Working mums
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Reading discussion "Working mums" - Join this discussion / 1 comment(s)
This one is an issue very close to my heart....
when I first had our son things were fine - I was working for a large company, with a great manager that was happy for me to return to work 4 days a week. He was also understanding in that he knew that occassionally I may be slightly late / have to disappear early because my son was ill and needed taking to grandparents. (Having said that, I think it only happened twice, in each instance it was only about 30 mins and I rarely took lunch, so things easily evened out). But then redundancy... oh great! This meant having to look for a job that would be challenging, allowed me to get our son to and from nursery (not feasible for dad as he had to commute too far each day), pay enough to cover the cost of nursery, and allow me to feel as if I was Me as well as "mummy".
As any mum who's tried looking for work will know, this is much easier said than done. I was very fortunate in that I found something only 15 mins walk away - not challenging or well paid, but I decided it was a good opportunity to test out working full time. It actually worked out OK work wise because my manager soon gave me extra responsibility and the money to go with it, but it was a contract, and I soon realised that being full time was a real challenge. It meant that most of the time we had at home as a family was spent doing "chores" of one sort or another, so very little fun was had. Through word of mouth, when that one finished, I found a part time project manager role - more travel, but shorter hours and similar money, so a great compromise (plus the area of work I want to be in).
That's me, and things have worked out OK for me, but while looking for work on the two occassions, I found it VERY demoralising. If you want to work part time you have to have a history with a company that's flexible to let you do hours you want, or at least a compromise with them; you set up your own business (I couldn't cope with the unreliability of income); you do admin or sales work.
What about all of the professionally trained / skilled mums out there? I'm a project manager, but what about lawyers, doctors, nurses, service manager, accountants, financial controllers, programmers? Do you get to work part time and use your skills and expertise? Or do you have to take a decision to put your career on hold for a few years until longer hours are more feasible?
There's always the option of Dad reducing his hours, but then that means that he has fewer opportunities.... or you both work full time and really feel the pressure of it all (I know some mums manage, and I admire both them and their families, but it's not for me).
there are websites around such as Mum and Working, but they have sales or franchise jobs, a few admin ones, plus childcare. Or you can always try temping (rarely covers enough for the nursery costs) by registering with someone like Hayes or Reed. I've found that jobs on Monster and the likes, tend to be sales related or require significant financial outlay to purchase a "license", "franchise" or to attend a training course, which isn't feasible when you have a young child around.
I'm now working for a small business, and have had exposure to a number of others through family and friends and I'm convinced that there is a requirement there for matching skilled carers (I'm including anyone who's hours are restricted by looking after someone) with freelance roles. Some may be regular jobs (e.g. an accountant needed monthly for 1 day for a small business) and some may be one offs (someone needed to assist in getting a large presentation together for a client; a new website design and build), but in all cases, the client / employer needs to know that they are getting someone that they can trust to do the work without having to pay agency fees.
Does anyone know of any job boards for this sort of thing? If so, let us know, I'm sure that there are lots of people reading this that would be interested (UK, US and Australia). Are things any better in other countries? Let us know.
Reply to this
This one is an issue very close to my heart....
when I first had our son things were fine - I was working for a large company, with a great manager that was happy for me to return to work 4 days a week. He was also understanding in that he knew that occassionally I may be slightly late / have to disappear early because my son was ill and needed taking to grandparents. (Having said that, I think it only happened twice, in each instance it was only about 30 mins and I rarely took lunch, so things easily evened out). But then redundancy... oh great! This meant having to look for a job that would be challenging, allowed me to get our son to and from nursery (not feasible for dad as he had to commute too far each day), pay enough to cover the cost of nursery, and allow me to feel as if I was Me as well as "mummy".
As any mum who's tried looking for work will know, this is much easier said than done. I was very fortunate in that I found something only 15 mins walk away - not challenging or well paid, but I decided it was a good opportunity to test out working full time. It actually worked out OK work wise because my manager soon gave me extra responsibility and the money to go with it, but it was a contract, and I soon realised that being full time was a real challenge. It meant that most of the time we had at home as a family was spent doing "chores" of one sort or another, so very little fun was had. Through word of mouth, when that one finished, I found a part time project manager role - more travel, but shorter hours and similar money, so a great compromise (plus the area of work I want to be in).
That's me, and things have worked out OK for me, but while looking for work on the two occassions, I found it VERY demoralising. If you want to work part time you have to have a history with a company that's flexible to let you do hours you want, or at least a compromise with them; you set up your own business (I couldn't cope with the unreliability of income); you do admin or sales work.
What about all of the professionally trained / skilled mums out there? I'm a project manager, but what about lawyers, doctors, nurses, service manager, accountants, financial controllers, programmers? Do you get to work part time and use your skills and expertise? Or do you have to take a decision to put your career on hold for a few years until longer hours are more feasible?
There's always the option of Dad reducing his hours, but then that means that he has fewer opportunities.... or you both work full time and really feel the pressure of it all (I know some mums manage, and I admire both them and their families, but it's not for me).
there are websites around such as Mum and Working, but they have sales or franchise jobs, a few admin ones, plus childcare. Or you can always try temping (rarely covers enough for the nursery costs) by registering with someone like Hayes or Reed. I've found that jobs on Monster and the likes, tend to be sales related or require significant financial outlay to purchase a "license", "franchise" or to attend a training course, which isn't feasible when you have a young child around.
I'm now working for a small business, and have had exposure to a number of others through family and friends and I'm convinced that there is a requirement there for matching skilled carers (I'm including anyone who's hours are restricted by looking after someone) with freelance roles. Some may be regular jobs (e.g. an accountant needed monthly for 1 day for a small business) and some may be one offs (someone needed to assist in getting a large presentation together for a client; a new website design and build), but in all cases, the client / employer needs to know that they are getting someone that they can trust to do the work without having to pay agency fees.
Does anyone know of any job boards for this sort of thing? If so, let us know, I'm sure that there are lots of people reading this that would be interested (UK, US and Australia). Are things any better in other countries? Let us know.
Reply to this
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This article in the NY Times talks about how important the skills are that parents gain at home looking after children and how they can improve an individual's ability to manage difficult situations at work. This is more fodder to the debate that skilled parents should be able to return to work flexibly as they bring such valuable skills to the market place.
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