Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think if you want to work pt you may as well burn your qualifications

178 replies

Metoodear · 19/08/2018 19:49

Having a chat with dh in the car that whatever field your in barr social work and nurseing as a women if you want to go full time

You may as well bun your qualifications because your pretty much going to be unable to find somthing with out taking a demontion or to get the summer off

I have friends who have degrees in mandarin,physiology I had a friend who worked as a high flyer Manger who had to resign as they wouldn’t allow PT work none of my friends work in their degree field because they can’t get the work pt

I myself have had to turn two jobs down one paying 25k and the other paying 28k because they wouldn’t allow PT work

I now earn 700 per month and work 3 days a week

OP posts:
FruitCider · 19/08/2018 22:09

FruitCider

Dh work in the community
You keep trying your gonna find somthing it’s so demoralising isn’t it

I can't afford to work in the community let alone part time, full time Monday - Friday would leave me with £24500, I get £29k for full time shift work in prisons now so it would be a massive drop! X

stuckinagut · 19/08/2018 22:14

Quite the opposite. I went back into a more senior, higher paid pt role than the ft one I left after DS1 was born. Work in HE and loads of pt very highly qualified women here. I also knew people without children who were planning on dropping back to pt after their mortgage was paid off. Career prospects didn't seem to factor.

Merryoldgoat · 19/08/2018 22:23

I work 3 days a week in a professional role as a PQ Finance Manager - there are lots of roles like mine PT. If fully qualified there are great jobs out there.

BackforGood · 19/08/2018 22:43

Yes, YABU, as 6 pages of replies on this thread show. Massive generalisation.

True there are part time teaching jobs, but try getting a management position in teaching PT.

I've been promoted twice to Snr Management positions since going PT.

re It being easier to go part time from a FT role, than find a PT role 'cold'. Yes, that is true, and makes sense. If you have a valued member of staff, then you are likely to do what you can to try to keep them - if they have proved themselves to be good at the job / reliable / helpful / to 'go the extra mile' / get on with people, etc etc.
OTOH, if you have a FT position to fill, and don't 'know' any of the applicants, then where is the motivation to emply someone who only wants to do part of the role, so you have to find someone to do the rest of the hours, if you also have an equally good (on paper) candidate who will work FT ?

FASH84 · 19/08/2018 22:45

Very common in my industry to work part time or consolidated hours, male and female, to accommodate childcare needs. I work in nine of the area's you mentioned and qualifications are an absolute must at my level, and any above admin really. We also offer good post grad qualifications (company funded), including to part time staff!

FASH84 · 19/08/2018 22:54

@FruitCider what do you do in prisons do you work in the OMU? A qualified Probation Officer in the community earns a few hundred under £30k outside of London with banding up to around £35k , that's where the qualification is useful, unqualified probation service officer starts on around £23500. Part time and consolidated hours are very common

RiverTam · 19/08/2018 22:59

Backforgood yes, it makes ense but that doesn’t stop it being very frustrating for those of us trying to return to work part-time, we are not wanted, only full-time new starters. In years of looking I have barely seen half a dozen part time roles advertised in my industry. So I sit at home with my experience going to waste. I am now having to go for full time work which will result in DD being in holiday clubs for up for 5 weeks a year, possibly more (absolutely no family help available to us at all) and after school club every day until such time as I might be able to get to go part time, probably a couple of years. That’s quite the cost. But apparently 6 pages of YABU means the OP is incorrect and companies should be snapping me up part time, with all my experience and qualifications. Well, they aren’t.

Thissameearth · 19/08/2018 23:08

I’m a lawyer and earn £60k pro rata. I work 2 days a week. Many lawyers I work with who have kids work part time, term time only or do compressed hours. I have friends who have been promoted whilst working 3 days a week. I work hard and feel I contribute fairly and am a valued member of the team. I have a young child and another 34 years to go before retirement age so plenty of time to further develop my career and go back to FT work if and when it suits me and my employer.

busyboysmum · 19/08/2018 23:12

I am a lawyer and I work part-time doing school run hours 4 days. I can honestly say that it is the best of all worlds and I have worked these hours since I had my first child 16 years ago.

IJustLostTheGame · 19/08/2018 23:17

YANBU
Most of my friends who are mothers work part time with good jobs.
All of them had gone back to the same work part time instead of full after their maternity leave.
I'm looking for part time work now. In our area all part time jobs available are minimum wage, and I don't need any of the qualifications I slogged to get over the years.
I've learnt not to put them on applications any more. Sad I get turned down for being overqualified.

BackforGood · 19/08/2018 23:34

But RiverTam the OP was about working PT, not about choosing to take a few years out of their career and then expecting employers - who have no working relationship with these applicants when they think they would like to rejoin the workforce - to then accommodate them by giving them different hours from what will be best for the business.
That is a completely different question.
Many people make what might be a tough decision to go back to work after maternity leave as, at that point in their careers they are well regarded, and know their employers want to keep hold of them.
When we have dc, all families have to make decisions about who is going to work what hours, and one thing to consider at that time, is how easy it is going to be to dictate your terms, if you take a 5, or 7, or 10 year break from your career, rather than continuing to work when it might have been nice to have a few years out of work. It's a choice. No one way is right, but it is something you take into consideration.

SpiritedLondon · 19/08/2018 23:44

I work in the police and have been lucky enough to work the last 5 years part-time after maternity leave. Initially I did 3 days a week but when my daughter started school I moved to 4 days a week term time and 3 days a week in the school holidays. My present job is pretty challenging and although I get a lot of flexibility and can work from home I often have to work overtime. For me the flexibility makes up for the job not being as sexy as other posts I’ve had. I often see posts though on the whole working mums versus stay at home mums where someone comments “ I would work but where would I find a job to fit into school hours 10-3 and school holidays off”? Where indeed? I think you’d have to be bloody lucky to find a well paid job on the doorstep that would be that accommodating without having a former relationship with a company or some very sought after experience/ qualifications. Not directed at you OP - just a general observation.

MervynBunter · 20/08/2018 00:05

Most major insurance firms have no issues with part-time working or working certain days at home.

MistressDeeCee · 20/08/2018 00:55

Self-employed artiste, additionally I work part-time in a Library senior role, with opportunity for progression. Working part-time hasn't held me back

SofiaAmes · 20/08/2018 01:32

By the way, here in the USA I have several friends who have solved their need for part time employment while they do childcare or artistic things (that don't have income), by being Uber/Lyft drivers.

Keepswimming21 · 20/08/2018 03:00

working in the charity sector here. was offered part-time after maternity leave but had to take a demotion. As someone mentioned before also in my organisation they don't allow managers to be part-time, more junior or senior roles are fine. Most mums I know from DD school had to take a demotion or leave which also in my experience is the norm.

drastard · 20/08/2018 03:14

As an employer, part time staff are less valuable to me. They're less committed to the job as well as producing less work than a full time employee.

2 x 1/2 time staff are more expensive than 1 x full time.

This is very industry-specific, of course.

actualpuffins · 20/08/2018 04:30

I'm glad lots of people have found good part time work. The OP is right though, it can be very tricky to find and there is a lack of it.

lolaflores · 20/08/2018 05:12

My job in the NHS couldn't make my role part time and in my particular job there see to be very few positions availa le part time

HollyBollyBooBoo · 20/08/2018 05:20

Er no, I do the exact same job just in 4 days a week (not condensed hours either).

Thatsfuckingshit · 20/08/2018 05:29

I work for one of the world's biggest employers. We employ 150, 000 people in the UK. The about 40% are part time.

I work in the head office in the UK and loads are part time. They also offer flexible working, where possible. Some people can't because their job is to be there at certain times. Our employer does like a certain amount of flexibility back, which I think is fair enough. I am a single parent, but have worked outside my core hours when they have needed it. But they don't mind me calling and opting to work from home today. Or start at 7am, or 9.30am if I need to.

I know people in all sorts of jobs that work part time. It's not always easy and I do know a lot feel they miss out on things. Which is natural. If you are only there half the time, you won't be there when every decision is made or every piece of information comes in.

Not sure I could do my role part time. Some weeks I could, but when a project is coming to an end I often need to work lots of hours. I wouldn't want to see my work being dealt with by someone else. I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to my work. So it wouldn't work for me. But I have other perks.

Lots of people in my department are part time. But not in my job role or above. Mainly because we are all control freaks, the thought of passing work off makes most of us feel nautious. Grin

motortroll · 20/08/2018 05:44

I am a teacher. My job is an amazing one part time. There's plenty of part time teaching jobs if you're flexible about what you teach and the days you teach.

I am on the upper pay scale. My 0.6 salary is higher than some unqualified full timers I know.....(eg my bro!)

shouldwestayorshouldwego · 20/08/2018 05:48

I work pt and flexibly and have most of the summer off while using my qualifications so won't rip them up just yet! I don't have the career that I might have had if I wasn't working pt and flexibly but I have time with my dc instead and have paid virtually no childcare despite working in my role since my oldest was 1. The role has expanded and developed over time which is perfect for me. My role has definitely taken a back seat compared to dh.

As your dh works set hours can you work around that, so you always do the drop off and he always picks up. Increasingly roles are wanting evening work as more employers become awkward about giving time off in the day for appointments. Offering 12-7 say might appeal to some employers. It depends on the age of the children you want to work with but after school appointments are like hens teeth and many other staff want to leave by 5.30 to pick up from childcare. I think it is about looking at the situation you are in and figuring out what works best for your family.

I am not sure that you can have everything but then I guess those people working full time in a non -flexible role don't have the time with their families that they might like. It all depends on your priorities.

BoomBoomsCousin · 20/08/2018 05:53

My experience is similar to yours OP. Only people who work for the government sector (NHS, teaching, etc.) seem to have had any kind of ease finding PT jobs. There were some in the third sector. Basically none in the private sector. All of my friends who kept professional private sector careers and got PT positions did so by asking at the company they worked in FT. None of them have moved jobs because they can't find positions that will give them the same working week. (Also, they all have DHs who work FT and have changed jobs loads and gained promotions at a much greater rate - even accounting for the PT status of the women).

All of them had their children at least 10 years ago, though. I'm really heartened to hear there may be more opportunities now. I hope things keep improving.

CaitlinsYellowSocks · 20/08/2018 06:22

I work in a big financial services firm and it's very common for people in middle management (experienced and well paid professionals) to work three or four days a week, at least when they have young children. It's standard in my department to work from home at least once a week.

Part-time working is less common for very senior management, but it does happen and I've seen people get promoted to very senior roles while working three days a week.

Most people join full time though, and then reduce their hours further down the line - I think it might be harder to join as a part time employee.