What do you all work as - part time preferably?

[Rattlerattleshakeshake]

Hi all
i did post on the work and money matters boards and haven’t had a huge response.

I just need ideas on jobs that people do as a single parent - preferably part time.

I have just become a single parent and unable to go back to previous role due to nature of job. Need to look for a new role but no idea where to start as no qualifications apart from GCSE and then just life experience for the past 10 years.

what do you all work as?

aomeone said virtual assistant as I have experience mostly in customer service and admin work but I’ve heard that’s a bit of a dead end job these days? ….

really desperate as if anyone has seen my other post on relationships you know why!.

thank you x

Pointless thread ……many people ( including myself ) are qualified and registered in professions….of what use would that be to you , knowing their part time jobs?

I dog walk and dog sit.
I’m a single parent to a disabled child, it’s been pretty hard to find any work due to appointments and caring for dd. I don’t think anyone would employ me so they only way I can work is to be self employed. I do have some qualifications but mainly based around a carer I can no longer peruse when I have dc to care for.

Good choices for working round school times are childminding or working in a school, either in an office role or as a TA. Most things will involve some retraining though.

If you can secure at least 16 hours and your child is 2+

You will qualify for the funded 15 hours childcare, meaning you could work in a local shop etc. It maybe you pay an extra 30 mins each side of your shifts to the provider so you can travel to and from work etc.

I hope the now EX is able to and does offer help with childcare so you can get back into work.

@IncognitoUsername @Bimbles88 @Lovemusic82 Thank you ladies that’s really helpful.

@Kitkat1523 how rude. I take it you have never been in a position where you are scared and vulnerable and worried about providing as a single parent. If you have, then my god are you an awful person. It’s not pointless when people can give suggestions for things that might not have crossed my mind.

I work in social media/digital marketing, it was originally totally wfh but now the kids are older I go in one or two days a week. It's still an open field, and courses can easily be taken online that will get you up to speed, good luck!

What about jobs in local council or the civil service? They often offer flexible entry level jobs and have locations all around.
Maybe receptionist jobs? NHS admin jobs? They can be good starter roles to help!
Retail always need a mix of full & part time workers too.
Maybe look at the charity sector too for paid roles as well?
Just some ideas!

I work ‘around’ term times as a teacher. My salary is just under £50k but I only work 0.6. It’s not very flexible in term times though.

I notice childminding is always trotted out in these threads...

I've been a childminder for over 15 years and raised my children over that time. Whilst easier now they are adults and teens, I couldn't have done it by myself when they were younger without being unreliable as a childcare provider. Parents choose you to be there so they can work, if you take time off frequently, work will dry up fast!

I work in Tesco. They've been great with me.

I work in the public sector as a PA to a dept head (there are three levels of PA in my irg and I'm the lowest). I am lucky enough to work inside school hours though I find part time jobs are thin on the ground at the moment. Try your nearest councils, police force, fire service for jobs. NHS always has loads but pay seems low and it's stressful.

I work for a bank, my particular role needs qualifications but cashier, call centre, analyst roles don't. Any customer facing role they like you to have customer service experience which it sounds like you do. Very family friendly and the flexible working policy is a big thing. Never had any issues taking time off for dependent leave.

I'm an 1-1 LSA (learning Support Assistant/TA), in primary mainstream.
My hours are 8.30-3.30, half an hour for lunch.

I work for my family business, but we employ a bookkeeper 2 mornings a week to do our invoices, VAT, general admin etc. She works within school hours.

I know you don’t have the qualification, but if you were wanting to do some then I think it would be a flexible option that you could also do a lot of wfh

We also employ cleaners, usually also school hours, although summer is particularly busy so that would be an issue with school holidays.

I'm a head of kitchen in a primary school. I have catering qualifications, & have always worked within hospitality & tourism, but we (& most other companies) offer an in house training route too. I work 35 hours a week term time. I started on 10 hours a week as a catering assistant & built up from that. I enjoy it, although like any job, when you're working in it it's not without stress. I'm working on environmental health qualifications currently as would like to side step in to that area when my dc are older.

I'm an e-learning developer. I've worked for the same employer for nearly 12 years, I started as an administrator and was fortunate enough to be able to work my way up whilst being able to have my children. I'm a single parent now, I used to work 22.5 hours when my ex and I were still together and the children were under 5. I do 30 hours a week now they are 9 and 6. I work office hours only, no evenings, weekends or overtime. My mum picks up the children from school 2 days a week and they go to after school club 2 days. School holidays are covered by a mix of holiday clubs, annual leave, my ex and my mum. I find 30 hours a week a lot still, but I have a mortgage to pay and my ex doesn't contribute financially although he does do some school runs and EOW. I have to go into the office 2 days a week then wfh the rest of the week. I earn 32k, if I was full time I'd be on 40k but mentally I couldn't manage it.

You could try a preschool and do a level 3 apprenticeship whilst working. Pay isn't great but the hours are good.

I do accounts 4 days, but have been doing it for 30 years so experienced.

Part-time Senior Marketing Manager for a charity.

Meaning I look after websites, social media, design and produce posters/leaflets/business cards/reports, do copywriting including editing a staff newsletter. I also do media relations and campaigning (political lobbying).

Charities can be quite good for part-time and even remote roles.

In term of qualifications, I did a part-time BTEC in multimedia design and I have an arts degree. I did short courses in digital marketing and website design.

I volunteered in my dd's school for a while then got a job in a primary school office

I’d second what @Rubyandscarlett suggested. In my school we are desperate for SEN TAs. We’ve advertised several times and had very few applicants. The job is school hours, includes a pension, obviously all school holidays free.

I was a single parent.. but I'm now 66.
I worked as a NTA in a special school.
Also a counsellor on women's health at The well womens centre.
All part time.
I'm obviously retired now.

I work in the therapeutic field. I work systemically with families. I take on as many cases as I can do and invoice accordingly. Most of my work is online.

I'm not a single parent but as my DH worked in an environment where his shift pattern was often changed around short notice, when my DC was younger, my work was based around school times. I was a local authority administrator and was lucky to get a contract working 9.30 to 2.30 and term time only.

I don't think it's so easy to get such contracts nowadays - but it may be possible if you were to look to being employed similar hours within a school office.

Local authorities sometimes offer term time only roles but usually admin. School admin is usually term time but you do usually have to do some inset days and a few days during holidays. Also the school classroom assistant/teaching assistant/pupil support assistant.
Early years practitioner/nursery teacher can train & get qualified on the job. Some council nurseries - usually attached to a primary school - will be term time only. Most private nurseries (certainly where I am) are 50 weeks per year.