Anyone else's career actually gone backwards?

[maggiethemagpie]

I was doing more exciting/advanced work ten years ago! Soo depressing. I really feel like I've cocked up my career due to having mh issues early in my career which meant I wasn't able to cope with increased seniority, then just when I got that resolved I ended up pregnant and taking a slightly lower role just to have a stable job and a job to come back to after maternity leave (after doing a series of fixed term contracts). Then it was the recession and better jobs were thin on the ground. Then I had a second child and found a job with very good pay and work life balance, but the work itself is quite basic and junior compared to what I can do/ want to do.

Now I am stuck there! No one will look at my CV for the more senior roles, and I'm priced out of the market anyway as I'm paid more than the going rate for my current skill set. Which is good in a way.. until you want to move one.

I really do feel like my career has gone backwards and don't know how to get it going forwards again. I've applied for some jobs but got to second stage three times then pipped at the post.. I know I have to keep plodding on but am getting disheartened. Anyone else in a similar boat?

Sometimes it's a trade off.

I'm in a role now that has responsibility but much less seniority than before, but I am way happier now, with a fantastic work life balance, working close to home and back by 6pm

So looking at my career progression, you could say I've gone backwards, but then again it was a choice, so I'm happy to sacrifice big money and benefits for enough money and a good night's sleep and less shit and + + + I can't sell my soul to the devil anymore.

Me, I was pretty badass before I had my second child. I had my own consultancy company, took on a lot of risk and responsibility. One day I pretty much lost it from stress and sleepless nights and ended up taking a lesser job locally, a lot lesser in related field but it gave me flexible working around my kids and separated my personal life with my professional life. I am over qualified for my current job and I progressed quickly in there so far but it is not quick enough. I just received professional institute qualification in this new field and plan to step it up notch once I return from my maternity leave with my 3rd. I plan to apply for jobs that match my skills a bit better. I don't plan to go on my own again because I find having a job is a lot easier than working alone.

When you put it like that, maybe I haven't done so badly after all. I am paid over the odds to do a working from home job which is probably entails working half the hours I'm paid for.. I have asked for more work but no one seems bothered..,, and they haven't made me redundant yet, so it can't be that much of a concern.

I can walk my son to school and be there (albeit upstairs, working ) when my kids are home from school.... maybe I should see that as an achievement in itself rather than feeling bad that I've not progressed as much as I feel I should have. I know a lot of working mums would give their right arm to have my kind of job. I do feel like I should have achieved more by now but I guess I can't have it all.

Me!!

I was made redundant and jobs in my location in my field are like gold dust. I took a lower paid, lower level job with no scope for progression.

However it is still very well paid, very flexible, they allowed me to go part time and I can drop the kids off at school every morning.

I do feel I've boxed myself into a corner as I will never get a more senior job due to my experience, but I'll be overpaid for the jobs i do have experience with.

At the moment I'm trying to just count my blessings as my previous colleagues who were also made redundant are commuting big distances, working full time or not working at all.

I do have little moments when i see on linked in that people who were no better than I am get promoted to director level, but I know I have a cushy number.

Totally backwards .

I am now doing a job that pays me a third of what I earned twenty five years ago - (not even including the company car and other perks) - but as others have said, it's a trade off.

I do actually enjoy the job I do now, it has very flexible hours and I have loads of autonomy - and it was a job I really, really wanted and at nearly 60 there aren't that many jobs around !

But, as I often say to other parents - please think very, very carefully before giving up a career - I had 12 years at home as a SAHM - loved it at the time but circumstances changed & I needed to find a job and it is almost impossible to get back to the same level of career - particularly if you live in a rural backwater.

I have a PhD, I have professional qualifications, i used to earn well above the national average wage. I currently work in a call centre on minimum wage. I can't find a job in my specialty, life sucks!

I earn the exact same as I did 10 years ago (before children) but pro-rata'ed so in real terms and compared to inflation a lot worse off. :( I need a raise but I'm too chicken to ask for it.

I earn 2/3 of my pre dcs wage, the eldest is now 12.

My field is different though, but better suited to my life now. Great work life balance - I'm home by 430 most days. It's more of a long term professional role than a fast paced target led sales management role. I'm about to start a professional qualification which I'm really excited about

Agree it's especially important to retain a career if you're outside major towns and cities - there are virtually no medium-large employers where I am that aren't public sector.