Tell me about your part time and flexible jobs.

[Lemonorzo]

I’ve been a carer for the last 5 years. Previously I worked full time in an admin role before things went wrong and I lost my job as I couldn’t attend.
i am wanting to start working again. However I still need to be available to DD around her timetable.
everything I see that’s part time specifies the hours/days which I can’t do. This time next year I can start doing jobs like that but just now she still needs some help travelling to and from college.
Has anyone ever found work that was set your own hours/times. There was a job about 2 years ago locally which was 10 hours to complete sometime during the week, I’d kill for that job now.
I understand lots of part time jobs are working around someone else. It’s just hard when you have limited availability.

Hey, have you looked at nhs admin jobs? Some are really flexible. I do 30 hours, 9-3 with one day at home so I can do all school pick ups and drop offs. I’m lucky my manager is supportive and if I said I needed to change my hours she would be fine with it, within reason.

I’m in a similar situation, recently lost my job (company closed down) so am job searching but am also a carer for my adult child who needs my support. Trying to find something flexible seems impossible!
Good luck with your job search

Tutoring. Totally flexible 😀

I think a lot of part time work with the autonomy to set your own hours, revolves around you having a particular skill

• As said above) tutoring
• Lifeguarding
• Teaching swimming
• Refereeing matches (obviously mostly weekends)
• Auditing
• Book keeping
• Mobile / freelance hairdresser or nail tech

If you need to accompany her to and from college, does that leave you free in the middle of the day? - What about a mid day supervisor in a school?

Cleaner ?
Dog walker?
Person who looks after pets when people are away / at work ?

Unfortunately she isn’t in college full time so the hours are a bit all over the place. She’s disabled so she does need the rest time at home too.
There’s one day where she doesn’t go in at all so I can do a full day but another might be 10-3pm or 11-2pm.
I want, say 15 hours to be completed within 9-5 m-f. Not sure it exists though.

@JustGiveMeReason Tutoring is great, but it depends at what level. The tutoring I do requires a degree as minimum (with preference for additional quals on top).

Exactly @Cheeseandolivesplease , that's my point.

If you were good at DIY, for example, you could pick up loads of work, setting your own hours, but I'm guessing the OP would have mentioned any particular skills she has.

Plus, of course, with dc (which most is) it would usually have to be round school hours, other than for HE children.

I don’t think I have any useful skills like that. I also after 5 years stuck at home want to be in an office with humans again! I want some normal life back, sit at a desk, do my job, drink a coffee.

I have previous experience working in schools and they are the least flexible employer so I won’t go back to that. DD had 4 medical appointments last week to contend with and that would not work at all if any were within a school day (some were).

@JustGiveMeReason Not always. I tutor children currently unable to access mainstream schooling which means that I can do the school runs for my own little girl.

As you have some school background, have you looked at clerking? It’s a professional advisory position to governing bodies. Most LAs will have a clerking service but there are also companies you can work for or even work for yourself. Many GB meetings are virtual, most will have set dates well in advance and although you will have to attend them (2hrs +/-) if they’re in person, the rest of the work (minutes, agenda setting, governance advice etc) is in your own time.

Where I used to work wanted a clerk recently, which would have been good/interesting.
ill have a look elsewhere for that though.

I know I can do many more hours once DD finishes college so want to get myself back into it now.

I’m a part time lettings administration assistant for a housing association but it’s a newish side dept for them. I work afternoons Monday to Wednesday 1-5, Friday 9-5 and Thursdays off. They’re good about flexible working or wfh if I need it.

10 hours a week, 2 hours a day, term time only. Lunchtime supervisor in a school. Very easy to get because schools have difficulty filling the posts.

Virtual PA? They often can set their hours as long as the work is done during normal business hours.

You would be totally wfh and do lots of calls/zoom calls.

When I was looking round houses with someone (they were looking to buy), sone EAs employ people just to show people round. I don't know if this is a zero hours, and how good they are at working with your availability, but it might work ?

@Lemonorzo
id second NHS admin
our trust is relatively flexible on admin roles - unless ofcourse it’s a receptionist role in a clinic that physically requires someone to be there at a particular time potentially not, but most non patient facing admin roles - if it was for say 22.5 hrs this could be
3 full days at 7.5hrs
4 days of 5.62 hrs
5 days of 4.5hrs
or combinations of longer and shorter days

I have a lady who works for me and she is contracted to work 20 hours a week but we offer annualised hours so she works 25 hours or a bit more (payroll calculate it) Monday to Friday between school hours so say 9:30-2:30 over the 5 days during term time.

In the school holidays she does 15 hours BUT I arrange these as 2 full days of 7.5 hrs on our rosta system and so she can either book annual leave, use a holiday club or a friend/relative helps her and then she only needs to cover 2 days not 5 during the holidays and that minimises her childcare costs and more time to spend with her family.

This is such a brilliant way of doing things to support working mums - bravo to you!

Retired from teaching after thirty years. Had the option of private tutoring from home. Then had a year break unexpectedly due to my mum dying and being executor of her will and having to sort probate, clear and sell her home.

Decided I didn’t want to tutor, needed a different path. Work my own hours, but do something different and helpful for me, because I realised that I liked being out doors, and nature helped me in the grieving process. So I started walking friends dogs. Then their friends recommended me, so I set up as a dog walker. Got the insurance and training, I love it, currently walk ten lovely dogs twice a day, Monday to Friday. I am on good terms with their owners, and my flexibility means that I can be available for weekend dog sitting if needed.

This isn’t a “me” thing but the nhs are fairly flexible in general
exceptions to this would be eg a receptionist in a clinic as they need to be there at set times but non-patient facing admin roles are usually ok 👌
I hope you find something suitable