For some women, maternity leave is the ideal time to reflect on their work life and consider what they want to do next. But, before we all hastily hand in our notice, what do we need to consider and how can we go about changing jobs?
Getting to grips with a new baby can be overwhelming, but maternity leave can also be a good time to weigh up what you’d like to do career wise.
Now you have a little person to consider, it’s natural to think about your work-life balance.
Would you like any flexibility or change to your hours if you return to work? Can you find childcare arrangements to suit your little one and your job? And how will you manage financially?
While for many of us working is a way of paying our bills, also consider your job satisfaction. It’s a good time to ask yourself if you’re fulfilled at work and happy to go back after maternity leave.
My driving force was my daughter. I wanted her to grow up with a mother she could be proud of
Fiona Doyle is mum to Ciara and volunteer at NCT Haringey branch.
After the unexpected arrival of her daughter and facing life as a single parent, she left her career in teaching and has established a chain of three nurseries.
‘My teaching career had been my world before I became pregnant. My plan was to take a year’s maternity leave and return part-time.’
‘What I didn’t foresee were two curve-balls which steered my life in an entirely different direction: postnatal depression and my employer’s reaction to my pregnancy and maternity leave.’
‘After nearly a decade in teaching, I didn’t feel welcome in my old job and that devastated me. But I found the strength to fight. I didn’t want my daughter to have the daily panic, fear, loneliness and dread about the future that I was feeling.’
Fiona studied at night to gain qualifications in Early Years Education and used all her savings to open a nursery business – she and Ciara even lived on the premises to keep costs down.
She explains: ‘One thought kept me going… What’s the worst that could happen? As long as everyone was still alive at the end of the day, anything else could be dealt with.’
The gamble paid off: the business has been successful and she’s been able to spend plenty of time with her daughter. ‘Things have worked out better than I’d ever envisaged in the throes of my depression and that’s a marvellous feeling.’
Many mums decide to change jobs because they find their work isn’t as compatible with family life as they would like it to be.
As an experienced scientist with a PhD, Elena Harden, mum to Matthew and Lydia and volunteer with Southampton NCT branch, worked in a cancer research laboratory.
After her son was born she returned to work four days a week. ‘But I could no longer stay late to get the important samples or commit to some of the extra activities,’ she says.
After the arrival of her daughter, Elena took two years away from the workplace.
Some women find parenthood brings with it a new drive to succeed at work and a stronger motivation to progress even further.
‘I then found a job linked to my previous career but less demanding. I can do 25 hours a week to allow school pick-ups.’
‘For now it suits me and my family, but long-term I may move sideways again.’
It’s also worth saying that becoming a mum doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll want to reduce your hours.
Hannah Fleck, mum to Toby and Idris and member of Aberconwy and Colwyn NCT branch, says that she and her husband Nick both tried working full-time after the arrival of their two sons.
We tried to achieve a balance that would work for all of us
‘But we concluded that Nick would reduce his hours through a flexible family arrangement. He now works a three-day week and it suits our family much better.’
Nick says: ‘Economically it made more sense to maintain the higher wage and I was in a job that I was less keen on and which paid significantly less.’
‘We tried to find an arrangement that suited us as a family as well as Hannah and I financially and socially – as we didn’t feel that having one of us as a stay at home parent was right for us as individuals.’
As with Nick and Hannah, the arrival of a new baby can also be a time for dads to think about their working lives and getting the right balance for them and their family.
As a partnership discuss all the options in terms of both of your careers. Weigh up the possibility of flexible working, part-time working and shared parental leave for both of you.
Nick says: ‘I’ve got to know the children better and they have come to know me better, without the default setting of calling for mum!’
‘It’s strengthened my relationship with them and I feel more confident in my role as their father…. although like every parent I have days when I doubt I’ve got it even vaguely right.’
Try to maintain a good relationship with your employer and colleagues – you never know when your paths may cross again.
If you do decide to leave your job, it’s important to handle it professionally.
Arrange a meeting with your manager, be as honest as you can and explain family life has meant re-evaluating your career. You never know – they may offer alternative working arrangements that would make you re-consider.
Check your contract so you know where you stand in terms of notice period
If you resign during your maternity leave, you do not have to go into work during the notice period.
But if you resign after the end of your maternity leave, you’ll need to work your notice.
You’re only obliged to give the notice stated in your contract, but try to be considerate to your employer. Giving advanced warning of your intentions means your team isn’t left in the lurch.
Resigning can affect maternity pay, so look at your contract and your finances.
You don’t have to repay Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance and you should continue to receive it for the full 39 weeks even if you resign before the end of the maternity pay period.
However, in some organisations, employees are obliged to repay some contractual maternity pay if they do not return to work for a reasonable period after maternity leave.
This is usually three to six months but check your contract.
Your employer can deduct it from any outstanding wages or holiday pay and you can ask to repay it in instalments.
In order to avoid repaying any contractual maternity pay it could be an option to return to work for a short period after maternity leave and then resign at a later date.
You may well be reading this and feel fired up to change career direction, but not have a clue what you want to do!
Thinking about your interests, hobbies and passions can be a good starting point, along with identifying your skills, goals and strengths.
If this is the case, you might want to talk to careers advisors, friends, colleagues or other parents to find out what they do and how they make it work for their family.
Of course speak to your partner too – it’s a family decision after all.
If there’s a particular field you’re interested in, try to build contacts and get work experience.
There are also lots of networking events including mum specific ones like Mamameet, which is held on International Women’s Day in March.
As the old saying goes, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water by hastily resigning from your job.
Try to remember what you enjoy about your current work and what attracted you to it in the first place. Then think about whether making smaller changes could be the way forward.
Are there other areas of the business you’re interested in? Arrange a meeting with your boss or HR to discuss any opportunities in a different department or role.
You may want to consider changing your hours to part-time, or putting in a flexible working request (after 26 weeks in a job all employees have the right to request flexible working but it can be refused if there’s a good business reason).
Try to go easy on yourself. Yes, you may be unhappy at work. Yes, you may want to embark on something new. But also cut yourself some slack.
Finding the time, energy and motivation to research careers, hunt for jobs, update your CV, fill in application forms or prepare for interviews is hard enough.
Throw in a baby to look after at the same time and it can feel impossible. So try to be realistic and patient.
It’s worth asking your partner, friends or relatives if they can help with the baby for a few hours here and there so you can focus on your job search.
Parenthood brings lots of new and transferrable skills – including time management, organising, prioritising, problem solving, crisis management, negotiation, communication and budgeting.
If you are teetering on the edge of a career change, try to believe in yourself.
Get ready to sell yourself and your experience, even if you’ve been out of the workplace for a while.
Elena says: ‘Our working lives are long, so why not chop and change? Be confident in yourself and remember nothing is forever. I got so sick of worrying about the future I decided to follow the mantra of “just keep swimming”. I haven’t drowned yet!’
And, rather than being daunted by the prospect of finding a new job, try to see it as an opportunity.
The time could be right to do something more flexible, rewarding, interesting or meaningful and you might be able to make positive changes for yourself and your family.
NCT information on pregnancy and work
NCT information on work and childcare
