To ask if you’re in a professional role and went through something similar after maternity leave?

[wpprrk]

I’m a solicitor, 9 years qualified in Bham large international firm. When pregnant I was very unwell and had lots of time off (first ever proper sickness). I then had over a yea off on maternity leave and came back to a request to be moved to another division (similar work but not what I had been doing previously). It’s been 18 months and I’ve felt out of my depth ever since returning. My pay is stagnant. My confidence is basically non existent and I feel scared to move as I have flexibility but at the same time I worry for my job security as I struggle with getting used to this new area of work. I always think they’re going to fire me.

Ideally I want to leave and go in house and I did take the plunge at send my cv to a recruiter. I know they are there to make you feel good but this guy has been practically begging me to put myself forward with an in-house role as he’s adamant I would get it with the quality of my cv etc. my cv does look good, I have worked on good stuff in the past. But the reality is I don’t feel confident anymore. I don’t know if I AM actually good anymore. Has anyone been through anything similar? I feel almost frozen with fear when I think about any options at all. I don’t know what to do.

What's the worst that could happen if you put your cv forward?

I felt the same after returning from mat leave. But after I changed jobs it gave me a chance to prove I could do it with no preconceptions or comparisons to the "old" me.

This couod be just the confidence boost you need. The process of interviewing will help you decide if you want to change jobs or not. Wishing you very best of luck!

I think I know what firm you are, I worked in one of the amalgam firms years ago and returned from a mat leave to a business services role and found them really unsupportive career wise.

As the PP says, what could go wrong if you put your CV forward? You might get an interview, and an interview doesn’t mean taking the role but it might do you the world of good to have that hour talking yourself up and realising you have the skills and experience that you are currently doubting. And then you can take the time to try and work out whether the flexibility is the be all and end all, which is absolutely fine if it is, or you are ready for a new challenge.

I’ve coasted for the past 12 years since having children and came to terms with it after a while, the work life benefit turned out to feel more important at the time. I’m just now feeling ready to really push for something more.

You don’t have to try and have it all if you don’t feel ready for it, so try not to question yourself on that front. But maybe give the application a shot, see if anything interesting happens?

Thanks @Gardencentrevoucher @HEC2746

my concern with putting the cv forward is that I just don’t know if I could even do the role or any of the suggested roles to be honest. I have no confidence anymore and these roles are offering a 20k plus pay rise. I worry I would move and then they’d get rid of me!

Well you won't even know until you've had an interview!

There's a statistic somewhere that men apply for jobs when they meet 60% of the criteria and women don't apply unless they meet 100%. So try to think like a man on this occasion. I mean you don't even have an interview or an offer yet so what are you worrying about whether you can do the job or not for?

Worst case scenario, you do an interview and don't get an offer. You've learnt something in the process.

More likely scenario is that you do the interview, they love you and hire you, then you do the job, either brilliantly, averagely or badly. Either way you'll learn and grow and no job is for life these days. Think of it as a stepping stone to whatever is next.