Flexible remote admin work

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I am in employment (earning £90k) in a role that I can more than easily fit into very few hours a day. I know it sounds crazy, but with mortgage, school fees and extra curriculars (nothing fancy - just music really!), we basically break even every month. I realised I spend a huge percentage of my time at work doing life admin, etc. - basically I can get my work done well and v quickly. I think with an extra £1000 a month we would much more comfortable, and yet I have found myself a very nice space here that I don't want to move out of (people leave me alone, I get my work done, and I can still pick up my children from school, do the food shop during the day, etc.) so I am not in a rush to get a new job.

Crazy as it sounds, I LOVE admin - is there a remote part-time admin job I could take on for a couple of hours a day (basically equiv of one day per week)? Any leads would be very much appreciated.

(Before anyone remarks, I know I am in a v fortunate position, don't need anyone to tell me to pull my kids out of current school, choose a smaller house, etc. We don't live fancy lives, we have banged up old cars, shop in Aldi and holiday in the UK. Just a number of circumstances that have come together meaning we're very fortunate, but I would like to maximise my earning power right now.)

What about an evening job, working in a pub or something like that?

Really useful, thanks everyone (I guess except the person saying it must be a joke - have you considered that comparison is the thief of joy?) Pub work - no, I have a family who need me in the evenings I’m afraid! And my husband and I prioritise a date night each week.

Not too worried about my current role. I consistently hit targets, line manage well, am a good mentor to junior staff, do a good degree of internal continuation development work for the dept, etc. so I reckon I could get away with it.

Right, sounds like tutoring would be a good shout, even if it’s through another agency rather than setting up my own. Any leads on good ones? I’d probably focus on fairly easy content for younger secondary school children (n.b. NOT saying teaching is soft - just that I don’t want to have to learn A Level calculus for this! Or teach primary kids how to write - I think that’s the hardest of all!) Alternatively, anyone want to join forces and set up a company together?!

This. You already have a job. I can't believe this is for real.

Hi OP

I am looking to change careers and would love a work from home job like yours I can fit around kids. I am not being funny here or trying to be rude but I am really interested in the field you are in and how you got into it.

Thank you

This sort of reaction genuinely interests me. Are there a whole lot of extremely competent people looking for jobs that are being snapped up by otherwise more lucratively employed people? I would have thought any it’s just up to employers who they want to employ - there’s no moral onus on anyone to take or not take any particular role (I don’t think it’s like wealthy people stealing from food banks for example). It is an interesting discussion though!

How can I have your job please?

There is a disincentive for employers to hire overqualified people for entry-level roles. Is this an aspect of what you are thinking of that you are not aware of?

The job market is extremely competitive at the moment and flooded with people who have been made redundant. Every role has multiple applicants. Some people really need a job to pay their bills.

Do you think that there is a moral onus on an employer to employ someone who would be less effective at a role than I would just because that individual needs the money more than me? Because that’s the logical corollary of what you’re saying.

What about a job in a supermarket? I'm look for a one for a shift or two a week. Not just the money but the discount on food.

I agree with this. Admin is a skilled role. Not many employers want someone who is doing it as a side hustle or stopgap.

Proof reading? Friend does this as a part of his job.
He also has a side line proof reading secondary and uni papers. I know he did a basic course for it, but I don't think it took long to complete.

So you need an extra £1,000 a month.

Then when someone pointed out that you would pay 40% tax on any extra earnings, you said you would use it to offset your pension.

Yeah, that'll work.

Check your work policies, you may well have to get approval for taking on extra work. And good luck getting that approved when you’re intending to work for other people during your actual working hours…

From a practical angle, a friend of mine in a not dissimilar situation did shifts as a telefundraiser for a charity. They worked for a charity whose cause they supported, could do the work from home, and it’s more clock-in-clock-out. I couldn’t do this myself but it suited them. It’s minimum wage work but if you’re skilled at it you can add value for the charity you’re working for at the same time.

The kind of employment arbitrage you seem to be imagining is not there: as I said before, if the idea you have was doable it would be being done by others. The same is true of tutoring: you can’t cream off the easy to tutor kids who are not in exam season and kick off a lucrative side gig on the back of no experience. Tutoring takes prep time so the hourly rate you set has to be spread across hours to cover that; you would have to market and build a reputation, or work for an agency with their own requirements around pay, hours and standards.

OP, in the event you're serious, you might find more help over at https://www.reddit.com/r/overemployed/

By the way, I'm a content writer. If your understanding of the other jobs you've suggested is as shallow as your understanding of what content writing involves, you'll be in trouble.

I mentioned this upthread. Something in the OP’s posts makes me think their job is local authority, public sector, or academic. Maybe having less awareness of how firms hire, and what they look for, assuming they’re a better prospect than someone less qualified…
I can’t think of a professional role where an employer would be OK with someone taking on additional paid work during their paid hours.
No offence intended to OP.

Field is consulting/project management. I am paid far less than market rate because I worked internally, but the flexibility and work/life is worth it. Question - how old are you and at what stage in life? Because I put in the late nights and hard work before I had kids - I wouldn’t want to do that now.

If you're employed as a consultant, I'm unsure why you would think that consultancy wasn't "really possible in (your) field"?

If there is such a job can I have it please as my benefits are probably going to be cut off as the government doesn't believe in mental illness.
You already earn loads of money, I don't think you should be talking low level admin work for which you are vastly overqualified.
People who have experience in office admin but not much education would be the ones getting work like that. It would only be minimum wage or a little above anyway.

Lots of external consultants take on secret multiple consultant roles - some more successfully than others! I’m not suggesting that, because you end up doing them all badly. But I genuinely don’t believe some of the roles I’m suggesting would be as taxing as those positions.

OK I hear you on multiple contracts - freelance is the way to go I guess.

I hear you all too on the admin stuff. If anyone has any good leads on tutoring agencies then I’d be very interested! I could prep and deliver from my computer.

Used to be a management consultant. Not anymore. And I don’t want to go back into that field - I don’t have time!

If I can help at all with applications, CVs, interviews etc then please message me!

My DH is in the same position as you. However it was me who got the promotion as it made more sense financially (tax reasons) and he picked up more work at home, making teas tidying house, washing etc. This way we both get more free time outside of work.

Not read the whole thread but what about fostering (assuming you have space) you get paid and are available for school runs etc? I'd be careful working in another job when you're already employed I'm sure I read something about a tax code changing and your employer would know