Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To quit my job ??

9 replies

ThatBoldWasp · 06/10/2025 14:04

Hi!

I work in a healthcare role where locum work is a popular option. You obviously can’t guarantee where or when you’ll work specifically, but there’s LOTS of availability at the moment in my area (and within around 200 miles of it). Basically if I wanted to locum full time at the moment I could easily do so.

ive got a resident job at the moment, and I have very mixed feelings about it. Theres a lot of chaos and things I don’t like, and frankly I think I’m expected to do an insane workload for an absolutely shit salary. But equally I like my collegues and it’s sort of a familiarity thing and I’m just scared to take the leap and try something new when I’m comfortable and familiar with my current place

buuuuuut, I also want to make some decent money to save for a mortgage and move out. To get the same salary I’m earning right now i would have to locum 8 days a month (obviously I know there’s other costs, so by the time I’ve added them on and if I’m locumming full time I’d definitely be earning a lot more than my current salary)

im just so scared to take the plunge and try something new. Has anyone ever had similar and got any advice? Thanks 🙏

OP posts:
Original poster
ThatBoldWasp · 06/10/2025 14:05

i meant to include, I asked if I could go part time (and I would locum on my days off to get a taste for it) but they said no, so it’s a case of quitting my job altogether if I want to risk it 😬

OP posts:
toomuchfaff · 06/10/2025 14:08

I did this early in my career, although in stages, I reduced my hours down to 2 days (FT 3 days a week - 16 hours each), then picked up one locum day, quickly reduced to 1 day and picked up 2 locum and then left and did full time locum - so yeah id say go for it

If you didnt want to take the leap one to the other immediately, work locum on your days off for a month to get a view on how it all works and to build up your networks before handing notice in, hard work for that time but least you gain exposure

Original poster
ThatBoldWasp · 06/10/2025 14:12

toomuchfaff · 06/10/2025 14:08

I did this early in my career, although in stages, I reduced my hours down to 2 days (FT 3 days a week - 16 hours each), then picked up one locum day, quickly reduced to 1 day and picked up 2 locum and then left and did full time locum - so yeah id say go for it

If you didnt want to take the leap one to the other immediately, work locum on your days off for a month to get a view on how it all works and to build up your networks before handing notice in, hard work for that time but least you gain exposure

Edited

Thank you so much for the advice! Yeah that’s a good idea I think I’ll do that. I’ve got a weeks annual leave coming up soon so that could be a good time to trial it. Are you glad you did it? Did you find it a good way to earn more money? Thanks again!

OP posts:
toomuchfaff · 06/10/2025 14:27

Yeah im absolutely glad i did it. Was earning 3x the amount I was on in my full time role, very handy (considering I was on 11k at the time!)

Yeah get booked with the relevant agency, get it so that youve sorted all the paperwork and know how to book shifts etc, how far in advance can you book shifts, is it via the company or through the hospitals? Set your travel boundary, how far are you willing to go? how many places does that open to you? Book some shifts ( I had 5 hospitals in the hour travel vicinity I had set) so you can get an understanding of the places and their ways of working; some will be better than others? Staff or processes...

Book some shifts and get started, I found the only stress was i found i was wanting to work all the time and not take any time off, sometimes it was seasonal but as youre earning more you can put a bit away to cope with the lack of work sometimes.

Original poster
ThatBoldWasp · 06/10/2025 14:32

toomuchfaff · 06/10/2025 14:27

Yeah im absolutely glad i did it. Was earning 3x the amount I was on in my full time role, very handy (considering I was on 11k at the time!)

Yeah get booked with the relevant agency, get it so that youve sorted all the paperwork and know how to book shifts etc, how far in advance can you book shifts, is it via the company or through the hospitals? Set your travel boundary, how far are you willing to go? how many places does that open to you? Book some shifts ( I had 5 hospitals in the hour travel vicinity I had set) so you can get an understanding of the places and their ways of working; some will be better than others? Staff or processes...

Book some shifts and get started, I found the only stress was i found i was wanting to work all the time and not take any time off, sometimes it was seasonal but as youre earning more you can put a bit away to cope with the lack of work sometimes.

That sounds amazing!! So glad it worked out for you😊 Thanks so much again for all the info and help.

it’s actually optometry so not really in hospitals, it’s usually either chain or independent opticians. They all use different apps and I’m on a few of them and there’s loads of availability near me. I’m just so scared to leave in case I miss my current job, but equally, I can’t justify turning down the big salary improvement if I locummed (currently on 35k, would earn between 300-500 per day as a locum)

do you mind me asking did you sort out the tax side of things yourself or did you use an accountant?

OP posts:
Original poster
ThatBoldWasp · 06/10/2025 18:57

Just giving this a bump

OP posts:
Silvertulips · 06/10/2025 19:16

You’ve researched and found a good way of earning extra cash.

So think of this as short term.

Whats the next steps?

If say you plan on being a parent - It would give you some flexibility.

If not, maybe you earn enough to buy your own place.

Maybe this is a stepping stone to see what other companies do, what you can learn from them?

Ultimately you are serving customers most of the day - and with a foot in the door you’ll have a pick when you dance returning.

So what’s your next goal?

Silvertulips · 06/10/2025 19:17

Just looking at the figures you could earn £100K plus, which means you should be able to save quite well -

That gives you more options.

Hereandthere2 · 06/10/2025 22:36

Think carefully about any other benefits you’d lose from not being in a salaried job ie sick leave and parental leave.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page