you specify why, rather than a mysterious gap. You will definitely not be the first person to have taken a gap because of children.
As for prep etc to boost your chances, Work experience, volunteering, and then the course itself are all great.

Good luck!

walkinginto2017, great advice. SALT is a very interesting and rewarding career

Gimmee mooore thank you especially but all the other ladies who have been really helpful. I spoke to oh and had a bit of a meltdown about life passing me by and he was really supportive and said in a years time he will pay for dds preschool so that I can have the time to build experience. Also reminded me that actually I do really love being at home with the kids and to enjoy it. I feel much better now after all the advice and reassurance but I definitely think I need take work experience off the back burner and get on with that list gimmee Moore! - out of interest what is your job?

I think a lot of these posts are just propping up that patriarchal twaddle that motherhood has no value. As someone who has hired (and fired)many times - Id hire a mum over a new graduate any day

The thing is, one can acknowledge that particular attitudes exist and might impact on a person without agreeing with them. It does OP no favours to pretend there's no way her lack of work history could be an issue. And as another person who has hired but not had to fire, whether I'd hire the mum over the new graduate would depend entirely on what both were bringing to the table. I suspect, and indeed hope, that this is the most common attitude amongst recruiters...

In answer to your question OP, no YANBU. It's still doable and you're pretty young, but of course you will worry. I don't want to restart the discussions from upthread, but the legal reality is what it is and with that in mind, of course you're more concerned than your OH- he's not the one taking the risk!

That said, there is plenty on your side. You have concrete wishes and plans and that's a good start. I echo the poster who mentioned the 15 free hours. If your youngest starts school in 2019, that means they should be eligible for the 15 hours by September 2018 at the latest. Maybe earlier if they were born before April 2015. That gives you a bit of time, though if they're not in until then, is it worth considering whether there's any way you could fund a bit of childcare to allow you to get work experience? Using voucher scheme, tax free scheme etc?

Thanks for the advice walking into2017. So useful and reassuring. I have some Oliver saks books actually that i never got round to reading during uni so I'll dig them out.

If you still want to be a speech and language therapist then time with your children observing language development in children is not time wasted. It helps you understand the concerns of parents who may come to see you. It helps you have compassion for them and sympathetic to their worries. You definitely have transferable skills. You just need to identify what they are.

I had my first "proper" job at 26. I didn't love it but had good things about it and got me through the early years of 2 kids. 17 years later was made redundant - previous job was quite well paid and redundancy terms good so have spent about 10 months doing some voluntary work and working up to what will do next. Am not worried, my previous skills won't have evaporated, I'm adding to them, I did a variety of academic qualifications while working full time so I think can show my work ethic is ok. Will retrain when am settled on what to do next.

Haven't read the entire thread but I did my first degree graduating when I was 27, did a masters at 28 and then got my first proper job.

The reason it took so long was illness -. I was terrified of not getting a proper job and worked part time while doing my degrees ( a pub and bookshop)

I'm now 43, and admittedly it probably wasn't the easiest or most straightforward career path, but I do have a bona fide proper career and an doing well against my age group - children or no children.

There is an international shortage of speech and language therapists - it may take a bit longer but I suspect the OP will be fine especially as she won't be taking a career break to have kids during professional training/development.

Be careful OP, SALT is no longer NHS bursaried! The 3 year BSc route will cost students £30,000 as of September 2017 entry. I don't know about the MSc route as I think I will be better off going down the undergrad route and maybe getting a first than doing a masters and potentially finding the Level 7 work very challenging.

However, @GimmeeMoore and @walkinginto2017 you are only talking about the MSc route with OP, which is worrying me a little! Are mature students who take the BSc route not as highly regarded? I do already have a masters in a related subject.

Finally, there is some great SALT advice on this thread. I'd be very grateful if you could point me in the direction of current issues in the area? New legislation, budget cuts I would think?

Oops I missed the post about the bursary changes

Gymbunny - not sure what you mean? Master and undergraduate are practically the same for SLT training (bizarre I know) course is practically the same just squashed into a shorter time frame for masters.

Practically everyone on my undergraduate had already done a degree first (me included) - no one knows about SLT when they leave school, it is almost always something people get into after going through a psychology / linguistics / English language / biology route at first degree.

Would 100% agree that being a parent would make you a much better paediatric therapist - that ability to interact with children and understand parents and understand norms is so useful.

reason I'm discussing msc option is it is op stated preference
Not sure what the perceived slight is as there is none intended
All SALT register with hcpc,mode of training isn't indicative of practitioners ability
Most SALT train undergrad route anyway

I am actually slightly envious of you. I think it can be easier to have children first. Just try to start a career before you are 30. The older and more experienced you are, the harder it is for other people (and perhaps for you) to have somebody older starting at entry level. Lots of people on MN changed career in their late 20s, and it really isn't very old to begin something new. Good luck!

The content of both routes is broadly the same, but undergraduate courses are marked at Levels 4-6, whereas Masters courses are marked at Level 7, meaning that you need to evidence higher levels of critical analysis and so on. So I'm thinking it'd be better for me to do the former as there'd be a greater chance of graduating with a better grade!

I didn't mean there was any slight at all, your advice has been really helpful

I think OP that you should look into getting work as an SLT assistant first, so that you get more hands on experience and close the employment gap on your CV in preparation for your course application. As others have said, there is a lot of competition for both the Masters and undergraduate courses. You'll probably find the working hours of an NHS SLT assistant are 'family friendly' too.

NHS SALT Asst will predominantly work 9-5 clinic hours.its not a special family hours job.its a clinical support role

SALT as career doesn't as routinely offer family friendly hours ,it's a clinical service,driven by service needs

In paed school setting school term hours are sometimes offered

Are you the OP gymbunny? - I think might be why I was confused!

Re the advice below about being an SLT assistant - I do recruitment and we would give anyone a wide berth who potentially would go on to do the degree. It takes us 4 months to complete the SLT assistant training in house with lots of support afterwards which is a lot of time invested to not recoup it in years service.

Enjoy your babies. You'll never have this time back. I retrained at 34-36 as soon as my youngest started school. But I had those precious pre-school years with my babies. And I'm so glad I did.

No one ever says that to fathers,hey don't work,enjoy precious moments with the children
Men are encouraged to get career,be proactive,not to remain strong home no career not working

I've worked as an SLT assistant for 20 years and I know a few assistants who've been supported by our Service to go on and do the degree.

Yes the people who say enjoy your babies obviously do not get that everyone does not feel the same.
bit didn't the op say she only wanted to retrain once her youngest started school anyway?

Homeappliance - SLTAs are amazing and make amazing therapists if they go down that route. For the op though I would exercise caution with using an STLA job as a filler for experience to become an SLT as at interview it's very obvious that it's a stopgap. Different if you go into being an assistant and later down the line realise you want to work up the ladder.