Is there such a thing as £60k+ part time/term time career?

[workingmum6]

I currently work part time days and for this I get paid well (£45k ish)

The business is good, they mainly let me get on with my own work but the stress is high. Never ever do I finish on my third day and that's it until the next week. I would say I probably work 4-4.5 days every week and it's almost expected of me.

The office is over an hour away from me and I'm expected to be in as much as possible. I have a little one along with step children and throughout the week it's a constant battle trying to get back in time to do the pick up or just be there before they go to bed.

I'm also freaking out at the thought of when he starts school and how I'm going to manage the school holidays.

Are there any jobs that can pay well part time or term time? I'm in business development and I wasn't sure whether schools/colleges/universities look for business development/relationship management.

Any help would be really appreciated!

I'd be interested in this unicorn 😂 currently on £36k if I was full time though (I'm not), so!

So you're looking for a £15k pay rise and to work part time?
Sod the nhs, can I do what you do?!
What is it?!!!

Part time yes - term time possible but unlikely. Local authority- Education dept. I very much doubt you’ll just step into a job at that level though…
Would you take a pay decrease if able to wfh?

If you work 4.5 days that must be 30 hrs, maybe more? What are your contracted hours? Can you just do those at the office and wfh for the rest?

Assistant head teachers / Heads of subjects I think might get about that? It would take a long time to get there though.

Maybe something in finance or sales maybe?

Haha I know I am very lucky to be in my position but also, it's very stressful!

Sorry I should have worded my post better (first time using MN) Yes I'd love a £15k pay rise but I'd be looking for a role where I can potentially earn that in time. I would actually take a small pay cut to WFH or work locally. The miles I travel either to the office or out on site is crazy!

Maybe I should be more grateful. I thought I'd put it out there just in case there were any unicorn jobs I'm unaware of

What's your current job? You might get some more tailored responses... not from me, i mean 😂

@workingmum6 Become a barrister. Once you get established what you want is certainly very possible if you avoid the criminal bar.

Big 4, term time plus part time available and almost fully remote- few days a month in office.

By business development do you mean sales? If you're good you'd get that with commission on a part time basis surely.

But to be big4 surely you need professional qualifications?

Teaching if prepared to work your way up?

I earn c.£50k and work independent school term time only so 18 weeks a year away from school. I do bring home LOTS of work during term-time evenings/weekends and have to plan etc during the holidays but love the flexibility.

However, I have got here over a 20+ year career and have lots of management responsibilities. Depending on what you do now, you wouldn’t have to start at the bottom though and it is a fantastically rewarding career for the right person.

How part time?

Educational Psychologist. Private work can earn you that & more, part time & term time only. It’s highly qualified & competitive though.

Part-time, yes. I just went to half time at my old job. They pay me proportionate of my old salary. Even part time it pays enough that I just hire help or let my child choose activities to attend during breaks. I’m not paying for wraparound care so I just save up for paying for summers and other breaks.

Possibly at a university / business school. Depending on the subject and the school.

It sounds like you need to set better boundaries with your currently role. I was rubbish at this before I had my son.

Set your contracted days/hours and work to them. Maybe 10% over but not whole days. Put a reminder in your calendar to 'go home' or an alarm on your phone.

Are full time colleagues that are contracted for 40 hours working 7 days? If not why are you giving them more time.

Start a routine that is known to be your day or 2 a week working from home. They may prefer you in the office but know Wednesday you work from home the business with adapt.

You can apply for unpaid parental leave when your son starts school which gives you 18 weeks in total to use by the time they are 18.

You haven't addressed the core issue. Their expectations are unrealistic. But you risk by raising it, possibly losing this job, when they realise? Why are you working a 3 day job over 4.5 days. So instead of being paid £36 p/h, you are working for £24 p/h. Why are you doing this?

Try working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, so you can mop up the week properly on the Thursday. Also less time between workdays.

This. If you do business development it won’t be fully remote as you’ll be expected to meet targets face to face, but I’m sure some of the Big 4 BD managers will get paid what you’re asking for. Some are commission based too, so opportunity to earn more.

Not for a business development role.

This can't possibly be a serious suggestion. For most working parents retraining as a barrister is totally out of reach.

Have you thought about going self employed? I do this and earn around 48k a year for working 9-3 with as much flexibility as I like.

It means during half term I can usually take at least 3 days as holidays and for longer breaks work more evenings to balance things out.

Unicorn 😂

Yes I did as an in-house solicitor for a sports company. On occasion I might be called in in the holidays for an urgent matter and even then it was very flexible and could be arranged around football or hockey days etc or dealt with wfh.

But I was already qualified and established in private practice so I am not sure you would be able to requalify to access such hours.

Might it be better off renegotiating how many days you could wfh where you currently work and or seeking to set stricter boundaries around actual working hours you do. It can be very easy to end up working full time hours when you drop to part time but only losing eg. one day.

If she has a degree already it actually can be easier than many realise.