Can I do this? Should I?

[Faaamily]

Inspired by another thread (in a good way!).

I have seen a job advertised which looks amazing. It's n the sector I have recently retrained for, dealing with issues which I'm passionate about, and working for a brilliant organisation (prestigious in the field etc). Very good benefits for this climate (final salary pension with generous contributions, 30 days annual leave plus statutory days, travel allowances etc).

Only thing is, it's full time, with 'some travel within the UK and some overnight stays'.

I have two children (one at school and with SN, one in daycare nursery), and have just finished a full time Master degree (it was hardcore!). I did work in a similar role to the advertised one for 6 months when my second child was a baby. Thrived on it, but did find it very hard-going stamina-wise, although survived!

I had been thinking about going for a 'mum job' - maybe something in a school or college, part-time or term-time only - until I saw this job ad and suddenly thought 'Why am I limiting myself to these jobs when this is the sort of thing I was born to do?!'.

I'm now feeling very torn and confused.

My husband is self-employed and can work flexibly, although occasionally has to travel. He is supportive and thinks I should go for jobs I think look interesting and that stretch me. He can be around some of the time for the kids, my mum lives locally and is happy to help out, and we have changed our childcare arrangements to suit our varying circumstances over the past few years (had a nanny at one stage), so I'm not afraid of making more changes.

I just wonder what other women think? Is it realistic to take on a 'full on' job when you;ve got young children? Particularly interested to hear from mothers who work full time / travel for work.

lol i am a bit like you... see, im looking for a " mum " job as you said but then i often drift and find really nice, well paid and exciting jobs for me and think of applying for them....

but but then i think that if i do, i wont see my children as much, i will be super stressed every evenings, i dont want to do any extra hours anymore etc..

i think it is just part of the grieving process...

what do you want more? an exciting career or more time with your children?very few women seem to have both.
i still havent found my ideal job so im going back to my old one

good luck

Go for it.

I tried to move into more of a mum job recently, but something much more interesting came up and I'm very glad I went for it

Go for it
you'll never know if you don't try and regrets are the hardest things to deal with

I say go for it... As long as you are prepared to actually do the job as advertised.

It says "occasional overnight stays" - what does occasional mean to the employer? You can't say that you are prepared to do travelling etc and then pull the mum card every time someone asks you to go to Bognor Regis - that gets old very quickly.

But it sounds like you are a great fit for this company and have a really robust support system in place - go for it!

Go for it.

DH moved to a job last year that was going to include a lot of travelling. He's been out twice .

Having said that if your DH is happy to share the load and you've got wider family support then it seems that you've got chilcare covered if you need to travel.

If it does turn out to be too much then you can do a year or two then look for something else with a great addition to your CV.

Good luck

Apply for the job and remember that you can pull out of the recruitment process at ANY stage. There's no decisions to be made until there are some offers on the table and by then you should know a lot more about the job. ie the overnight stays may only be a manageable 4x per year.

I work FT and travel 1-2x per week, which usually involves leaving the house at 5 - 5.30am to get to a meetings in different cities for 8am. Occasionally I do late afternoon meetings that get me in after 7pm. My DH and I cover doing the nursery run/getting up/ putting to bed etc for each other for our out of hours starts/finishes. We co-ordinate diaries on a daily basis, as soon as I get a meeting notification I let him know so he can put it in diary and vice versa, and so far we have been lucky not to clash. If we did however we do have family who could step in and help out on an occasional basis.

There is sometimes occasion to have to stay overnight for work but if the location is less than 2 1/2 hours drive from home I will often return home and drive back the next morning.

At work nobody cares that I had no hours sleep and the toddler is sick again and I struggle to get everything done and still be perfectly composed, pulled together and talking sense . There is little sympathy/no excuses accepted, which there might be in less business-oriented roles. But I enjoy the challenge and it keeps me switched on.

Go for it.

I work full time in a demanding job, and I do occasionally have to go away to conferences etc. It isn't always easy, but it's what I want to do, and I feel that I am at least using my skills and talents in a meaningful way - I think I'd be bored stiff in a "mum job". Fortunately, both OH and I are able to work quite flexibly, so we manage all the school pick-ups and drop-offs between us, and we don't miss any school events etc. We also chose to live very close to my place of work, so that I don't waste unnecessary time commuting etc.

If your family is supportive and willing to help out, then I don't see what you've got to lose!

I'd say go for it but I'd try to find out exactly what they mean by 'some travel and overnight stays' - are they talking once a week for one night, once a month for a few nights etc? Also be sure what they mean by 'some travel' - does this mean visiting sites that are 2 hours or so away and putting in a standard 9-5 ie you'll be out of the house at least 7-7. The trouble is people's definition of 'some' can vary enormously...

I found that managing a job like this is ok if one of you is mostly ok to do the home stuff (school runs etc). We were in a similar position to you and luckily my DH's trips away had lots of notice so I could always give at least 2 months notice to my job saying 'I have to be office based that week as I'll be doing shchool runs etc'.