Breaking Professional Ties: An Unexpected Blessing

Many of us put in significant effort to train for our careers. In doing so we might even have gained membership of a respected profession. Our hard work gave us the right to belong to a particular clan. Importantly too, we often choose jobs that are a good fit with our values, beliefs and wider personal goals. No wonder we find that giving up our professional identity difficult. However I am going to argue that taking the step away can be immensely liberating rather than a wrench.

My Own Story

My first significant job was as a trainee in the tax department of a large accountancy practice. As well as receiving support to learn the ropes I studied in my own time. Before and after work I’d get out my textbooks and pore over tax law. I only needed some of it to pass my exams. I’d never look at again. The Stamp Duty Act of 1890 was a case in point. Sometimes it was so boring and irrelevant that I remember screaming at the walls with frustration.

But the hard work paid off. I passed my exams to become a chartered tax practitioner. I felt so much pride because I could put those letters at the end of my name. But even though I received good pay and had a good social life related to work I felt unsettled. I wanted to make more of a difference you see. So after a decade I gave up my lucrative role in finance and returned to college to train for a second career in occupational therapy. Three years later, after a lot more studying and spending considerable amounts of time on placement away from home I earned my stripes.

From the start I loved my new profession. I never stopped learning. I also formed lifelong friendships with other occupational therapists. There’s two that I met on our first day in college who I still number among my closest friends. It’s not surprising that I gelled with my tribe so well. Its members share a similar philosophy and believed in the healing power of meaningful activity. Doing, however takes many forms. so my occupational therapy chums are an interesting bunch with diverse interests and backgrounds.

You may understand then why clicking those unsubscribe buttons on the websites of the Health and Care Professions Council and the College of Occupational Therapists was a very big deal indeed. I did it following my early retirement and it reinforced the idea that I was at the end of an key stage in my life. I could no longer call myself an occupational therapist and relinquished being part of a clan. But by giving up my professional identity I regained something of the essence that made me chose the career in the first place.

Paul, my partner, decided at around the same time that he too would not re-register for the certificates that allowed him to work on gas and oil appliances. Sure it’s lucrative work but did he really want to be called out to a broken boiler after normal working hours? My own resignation seemed like an act of solidarity with him. Giving up our professional identities together seemed to be symbolic of cutting deeper ties which allowed us to follow a new life course.

The Advantages of Relinquishing Professional Identity

Okay, you might see some glaringly obviously downsides of giving up your profession. A big reduction in financial security might be the first thing that springs to mind. Perhaps you might regret losing the sense of camaraderie that working with like minded individuals brings. I’ve personally feel that the positives far outweigh the negatives so I’m going to list these below to provide you with food for thought.

• There are financial savings in giving up membership of a professional body. As I mentioned above I paid subscriptions to two organisations,. Maybe the savings aren’t going to match the salary that you’ll lose as as a registered practitioner in your field but I’m going to throw this into the mix.
• You’ll also be free of other ties. For instance I no longer have an obligation to maintain a record of professional training or provide evidence that I’ve acquired knowledge that keeps my practice up to date. I save quite a bit of time as I don’t have to maintain a formal record of my learning. Former practitioners no longer have expenses around maintaining their professional development, for example books, training or the costs of mentoring or supervision.
• There’s no longer a need to follow a strict code of conduct. defined by a regulatory body. Don’t get me wrong, I like to think that I have high ethical standards. But how I define these is of my own making. I have a strong interest in complimentary and alternative practices that do not have a traditional evidence base. When I was an occupational therapist I was reluctant to share my thoughts about these as I thought that I might be in breach of my profession’s ethical code. I am now free to share my weird and wonderful ideas without fear the fear that some bigwig will rap me on the knuckles.
• Your mind will be more focused on forging a new life. It will be harder to take the easy route and go back to an old career that may have no longer served you.
• You can still use all that lovely knowledge that you’ve acquired over the years. It doesn’t go away! You may even find that you can be more creative with what you’ve learned when you’re not shackled by working to a job description.
• You can embrace your old profession’s philosophy freely. Personally I am no longer constrained by other dominant professions. Nor do I need to fill in risk forms and care plans for inordinate amounts of time. Would it surprise you if I said that, since retirement, I’ve actually read more occupational therapy books from cover to cover than at any time in my professional life? I’m still mulling over what I’m going to do with all that knowledge that I’ve gained. But believe me I will use it.

Disclaimer

This post may contain links to companies and organisations just because I’m happy with the products or services that they supply or I’m spreading the word about what they do. There may also be affiliate links to Amazon for books and other items that I am personally recommending. If you decide to make a purchase from them, I might get a little bit of commission at no cost to you.