Flexible/Part-Time/Work at Home Careers

[Meg O'C]

As I approach 30 and DH and I talk about starting a family and I grow weary of my 50-60 work weeks and my hour-each-way commute, I am beginning to contemplate a career shift. One that will allow me to work from home or offer more flexibility in order to enable better work/life balance. At the same time I still want to feel challenged and that I have opportunity for advancement and that I am earning a decent income. I do like my job and I work for a great company. Occasionally I can swing working from home for a day (I love it!) and there may be a possibility of switching to part-time (if I am still in the same job) when children come along.

However I've noticed that several of you work from home or seem to have careers that offer flexibility to spend time with your children (while they are actually awake).

Not to pry but I would love to hear about what type of work you all do outside of the home or inside of the home (that you are actually compensated for)! What type of schooling or training was required? Is it the career you had before you had children or did you shift gears in order to better balance your work and home life. If you stopped working to raise your family, do you plan to go back when your children are older? Will you return to the same field or start something new?

I know these are personal questions but you are a bunch of smart, talented women and I'd love to hear your thoughts, stories, wisdom.

[KValley]

Hi Meg,

I began my telecommuting job last August. I never expected to be working from home- serendipity led this job to me.

My career has been and continues to be in international higher education. My educational background is French, Psychology (BAs) and International Affairs, Higher Education Administration (MA). Until my present job, I worked at universities coordinating study abroad and exchange programs for college students. I adored it- one of those jobs that people marvelled at and asked "How did you get this job? It must be so much fun" Well, it had its moments- universities are horribly bureaucratic and slow to change-but it was challenging, always interesting, allowed me a great deal of creativity and professional development.

The flipside is that the career was becoming my life. Fine, as it was just my husband and me (still is), but I couldn't fathom having a family and continuing with the same job at the same pace (50-60 hour weeks). My friends were all co-workers and I had little energy to devote to other interests. In addition, my husband and I were longing to return home to the Pacific Northwest after several years away, to be near our families and to start one of our own.

January 2000 we made the decision that Summer 2000 we would move back to Washington State-at the risk of giving up careers, the hassle of selling a home, to start all over. For DH, it was less of a risk as he is a teacher and still had his WA state certification. But jobs in my field, particularly in the popular Northwest, rarely come available. So, I was willing to work at Borders or Eddie Bauer- whatever- and try something new.

In May of last year, I posted the position I was leaving on the listserv of my professional development oganization and by the end of the day I had a job offer. An American university in London that I knew well was contemplating opening a West Coast office to handle faculty and student recruitment and campus relations. To cut my long story short, the West Coast Campus Relations office is in my home. DH and I left the Midwest at the end of July and returned to my hometown in Washington state.

My life and career are 180º different than a year ago.

When I am home, my work day is about 4-5 hours. I am on a full-time, 12 month contract, although I am negotiating to go to a 10-11 month contract, in order to take July and mid-December-mid-January off. I travel about a week a month; more September-Thanksgiving; nothing January, June-July. I travel to universities (my territory is Rocky Mountain states, Southwest, California and the Pacific Northwest- all those really awful places http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif)- No one really understands what I do, except my home offices in Atlanta and London, and my husband! Basically, as I told my SIL, I schmooze for a living. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif No, that's flip- I get paid to be diplomatic and occasionally winsome. And the pay is better than what I was earning at a state institution.

The downsides are that I miss terribly working with a staff- I am a good leader and team-builder and those skills are not being used in this job. It also gets lonely, being so far removed from the staff in London and in Atlanta. I do miss the camaraderie of an office, although I am in daily contact with London and Atlanta. I DON'T miss the politics! And, despite the bureaucracy, I loved working at a university- there is such a strong sense of community.

I went through major culture shock in the Fall- moving back to a place I hadn't been in 8 years, not having the automatic connection to a community and social life through a work place, going from managing a staff to working in my sweats. I had tremendous doubts for several months about whether or not I'd made the right decision. In January, though, life settled down and now I revel in my freedom, the travel is fun, I have time to go hiking, cook, read, write, volunteer, join a church, visit my family, breathe.

I don't know how long I'll stay- I have other interests- among them moving into other areas in higher ed (outside of international, e.g. Career Services, Development, Admissions) or owning my own business (wine shop), raising a family. But for the immediate future, I've got a great thing. DH is looking for a permanent teaching job, which could see us move elsewhere in the state this summer. I can work anywhere, so this is just fine. He has also been accepted to grad school and we could afford that as long as I have this job- so I am blessed that everything has worked out so well.

If he does accept a teaching job, we are hoping to start a family in the next year. I don't know if my job will work with a baby. The at-home part is ideal- I set my own hours, I take breaks when I want- no one hassles me about anything as long as the work gets done. It's the travel part that concerns me. I have decided that I cannot do more than 8 days away from home at a time, but there will be times in the Fall that I will be gone for a week, home for a week, gone for a week- that would be tough to do with kids. But then, didn't our dads do this? Since DH is a teacher, his hours are quite reliable and workable.

One step at a time. By the way, I'll be 32 in September, as a point of reference.

Thus endeth the story of my life. Sorry to ramble on. I'd be happy to answer any technical questions about the vagaries of working from home.

Whew, Julie

[This message has been edited by KValley (edited 05-14-2001).]

[Meg O'C]

Hi Julie,

Thanks so much for sharing your story. Your work situation sounds great - I aspire to a similar set-up. I think I need to just get moving and start looking in to other options. My undergrad degree is in English and my masters is in Human Resources. Most HR jobs require that you be on-site somewhere since you are supporting a "client group." Recruiting, the field I am in now, is a little more flexible - especially with the increased role technology is playing in helping us recruit employees.

I don't know if I would always want to work at home but based on where I am in my life right now, I think it is a good option to pursue given the other things I want to do with my life and the lack of balance I currently feel. I like the social aspect of work but I also really do enjoy being by myself and just getting the work done (in time) but with some degree of flexibility.

Thanks again for sharing your story and good luck with some of your upcoming decisions and endeavors!

[mightyh]

Hi Meg - I've answered this question before for a thread and just re-read my response and I stand by it http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif I'm sure you'll find this interesting reading....
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Forum1/HTML/004479.html

I look forward to hearing more about how people juggle family and career from home or through part-time work in case I ever want to make a job change.

Very cool topic, as it seems a lot of folks on this board are experts in the subject.

And Julie--what a great story... amazing luck! I'm so happy everything fell into place once you took the big step. It's something I can easily talk myself out of all the time cause I am afraid of "what might happen" if I follow a certain dream. You're an inspiration.

And can I say one more time that this whole board is such an inspiration? What a great group of people to come in touch with! Thanks guys...

[GayeC]

My story is not as fascinating as Julie's by any means, but I have tried many combinations of work and family with some success. I have an undergraduate degree in biology and a masters in public health. Before my first child (now age 12) was born I worked in employee wellness programs for a hospital and alcohol and drug abuse prevention for a state agency. When my son was born I took a part-time job with the same state agency. About a year later a great job opened up (full time) and I took it. I stayed in the job for one year but was very unhappy. I did not feel good about my son being in day care all day and I was sooo tired all the time. So I quit. Fortunately, I had developed grant writing skills and I began working as a freelancer for a grant writing company. This arrangement allowed me a lot of flexibility and time with my son and I could take on as much or as little work as I wanted. I also began doing some freelance writing for a couple of regional magazines. The pay is lousy but I love to write so it is stimulating and keeps my skills sharp. I continued this freelance arrangement until my second son turned 3, when I went to work part-time for a hospital. I now work 20 hours a week as a grant writer for a university, and also still do freelance magazine writing.

All of the various work arrangements I've had have good and bad points. The main good point is that they allow a lot of flexibility for my children. Even though they are both in school now (12 and 7) they still need time and attention that would be hard to provide if I worked until 5:30 or 6:00 every day. I am also free to go on field trips with them, help out in the classroom on occasion, etc. The main bad point is that I don't have the income I could have and I don't have a real "career track," so to speak. In my opinion, though, the trade-offs are worth it.

Good luck with your efforts to sort out work and family for yourself. I think that you will find that creative arrangements can be made for those who really want them. Gaye

[BlueMoose]

First, let me make it clear that I am not making a living at this (yet!). I'm a SAHM of 2 kids, 3 and 7 months. What I do 1s make homemade dog biscuits, dog paw christmas stockings, handmade cards, and quilted wall hangings with a woodsy theme. I've been doing the biscuits for 2 years now and am making some money at that. I even made it into the local paper recently. My other products, primarily the paw stockings and quilts are newer, but I have hopes for them. I do local dog and craft shows and sell to some local stores. My goal is to work for myself and actually make some money when my kids are in school so that I can stay at home. Whether what I'm doing now is what I end up doing remains to be seen, but I'm gaining valuable experience and making contacts. You never know what direction you can go off in once you get started! I put a lot of stress and pressure on myself, but it's fun and rewarding and challenging, too!

One good book to get you started is "101 Best Home-Business Success Secrets for Women" by Huff. She also has "101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women".

Good luck!
Chrisi

[cchhbb]

I currently work from a home office and telecommunte. I am responsible for business planning for a large lighting company. I just started working from home a couple of months ago and am not sure about it. I began working from home when the company offered me a transfer and while we were moving, decided to close the Atlanta office.

I love the idea of working in sweats and all the extra time I have. I spent 4 years working for the company where I traveled full-time. Leave Monday come home Thursday/Friday. My personal life is so much richer, but I don't love my job the way I used to. Previously I managed a large staff and was involved in the day to day activities of the company. I miss the rush that I used to get. Also, seeing people everyday.

From an education standpoint, I have a BA in economics and a MBA. I have about 10 years work experience and make a very nice income.

[Gina O]

I started working from home last August when I moved about 70 minutes away from my office. At the time, I worked for a small state agency as a lobbyist, presentor, and policy coordinator (my official title). When I decided to move, I basically told my boss that I either needed to be able to work from home or I would look for another job (not as a threat, but as a reality... I am actually very good friends with him).

I changed jobs in December; I am now working for a small federally funded agency administratively housed within the University of Missouri and about an hour commute. They had been recruiting me for 6 months and I finally gave in. I am now in the office about 3 days a week when I am not traveling. The other two days, I work from home.

My degree is in social work, and my background is expertise in laws affecting people with disabilities. I think for me the key to being able to work from home was being very good at what I do and basically making myself very hard to replace in a tight labor market.

Many people thought I was crazy when I switched back to an hour or more commute to the office 3 days a week, but, I am so glad I did it. My new coworkers are like family to me. There are only 5 of us on site and when we are all together it reminds me of those new commercials with Mr. T and Mary Lou Retton. The job is challenging, fulfulling and gives me the freedom and flexibility to live my life the way I chose. Gina