New job after maternity leave

[ThatNeatBee]

Hello!

This is my first time posting so please be kind :-) I'm hoping to get some advice on having to find a new job after maternity leave.

Unfortunately, for various it's not been possible for me to return to the job I had before maternity leave - it's complicated! I managed to get some temp work which is keeping us ticking over but due to end in a month or so. It's also significantly easier than my previous job / what I specialise in and has helped ease me back into the routine of work.

I'm in the process of looking for permanent work at the same level as before I went on mat leave but honestly, the prospect of going into a new job and having to learn the ropes of a new organisation and make new friends is terrifying me. Learning the ropes of my temp role felt challenging enough and I really don't feel I have the brain space to take on learning a brand new job with senior responsibilities right now. To give some context, my maternity leave was pretty eventful and at times, incredibly stressful (for lots of reasons other than having to keep a tiny human alive!). So the idea of going back to work in a familiar job with friends / colleagues felt quite comforting because I could have been honest about how my year had been and they would have understood. We've calculated whether I could afford to take a lower paid less responsible job permanently but we just can't do it. The cost of everything is hitting us so hard at the moment - like everyone else I guess.

So I'm looking for advice from others who have been in a similar position after maternity leave and to hear how you handled it. I just expected to go back to my job or at very least the same organisation as before mat leave but it just didn't work out that way.

Thank you for reading this 🙏Any advice or tips would be very much welcome!

I was in the same situation, expected to be able to go back to my previous senior role and this wasn't possible as I wanted to reduce my hours. This caused a process which affected my confidence in going for jobs and senior roles. I also had a lot of very stressful personal things going on so all a nightmare! I managed to get a contract role which was a senior role again and although after 15 months off I was daunted it really wasn't that bad a at all and did me so much good to get out there again and see I could do it. I am now in a less senior role with the same money (would prefer to be senior again) but found it difficult to find a senior role locally in my field and also that offers flexibility. Now pregnant with my second child so think flexibility is key.

Hey Sophie, thanks so much for replying. Sounds like your circumstances are very similar to mine. My confidence is also shot because of the way my previous employer behaved - they didn't want me back so made my return as difficult as they could. And now I just feel a bit lost.
Flexibility is a key issue for me too and I'm worried that senior roles like the ones I need to be going for don't tend to come with much flexibility - particularly when you're new and trying to make a good impression. Did you have to put boundaries in place to get the flexibility you needed or was / is your employer understanding of this?

I found that I applied for a lot of jobs and feel like the '4 day issue' caused a problem and I think that paired with me feeling I needed to oversell myself didn't really do me any favours. Because I took a step back seniority but not really pay wise I let my employer know I wanted to do 4 days but I did feel nervous about it. I do feel senior roles and employers are not geared up to flexible working as much as employers claim that they are. I am in that difficult situation now where I would like more seniority but pay/flexibility wise and with being pregnant and wanting more children it's so difficult. Plus as part of a team now I don't have that fear of being replaced whilst on leave.

I unexpectedly got made redundant two months before I was due to go back to work after mat leave. I had literally just bought a house with a new, bigger mortgage, so I had no option other than to find a job with the same salary/seniority.

I was very lucky, and got offered a similar role on a similar salary locally quite quickly. It was a full-time role (I would have gone back to my old job part time) and I didn’t want to rock the boat by trying to negotiate hours upfront (in hindsight it probably would have been fine). So I had all the same worries as you, plus lots of guilt about working full time when that wasn’t what I had planned.

But, honestly, it’s been fine. My manager has been really supportive, even when I’ve had to take time off with a sick toddler. I haven’t found it any harder learning a new job than I would have pre-baby. I've found it very reassuring that I still have a lot to offer and that a year off hasn't killed all my brain cells.

I ended up putting in a flexible working request 3 months into the job (literally the day after passing probation) to reduce to 4 days a week, which was approved without any fuss. It doesn't take long to prove yourself, and good employers will do what they can to be flexible and retain staff.

Thanks Sophie & Sunglasses for sharing your experiences. It's really encouraging to hear positive stories about starting new jobs after mat leave and not all doom and gloom!

Reflecting on what you've both said, I think I'm just a bit nervous about putting myself forward for roles in a way that I wouldn't have been before. But I won't know if I can do it if I don't at least try - sorry to be cheesy! 😅

I think being nervous is understandable, I certainly was.

The way I looked at it though, was that I literally had nothing to lose. I was already unemployed, so if the new job worked out then great, if it didn't I was no worse off than I currently was and could go back to the drawing board and rethink things. In a way, it's a lot easier than voluntarily making the decision to leave one job for another.