I’m an ‘overworker’ and have 3 FT jobs - AMA

[SallyGs]

Ive had a few people now mention on the careers topic to do an AMA so am taking the plunge.

An overworker is someone who holds multiple full time roles at the same time. Started in the US and became big during COVID - for obvious reasons as it’s pretty much impossible to do with non remote work.

I currently have 3 full time jobs, at my peak I had 5 during 2020. And am working towards buying a rental property with my additional income.

So for anyone who has wondered about it or are interested in trying it themselves - AMA

In practical terms it means just that. I am and always have been very efficient, it’s how I got into a snr role quite early in my career and have just rolled with it.

My primary job I do work from the office one day a month to connect with my dept, but the others are fully remote: I have three laptops on my desk, teams up on each and go from there. I carefully manage any meetings to ensure no overlap and utilise my annual leave well as well

You're not 'overworking'. You're taking money under false pretences.

I show my primary role on my CV, and never tripped up. Although when I was juggling 5 I did let things slip, hence losing the two roles and settling with a more manageable three!

They sound like terrible companies, wasting full time salaries on jobs which only take 1-2 hours per day.
No wonder some businesses go under!

Definitely not, I work a max of about 6-7 hours a day as I also have a young child, so make sure I can do her nursery pick up etc.

none of them know about the other roles. It’s between me and HMRC

And you manage to Mumsnet as well, Op 😀

Eh if you think one of the largest consumer goods companies is a bad business that’s on you

Doesn't your tax code give you away?

I suppose it depends on what your contract says. I’m in a professional role but my hours are more than filled each day. If I didn’t have enough work to fill my time it would do my head in so I can see why you’d want multiple jobs. It must be very different to the scenario I’m imagining

How did you get the secondary jobs without providing a reference from your main role? Or did you?

I do three jobs very well, have even been offered a promotion recently in one of my non primary roles which I have turned down as it would mess with my balancing act.

Tax is complicated, there have been years where HMRC really buggered up and over taxed me, years where i paid a lot less so it’s hard to navigate from that angle

my primary job is very flexible and my and directors are very much like me with my teams, as long as your targets are hit I don’t care if you do it in an hour a week or 40.

The others yes I do a lot less hours than contracted, but I get paid still so meh

Are you on LinkedIn, OP? Everyone I know in Marketing uses it constantly.

Isn’t this fraudulent? You’re lying to your employers?

Well obviously you aren't/weren't working FT hours in all 3/5 jobs, there aren't enough hours in the week to do that unless you don't sleep.

So my question is how many hours do you actually work in your PT jobs for which you get paid FT wages?

I excel in performance reviews, I’ve even got a global award recently in my primary role for excellence and have been awarded a 5x multiplier on my annual bonus which was paid last month.

I have always been very efficient and pretty good at what I do, I’m one of the youngest directors my primary company has ever had.

When it comes to overlap I protect my primary, so if anything comes up for my main job it gets ring fenced in terms of my time. If there is overlap with my other roles I just move timings around

Two do, but I just don’t tell them.

Pretty simple

It’s always going to be a ‘short term’ thing, I make the money then go before the heat gets too high!

Can you confirm that your three contracts say they are full time salaried roles? Because you're not freelance, selling your time by the hour and working efficiently to be paid by results and lending senior thinking - that would be totally fine. You're breaking all three contracts and shouldn't be employed.

Hopefully none of your bosses had you 'spotted' under your original name then.

How would none of the companies be aware that you are working other roles?

In terms of payroll?

I'm not sure I really believe this but it's clear you are not an 'overworker' and I wonder how you square this level of dishonesty? (Letting your employer (s) think you are working f/f while actually working for two others).

i ended up doing similar when I dropped from 5 to 3 jobs. I just let the others die out until I was fired! Still took them 4-5 months though so that’s additional money

Hardly false pretences

I hit my objectives, each company is very happy with my work. Everyone wins

💯

Is the primary driver financial? You saw an opportunity to make more money doing multiples roles rather than becoming more senior?

Many roles don't actually take 35-40 hours per week if you're efficient. Output and availability are key rather than hours worked.

Of course, I’m Mumsnetting whilst my toddler naps on me and all three laptops are in dummy teams meetings