When did you move from your part time family friendly job back to a career?

[morleylass]

My current situation is that I have 2 dc, 9 and nearly 12. I have been back at work now for over 5 years in a part time job which is reasonably flexible and have gradually been taking on more responsibility (I am an IT developer), however as I went back to work on a considerably lower salary than I left on it is taking me a long time to move up the salary scale even though I have had a promotion. I feel now that I am getting underpaid for my role (and have mentioned this) but with payrises the way they are currently, it is going to take me years to move up the salary scale to get anywhere near where I think I should be. I therefore think the only way I am going to do this is to leave.

The thing that is holding me back is that my area is very good for flexible working and I am worried that I will regret losing this flexibility.

So finally I get to the point, if you have moved jobs to get back onto the career ladder how has it worked for you? Are you glad that you did it, or is the hassle of a full time job which is more demanding (but better paid) not worth it?

MLx

my DCs are 10 and 8 and I went back to 'career' 2 years ago

it is frustrating not being able to go to assemblies etc however as a single parent I would rather teach my DCs that you have to work for things rather than sit on benefits, plus I was starting to feel like I was starting to be over taken by people that I had previously recruited/trained and I was better than and I realised that I have seen other women take time out or work part time and then never reach their full potential

I have over 35 years left in my working life and that's a long time to regret not having pursued my career. I have an excellent relationship with my DCs and we probably spend more quality time together than some of their freinds do with their parents as I make an effort to make the most of the time we have together, and I don't miss out on bigger events such as school plays as you tend to get a bit more notice of these and I just use some of my leave

It is hard work and I'm often doing housework in the evenings after they have gone to bed but it works for us

Thanks, that's a positive pov. I don't get to assemblies now either but do the bigger things like Sports Day etc. Now ds is at High school I don't have to attend events during the school day anyway so that should get easier in a couple of years when dd moves up.
The thing i think I would miss is my day off as that is when I catch up on things but I expect I would get used to it. Hmm, things to think about!
MLx

Interesting thread! My flexible PT job is soooooo dull but it's flexible and family friendly and 3dpw so I should love it apparently.

My two are only 8m (am on mat leave) and 3.5 so I plan to grin and bear until they are both in school at least. Yawn!

Watching with interest. My DS is 6 and I work part-time. I like picking him up from school two days per week and having his friends over on one of those days. My job is also pretty much stress-free due to lack of responsibility, which I find is conducive to a happy home.

However, I am starting to feel frustrated and have been looking for other jobs, but this would inevitably mean going full-time with childcare every day after school and most of the holidays. I only need to cover three days per week in the holidays at the moment which is manageable. My DS says "yesss!" when I tell him I'm picking him up after school on Thursdays and Fridays, and he enjoys his down-time in the holidays too.

So not sure what to do...I am a late starter to my "career" (it's a job at the moment really) so need to put my foot down if I want to get anywhere, but am torn. Maybe things will change when my DS is a bit older...or maybe not - I think teenagers need a close eye/lots of attention too!

Look forward to hearing others' responses.

I'm currently dbeating this. Mine are 8 and 4. I am bored in my role and really want to get stuck in to my career again, as I wuld like to be in Management and earning a good salary in the next 5 years, but that old childcare chestnut rears its head a lot. Interested in others replies!

I'm in exactly the same situation as WildSpinning, right down to the number or days I work and my DS's age. I've only been pt for 2.5 years, before that I worked ft from when he was 6mo but it all got too much juggling everything, especially as a single parent, so I requested to go pt and was accepted.

Now I know money isn't the most important thing in the world but I've realised recently that unless I go back ft at some point, I'll always be renting a tiny house, have a 12yo car that costs a fortune in repairs, and will spend the rest of my life struggling financially. But if I go back ft I get the stress of juggling everything again like before and miss out on doing the school run twice a week. So it's a huge decision, which is probably why I haven't made it yet .

Having similar dilema, with a twist.... Recently adopted DS who's 5. Problem is that DH's salary is only just covering our basics and we're eating into savings at a scary rate each month. On top of this I'm really missing work and thought that having a 5 year old would mean this would still be possible. However, have the guilt dumped on me by social services about neglecting our son and not bonding with him, plus me feeling ungrateful that after longing for a child for so long that I now want to go back to work. But we're bonding well and in so many ways he's a very typical 5 year old. To be honest we get on great when we don't spend too much time together!!! He craves other children to play with so after school clubs could be a more structured way of giving him this. Figured I could pay for a cleaner if both us parents are working then weekends would be far more chilled out family time....or am I just kidding mysef?!!!!

mumat44, congratulations on your ds. I don't think there is one solution that fits a family. I've worked f/time with my oldest and it was only possible, I think, for the following reasons:

1. I had good flexibility in the job, hours were not dictated
2. I had been in the job for years before dc's so the job itself wasn't a massive challenge or didn't involve a steep learning curve.

3.My oldest was a very good baby and later an independent child who thrived at school.

However since my youngest was born I've worked mostly part time. He is a very different child, poor sleeper and struggles with school and he has needed much more support and ideally I would only work p/time. Financially we need a full time income but I think we will have to struggle for a while longer (unless the ideal job comes along - interesting, well paid with great flexibility!)

Is part time an option for you? School age dc's can be quite demanding, trying to facilitate play dates, supervising the increasing homework, being around to fix social and emotional issues, coping with the sick days and holidays etc.
I did try full time a while back but ds really didn't enjoy the lengthy childcare and I reluctantly had to give up work. I would say it's worth trying to work full time and see how it goes.

I went self employed when DD was born 14 years ago
I will NEVER work full time for anybody else ever again thankyou.
I LIKE having August off.

mumat44 - in your circumstances, I would return to work! Your DS isn't used to having you running around after him/in your space every second of the day as a bio child with a SAHM might be - you probably do both need your own lives in order to have the best possible relationship.

TalkinPeace2 please may I ask what you do for a living, especially as it's so flexible that you can take the whole of August off which sounds wonderful ? I'd love to go SE but feel I don't have the transferable skills to do so. Also do you have a partner bringing in a steady wage? As a lone parent I'd worry if I couldn't get enough work being SE. Just wondering how it all works out for you, as someone who's worked SE for a long time.

I'm an accountant.
Neither of us has had a steady wage for years.
DH is self employed as well.
We go from broke to flush and round again regularly!

I definitely don't have the skills for that .