Looking for academics/lecturers for advice!

[ChilliPepperPlant]

Hello! I wonder whether there are any academics/lecturers out there who might be able to help with my dilemmas? I will try to put it in a nutshell but it's a bit complicated. Anyway, here goes:

I had a previous career, but have just got a Phd. I'm currently on maternity leave but would really like to remain in academia. The thing is, all the jobs out there (that I've seen so far) are full-time and I'd really prefer to work part-time. So first question is, is my best bet to apply anyway, and in the event that I got a job, negotiate to PT at some point following this?

The alternative for me is to try academic life again once I'm ready to work FT. The thing is, I'll be in my late thirties by then, which seems a bit late to start a new-ish career! I don't know how this would sit with potential employers?

Final question (if you manage to read this far) is this. My understanding is that as an academic you work hard but have a reasonable level of autonomy over how you use your time? Is that still true? With school age children, are you able to spend at least some of the holidays with them? Or am I dreaming!?

Thanks in advance - I know this is a relatively obscure and long post, but any thoughts would be very welcome.

Just v quickly - I am managing my own time but have loads to do

If you started FT and wanted to negotiate down to PT, you would just wait until your dept has to save some money and then swoop in and offer to go PT. Depts are always being asked to come up with savings and if you time it right you could be getting your HoD out of a tight spot.

I am considering going PT but the dilemma is, even if I have a reduced teaching and admin load, I would still have to keep up with everything in the constantly-changing worlds of research, university administration etc in order to perform effectively - I find this keeping-up-with-everything is what takes the time for me. So I am not sure how much it would really help.

The thing about having control of your own time is a double-edged sword, because the trade-off is that although you don't have many firmly timetabled hours, the ones you do have are pretty much sacred. If you miss teaching it causes huge problems for everyone and huge ructions. My dh and I are both academics and whenever it looks like a child is going to go down with something we get out our diaries and it's either 'Fine, they can be ill this week!' or total dismay and stress. We have had to make the grandparents postpone their holiday before now when we were both teaching and had no other cover.

Just another thought, in response to Libra's and Kathy's posts: my own experience (and that of colleagues) is that you wouldn't see a huge amount of your children if you worked in academia. As it happened, my DH was able to look after my DS at home for the six months when I was at work following his birth. If I hadn't had DH at home, I'd have had no choice but to have DS looked after by nursery/childminder/whatever from around 7.30-6.30 for the four days a week on which I was teaching (yes, not many hours of actual teaching - but once you've got there early to see students and stayed late to go to meetings/do admin, it's easily 6.30 by the time you get home). And if you really do intend to research, you'd end up with the same problem for the vacations and "free" day per week - so in that respect, it's pretty much like any other professional job. It's one reason I'd have given it up even if I'd enjoyed it...