My first role as an NQP

Newly qualified SLT, Molly Smithies, reflects on her transition from final-year student to starting her first role. She describes the excitement and challenges of starting a new role, as well as the importance of supportive colleagues and building confidence.

A few months ago, I was a final-year SLT student wondering what life would look like after university. Today, I am a newly qualified Speech and Language Therapist, starting my first role in the NHS, wondering how I got here.

After three years of lectures, placements, assignments and exams, graduating felt like the finish line but it quickly became clear that it was actually the beginning of something completely new. Finding my first role as an NQP came with a mixture of excitement, nerves, and so many questions, but from the minute I received the call, I couldn’t wait to get started.

I was fortunate enough to find my first role within an adult acute team, having completed my final placement within the same Trust. In some ways, it made the transition feel familiar, but in others, everything was suddenly very different. I was no longer a student arriving to placement; I was a member of the team.

Having the opportunity to take what I have learnt throughout the degree and begin applying it independently has been one of the most rewarding parts. 

My time as a student was filled with opportunities; additional shadowing, volunteering, a summer internship and a service-learning project, but whilst these experiences provided me with so much valuable learning, nothing could have prepared me for the transition into a clinician. As an NQP, I have been lucky to be surrounded by an incredibly supportive team who have encouraged me to start developing my own clinical judgement.

Looking back on my first week, it was mainly a blur of mandatory training, terrible ID photographs, and losing my bearings around the wards. However, just three weeks later, I have started to find my feet, and things that felt terrifying before are starting to feel like just another day. My role is based on both the acute stroke and medical wards, providing me with plenty of variety. I was able to jump straight in with communication-based therapy, working with patients post-stroke to rebuild their skills. My first independent service-user felt like such a milestone, after years of learning, being sat with a patient and putting my knowledge into practice felt fantastic.

I think one of the biggest lessons I have learnt so far is that confidence does not arrive the moment you qualify. It builds gradually, from having the opportunity to make decisions, ask questions, and learn from those around you. Rather than expecting myself to know everything, I am learning to recognise when to ask for help, something I am beginning to realise is just as important a clinical skill as knowing the answer.

 

Listen to Molly share more about her role and her advice for applying for roles: