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Original poster

what careers suit school hours?

45 replies

madgirl · 08/10/2003 09:04

Hello! Mumsnet Jobs team here. We've noticed this thread is fairly old now, and some of the information is out of date. We've put together this article of advice, tips and tricks to finding a job that will allow you to work within school hours. We hope it's helpful!

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My ds is 2 1/2 and both dh and i work full time. Howeber, I hate not spending much time with ds so from January am going part-time in my current job, or if they don't allow me to i will chuck it in and find sth else. in the meantime tho ds will be starting school in the next 2 years and i want to be at the school gates to pick him up, and not worry about holiday childcare. I know it sounds as if i want the ideal, and what everyone wants but i am just looking for some ideas as to what i could do/retrain for in anticipation. My problem has always been lack of imagination so one of you mumsnetters might spark sth off!

OP posts:
WSM · 08/10/2003 09:25

Sounds obvious but what about Classroom Assistant ? You'd get school hols and your working day is as long or short as the school day. I'm sure your local college would do courses.

aloha · 08/10/2003 09:39

What do you do at present? What would you like to do, ideally?

WSM · 08/10/2003 09:41

To be honest you could pretty much do anything, most places are happy for you to job share or will fit your working hours around school times. I think anti-descrimination legislation has forced this move TBH.

Beccaroll · 08/10/2003 09:55

Im thinking of the same thing...

Im off on maternity leave at the moment and wont be going back to my previous full time job. I need to think and find something ready for January.

I was thinking of classroom assistant and doing a special needs course while Im on mat leave.

Rebecca
xxx

waterbaby · 08/10/2003 10:34

Good luck girls! Working at a school in one form or another is an obvious way to match the holidays/school times pretty closely... as long as you like that many kids.

I've been working for a fairly family-friendly company and as WSM suggests there is a lot of legislation to help now. But, and it is just a but, based only on my experience and that of close friends, the company can have all the family-friendly policies it likes, if its not really rooted in the ethos of the company and most importantly the department you are working in, it might not make your day any easier.

I've had so many difficult situations (needing time off when DD was ill etc) and been made to feel under so much pressure - even had work couriered around to me because in my bosses opinion if I was taking leave at the last minute to be with a sick child I shouldn't mind double checking some reports so that they could go before the auditors that day in my absence etc. I've put my foot down but doing so has caused problems with colleagues, so my advice is make sure the policies are in place, but also check out the department you will be working with, and ask them lots of questions at interviews etc.

waterbaby · 08/10/2003 10:43

I think we have now found the perfect answer to this question: we've set up our own business and have chosen how many hours a week we want to work.

I feel a lot more confident now, knowing that I can work pretty much when I want to - day, evening, weekends, and vary it at a moments notice (and without any pressure) if I need to. A friend who works in the same way recently took all of the kids holidays off - not just reduced hours, pretty much off, and thats what I'd like to be doing when DD goes to school. Childhoods are so precious aren't they?

Its not for everyone, but I wanted something that would fit around our lifestyle, not have to cram our family life around someone elses timetable.

CnR · 08/10/2003 10:54

School based ideas: Classroom assistant, some form of school technician (science, ICT, technology, etc), office/cleric staff, receptionist, school librarian, learning support teachers/assistants, learning mentors, etc. Some of these may need training and/or qualifications, I don't know. Also some office staff do work in holidays so that is worth finding out in advance as well.

M2T · 08/10/2003 10:56

I work in the engineering industry which is still massively family UNfriendly. I would love to go part time, but in here if they want you out they will force you out! One bloke was off for 4 weeks ill. When he returned they told he had to move to another project for work experience. The project was 200 miles away and he would have had to live in dige Monday - Friday. He handed in his notice. That seems to be the nature of this place. If you can't give 100% yer out!
There are some things that legislation can't help..... having a bastard of a boss being one of those things.

Sonnet · 08/10/2003 11:00

I havn't found that WSM....any jobs going where you work?.

I was the first "manager" in my large blue chip company to go part time on return from mat leave with child number 2 - I have encountered a lot of predudice from collegues and management and it dosn't mean i don't get extra reports to compile etc that eat in to my non-working days. Also, SCHOOL HOLIDAYS are a nightmare!!

Re-trainning as a teacher, class room assist, school secretary, running your own business/freelance/consultant work are the only answers i can see!!

waterbaby · 08/10/2003 11:02

Your not in my x2b-office are you M2T?
Four working days left and watching the fireworks as they try to replace me with TWO blokes and temp.... might have stayed if they had given me a bloke and a temp.. or then again, might not

waterbaby · 08/10/2003 11:06

Well done for paving the way for others in your company Sonnet, sorry its not as easy as it could/should be... Even in the city, can't say I could be paid enough to put up with those things (reports on days off/my examples below) long term. Come and work with me!

waterbaby · 08/10/2003 11:08

Other school ideas: for people who love their kids but not other peoples
How about Uni work - even shorter terms, although not all jobs have vacations when students do, some might? There are some academic MN's who might know.

marialuisa · 08/10/2003 11:20

Uni work is not an easy option! I know, i do it! Admin type staff do get around 36 days hols a year including bank hols etc but otherwise it's just another office job. Some posts are easily done P/T but the pay can be quite low compared to commercial sector.

The teaching/research side is also no soft option. It is assumed you will love what you do so much that extra hours will be a joy to do. DH currently does about 50hours per week, rather than the alloted 35. Lectures can go on until 6 or 7 in the evening and some unis may require you to teach on outreach programmes that are miles away and again can be evenings or weekends. To get a lecturing position in most places you need a PhD or be working towards one, and will be expected to train for the PGCHE.

Research jobs, generally you will need to have some sort of post-grad qualification, this is increasingly common as so many graduates go on to masters courses and still can't get jobs. Your hours will be entirely dictated by the whims of your boss. so, at the moment i am allowed one day per week at home, but can end up staying until 8pm some days (if I'm, doing interviews or something). These posts tend to be short-term contracts, usually 3 years maximum, so no real job security...

OK, rant over! As you may have gathered i'm trying to get out!

waterbaby · 08/10/2003 11:41

Sorry Marialuisa - had no idea and did not mean to cause offence. Sounds hard work - you can join me too if you like

marialuisa · 08/10/2003 11:48

It's ok Waterbaby! I'm giving myself mumsnet breaks today as I'm analysing data, so boring!

I might stick at it if we got the same hols as the students!

Sonnet · 08/10/2003 12:02

I'll come and join you waterbaby..now what shall we do? - something that pays well and means we can leave at 3pm and get all holidays off!!oh, and something where we can lurk/post on mumsnet all day

waterbaby · 08/10/2003 12:15

Thats true, I'm not sure I could foot the bill for all of our MN usage...

Batters · 08/10/2003 15:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sonnet · 08/10/2003 15:26

sorry Batters - whats HE work??

Jimjams · 08/10/2003 15:44

Just to say if you decide to apply to be an LSA for a SN child then you don't necessarily need any experience. DS1's LSA has just been appointed- she'll be working full time one to one with him eventually and has absolutely no experience of autism at all. She's getting lots of training (which of course isn't costing her anything). So if you decide to go for that then don't feel you need lots of training pre-applications.

fisil · 08/10/2003 18:38

I think it's been said before about teaching - it is great for holidays, but has its downsides too.

I am finding nowhere near enough time to get my job done to the standard I want to do it. I will never be able to book an afternoon of leave to watch a nativity play when ds goes to school or ever be able to pick ds up from the school gates. No nursery opens early enough for me to drop ds off, so have to rely on dp. And the kind of energy that teaching zaps from you is exactly the type that you need for playing with your own kids in the evening.

But but but, I love my job, and would (and do) encourage anyone to go into teaching. It just isn't the perfect solution for people with kids that people think it might be.

CnR · 09/10/2003 08:46

As a teacher I agree with what fisil says about teachibng still having downsides RE family hours. It does bother me a lot that I will never been allowed time of to see DD (when she goes to school) in her nativity, ballet shows, assemblies - yet most school expect to see parents, including my own!

Also, with teaching you have to work out what to do with children during parent's evenings, open nights and school trips. DD's nursery doesn't open early enough or late enough to cater for those things, and DH works miles away from DD's nursery and doesn't have a car.

So, yes teaching can be great for families but you do need to consider all aspects of the job - it isn't just 9-3:30.

Batters · 09/10/2003 12:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Cornflower · 09/10/2003 12:20

i am a civil servant - v family friendly. thety do flexi time when dd is school age i want to do term time only.

layla · 09/10/2003 14:27

I work as a PA for a disabled couple so my hours were negotiable and suffice to say I work around school hours so I can pick them up from school.Holidays I guess Iam really lucky because right from the beginning I told them I wanted a family friendly job and I take the kids to work with me.