How long do you have to be in a job before it's acceptable to leave?

[leicestershiregirl]

Please can anybody advise me?

I'm tempted to leave my job but I'm worried that I've not been in it long enough and to leave now would look bad on my already less-than-impressive CV.

I'm a nursing assistant, part-time, and have been in post for nearly 8 months. I realised not long after starting that it's not for me, but I thought I'd better stay for at least a year - the longest I've ever stayed in any job is 8 months exactly, I'm aware this looks flaky and I don't have anybody I can rely on for a solid work reference (my old boss wrote me a reference for this job but I was surprised she did as I was there for just 5 months).

A friend of mine thinks a year is not long enough to prove I've got staying power but the thought of working there any longer than that seriously depresses me. I'm thinking about continuing to work at the hospital but applying for a different role e.g. in admin - would this count as a new job to future employers or would it just be seen as an internal transfer?

I would feel very unsure about asking my current boss for a reference because I've not exactly been Employee of the Month in this job - it's difficult to be motivated about something my heart isn't really in, though that's no excuse (by the way I'm talking about things like being late, not things that would impact on patient care - please be assured I look after my patients well and take my duties in that regard very seriously). I do a lot of voluntary work for a couple of charities and am totally on top of that because it's about more than just earning money. Guess I would do that for a living if I was able to (I thought if I got into admin I could maybe ultimately get a job as an administrator for a charity and enter the voluntary sector that way. But also think I would like working with kids).

its a straightforward proposition.only you really know your temperament and abilities.certainly not anyone never met you on mn. do you genuinely need someone else to suggest a career route

where do you want to be 3-5 yr
what do you have to do to get there eg study, work
min money you need to get by
what constraints eg travel,childcare etc
..thats how most people figure it

why did you pack in being ta
why is it appealing now
reflect on how you arrived where you are. bit of introspection

WTF is wrong with people on here? Have just reported that last post as abusive.

quite frankly,you seem bitty defensive.if you cant tolerate responses.maybe dont post your job history and ask for comments

the only person wound up and reporting posts is you

you do have erratic cv. 3 ta posts and hca is a lot

however clearly you must be bright and employable to get recruited,in tough market.that's a positive.

dont know which post youre reporting but idont see any inappropriate responses

good grief what an unnecessary deletion. molly made some factual points
3 ta jobs and hca is a lot of flitting from job to job
and as hard as op clearly finds this,if people on mn read it and think Hmmm.so will employers

I obviously meant 'employer' not employee in my previous post.

If you enjoyed being a TA, then it might make sense to go back in that direction. However if you are thinking of HLTA be aware that in some authorities/schools HLTAs are not that much different to teachers, except without the salary and PPE time that teachers get!

Do think about long term goals here- teaching assistants, even at the higher level do not earn significant sums, even after many years in the job. Yes- job satisfaction can be more important than money, but you need to take into consideration your family circumstances too.

OP you were the one who said your cv was "less than impressive" which on paper is right. You won't necessarily get to interview stage to explain why that might be

Oh dear. Why ask questions OP if you are not willing to hear te answers.

Your CV does sound flaky, and most employers would question your credability. I would suggest you stay in your current role whilst working out exactly what you want to do. This will stabilise your work history and give you the time to not just fall into something else.

Oh and I have to say it, being late for shifts does impact on patient care, you really need to get your head down in this job to get a good reference and progress.

mnhq youve been too heavy handed with deletions here
no one has been unpleaseant to op, she has not liked answers.that is markedly different

3 ta posts,1 hca post is erratic amd as she herself opines her cv is "less than impressive"

op got all defensive and has asked for unnecessary deletions

Bloody hell.

Who is on 'delete sensible posts' this morning?

Neither of our posts were in the least bit offensive ... it's getting quite unreal around here.

Would you like to explain what it was exactly about my post that was deemed to be offensive? Not that you have to of course, but it would be quite nice to know on what basis my post was deleted considering no one else found it offensive.

ive never had a deletion before.none i recall.this was tame

scottishmummy - I thought (especially for you!!) you were being very restrained and helpful and not at all scathing or offensive. I have no idea what's going on at MNHQ - but they're slowing turning it into netmums - maybe there's a merger on the cards

imo harsh deletions.op has positives and strengths,she gets short-listed and obtains jobs.in current market that is v good going

what is hard to explain is the erratic job history and pattern of short term posts

clearly you find this thread hard going op,but if folk on mn are reading it as uh-oh,likely an employer will too

If you are questioning your work record you can guarantee any potential employer will do the same. The areas you have worked in both would have inovlved training (on the job if not formal) and employers like to be able to realise the benefit of such investment and sense your commitment. Transferrable skills form volunteer work are good but you would need examples to match the specific competencies fo any admin job. Also consider how it might look if you didn't offer a reference from your most recent employer. It might be worth getting more involved in your role in the short term while considering your options so that you do have a decent reference to fall back on. For example, don't go for another TA job until you think through the reasons it didn't work out before and what you want to get out of it long term. You don't need to become a teacher if you don't want it but have a response ready should that question come up at interview.

you have been ta 3 times.left 3 times.why now do you want to reconsider it

A degree in Politics is useful for the charity sector particularly within policy/ advocacy/ strategy. I graduated 8 years ago and have had three jobs that, while all in the voluntary sector, have been unrelated!

I don't think your work history lacks any less continuity than mine and I have carried out voluntary work in slightly different areas, as well as the day jobs, throughout the years to try and work out what I want to do. Always worked out and I've never been unhappy with my, often convoluted choices.

Unless you are set on solicitor/ teacher/ doctor or any other conventional job from a young age it's hard to know what's out there. Lots of us just muddle along. Didn't help that careers support at school was rubbish and my single parent didn't work. Doesn't help to widen one's scope!

I think it would have been better to stick to TA-ing then switch to admin as the nursing role throws a bit of a curve ball but I understand that you were trying it out. I would stick it out for a year whilst looking for admin/ volunteer co-ordinator/ training type roles. Seems that you have a lot of relevant experience. Perhaps you could do an evening course or a short training course in something relevant to prove to employers that you were working towards job x even if you were doing the nursing as a day job. The places you volunteer at should offer you training too.

I feel for you as 5 years ago it would have been easy to enter certain jobs in the vol sector without necessarily having all the requirements but these days there is a lot more competition.

Hope this helps.

As a nanny employer I would have considered your CV when looking at the possibility of employing a nanny with own child as I would like the combination of education and healthcare experience. All you would need to do extra to show you were committed to nannying (other than explain yourself well at interview) would be to do a paediatric first aid certificate. Is this something you would be interested in? If so, if you speak to a local nanny agency they should be able to guide you on what sort of jobs there may be in your area.

Moving about so frequently does look bad - most people assume it takes 3 months to get to know a job at least, so it looks like you got to know a job, then started looking for something else, repeatedly.

However, moving roles within the same organisation doesn't look like you're flighty, it looks like your talents were spotted and you were moved to another role.

It only looks a bit bad though, not terrible. It's not as if there are unexplained gaps on a CV which let's face it many SAHM have to worry about and yet it still seems to work out.

As FakePlasticTrees says, emphasize the overall time spent with each employer rather than the time in each role and also I think it's worth going into more detail about your charity commitments as I get the impression that these are more long-standing than some of your job changes? You also seem to be quite committed to education, even though it's changed, and this shows the ability to work hard, too.

My team at work interviewed for an admin position recently and loads of people have CVs with moves this frequent where they have been studying and where they have had to take contract jobs / less than their ideal jobs to get by.

In the UK in general I think it is a bit odd that we expect so many people to be settled into their careers before 30, in many European countries people don't even tend to graduate until they are 28 and then they have to start graduate placements etc. from that older age.

What would be important to me as an employer, either as a nanny employer or as someone who has recruitment responsibilities at work, is a clear chain of thought from the candidate as to how their different experiences have now led them to want the job that I am recruiting for and confidence that they are enthusiastic and willing about the new job.

I would rather recruit a person with a "varied" CV who I am confident really wants the job on offer than a person with a more "conventional" CV who only wants the job on offer as a stepping stone to something else.

You seem to be aimign very low. You have a degree and you've been applying for lots of different jobs at TA/NA level. AIm higher!

I think pointydog has hit the nail on the head. I think you are frustrated because you have a degree and would like a graduate job. You can start actively looking and leave when you have found something good - but remember - aim high...and good luck!

Wow, I've not been on here since about about 11.45am yesterday and it's all kicked off in my absence! It was right that Mumsnet removed the post I reported as abusive. I don't mind people saying I'm flaky etc. but I don't need to take personal abuse.

Why I've left my three TA job. The first time it was because I'd realised I didn't want to be a teacher, I was not long out of uni, I was young, stupid, I got itchy feet and just left. The second time was when I was working for the agency and I left to start my nursing course. The third time officially to go on maternity leave but I was also bullied there so was in no hurry to go back after my DS was born (my line manager was aware, maybe she felt a bit guilty and that's why she wrote me a reference for my current job).

I like kids and enjoyed working as a TA - I just didn't want to become a teacher and have responsibility for behaviour management. Have considered primary teaching and even gone as far as applying to a do a Primary PGCE - unfortunately wasn't successful.

I wouldn't dream of leaving my current job without having something else lined up and if my CV is offputting to employers guess I won't be doing that anytime soon so I will staying where I am for a while. And it's not like I set out to underperform! Obviously I'm not planning on being late and stuff again, going to really work on that.

Have a paediatric first aid certificate as I looked into becoming a childminder! Would definitely be interested in nannying work. I took my current job coz it fits in around my need to care for my DS. That need is why I've maybe aimed lower than I otherwise would have.

Like a lot of people, there's a number of areas I think I might like to work in and no one thing I'm overwhelmingly drawn to.

To everybody who's posted constructive comments thank you.

Whilst I acknowledge that some posters haven't been too kind OP, I think the attitude of "paid your dues" has really got people's backs up. It certainly grated on me.

You appear to think that you should be walking into a decent job, but have very select criteria which should allow you to get there - not involve some of the more unattractive sides of some of the better paying/more respected jobs that you have at least some experience in (behaviour management element of teaching vs. TA'ing) but don't really have a significant chunk of experience or proof of real dedication to show potential employers.

You haven't "paid your dues". If you'd been working steadily in the same career for 10 years, within the same sector and ticked all of a recruiter's "desirable/essential" crtier and they were still only offering you an entry level position, you'd have a right to be pissed off.

You've done nothing to indicate you have "paid your dues" in any sector/role you've listed.