To apply for full time jobs when I really want part time

[TheRebel]

So for background I returned to work part time after maternity leave and my job was no longer available, my team of 6 has been reduced to a team of 2 so I’ve been moved to a different part of the company. Before maternity leave I was doing an interesting sales job, building relationships with customers which involved lots of product and industry knowledge. I’ve been moved to and inbound call centre which involves 2 minute conversations taking names and addresses and that’s it, my colleagues all sound like robots, reading the same short script over and over again. I don’t think I can do this for any length of time and there’s no room for promotion and I’m already being paid more than everyone in this department so there’s no chance of any pay increases.

Ideally I’d like to work 3 days until my daughter goes to school, I’ve looked for part time jobs and there aren’t any, would I be unreasonable to apply for full time jobs and then if I get an interview ask if they’d consider a job share or letting me work 4 long days?

[LemonShark]

You can do that, but mention your requirement in your application\cover letter. Don't wait until interview. If they're happy to consider you the request won't put them off, but if you wait until interview it'll look a bit dishonest and be a waste of yours and their time and take a space another candidate could use.

[SeeKnievelHitThe17thBus]

OP you need to be aware that, even if they agree to the job share, it only goes ahead if they can get someone to cover the rest. It's likely your idea of 3 days wouldn't work if they can't find someone who only wants to do two days, so you may also need to be flexible on what days you can work. As a manager I would struggle to cover only afternoons, or Monday and Friday, for example, so think about what you could offer an employer. The 4 longer day thing depends on to what extent a job interacts with other staff who are in work across 5 days - will there still be those contacts around at 7pm etc. Make sure you research the job and company well before applying.

[pepperminttaste]

Do ask. I saw a f/t job I thought sounded great. I emailed and asked if they'd consider p/t hours. They said they would for the right person. I ended up not applying after all though.

[Viviennemary]

I think it could work. But people might think you're a time waster if you wait till the interview to mention it. If they advertise for a full time person that's what they want. The other way to look at it you wouldn't be pleased if you applied for a part-time job and got to interview and they said oh sorry it's full-time.

[SockEatingMonster]

I did this about 4 years ago and ended up in a job that I loved. I made a point of applying for jobs I was slightly over qualified/over experienced for, then in the covering letter explained why I thought I could do the job well on a pt basis (experience, existing contacts, etc) and hoped they'd still consider me.

I got a great job and managed to negotiate lots of homeworking too.

One thing I would say is not to bother calling first, as I found I was getting no over the phone, but when I stopped calling I had some sort of interest back from each application I made.

[TheRebel]

Thanks for all the replies, some good advice there tat I will definitely be using.

Has anyone ever done this through a recruitment agency? I find all the jobs I want are advertised through agencies, and as they get paid a percentage of your salary they might be less willing to put me forward over someone who can work full time so obviously a bigger commission for them!

[AvoidingDM]

I did that and another division of the company got to hear about me and took me on, in an ideal role.

[tellitlikeitispls]

I managed to get a part time job 7 years ago by applying for a full time. Its a bit of luck and a bit of cheeky but if you don't try you'll never know. I did tell them beforehand that I wasn't looking for full time (I do 3.5 days)
In my situation, they'd been looking for someone for ages for the role, and they were getting desperate, so they took me on anyway. It can happen!

[SeeKnievelHitThe17thBus]

OP agency work might be more difficult as they're essentially being paid for meeting the employer's brief, which a PT worker presumably wouldn't meet. If you can meet a particularly niche need that other, FT, workers could it might work, or if they have a couple of PTers they can put together as a package but otherwise I think you'd struggle.

As an employer we'd have X amount to spend on recruitment for a project via an agency; if we only got a PT staff member we wouldn't get to keep the balance, it would be lost to cost savings etc. so I'd be reluctant to look at a PT post if we'd identified that it needed FT.