What would you do?

[easylife73]

I currently work in a school admin role, 30 hours a week term-time only. There have been a lot of changes in the last year or so, including two of the managers directly above me, who I find it very difficult to work with. I am not the only one to have problems with these people, and have happily worked with other people for the last six years.

DH works shifts and we have two DSs who will both be at secondary school from next week. Financially we are just about okay, but more income would ease the pressure a lot. It has always been the plan to go full time when the kids were older, but ideally this would have been once they had left school/were doing A-levels.

I am dreading going back to work on Monday, as the way I was feeling at the end of term I could quite happily have walked away. I have seen a job advertised which is 37.5 hours a week, obviously all year round. The financial effect would be an extra £3500 a year (take home).

I know school jobs are like gold dust and giving one up feels wrong (and honestly, I like having the holidays off :)) and it would mean leaving the kids on their own a lot in the holidays (although DH would be home some of the time due to his shifts). Also, I might not get on with a new manager so it could be out of the frying pan into the fire, so to speak.

What would you do? Stay put for the foreseeable and suck it up with the managers at work....or apply for the full time job?

Apply for the new job. Nothing to lose. You may not get interviewed. The current situation isn't likely to change. Speaking from someone who was in the same position

Thanks....just a case of better the devil you know...and the knowledge that if it didn't work out I'd be very unlikely to get another term-time job. Plus, would be very difficult to go to an interview without letting them know I was looking for another job, as we can't have days off due to having all the school holidays.

Bumping for more opinions please

Apply for the new job. If you get an interview, remember that interviews are two-way - it's also an opportunity for you to find out if you'd want that job, not just for them to find out if they want you. And the reality of getting to that point - that will tell you quite a bit about how you really feel about it than thinking about how you might feel when it's not real yet.

(My mother went back to FT work when we were both in secondary.)

Apply for the other job. I swopped a convenient, local part time mummy track job for a new job which is more hours and a 45m commute. It's meant I've not been around as much in the school holidays, but I absolutely love the new job and having a new challenge.

Thanks for the opinions...out of interest, how have you managed school holidays if you're working full time with secondary aged kids? My DSs are 14 & nearly 12, and relatively sensible, they are used to being left in the house alone for an hour or so. Do you trust your kids at home during the holidays at this age or do you do holiday clubs, childcare etc?