To ask if you would start a new job after maternity leave or go back to one that bores you?

[laurG]

I am currently on maternity and due back at work next April. I work for a small firm. I like my bosses and think they will be quite flexible with the baby. However, there is no future in this job. The bosses are reluctant to let me have any level if responsibility and want to retain control of all project work. I have the experience to run jobs myself but they don’t let me (im an architect btw).As directors their time should be dedicated to developing the business but they won’t relinquish control of the everyday management work. I’m not challenged and am bored. I’ve brought this up but nothing has changed. I’m stagnating where I am and I’ve really not developed on the years I’ve been there. It would be ok if I had time to develop my career in other ways but the company is really disorganised and I end up working stupid hours to get things donem(also not sustainable with baby).I received no maternity pay above statutory level do dont have to go back. I have basically decided that i want to move on. I think if I’m going to go back to work (and basically do so for free due to childcare costs ) I might as well do something with a future.

However, my mother has told me that I would be stupid to start a new job with a baby. She says I will be stressed enough as it is and i need to just go back for six months to get used to working again. She thinks the lack of challenge is good as I won’t have to think too much. Also baby will probably get sick a lot at nursery so she thinks I’ll make a bad impression in a new job if I need to leave to pick him up (a dated view I think).

What do you think? Should I seek a new challenge or retain the status quo? Will I just end up more stressed than I should be starting a new job? Thoughts appreciated x

It's a tough one. I was in a similar situation to you and went back to boring job after mat leave (solicitor). In a way I was pissed off as I had responsibilities removed from me and was sidelined. But in another way, it was great, as I could just focus on my baby, coming in and out of work to get paid but without the pressure I had before. I also knew I wanted a second baby in the next 2 years so I was just biding my time. I went for new job after baby no 2 and I was so much more ready to give it my all at that point.

Actually if you get a new job post maternity your employer will often be really sympathetic. It’s actually the best time to get a new job — because you can tell them you want a new challenge / flexibility at the interview and they are more likely to understand.

From my own experience I would have loved to have gone back to a job I knew inside out after maternity. The reason I say this is I fell pregnant during a long fixed term contract and this ended before my mat leave. I found a new role which wasn’t ideal or as flexible as what I had previously and it was hard. I did suffer with ‘baby brain’ and just getting used to managing a full time role again, full time childcare and managing life stuff was a different ball game.

See what works for you, but if you can give yourself a break whilst you get used to this new chapter it might help. Also to keep in mind that you may have to repay any enhanced mat pay if you don’t go back.

It will also depend on the role you do. I work in a senior HR role and you’ve got to be on your game and the demands are constant. If I was in a less senior role it may not have been such an issue for me.

What also helped was getting a cleaner who came weekly and did my ironing, along side recipe boxes and a milkman. Online shops for the other bits.

Good luck.

Why can’t your dh leave to pick up the sick child.
Why can’t your dh be the main go to parent.
What do you want in life.
That’s the biggest question. You can take an easy job if that’s what you want.
But if you actually want a decent career then man up.

Thanks all. @holdingonbarely dh will obviously pick up the child if he can but he works away a lot so there will inevitably be times where it has to be me. Neither of us can really be the ‘main parent’ as we will both need to work full time so it will be split 50/50. I wouldn’t stay in my job for that long. I think I’m just worried about taking on the pressure of a new job plus returning to work at the same time. Wondering if going back for six months to get used to it might be a good idea. More a case of when not if I move on.