Anybody in banking, investment banking or finance?

[Fanty]

My husband has told me I need to go back to work as while we are fine day to day, long term (savings pensions uni fees) we are slipping. We live abroad, so Ive been limited in what I could have done, but used to earn alot of money in the City, and can see why if I can double our income, I should be working. And I miss the independence! But Im upset at leaving my son who has just turned two....hes too young for me to leave for entire days....but I dont know anybody else who has enjoyed such a long maternity leave so should just stop whining.

In order to compromise, I told him I will go and sit some exams to shore up my experience (raise salary - reduce hours!!) and that I will try and get into full time work by the time he is 3. I just want to know -

Do part time jobs exist in this sector? Im assuming no. Its just too full of Alphas.
Does the IMC actually help (Im in research, I write, Im not mathsy, and feel this would be a good way of consolidating my knowledge).
How does Edinburghs FS sector compare to London? I dont have it in me any more to pull 60 hour weeks, but I hear my husband.....I need to go back.
Ive worked from home a few contracts in the past couple of years - do any FS recruitment outfits deal in working from home jobs? I cant find any.

Thanks
Im just so out of the loop :(

Part time jobs do exist, but it depends very much on your experience and interests. If you aren't already qualified then studying accounting at this point probably isn't worth it. Can you use your skills to work from home by starting a business? Could you train as an Financial Advisor?

Im an investment writer, so apart from a degree, then a journalism qualification and a pile of dusty dry reports on random companies, I have nothing!!

I'm not in London or Edinburgh but work in the financial sector as an accountant; from my experience it's been very hard to find part time jobs - most PT people have already been working FT for the company and reduced hours post maternity leave.

Another option may be to find a larger company that has a salary sacrifice scheme where you can buy additional days off and reduce your working hours that way.

thanks, think i will just have to suck it up, compress hours, force husband to work from home one day per week, and rope in granny. Cant stand the thought of little chap being fed dinner by somebody else while we gaze at our blackberries.
boo.

So I'm an IT contractor in the city - not directly FS but maybe not disimilar and likewise - PT roles are unheard of. I was really concerned about going back to work after 14 months off but it worked out really well - LO is in nursery from 8ish-4.30 but she really enjoys nursery and i am i doing it for the greater good of our family. My point is, maybe this will work out better than your hoping.

I work in finance. I went back to work full time and then requested part time hours after a year. I have never seen a part time role advertised in my field, but I do have a lot of ex colleagues who work part time. Only one of those managed to negotiate part time from the start, but she had to take a demotion and a massive pay cut. The others either worked at the place full time before having kids and negotiated part time on return from mat leave or did the same as me.