Is it a good idea to give up a permanent job for a maternity cover role?

Approached by a recruiter for an in-house maternity cover role.  Been thinking of going in-house but haven't come across a suitable opportunity in the last year or so.

I'm thinking this could get my foot in the door.

How financially well-equipped are you to deal with a period without income?

Do you dislike your current job (presumably PP)? If so, how much?

Is the IH role with a company/in a sector in which you have a specific interest?

 

Tough one. I have no idea what the job market is like wherever you are but if there’s a fair chance you can go back to a PP role within a few months then I’d say go for it.

Fortune favours the brave (hopefully)

I don't know if it's still the case but it used to be hard to get an IH role without IH experience so by having 6 months mat cover you may find that this makes you a more attractive candidate for other IH roles in future

If you want to leave pp and like the sound of the job I’d go for it if the numbers can be made to work. Too many people stay in jobs because of fear of the unknown. You move, it ends or you don’t like it and you move on to something else. No biggie. I’ve changed jobs many times in 30 years of work without any issues.

what chuffy said. 

But also ask the rec con whether there is a possibility of becoming permanent basis performance (entailing double head count) as your main goal is to move in-house and their main goal is to find a replacement. 

However better you might be they may not want to rock the employment boat for the lady on maternity leave for you. 

 

it sounds like a step you’re going to have to take if you want to move in house.  Your first role being interim makes you more attractive for future roles and you’ll be immediately available once you’re done which is also a attractive.  
 

I did basically this but for a total career change. Places will take a chance on a mat leave cover without direct experience for the role. The woman I was covering extended her leave to a year and then decided not to return to work at all so I stayed.

Go for it.  The person on mat leave might not come back or might come back PT, but even if she does return FT and the org doesn't keep you on you have some IH experience on your CV.  

And save as much as you can in case you have a gap between the next role. 

I think so.  I found contracting was a good way of being able to check out employers and see if it was somewhere you'd like to stay rather than having to take the plunge on the basis of a couple of interviews.

Wot others said, what’s the harm in exploring it?

Coming from a specialty that isn’t the “usual “ for in house moves I had no realistic way in to  in-house except via  an initial fix term

Once you’re in it’s straightforward, changing the perception of future employers to see you as in house is v valuable imho

 

You don't have to commit long term to an employer maternity cover or not.

Just leave if it's shit. Pretend it was maternity cover if the tenure fits.

I've always found it's hard to move from perm to temp because temp employers generally like temp people and don't want to wait out a notice period /expect the permer to be looking for perm stuff then going .

But I don't work in law .

Love life... well the usual dating apps venture... a few first dates that turned into nothing, a couple on second dates, some with potential but most are a waste of time...!

hbu

which team is it? Bear in mind that there have been / are likely to be further mergers / acquisitions on the studio side and they have (to date) resulted in teh dumping of some really great lawyers. Not sure what level you're at though. 

Will you be like the sexy interesting new lawyer if you go in house with status and humour? Rather than a face in a sea of lawyers bobbing around. 

If you want to go inhouse then do it. You can then b*gger off back to PP if you don't like it. I've seen loads of mat roles turn into perm jobs even if the woman in question comes back. And the reality is that any new job has the risk of termination with little consequence in first two years. 

if you are in a full time role on 3 months notice then you will unlikely get a role like this because there are lots of people more mible and readily available.  Most mat leave and temp jobs want people to be ready to start quickly