Unicorn of a job - does this exist?

[Anonymous]

I would seriously consider 1099 work. I do marketing operations freelance work and bring in $175k per year, which offsets the cost of paying my own insurance.

You could do some freelancing / consulting to get your feet wet, then figure out which area of marketing you want to be in. I find ops works well with a young child because I don’t have to take a lot of phone calls, it’s a lot of building, fixing and reporting.

[Anonymous]

Why can't your kids go to aftercare so you can work regular hours at least? Full time status with part time hours, 100% remote and flexible is a rare combination.
I have some of this as a professor in college - full time with benefits, set my own hours, and a good deal of flexibility with timing meetings during the school day.
However I do work in person when I have classes at least 3x a week and sometimes have to let my kids drop in to aftercare.

[Anonymous]

Thanks from OP. I value your input and ideas. And I have bookmarked and reviewed all of the websites mentioned by PPs here. Thank you.

I do not have any background in education or HR, so unfortunately a job in teaching or in a school or as a professor or in recruiting is not going to be possible. I feel that I have been too long out of the game to consult, and also would have some imposter syndrome trying to go that route TBH.

I have completed some certificates for marketing-related technology and have tried to stay up on market trends, but I do not have actual experience in newer platforms, just training. I have reached out to prior colleagues and am networking, along with working with recruiters and spending hours a day trawling on career pages.

I am a marketing generalist without a typical "hook" that ports easily to discrete projects (like graphic design, UX, editing, e-commerce), and that is proving to be a negative differentiator for me.

The FT in person angle is difficult. I am on wait lists for aftercare, including the YMCA, JCC, Boys and Girls Club, local tae kwo do studio, etc. in my town and the few surrounding it, along with the four formal programs the school engages with. I'm just way behind with that in a heavily populated area because I had no clue I would be needing these services until recently. My only option would be to be to find a permanent sitter if I must be FT on site. I am not against that but also am not sure how easy it will be to find a reliable person.

Remote work (with 1-2 days hybrid) and 30 or so hours would be ideal. Even if it is lower paying, and I keep financing my medical insurance. I am trying to look at this next year as a building year and just find something that works for now. A year from now if I can get the aftercare set up for the 2024-2025 school year then I would want to find something FT and in person if required to start building up finances.

[Anonymous]

The aftercare wait lists will start to move as soon as school starts. A lot of people sign up on all the waitlists in the area, and don’t call to remove themselves when they get into their preferred place. So it becomes a domino effect as the school-based program goes through its waitlists.

[Anonymous]

School bus driver

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School bus driver

Apparently we’re not supposed to suggest school-based jobs for OP.

[Anonymous]

You don’t need any experience these days to become a teacher. Just a college degree in anything is enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could use some career advice, please.

I am coming off a long hiatus from the workforce after being a SAHM. I am now a newly divorced single mom with two elementary aged kids who will be living with me full time. I need to find a job that I can do remote for 30-40 hours per week while my kids are in school that has flexibility in order to take them to school and pick them up in the afternoons (one of my kids requires medical appointments late afternoons twice a week). Hybrid would be hard but I could make it work if it were 1-2 days a week and I could find a dedicated babysitter.

I have 20 years experience in corporate marketing and a Masters degree. I am OK returning to something entry level and low pay to get my feet wet again; I used to be at senior manager level but know I may have to start again at an assistant level. I am also OK doing a career pivot, and have been looking at other options like a virtual secretary, but even that somehow is hard to break into. I prefer a W-2 job to a 1099. I would love benefits (paying OOP for medical for myself now, luckily kids are covered still on their dad's plan) but know I likely will not get them if not FT.

I have been scouring LinkedIn, Indeed, Idealist, SimplyHired, Upwork, SimplrFlex, FlexJobs, and other sites without much success. I have my profile submitted to temp agencies and recruiting firms, and am spending time networking, have a career coach hired, and reworked my resume.

Any suggestions I am not thinking of? The only other option I am sad to admit I am considering is cleaning houses because I can do it when the kids are at school.

Yes! I just negotiated this. 9-3 pm, Director-level role so I could pick up my child. Remote with ocasional travel for team meetings 2-3 times a year.
Negotiating skills are key!

Good for you!
Not op but is this in marketing as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks from OP. I value your input and ideas. And I have bookmarked and reviewed all of the websites mentioned by PPs here. Thank you.

I do not have any background in education or HR, so unfortunately a job in teaching or in a school or as a professor or in recruiting is not going to be possible. I feel that I have been too long out of the game to consult, and also would have some imposter syndrome trying to go that route TBH.

I have completed some certificates for marketing-related technology and have tried to stay up on market trends, but I do not have actual experience in newer platforms, just training. I have reached out to prior colleagues and am networking, along with working with recruiters and spending hours a day trawling on career pages.

I am a marketing generalist without a typical "hook" that ports easily to discrete projects (like graphic design, UX, editing, e-commerce), and that is proving to be a negative differentiator for me.

The FT in person angle is difficult. I am on wait lists for aftercare, including the YMCA, JCC, Boys and Girls Club, local tae kwo do studio, etc. in my town and the few surrounding it, along with the four formal programs the school engages with. I'm just way behind with that in a heavily populated area because I had no clue I would be needing these services until recently. My only option would be to be to find a permanent sitter if I must be FT on site. I am not against that but also am not sure how easy it will be to find a reliable person.

Remote work (with 1-2 days hybrid) and 30 or so hours would be ideal. Even if it is lower paying, and I keep financing my medical insurance. I am trying to look at this next year as a building year and just find something that works for now. A year from now if I can get the aftercare set up for the 2024-2025 school year then I would want to find something FT and in person if required to start building up finances.

Look into getting certified with Salesforce. It’s free and many organizations use it. You could be a client success manager at an agency or do it remotely on your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of my neighborhood friends work from home most or all of the time. Lots of in-house lawyers, feds (some economists and scientists) and financial services back office (like HR, etc.)

Yes, what they like we did not leave the workforce for a very long time, which is a completely different situation. Work from home most of the time comes with seniority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would consider moving. Lots of lovely small cities without any waits for after care, camp, etc. Do you have family somewhere?

This is also a very good point.

No way would I live in the DMV with kids if I wasn't married (with two healthy incomes)

NP. I’m divorced with two kids in the DMV and there’s nowhere else in the country I could really work… most divorced people would not have the option of moving anyway because usually both parents have custody and you can’t leave the area. The suggestion of moving for most divorce parents is an impossibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Community college professor. Best job when kids are small.

You should realize that these jobs are almost impossible to get a new usually need a PhD to get them. A masters degree isn’t enough an adjunct work doesn’t pay as much as Starbucks baristas get.

[Anonymous]

You can definitely do this. Target small businesses. They won't have hard-set work hour policies like big companies do, so you can win the trust of the owner/manager and negotiate from there.

[Anonymous]

Sales

[Anonymous]

My non-profit is like this - but, it would be hard to get in the door asking for flexibility off the bat. I’d apply at places that get high marks for flexibility on Glassdoor and advertise themselves as hybrid, focusing on something that matches your experience, and get yourself an au pair for the first year.