Quick Recap: I’m looking for flexible working. A well-paid, part-time job (3-4 days a week), to be more precise. The Holy Grail? Maybe.
I want to share my journey. How long will it take to find work? Have attitudes changed? What I learn along the way. How best to broach the subject with a possible future employer.
And I hope sharing my story will help you if you’re looking too. Please see my previous post on the start of the journey (to give you some context) and the one on practicalities, such as CV writing.
Flexible Working – Rocking Horse Poo?
Flexible Working – Rocking Horse Poo? I’m now into week 5 of my search for a flexible, well-paid role and I’m making little progress. I’ve registered on numerous job sites and with various recruitment agencies, LinkedIn to potential new contacts, got in touch with the network of people I’ve built up over the years, asked friends etc.
The issue is this: there are very few well-paid, part-time jobs advertised.
My friend refers to flexible, well-paid jobs as rocking horse s**t – i.e., you can’t find it anywhere – and I’m beginning to agree with her.
The majority of the jobs I see advertised are full-time with the exception of 1 specific role that was for 3 days a week (my skill set didn’t match).
Frustration
I have this overwhelming sense of frustration. I want to shout out, I’m here! I have a huge amount of experience! I’m extremely capable!
Either there are very few flexible, well-paid jobs out there or the route to finding them is obscured. Am I looking in the wrong place?
I want to work. I need to work. I actually like working. But I seem to be faced with 2 choices.
- Apply for full-time roles even though I don’t want to work full-time.
- Apply for part-time roles (not well-paid) which would mean a significant reduction in my salary (crap!) and me, in effect, de-skilling.
The Dilemma We Face
I’ve taken the decision to start applying for full-time roles with the goal of impressing the interviewer so much that he/she will of course grant me my request to work 3 to 4 days a week 🙂 .
Have I a choice? I definitely can’t apply for part-time, well-paid roles when there are so few out there. But I can apply for full-time roles with the hope to negotiate some level of flexibility.
I’ve been umming and ahhing about applying for part-time roles that don’t pay well but every fibre of my being is shouting NO.
Why should I? I have 25 years of work experience behind me and have knowledge and expertise to share. And I don’t want to throw it all away.
If I do give up my career, I know that it will be so much harder for me to re-enter the workforce, further down the line, into a role befitting of my ability and experience.
I also know that my work-confidence will be slowly eaten away over time and the chances of me applying for a more senior role in a few years, will be slim.
And of course, there is the question of pay. Once you take a big pay cut, it’s immensely difficult, if not impossible, to justify a hike in your salary to any new employer.
Surely, I can have some semblance of a career and be there for my kids too?
Is There Hope On The Horizon?
But I’m hopeful that the tide is changing. The subject is very topical. There is more and more in the press about the obstacles that women and men face when returning to work after having taken time out.
And the more visibility to the issue, the better. Visibility will hopefully facilitate further discussions and bring about awareness and change.
The Women and Work APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) came up with a range of recommendations in its Women Returners Annual Report (2016). Flick Drummond, MP and Co-Chair, said, “spending time at home with children or looking after elderly parents does not make women or men less capable and it should not be a deterrent when wanting to go back to work at the appropriate time.”
And some stats on what flexible working could add to the economy:
A report from Cebr (Centre for Economics and Business Research) on behalf of Citrix found that, ‘greater flexible working could add £11.5 billion annually to the UK economy.’
Jacqueline de Rojas, Area Vice President, Northern Europe, Citrix, commented, “technology now enables us to work from anywhere, at any time. It is time to move on from judging workers on how long they spend at their desks to evaluating them on the work they actually deliver.”
Let me know about your experience to find flexible work. Any tips to share? Email me at lou@womanready.com. Thanks.
Oh and also see my posts on JFDI and tips on networking.
