Career with work-life balance

[Anonymous]

Dh is a statistics analyst/programer and had great work-life balance. Works from home, has time to work out and take care of errands during work hours on most days.

[Anonymous]

Stay calm. You are feeling this way because the baby is still an infant and goes to bed super early. In a few years their bedtime will be later. Could you cut down to 30 hours at your job temporarily (for maybe a year)? That might be enough relief for your to get through. Hang in there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work Monday-Friday in an Admin role with an infant at home. I need a change and am open to going back to school. I would be open to working weekends or evenings (temporarily), as long as I can be home during the day or most of the week with my little one.

I know nursing is a good path but was wondering if anyone had any opinions??? Thanks!

By the time you are done with your 4 years of full time school to be a nurse, Your infant will be in school. Plus nursing school is not at night.

Your only options are shitty retail or restaurant jobs, but you won't see your kid on the holidays.

I have a schedule that allows me to work from home whrn I want, but I had years of work experience in that field (IT) before I had kids.

Actually, Accelerated BSN programs are 1 year long. Some are 1.5 to 2 years.

[Anonymous]

I think an admin job is the definition of work life balance. You don't really go home and think about stapling papers and pouring coffee, do you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think an admin job is the definition of work life balance. You don't really go home and think about stapling papers and pouring coffee, do you?

That's not what I do all day.... but yes I like that I leave work at work.

[Anonymous]

As someone else pointed out you are after a unicorn.

The jobs that pay well while allowing this type of flexibility require an investment in time/effort that is going to be way more grueling and harder on your family than your current admin job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a patent agent friend. GS 14 12 years out of school. Works out of home all week, meets the kids bus everyday and has a booming photography business.

this is just the patent agency, though -- they ran out of space and kicked their senior employees out. Most of them work work from. That said, after the recent scandal, their computers and time management are monitored like you wouldn't believe. Not sure how PP's friend gets out of doing her job and taking pretty pictures instead, but as a taxpayer, I'm dismayed. That's the definition of waste, fraud, and abuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone else pointed out you are after a unicorn.

The jobs that pay well while allowing this type of flexibility require an investment in time/effort that is going to be way more grueling and harder on your family than your current admin job.

I am willing to put in the effort to learn new skills and/or go to grad school/nursing school. Of course it won't be easy but I would rather 1-2 years of hell than 18+ plus years of what I have now.

I never said "I want to make a ton of money, work very little, while staying at home with my kids."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone else pointed out you are after a unicorn.

The jobs that pay well while allowing this type of flexibility require an investment in time/effort that is going to be way more grueling and harder on your family than your current admin job.

I tend to agree with this perspective. DH and I both have a lot of flexibility and reasonable hours with good salaries, but he's developed his expertise in the 20 years since he graduated from college, and I have a PhD. An accelerated BSN might be the quickest path as PPs have described but that takes some time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Second career nurse here getting ready to head in for night shift. I think you'd like my gig----I work two 12s (Friday and Saturday night), get paid for 30 hours, and have full benefits. That said, it was a long road to get here (both in terms of going to nursing school and then establishing seniority as a nurse). I personally hate night shift but this is a good schedule for my family right now----I'm home 100% during the week. Twelve hour shifts take more of a toll on my body at 40-something than I estimated---and I'm a pretty active/high-energy person. One bit of advice if you decide to pursue nursing----make sure you go for a BSN program. Associate degrees in nursing are becoming obsolete---especially in the DC area---it's tragic to see the students coming out of ADN programs that can't find jobs because employers want a BSN. I'm so glad I was given this advice as well. I'd encourage you to check out the accelerated BSN programs at Marymount or Georgetown. University of Maryland also has a good BSN program, but it's not accelerated. Depending on your previous degree(s), there may be prerequisites that you need to take to be accepted into nursing school (A&P I and II, Nutrition, Microbiology, etc). Best of luck from someone who has been down this road before you!

Thanks for your post.

[Anonymous]

OP, it isn't just 1-2 years of hell and then a flexible job. To get to a point as a patent agent, pharmacist, data analyst, nurse, it takes not just 1-2 years of school but additional years when you're at the bottom of the pecking order and expected to take hours where you are covering for the senior person who wants a vacation with their kids.

[Anonymous]

Is there a way you can look into part-time admin jobs or customer care type work where your hours are a little different?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, it isn't just 1-2 years of hell and then a flexible job. To get to a point as a patent agent, pharmacist, data analyst, nurse, it takes not just 1-2 years of school but additional years when you're at the bottom of the pecking order and expected to take hours where you are covering for the senior person who wants a vacation with their kids.

Sorry... I was mainly referring to nursing. Obviously becoming a pharmacist, accounting, etc take years and years.

And yes you are right... it'll take a while to get the desirable shifts.

[Anonymous]

Do you really want to be getting the worst shifts and going through the emotional wear and tear of being a nurse early in your career while your kid is young, though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think an admin job is the definition of work life balance. You don't really go home and think about stapling papers and pouring coffee, do you?

I work in a massive agency and I have never seen an admin pour coffee in 15 years, except their own. Are you posting from the 60s?