What am I doing wrong in part time work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP from above. You often only have to stay in grade for one year and then you can move up if you can show that you are performing at a higher level grade. Sometimes you have to move out to move up, but conceivably you can get a substantial raise every 1-2 years if their are positions available.

*there...clearly good spelling was not one of my best skills.

[Anonymous]

There's better part-time work out there. I did association leadership and consulting for a couple of years after I had my kid and got to do the strategic, thought-partnership-type work you're describing.

I wonder why the part about your boss being 28 is bothersome to you? Maybe worth some reflection there.

[Anonymous]

My experience with working PT is somewhat similar to the PP in the niche role with control over her schedule. I am very, very good at my job, and it’s been my experience that people who are good at their jobs get more difficult work. There are limits to what you can do- I have refused to transition to a supervisory role because I don’t think I could do it well without being available on a regular schedule. But I have also developed a lot of experience and a reputation for getting sh*t done. I do really challenging work and am a subject matter expert on some key topics for my work. Think long and hard about what you can do well with your current hours and think about how to demonstrate that. It’s likely not going to be managing a big team but there’s almost definitely work that you can do that’s interesting and important. But you may need to eat a little humble pie when it comes to hierarchy etc…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's better part-time work out there. I did association leadership and consulting for a couple of years after I had my kid and got to do the strategic, thought-partnership-type work you're describing.

I wonder why the part about your boss being 28 is bothersome to you? Maybe worth some reflection there.

Because I too was at one point at 28 year old know it all and now realize how much experience i was actually lacking! (i say that tongue in cheek.....but I do know well where I was at 28 with 4 years work experience and an mba versus now at early 40s with 10 years of actual operator experience)

Is the strategic / thought partnership work you do now consulting work? Can you give me a few examples of the types of projects / work and how you structure it? In my 20s I was a consultant doing project based work at a big consultancy. At the start-up I was at, the ceo (and therefore all of us) were a hard no on consultants unless it was just to outsource a functional area in the early days (accounting, compliance) or perhaps like one half day of expertise in something like health insurance contracting strategy. We strongly felt that we knew the problem we were trying to solve / our product / the nuances of our environment far better than any consultant with general expertise could.

Which is now where I talk myself out of being able to be an independent consult. My exec roles were on the operator / customer success / partnership side, so its not like I can pitch myself at a part time CFO. And I drank the koolaid that i'd never be able to go in and tell a ceo how to better roll-out a product / service than they'd know living and breathing it ever day, except perhaps if they're very early stage and inexperienced in which case they couldn't afford a consultant. I clearly need to expand my own thinking on the value I could bring as a consultant or the type of work an org could use a consultants help on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do project-based work where I have deep knowledge and experience (and also have a bit of niche knowledge that you don't find everywhere). I work anywhere from 5 to 40 hours a week but have lot of control about how to allocate that -- for instance I do not take new projects on in July or August, and even on weeks I work 40 hours, I can allocate it as I want (I can work half days all week and pick my kids up from school every day, and then put in a couple evenings and a full day on the weekend while my DH does something with the kids, and it adds up to 40 without me having to put in a 9 to 6).

My work is interesting and challenging. It's not as fulfilling as it would be if I did it full time because I cannot take as much ownership over projects as I would otherwise -- I'm always working with a consultant who "owns" the project and then I am a contributor. But my contributions are substantive and significant, I am often the primary resource for entire subject areas for the client, I have a ton of leeway in designing my part of the project, and I am well respected by everyone I work with. I don't do any admin beyond what I would do even if I was full time (all jobs have some admin work these days).

For me the key was figuring out what I had to offer that was unique and highly valuable, and then finding a way to sell it to a consulting firm, and their clients, as being worth paying me on an hourly basis when I was available, as opposed to needing to be full time. I think it's a very symbiotic relationship. When my kids are older, I do intend to take on more projects, though I'm not sure I'll ever return to true FT work because the flexibility of my current situation is too good. I love having the power to say "no", to carve out portions of my year where I simply do not work and won't even begin projects until after I return. It's glorious.

How did you figure out what was unique and highly valuable? How do you sell your expertise (eg do you give thought guidance on an hourly basis? do you do projects that apply your expertise to their situation)? I think I'm too narrow in my thinking of what my expertise is and how to apply it beyond the specific org I was in just assuming other companies already have that expertise for their own context. I'd love a couple examples of the type of projects you take on if you don't mind

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do project-based work where I have deep knowledge and experience (and also have a bit of niche knowledge that you don't find everywhere). I work anywhere from 5 to 40 hours a week but have lot of control about how to allocate that -- for instance I do not take new projects on in July or August, and even on weeks I work 40 hours, I can allocate it as I want (I can work half days all week and pick my kids up from school every day, and then put in a couple evenings and a full day on the weekend while my DH does something with the kids, and it adds up to 40 without me having to put in a 9 to 6).

My work is interesting and challenging. It's not as fulfilling as it would be if I did it full time because I cannot take as much ownership over projects as I would otherwise -- I'm always working with a consultant who "owns" the project and then I am a contributor. But my contributions are substantive and significant, I am often the primary resource for entire subject areas for the client, I have a ton of leeway in designing my part of the project, and I am well respected by everyone I work with. I don't do any admin beyond what I would do even if I was full time (all jobs have some admin work these days).

For me the key was figuring out what I had to offer that was unique and highly valuable, and then finding a way to sell it to a consulting firm, and their clients, as being worth paying me on an hourly basis when I was available, as opposed to needing to be full time. I think it's a very symbiotic relationship. When my kids are older, I do intend to take on more projects, though I'm not sure I'll ever return to true FT work because the flexibility of my current situation is too good. I love having the power to say "no", to carve out portions of my year where I simply do not work and won't even begin projects until after I return. It's glorious.

How did you figure out what was unique and highly valuable? How do you sell your expertise (eg do you give thought guidance on an hourly basis? do you do projects that apply your expertise to their situation)? I think I'm too narrow in my thinking of what my expertise is and how to apply it beyond the specific org I was in just assuming other companies already have that expertise for their own context. I'd love a couple examples of the type of projects you take on if you don't mind

I think I’m in a very different field but for example- there are certain projects that are known to be very hard, require big team coordination (not management). I expressed interest in those, demonstrated that I could them on my schedule and people gave me harder and harder ones. I also agreed to mentor newer people both on subject matter and strategy, which I really enjoy. None of those things happened in my first year. Basically volunteering to do difficult work and do it well. Repeat over and over, proving you can do harder and harder things. Do the occasional hour or two at night if it makes things possible- it is worth the trade off for me for more interesting/meaningful work. But I was very careful to agree to or request projects I was sure I could do well.

How many hours do you work? If you are at 10 or less a week that might limit things a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I took several years off from full time work, and just went back recently. It was disappointing that I ended up getting a job with the same salary that I was making when I took myself out of the full-time workforce.

Why is that disappointing? Honestly I think you should be glad you didn’t take a cut. Your earning potential doesn’t grow while you’re out of the workforce (unless you are a Fed and then coming back at the same level means more money)

[Anonymous]

I’m about to do something similar but made my role 9-3. I think the time allows for a bit more of interest and it falls into the block of time that kids are in school.
My role will be Chief of Staff and I have previously ran large teams as head of function. I no longer crave the race or rising, to be honest. Any spare time I’ll use for family, self-care, board work or investment opps. Perhaps this perspective works for you, too?
Chin up and remember: There is more than one way to skin a cat!

[Anonymous]

Maybe you can work with a recruiter or network to find a more substantive position that also allows enough flexibility to meet your family commitment. It sounds like you are not in a financial crunch, so you can take the time to find the position that is a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I realize there’s so much privilege in this question - I’m not whining, I’m just trying to understand if this is just a wrong role, or I’m unrealistic or what

I left an executive job at a later stage startup because something had to give between my husbands and my career for our kids sake. I built things, ran large teams, was key to org, etc. I loved it.

I’m happy to be able to make sure my kids have a very present parent but never desired to be exclusively a sahm. I want to professionally do meaningful things and put all my experience etc to use. I’m not kidding myself in thinking I’m critically important or unique, but I want to be challenged and to feel like my being there matters to the org.

Everyone suggests part time work as the ideal alternative to still get professional fulfillment while also having time to be primary parent. But from my experience so far, part time roles are more junior helper type roles. You’re not doing anything critical and no one is depending on you. Which I get - if you can’t be there for the key meetings, or push work fast, or be the thought partner whenever another exec needs you, you can’t be leading the important work. What I get in my current pt role (despite having a senior title) is just to be available to help or little exploratory side projects. To me it’s 0% fulfilling and feels like I’m giving up a lot of flexibility for just having a professional experience that’s making me feel bad about myself (eg navel gazing about how did I go from leading xyz to making this 28yos ppt for them and doing basic research)

Did I just land a dud of a role? Is there any way to be both part time and still have the important work / leadership?

There is no way to be part time and do important work/leadership. Nope. You have to choose. Or: you can have it all but not at the same time.

[Anonymous]

You need to look for a job where you are more of an independent contractor with tracksnle hours. It’s likely more tedious snd independent work but still challenging and flexible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to look for a job where you are more of an independent contractor with tracksnle hours. It’s likely more tedious snd independent work but still challenging and flexible

Tracking

[Anonymous]

I was part time for a few years (32 hrs / week). I didn’t work Fridays and it was fine. I’m in government where a lot of my colleagues flex on Fridays so there weren’t often meetings. I even promoted during that time.

[Anonymous]

“There is no way to be part time and do important work/leadership. Nope. You have to choose. Or: you can have it all but not at the same time.”

This is not true. I used to work for a female director in finance who worked 9am-3pm to accommodate her kids schedules. She did not take work home nor work weekends. This is how she balanced her life, and she worked with a very good company and had a great career and reputation. She was able to ramp back to full time after her kids went to college, got promotions, and she recently retired after a satisfying career.

So yes it is possible to be part time but still do leadership and important work. The key is having a presence, reputation and brand before you need to go part time, so your leadership is willing to take a chance on you or fight for accommodations on your behalf. You have to pay your dues.