I won’t list my whole career history but let’s just say I did a bit of a slalom to eventually get to the job I love most! Apparently the average number of jobs a person has in their lifetime is 12. This has changed from years ago. Young people are expected to have changed job several more times than their parents. When comparing generations, millennials change jobs an average of four times in their first decade out of college, compared to the two job changes by generation Xers in their first ten years out of college. Technically if you don’t include a period of temping, my current job is my sixth. However, in one place I had a secondment so I had two different positions and I am in my third position of my current employer.
Before I got married I worked for the Child Protection Team of Social Services in Eastbourne (nowadays known as Children’s Services). We were situated in the same building as the Adult Services team of the same geographic area. It was the sharp end of the service where the toughest aspects of social work are carried out, resulting in the ongoing monitoring of children in their family environments, removal of children to the care of the local authority and court cases determining the future of those children. The social workers are frontline practitioners who see firsthand situations where children and young people have been subject to different forms of abuse or are simply not having their needs met by their parents or carers and are deemed high risk. I regularly took the minutes in case conferences and the atmosphere could be very intense as the birth families would be present in most cases. This was not a job for the faint-hearted and the notes had to be unfailingly accurate so, whatever was going on, I had to remain completely focused throughout those meetings. Of course it could be distressing and terribly sad but was also very interesting and rewarding.
After about three years my Team Manager approached me and encouraged me to apply for a secondment. I thought my chances of success were slim as the job was in adult services not child protection and I had no experience of that service. The role was ‘Community Care Information Officer’. It was a completely new role created due to the implementation of community care reforms in 1993, chiefly intended to formalise the rights of individuals to choose where they received residential care under the new community care arrangements. The job involved answering queries on a helpline, designing and producing leaflets which explained the eligibility criteria for the service users and managing a team of clerical staff.
This role was continually developed and, ultimately, I ended up doing something which took me completely out of my comfort zone. Myself and a colleague were invited on a regular basis to deliver presentations to a range of groups, such as GPs, voluntary organisations and other departments within the county council, explaining the changes in the legislation as well as promoting the helpline service. I really hate speaking to large groups and used to have sleepless nights whenever I had to do any presentations for my degree so it was something I didn’t do willingly! However, after the first couple I didn’t dread it quite so much. Although the audience was often quite large (anything up to about 100 people). I didn’t know any of them and but I knew my subject well so my nerves improved as time went on. Often if we were presenting to the service users, primarily older people, they were not a difficult crowd! I mean, there was often one or two ‘reading the back of their eyelids’ and others who simply couldn’t hear a word we were saying, so we could have been speaking in a different language for all they knew! If they weren’t asleep or hard of hearing they often had completely the wrong idea about who we were! In those days we were still known as the DSS (Department of Social Services) as opposed to the DHSS (Department of Health and Social Security). One dealt with social care and the other with financial benefits such as income support and pensions. Understandably the two were often confused! So having spent a couple of hours talking about residential care in some detail, it was no surprise that there were always a few questions at the end from people asking why they hadn’t received their pension and could we look into it?! Mostly we were able to explain that that was not our department but we occasionally had to appease someone who was annoyed and frustrated with us (but not us)!
I took maternity leave during the period of that role for my first baby and returned on a part-time basis while he went to a childminder, but when baby number two was on his way I gave up work altogether. It was neither practical nor financially viable. I went on to have two more children, the first three within four years and the fourth came along after a four year gap. Consequently I ended up being a stay-at-home mum for over eight years. If anyone thinks it’s an easy option, believe me it’s not! Some say they go to work just for a rest! Having said that I don’t regret a single minute of it. It’s a big sacrifice financially and meant we really struggled at times but I’d still do it all again. I loved my time with my children and I always appreciated that I was lucky to be able to do that as I know not everyone can. It’s such a precious time, although I also know it’s not for everyone and I believe it’s ok to work when you have small children too. As far as I’m concerned there’s no right or wrong. I was just fortunate to be able to choose.
Over the years, as a mother of four children, I made a lot of friends. There were the playgroup and school parents as well as people I met through clubs and activities – football, karate, dancing, swimming…..my children often say to me “you know everyone mum!” Not quite everyone but, yes, I know many! Clearly raising children didn’t stretch me enough as I joined the playgroup committee, the school PTA, got involved at dancing and, after my youngest son started primary school, became a parent governor. It all helped to keep my brain active as my role was often secretary/minute taker and I produced various newsletters during that time. I made some lifelong friends from those voluntary roles and had a lot of fun. I even found a teeny-weeny creative side of myself when we made craft items for the school Christmas bazaar. My mum was into scrapbooking and had all the gear so we once spent hours making laminated bookmarks. The bazaar was lovely because the majority of the goods were homemade. To make it fair for everyone the pupils would have a maximum spend limit and would come into the hall one year group at a time, starting with the youngest. It was a cashless event so they would come in with a piece of paper starting with their total and we would reduce the amount as they spent it. My mental arithmetic was always put to the test which is rather awkward when dealing with an eight year old who could subtract in a fraction of the time that I could! As you can imagine it could be rather manic at times and when I first did the minutes, which included the Christmas preparations, I mistakenly misspelt ‘bazaar’ and instead typed ‘bizarre’ (meaning comical and outlandish)! To be fair, on the whole I feel my version of the word was more appropriate than the correct one!
My mum used to help on the day of the bazaar too. It was wonderful having her on our ‘team’ and she absolutely loved getting involved. Years later my old PTA ‘partners-in-crime’ still reminisce with me about those days and how much we used to laugh.
I’ve always loved being part of a team, in whatever situation, and it was good for me to have the opportunities to balance the tough job of raising four young children with some socialising with adults, both responsible and irresponsible!
“Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.” —C.S. Lewis
Hoping for a Happy Ever After 