What are the totally flexible jobs? Do they exist?

[HolyGrailSeeker]

Since having DC1, I have not worked. But now, with DC1 at school, and DC2 starting in childcare for a couple of days a week, the luxury of being a SAHM is hitting its expiry date, and it’s time for me to start working again.

But here is the conundrum:

• No family nearby to help with childcare
• DH works extremely long hours, and often has to go away for the night/week with only a few hours notice. So I need to be entirely flexible/available to do every drop off/pick up/taking to afterschool activities.
• Hours I could work: (max 3 days a week) 9am-2pm, maybe 1-2 days a week I could do 9-5pm. But ideally a totally flexible job and I could do some extra hours when children asleep / at the weekend.
• I love love love being a Mum, and don’t want to go down the getting a nanny/au pair route. I love the time I get to spend with my children and want to protect the afterschool time with DC1 for at least 2 days a week and really don’t want DC2 in childcare for more than 3 days a week.
• Live in London so childcare is expensive so need to be earning more than spending on any additional childcare. Looking for a take home of £1000pcm as a minimum so maybe £25+ p/h.
• 2:1 from a top university - social sciences degree
• extremely low self confidence right now due to toxic environment and negative experiences at job pre-DC. Returning to that industry not an option as it was extremely un-family friendly (and I hated it).
• open to studying for a new qualification if necessary, but ideally I would be able to start earning something sooner rather than later.
• ideally WFH / very local for most of the time.

What job can I do? I’m at a total loss as to where to start looking. No idea too crazy (although keep it legal please and I have no interest in doing anything X-rated!)

I’d love to hear what flexible jobs others do that fit my criteria and how you got into it.

Thank you!

Do you have to work weekends?

Local council. £22 per hour.

I had my own business for years sadly didn't bring in £1000 month more like £750 but totally flexible around children .
My in laws work in civil service - flexible work patterns ie wfh mostly since Covid for one and term time contract for the other .

Thank you for this.

It’s the long game here, so retraining is definitely something I would do for a role that I knew could be reasonably flexible once both DC are at school.

The pay amounts were longer term hopes as well. We can manage on DH’s income right now, but I would like to be contributing financially again but as others have suggested, there is shift work that I could do immediately if we need me too.

£750 pcm would be great if totally flexible / no commuting costs!

Most admin jobs seem to want experience or want people educated to A level standard or degree standard .

Im assuming your DH earns fuck loads if he is in a job where he has to work all hours and go for a week away with minimal notice. So you should just do something that you might enjoy (like your suggestion of childminding) that will definitely fit around your commitments and build up your confidence. Not have the stress of weird shifts or crap jobs just for the sake of it.

And if you husband is not doing one of these jobs, wtf is he doing? Opting out of parenting?

Nope! You set your availability and they schedule around that; they can't give you anything outside it.

At £25/hr you're looking for an FTE of around £50K+ in a job you're new at, have no proven skills or experience and you want complete flexibility and to pick and choose your part time hours and to work fully from home. Honestly, that's not realistic. Jobs like that do exist, but they tend to be where good employees have already proved their worth and employers are prepared to give them full flexibility to retain an excellent employee they're not for new starters with no experience.

Other posters have given some examples of jobs that will have the kind of flexibility you want - but they likely pay near minimum wage.

Previous career gave me experiences in project management, training and career development, change programmes, workplace redesign. I could look at doing a project management qualification but it tends to be a full time career and I’m honestly not sure if I could deal with the stress of it in the near future.

Ah, childminding - I did this for 4 years. Just focused on after school/before school care 3-630pm; and 7-9am (did involve collecting them/dropping them, so was limited to 4 kids, with one of mine being dropped home by a friend). I have several friends who have done this ad they make a very comfortable living (I earned £20k termtime/after school), friends have earned double that, though).

Things to consider: your own children can come to resent it (mine did, hence I stopped. They didn’t want to come home to other people’s kids);
there is significant training (health & safety, food prep if giving cooked meals, paediatric first aid, curriculum training for pre/Key stage 1 and 2); safety proofing your home/garden; setting it up with notices and equipment on a daily basis unless you have a space to pack it all away at night; passing Ofsted requirements and being assessment ready (usually only 3 yearly ish after registered); and having a back-up plan for when you/your child is sick. Oh, and could DH resent other people’s kids [and their parents] being in the house (mine did eventually).

That’s really helpful to know. 9-7 wouldn’t work with getting kids up so good to know there are more flexible options.

I think there might be. I will have a look and talk to someone I know who works in the civil service.

Helpful to know, thank you

This would be ideal in many ways, but I feel absolutely unsure what to do or how to go about it. Low confidence strikes again.

Glad to hear it is going well for you!
Yes, obviously not flexible flexible but as long as you can take the children with you to do school pick up / drop off, that’s ok.

Thank you, and thanks for doing the maths for me! Will definitely look into civil service options

Something seasonal to get my confidence up and get back into the swing of working could be a great short term option, thank you

An anti-social hour at a weekend on bank at a hospital may bring in around that, something like cleaning/heath care assistant which doesn't require much skills

I see accountancy has been suggested. I don't think it'd be the right move for you. I am a WFH accountant and have amazing flexibility. But there are lots of very difficult exams to pass along with a training contract (3.5yrs) when you are doing that the pay is terrible and you are expected to put in lots of over time.

I had 8 years experience when I got this job. I don't think you can learn to be an accountant from home.

During covid before I got this job I looked at some customer service WFH jobs, they seemed to have decent flexibility. Mc Donalds sounds really good too I didn't know they were so flexible I have heard they are good employers. I think IKEA is supposed to be flexible too.

I'm not sure this is low confidence, to be fair. You've got quite the list of ambitions! Starting a business is hard work, it usually takes a LOT of effort in the early years, and that'll double down for you because you don't want to do something that you've got experience in or connections in already. The only "upside" is that it's likely to be cheap and it is flexible, depending on what you choose. You couldn't choose your own hours to be a childminder, for example, and I'm self-employed but have to be available when my clients need me, on the days they need me.

I'd also really heavily recommend only starting a business in something that you're genuinely interested in, and not just because it pays well or the hours suit, because it's an absolute grind at times. It's been a lot harder than being employed sometimes. There's huge upsides too and I'd probably be a terrible employee now, but since having my children, it's been really, really hard to give it the attention that it needs constantly, and not constantly to feel that I'm juggling everything awfully - because it's all reliant on me, so if it falls apart, it's me that has to fix it/suffer.

I think you'll either get the flexibility that you're after or the pay, for a little while at least.

If you love children, you've got some options there - school work, working at a tutor place, buying a children's playgroup type franchise, working in a nursery, opening as a childminder. There are various degrees of pay and flexibility in those.

I know someone who has three kids and is a part time project lead. She makes good money for it and only works 9am - 4pm, then she's totally uncontactable to focus on her children, but she's good at her job when she's there - and she is available those same three days every week.

Thanks for this, yes it would be a lot to get going in it and I can appreciate that my own children might get fed up of not having Mum all to themselves.

@HolyGrailSeeker i work in the charity sector and work from home, part time and fully flexible. I have colleagues who take chunks of time out in the day to do school pick up, others who go to exercise classes, or start later/earlier because it suits their needs. You don’t get the salary you get in private sector but you know you’re giving back and most charities are far more flexible.

If you start childminding when the kids are little they won't know any different.

My childminder was a nanny then a childminder and her kids had never known it any other way, and they were lovely with DDs.

Thanks for the reality check re:accounting. That level of training/overtime with small children doesn’t sound like a great fit right now.

Customer service is going on my list to look into too.