To quit my job as a Speech and Language Therapist after only 2 months?

[Killerpinkflamingo]

I’m almost 40 and went back to uni a few years ago to retrain as a Speech and Language Therapist. I did really well on the course and got a Distinction, but I really didn’t enjoy any of my placements. I regularly questioned whether the career was for me. The only placement I enjoyed is a very niche area (Transgender voice) which is very difficult to get a job in, and extremely unlikely as a Band 5 Newly Qualified.

It took me months to find a job near to me when I qualified, and finally I accepted a job in a stroke rehab unit. I started in October, and I’ve hated it from the off. I just don’t like any of it. I don’t like the environment, I don’t like the therapy, and I feel hideously anxious all the time. It just all feels wrong. It’s making me so miserable. I didn’t have any hospital placements during my degree (I think a mixture of being unlucky and also less placement opportunities due to covid) so I wasn’t prepared - I just don’t think the environment is for me at all.

While I was waiting for this job to start, I temped for a while in a customer service job. I loved that job - I felt confident in what I was doing, the people were nice, I just felt happy there. I was actually very sad to leave. Now I can’t stop thinking about contacting them and asking if I could go back.

The only thing that’s stopping me is that I feel like such a failure. Who does all that training and then quits their first newly qualified job after just 2 months?! But I feel so desperately unhappy and it’s impacting all aspects of my life. AIBU to quit?

I think you should give it a bit longer and see if you start to like it as your confidence builds. Can you speak to a more senior SALT about your concerns? They might be able to reassure you.
It's an amazing thing to be able to help someone to recover from a stroke and be able to communicate again.

YANBU. People will tell you to stick it out but I think you would know by now if it was for you. Settling in a new job should take a few days to a couple of weeks. Any longer than a couple of weeks and you have the same feelings mean those are your real feelings IME. You can take that qualification and do anything else with it. No shame in going back to your other job while you think and look for something else.

There are so many roles for speech and language therapists out there I’d be inclined to encourage you to try different areas. I know you said you didn’t enjoy any of your placements during your degree but I think you’ll have had limited exposure if you’d not had any experience in a hospital setting before this job.
I’d encourage you to reach out to other AHPs in your trust and ask about shadowing in different areas and see how you feel after that.

I think you should try to switch to another area of speech and language therapy first. If you’re not enjoying the more medical side of helping stroke survivors maybe you’d prefer working with young children to access for speech delays and things like dyslexia?

If you are in a hospital then there will be a SALT or AHP person who is more senior. You can ask to shadow different SALTs in different departments just to test out if it is the job as a whole, the hospital or the specific team.

Oh blimey. I retrained as an SLT at a similar age. I'm sorry you're hating it.

What made you decide to retrain in the first place? Did any of that enthusiasm survive the course?

It really shouldn't be impossible to find a job with some voice work in it, which would be the first step towards working in transgender voice again. Voice therapy is easier than some types of SLT to deliver remotely, which might help if you're not mobile.

What about contacting the gender identity clinics and asking if they have any work for a band 5? Alternatively, try for community work again - more voice in that.

I think if I were you I would try to get through my NQP competencies. But don't slog away forever hating it. I was pretty happy though stressed from day 1 - I don't think I would have done more than a year if I really hated it.

Honestly OP, I'd go back to your customer services role for now if that is where you felt happy. Then keep your eye out for other SALT jobs?

What do you think made your transgender voice placement enjoyable? I'm a SALT and I'll try and think of other areas which may use similar skills.

What prompted you to restrain in the first place? What was it about SALT that appealed? Could you see if you can find a job in the area that first piqued your interest?
All that said, my friend quit her first NQT job after a few months and went back to working in a pub, so if it's not for you, it's not for you.

When I finished my speech and Language therapy degree I hated it. I struggled to find a job so worked in Woolies for 6 months, after losing all autonomy and having to ask permission just to pee I decided I would give Speech therapy a go. I applied for a few jobs and was lucky to be offered 3, I chose a paediatric team where I was surrounded by experienced therapists and thrived. I’ve now been very happy in the role for years.
I would say leave if this isn’t the right role for you, and maybe take a service job for a while. It might give you a break and help you find your love for the role again. I also think it is a very hard time to join the profession as the support that was there in the past just isn’t anymore, and lots of experienced professionals who would have supported you have left. However it is a very varied profession with lots of opportunities in different fields (and going demand for transgender voice) so it is worth while applying elsewhere, possibly a community role may suit you better.

Thank you so much everyone for your replies - and it’s wonderful to hear from other SALTs about your experiences! I applied for SALT in the first place because I loved the idea of helping people to communicate, and I thought it would be something that would suit my skills. I always thought I would work with adults rather than children. Most of my placements were at the university’s own clinic, which, while good learning experiences, didn’t really prepare me for the realities of the job!

I was really losing enthusiasm for everything SALT until my final semester, when we did our voice module. I just fell in love with it, and all my enthusiasm came back! And then my final adult placement was at a Gender Identity clinic, which I loved.

I think maybe taking a break would be a good idea. I just feel so out of my depth and can’t shake the feeling that everything about this job is wrong.

Thank you so much to everyone for your kind words and advice, I really appreciate it.

I’d try look at another area before quitting completely.

I wouldn’t step off that career path altogether yet. It sounds like it’s the environment/job role of your current position which doesn’t fit well for you.

Maybe in the new year explore a return to the C/S role but also if your commitments allow and it’s feasible, look into offering voluntary sessions to the trans community? Get more of a feel for it but also some good experience if you decide to pursue it.

Settling in a new job should take a few days to a couple of weeks.

A few days? To settle into a brand new job in a brand new environment in a brand new career? Are you on a windup?

I don't know anybody who would claim that was possible after a few days - six months to feel settled and comfortable in a brand new role and environment is much more realistic.

It’s just been my experience that’s all.

I think if you did find that voice was what you liked, try to hold on to that. Talk to your manager. Talk to the local ENT SALT, go and see them, find out if there's a chance for you to work there. Voice at least is a place where you can work as a band 5.

I would really, really not offer unsupervised volunteer sessions in any area of SLT at this stage, but imo particularly in voice. However, if voice is what you like it's not surprising you don't enjoy neuro rehab! It's 100% not for everyone.

My DS needed some help when he was little and we saw a Speech and Language therapist privately who was great and solved his problems completely! She worked from home ( and wasn't cheap but was absolutely, absolutely worthwhile and I'm so happy we found her). Could that be an angle?

Stroke Rehab and Voice are worlds apart in terms of clinical skills and caseload. Voice patients generally talk more for one! I also think you need more exposure generally to different service areas as an NQP.

Is your post static or rotation?

Either find a voice job or see if scope to split your post if your Trust offers more eg are there any ENT sessions available?

Do NOT offer volunteer SLT work unless working under the clinical supervision of someone. Don't offer your SLT services to a charity or support group, but by all means attend them in a non SLT capacity.

You need to gain your NQPs, confidence, and your transferable non clinical skills to even be a competent band 5 and keep your professional registration. That isn't even thinking about dysphagia skills.

i would not give your role up but I would be looking to side step into a voice role.

It took me 4 years to feel comfortable in any way as an SLT but I was certain I was in the right place. I still think you could find your niche - 2 months is no time at all.

I really feel that you need to give your career as a SALT more chance. You have had a lot of time and money invested in your training and it would be a terrible shame to not use that.

I’m a AHP with 20 years experience. Last time I moved jobs was 4 years ago and even with 16 years experience at that time it took me about 6 months to really settle in and start to enjoy it. Is your current job static or rotational? You will be learning valuable skills about your role, the MDT etc which will be transferable to other settings. Please do speak to your supervisor about how you’re feeling.

I've been an SLT for 20 years and do the dysphagia training for each band 5 who starts. Every single one of them takes at least 6 months to settle in to being an SLT and feeling comfortable in the role.

A stroke unit is a great place for a first role - communication and dysphagia but it's quite specific to just one area. If you like clinic work, wards are quite different.

It's difficult getting into voice / ENT roles as it's rare to do it as a band 5 and they're often band 6 or above roles. You need to finish your first year and NQP competencies to move forward.

Can you talk your line manager and take it to supervision for support? What made you want to be an SLT in the first place? What area did you want to work in?

2 months is a really short time frame to give up on so much training.

Thank you everyone for your advice, I really appreciate it. I’ve been in such a state and it really helps to talk about it (please humour me, I’ve been a bit emotional for the last couple of weeks!). My team are all really nice, can’t fault them, but I just feel so lost. I almost feel like I have forgotten all my training when it comes to stroke and aphasia - even when I look over my uni notes it’s like nothing is going in. The Band 7 SLT is lovely, but she keeps saying things to me like “go see this patient to do an aphasia assessment!” And “see this patient and write a therapy plan for the assistant to follow!” and then she dashes off because she is so busy. I should KNOW how to do these things because I did the training! But I keep crumbling and hiding in the toilets having a weep. I’m feeling quite pathetic, to be honest. I’m so anxious every time she tells me to go see a patient - I try to say “can you talk me through this” and then she talks so quick and dashes off - and I’m left there thinking “what is wrong with me?”

My post is a static post, which makes me sad, because I don’t think stroke is for me. Also I’m the only full time SLT. The Band 7 is part time and I don’t know what’s worse - her being in and telling me to do things I am so unsure how to do, or me being there on my own feeling clueless.

Why don't you just set up separately as an independent SALT specialising in something that makes you happy? You could help so many more people and cut out all the slosh you don't like. The criteria/threshold to access SALT for anything on the NHS is ridiculous, I'd love to pay a SALT to work face-to-face with my child with a speech delay who doesn't quite meet the threshold for NHS, but I can't find one as all the independents around here are fully booked too.

Originally I was going to say that life is too short to continue doing a job you don't like even after all that training and I know that its a difficult degree to obtain so well done on that alone.
However reading your last post I think maybe its just that you've lost your confidence and aren't being supported enough. Training and then working in the real world is very different esp if you weren't able to do a placement in that area.
I'd probably try to arrange some time with your mentor or band 7 SALT and be honest about how you're feeling. Sounds like you've been thrown in at the deep end and she's too busy to realise what's happening or explain what she expects of you. You've really got nothing to lose if you are thinking of leaving anyway.
I don't think this is down to you or her. Its the system with the NHS being as it is at present.
The last thing they'll want is for you to leave so they should support you more as its in their interests for you to stay. If they don't give you that support then reconsider. If they do and your confidence improves then that might be all you need to enjoy it. If it does and you still don't think its for you then at least you know you can temp in a job you loved. Overall that's the most important thing imo that you enjoy what you do.
Hope that's helpful but overall your gut will tell you what you need to do.

It’s better to cut your losses instead of investing more time and be miserable. We only get one life

OP don't be hard on yourself it is hard to do these things straight out of training! Plus, not having another SLT around who you can just ask little questions to. Do you have regular supervision with the Band 7? I would mention that you're feeling out of your depth to her. Is there any opportunity for Band 5 peer supervision in your trust, even if not in your direct team? Just talking to other new graduates can really help you not feel so alone.