Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Work

Chat with other users about all things related to working life on our Work forum.

Getting back into work after starting a family and then fleeing my partner..

5 replies

JosieJiver · 19/07/2025 23:42

Before I had my first son (in 2016), I almost got a job as a medical copywriter. I blew it because my narcissistic fiance convinced me to normalise my written test, which was originally pretty cheeky and fun, as I believe the designer who interviewed me wanted. But I blew it, and now regret it. I recently had a great interview for a similar role in a comparable but smaller company. I hit it off with the MD and manager who interviewed me, but that went wrong, when I admitted I'd not worked since my postgraduate diploma (in Economics), which I finished in the Autumn, before I fled to a refuge for five months. I wasn't expecting the question, and wasn't prepared. I'm gutted as we all got on amazingly. What's worse is that now I'm struggling to get simple work. My long-term source of work (former manager) has to keep work in house now (little freelance). I thought I could get a little medical proof-reading, which was one of my very first jobs, or basic medical editing. But the jobs I find are not as they seem on the advert headline. I'd ideally like something to do part time, while I settle myself and the boys into our new home (we're renting a housing association place since leaving the refuge, and having left the family home). Can you advise how you think I should go about getting some work? I need to start to function as this part-time type Mum (I look after my two boys 50/50 with my ex-partner) and slowly get my CV in a state where I can go for the jobs I'm meant for.. I'm thinking about offering my skills for cheap (but not sure where to advertise them) and even combine some basic work with some volunteering at the companies I'd like to aim for, to kind of get a foot in the door, and optimize my skills. All thoughts would be SO appreciated! Thank you!

OP posts:
Miley23 · 19/07/2025 23:46

When did you actually last work and what type of work was the last thing you did? The job market is dire at the moment and even people with lots of experience are being made redundant and struggling to find work. If you are claiming Universal credit do you have a work coach who can assist you with checking CV etc?

Ownyourchoices · 20/07/2025 02:26

Hard to offer advice as your post is a bit confusing. What work have you done since 2016? Your long term source of work was what? If its editing that will be tough.

JosieJiver · 20/07/2025 09:54

Thank you for replying. I last worked in 2016, before I had my first son. I also did a little freelance writing for my old manager last year. However, she can't give me work now. I last wrote medical news freelance for MedWire News, part of Springer, Nature. I've had a few interviews over time to be a medical copywriter, which is what I want. From my initial post, you can see I had a promising interview in 2016 before I had my son, and then I had the last promising one last week. I could ask my work coach to help me a little. I've begun doing online surveys, which is supposed to pay a little, but I don't imagine it'll look any good on the CV. Someone online has given me some CV feedback. I can definitely work on that more. I'm keen to offer work for free / voluntary, just to get some stuff back on my CV... Can anyone suggest good places to try to volunteer in this way. I'm a creative medical writer, but can also work as a news writer or creative writer on any topic. Thank you!

OP posts:
JosieJiver · 20/07/2025 09:59

Hi, adding to my initial thread. I have some other skills. I'm good at maths, and have passed a postgraduate diploma in economics, so could do the most junior numbers-related job, just to get working again. I'm thinking of advertising my skills as a child tutor, as I can train kids to pass their GCSE maths and science, and I could brush up on my skills so I could train them to pass these things at A level. Would getting a few months as a tutor help me get work in the usual working environment? What exactly do you need to do, to be attractive as an employee again after a big gap?

OP posts:
JosieJiver · 20/07/2025 10:02

Also, I've tried doing some 'training the bots'. I mean editing artificial intelligence responses. Some digital entity approached me on indeed telling me they wanted 'biology experts like me'. Will working hard at that to make it a proper income source make me more attractive to potential employers? Huge thanks guys.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread