Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

AIBU to apply for a job below my qualifications?

74 replies

sortingmyselfoutslowly · 04/02/2018 08:26

Would you apply for a job way below your qualifications (eg requires GCSES and you are a postgraduate) because, on balance, it fits in better with family life - school runs etc? Even if it meant working more hours?

AIBU to have a dilemma our this as I like bwing a professional and enjoy my job but part time opportunities close to where I live are non existent?

The job I'm looking at pays the same as I earn now but school hours only over 5 days and term time only. I currently teach so do get the holidays off.

OP posts:

blueshoes · 04/02/2018 21:56

Agree with others to dumb down your CV so it does not get put in the reject pile.

Remember that the people who interview you are not likely to be the big boss but middle managers who get threatened by your qualifications and experience as well as wonder whether you will jump ship the minute something better comes along.

Even if you get an interview, It is quite a tough one to explain why you are taking a step down. It is of course for work-life balance but also throw in a good dose that you will work hard, want to learn the job inside out and contribute blah blah. Otherwise your interviewers think you just want to coast and take time off for domestic stuff. It is not fair, but you would have to work doubly hard to explain you will still be a committed employee.

blueshoes · 04/02/2018 21:59

When you interview, avoid very hard giving the impression that you could do the role standing on your head, which you probably can. Otherwise, it would appear like you are too good for it. Sound really enthusiastic and interested in the role and the company.

SleepyHeadThisTime · 04/02/2018 22:09

If it'll make you happier then do it! I went from a well paid job (I have a degree etc) to working as a cleaner at weekends to better suit my family and it's a breath of fresh air! I'll retrain in a new field when my children are older but will still get paid less than my original job - but I'll be happier for it. Leaving my well paid but stressful (and frankly dull) career is the best thing I've done in years

Eolian · 04/02/2018 22:16

YANBU. I'm a teacher too, very well-qualified, lots of experience(but very part time since having dc) and I would love to go for the kind of job you describe and never set foot in a classroom again tbh. However, I don't have the office admin experience required for lots of the jobs I see advertised. I'm sure they wouldn't even interview me.

MrsMaxwell · 04/02/2018 22:17

We have loads of ladies at work who have done this. A teacher who is admin as it suits her Work/life balance.

blueshoes · 04/02/2018 22:30

Eolian, try doing temp jobs or contract roles first. Such employers are usually less fussy especially if you can start immediately. Once you had done one or two, nobody is going to be surprised if you start applying for permanent roles in that area. You now have relevant experience and proven track record that you want to stay at this level and in this type of work. You can ditch the part of your CV that says you were a teacher and boil it down to just one line (so there isn't a gap in your CV), whilst the rest of your CV focuses on your relevant admin experience. The over-qualification concern goes away.

I hope this is obvious but worth saying. To avoid appearing overqualified on paper, ditch all dates in your CV except, say, the last 5-10 years. Do not give date of graduation or date you attained qualifications, as the interviewer can work out your seniority and experience from there. Once you have got the interview, you at least have a chance to explain yourself and why you are there.

DarthNigel · 05/02/2018 13:42

I did! Forced tonight n some ways due to some issues with dd2 and after school provision. I get paid a lot less so I miss the money a lot and I miss parts of the job but not as much as I thought I would. Far less stress.
I worry about my future career when I want to get back to it though...

Paddington68 · 05/02/2018 13:43

MrsPonder · 05/02/2018 13:46

Exactly what i'm doing OP. I have years of good working experience at management level and a Masters degree. I'm currently applying for a part-time teaching assistant role whilst flicking between MN . it will mean 3 mile drive from home everyday. So tiny transport costs, time to do the voluntary work i enjoy immensly and time for the children .

CappuccinoCake · 05/02/2018 13:48

I found out today I didn't get the last job I applied for.

I'm wondering about TA jobs. I'm actually rubbish remembering peoples names and woild be anxious in charge of a class (I trained secondary and lost a lot of confidence.) I wonder if an admin role would suit better.

It's soul destroying not being able to find work.

Amatree · 05/02/2018 13:51

This thread is so sad. OP you should do whatever you want but honestly, reading pages of posts from women advising other women how to play down their experience in order to get a lower paid job is so unbelievably depressing. I'm all for people having free will to do what suits them and what they genuinely want, but would you EVER see a thread of man having the same discussion?
OP is your husband/partner (assuming you have one) making similar sacrifices in terms of their career for your collective family life?

Katyb1310 · 05/02/2018 13:54

I've done it. I did with my last job. It was before I had DC but even then i was fed up with the pressure and travelling and decided I wasn't cut out to be a "career person" and just wanted a 9-5 job near home that paid the bills. I have a good degree but enjoyed doing that office job without pressure. I still earned money and had the company of others etc. What I did find was I was often turned down when applying for jobs, for being "over qualified". That really irritated me because it was what I wanted! Good luck whatever you decide xx

blueshoes · 05/02/2018 14:10

Amatree men can equally be overqualified for jobs. I would give exactly the same advice to a man if he wanted to undershoot. Just so happens that more women than men find themselves in this position because they choose (for valid reasons) work-life balance over career. I am sad that it tends to be women making the sacrifices for the family rather than men and that is a broader societal issue. It does not change the fact that being over-qualified for a job, man or woman, is going to present difficulties getting that job. Being overqualified is not the golden ticket to the job that people mistakenly think it is.

Amatree · 05/02/2018 14:16

I fully agree that being overqualified can prevent anyone (male or female) getting a job. That's not really what my comment was about. I'm just thoroughly depressed that 99% of the time women are the ones sacrificing their career and long term earning potential to enable men to have kids and carry on like nothing has changed. Reading MN has really opened my eyes to the scale of this issue and the long term impacts, whether the marriage lasts or not.

CappuccinoCake · 05/02/2018 14:24

Yep. I must admit I didn't realise I'd "blown it by being a sahm. I wish is qualified in the areas of like to retain in prekids.

ALLIS0N · 06/02/2018 10:01

I'm just thoroughly depressed that 99% of the time women are the ones sacrificing their career and long term earning potential to enable men to have kids and carry on like nothing has changed. Reading MN has really opened my eyes to the scale of this issue and the long term impacts, whether the marriage lasts or not

This. And many of these men don’t just expect to continue their career as if they didn’t have kids, they expect to continue their social life as well.

Is very sad and it’s women and children who bear all the brunt of this selfishness and self centredness.

arghh21 · 06/02/2018 10:24

I did this after DC1 & they specifically asked me about the pay, overqualified etc. I explained that money wasn’t all & also I was looking for the opportunity to progress in that role/environment etc. The role paid about £14 an hour. I did go for a role that gave me Sage experience as I thought that would be useful & suited my background.

Unfortunately I was made redundant recently due to relocation however I have a new pt job earning £18 an hour so I have progressed. Plus even though I’m earning less, I am paying less tax & less childcare & travel so it does make a difference.

Iprefercoffeetotea · 06/02/2018 10:37

Yes I did. I was working in a professional role and took a part-time role for a few months that paid 10% of my previous full time salary! But it was fun, I enjoyed it, when I went home I could switch off and I had a lot more time at home.

A bit later on I went back to a professional role. It did not hold me back - in fact the people who interviewed me for the next job were intrigued about what I had been doing and for a while I did both jobs part-time.

I am about to do it again - this time I will still be working in a professional role, but it is a lower level than I have been working at. But the role might have been created especially for me.

I did apply for an admin role and not get to interview though. I suspect I didn't have enough actual office admin experience for the role.

DarthNigel · 06/02/2018 10:39

It is sad how women are often the ones that give up their career. And if you end up in my situation, about to be divorced, wrangling with my now very well paid husband about money and having to try and quantify the work you have done in supporting the family while they have been off climbing the ladder, and the money you could have earned etc etc, it's very difficult.
As poor as I'm about to be, and as infuriating as that is, I would still Make the choices I have though-because the kids needed and still need one of us around More.
But yes I'm now seeing the results of those decisions financially and it can be galling.

Iprefercoffeetotea · 06/02/2018 10:43

I'm all for people having free will to do what suits them and what they genuinely want, but would you EVER see a thread of man having the same discussion

In my case it wasn't really about family, though that was a useful side effect. It was because my boss was a bitch, not to put too fine a point on it, and it was making me ill. I didn't want to stay in that environment.

And this time it's not about family either. It's because my role has changed, I feel like a round peg being squeezed into a square hole. The new job will suit my skillset (much) better. We are not all downsizing our jobs for caring reasons, in my case it is quite selfish but I see no value in staying in a role which will make me stressed and possibly eventually be pushed out for capability reasons.

Iprefercoffeetotea · 06/02/2018 10:44

But yes I'm now seeing the results of those decisions financially and it can be galling

I'm not worried about taking a pay cut. I do worry a bit about my future pension. But then are people of my age (mid 40s) ever going to retire properly anyway?

Gromance02 · 06/02/2018 10:50

Millions of people do jobs that are massively beneath their qualifications - often nothing to do with childcare and more to do with there not being a proportionate amount of graduate jobs available. I work in admin, along with around 8 others and all of us have degrees. Only one has a child. This is only going to get worse as the number of jobs requiring degrees inevitably decreases and the number of graduates increases.

Ariela · 06/02/2018 11:01

I would say make sure your covering letter shows your enthusiasm and long term commitment to the role.

Original poster

sortingmyselfoutslowly · 06/02/2018 13:03

I've applied- will see what happens!

OP posts:

Flip

1 2 3