To regret retraining (a bit)

[GnomeDavid]

A few years ago I retrained as an allied health professional after years of dead end jobs. I knew I wanted to stay in healthcare so when the opportunity arose I thought ‘why not?’ I knew other parents who did the job (not single parents though).
Recently part of me has made me wonder if I did the right thing. I love my job but it is full on. And whilst I’m glad I have more options and can progress, that progression comes with even more work and responsibilities.
It’s not even that much more money.
I regularly log on in the mornings and weekends to catch up.
I would say to anyone looking to retrain, really think about what you want from a second career. If it’s just to earn more money and have a few more opportunities, do not choose a health or education role.
I can’t see myself doing anything else but I would not go along with the propaganda that retraining in a new role from scratch as being a quick and easy way of improving your life.
Obviously I did my research but I think we all imagine we’ll just make it work, or we will have firmer boundaries and not work extra hours, or we will be the most incredibly efficient teacher who marks in the classroom and never takes stuff home. The reality is very different,

To be fair, that's true of almost any jobs with decent pay and progression opportunities.

The expectation is that you will put in the time to build your experience and equip yourself to progress, particularly when you're starting out.

Thats the big watch out for me, when it comes to retraining and second careers. You will be expected to work like any new entrant to the occupation.

Most of these are in their 20s, so when you're in your 40s/50s, with a family and other responsibilities, you're going to be spread very thin.

@TheKeatingFiveand it’s the time you need to put in before you’re considered for senior positions. Five years or so which is a long time at 45/50

Exactly

Thus equally applies if you leave a long service job and start again at a new organisation to a degree. I've been left wondering what the heck I've done , whilst seeing much younger candidates fly. They've the drive and energy and lack of responsibility that isn't where I am in life right now

Yep, felt the same when I retrained as a teacher. Getting more qualifications, one after ianother, in the hope that my finances would improve, as well as job satisfaction. During lockdown, I completed an assessors award, which was 4 levels down from my highest qualification. There's more to life than a career.

Thing is I have job satisfaction. But was it a wise decision to move to a job which expected 15 unpaid hours a week, much more in job presence where I see my children much less? For 400 quid extra per month? Probably not.

I retrained as an AHP after my first child was born. I was in my late 20s and at the time I felt ancient 😂

There are definitely negatives to working in healthcare, my main issue is lack of flexibility when booking off annual leave! Also the wage for the level of responsibility sometimes seems low.

However, I’m 20 years in now and I genuinely think it’s been a good move. I’ve slowly worked my way up (as I’ve had more children and worked part time throughout)

Some positives:
-they don’t penalise you for being part time like a lot of companies do - nhs has sponsored me through 2 postgrads.
-I’ve now got to the top of band 7 so the wage is decent.
-I can do agency work on top for extra money
-41days annual leave
-good pension and sick pay
-if you’re clinical, you’ll never get made redundant 😂

I’m not sure what type of AHP you are, but I would play around with your hours and your balance of NHS-agency ratio. I’ve found there’s a happy medium where you can still progress without selling your soul. If you do a mix, you also get more flexibility as you can drop the agency shifts when it suits ie school holidays.

I see my friends who work in a mix of roles in the private sector and they’ve had their issues too.. some have struggled to get working hours that suit. Some have rubbish annual leave and sick benefits. Others are constantly at threat of redundancy… I think there are pros and cons in every role.

I also retrained into a healthcare profession.

It involved 2 years of college for an access course
3 years of uni
One year of newly qualified learning which was the toughest part of all (2016)
I then did a 3 year part time MSc on top of working
Got my dream band 7 job in 2023

My job is hard, it does leave me burnt out at times, I do loads of hours unpaid every week, I feel a huge responsibility to my patients and the team I manage which I can't switch off from

But I adore my job, I literally couldn't be happier. I feel so blessed that I was able to retrain into my dream career and then secure the exact job I had my eye on many years before I could start uni.

I am so so lucky.