Taking a lower grade job and getting back up in the future ?

[Notmorewashing]

Is it possible to voluntarily take a lower grade job and then be able to move back up in the future ?

I’m not sure employers would think you were capable after having a few years gap?

The reason would be due to childcare.

How much of a drop are we talking? It wouldn't put me off inviting you to interview for a post if you had met all the criteria.

Lower paid / graded jobs are not necessarily easier or more flexible.

I did this with my existing employer - went down a grade when DS was young due to the pressures of work and some external stuff as well. Staying with the existing employer definitely helped.

I've just gone back up to my previous grade almost a year ago and I feel I made the right decision. Things that keep you employable are a) taking advantage of any training on offer , b) occasionally going above and beyond and using your higher grade skill set - but not all the time or they'll take the mickey and for me c) making it clear to people what I was doing and why at interview.

At the interview to go back up a grade I was offered two roles and at both interviews they said they were very impressed by my decision to drop a role to support family and then recognise when it was time to move up again.

I absolutely did the right thing for me and my family at the time and I don't regret it at all ( although am pumping loads into my AVCs to get a better pension).

Thanks, my reasons are similar.

I’m talking about 2 or 3 grades lower, I work for a local authority so when you are at a certain level you have to work extra time, get given a log in to use at home, complete extra duties, do lots more travel - meetings can be 2 hrs from base end end/start outside of working hours.

I feel the drop in salary may be worth the reduced stress for a few years but then I would be interested in going back up. Bit worried I may struggle against other candidates in the future however.

In my experience the more senior I have become the more flexible my job has become.

I think you just need to weigh up the pros and cons for yourself.

For me, at that time I just physically could not have continued at that level, at that point in time. I was at the point of handing my notice in when I decided to go for the option of reducing my grade and hours and see how that worked out for me.

As it was it meant I got to continue working but without much of the stress and added pressures of the higher grade. It wasn't perfect at times, often because of my abilities and nature I would find myself in a situation where much more was being expected from me than the actual graded post, I'd find myself getting stressed and then I'd have to remind myself that I'd sacrificed £10k of salary to make life easier and have the necessary conversations about realistic expectations and my work/life balance needs.

I also a few years ago got a female mentor and she was fantastic for teaching me that my value to the company was not just about what hours I put in, but what I added, so even now I'm back up a grade I've become a lot less apologetic about refusing to take on too much or trying to split myself into two. Plus I'm quite fast at what I actually do which helps a lot .

What temporary says. I went back in at a lower grade and hated it - I was working on a rota basis, no autonomy at all. Now I'm more senior it's far easier to find a work life balance and ironically a lot less stressful.