Now that you have kids, would you have picked a different career

[Anonymous]

I totally would have. My career has ZERO flexibility and no option to ever work remotely. Sucks.

[Anonymous]

Oh, of course! If only I had a time machine!

[Anonymous]

Are you going to inform you DD or DS about the importance of jobs that will offer the family balance they may want. My parents only worried about getting 'any' job, not a job that would better fit my longterm life goals

[Anonymous]

What jobs are these?

[Anonymous]

You didn't know that the career you chose had zero flexibility?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to inform you DD or DS about the importance of jobs that will offer the family balance they may want. My parents only worried about getting 'any' job, not a job that would better fit my longterm life goals

I think the more general problem is: our life goals change with the birth of children and it’s so hard to anticipate that.

[Anonymous]

My career sort of evolved to fit with my choices. I'm one of the lucky attorneys. I spent five years in biglaw in New York working, working, working. I moved to DC and worked at DOJ for four years (and in that time got married and had two children). I left DOJ and went in-house and worked at a company that had a very liberal leave and work from home vibe. And on top of it, the company was across the street from my kids' daycare and 15 minutes from my house. I would literally go home and crock pot dinner and clean during my lunch break. It was great until it went out of business, sadly. Now, I work at a trade association. It is a strict 8-4 schedule, which is fine. I drop off my kids in the morning at SACC and get them a little before 5. Sometimes we go to karate or kumon, but generally we are home by 6. I've always made a decent living, but I've had to hustle and job hop, which some people don't enjoy.

[Anonymous]

Yes! I would have never gone into anything education related. The pay is horrible and the hours are horrible. I would have gone into corporate America and at least would have been paid for the long hours.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I would have went into dentistry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My career sort of evolved to fit with my choices. I'm one of the lucky attorneys. I spent five years in biglaw in New York working, working, working. I moved to DC and worked at DOJ for four years (and in that time got married and had two children). I left DOJ and went in-house and worked at a company that had a very liberal leave and work from home vibe. And on top of it, the company was across the street from my kids' daycare and 15 minutes from my house. I would literally go home and crock pot dinner and clean during my lunch break. It was great until it went out of business, sadly. Now, I work at a trade association. It is a strict 8-4 schedule, which is fine. I drop off my kids in the morning at SACC and get them a little before 5. Sometimes we go to karate or kumon, but generally we are home by 6. I've always made a decent living, but I've had to hustle and job hop, which some people don't enjoy.

Hi! Fellow person who moved to a trade association for the work-life balance (moved from management consulting).

[Anonymous]

Unless you choose something that you know has very little flexibility - like classroom teaching or surgery - it has much more to do with your career path (a lot of which is luck) and the companies you end up at etc. It’s rarely about the field. And flexibility issues will change as technology changes as well.

[Anonymous]

I have great flexibility and love my work but only get 60k. Good thing DH earns more. My DD is choosing not to pursue an MD for work life balance concerns, as well as the cost and length of med school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have great flexibility and love my work but only get 60k. Good thing DH earns more. My DD is choosing not to pursue an MD for work life balance concerns, as well as the cost and length of med school.

Doesn't it depend hugely on specialty? My brother is a dermatologist that does mostly cosmetic work, all at his office, no hospital work. He has a great lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to inform you DD or DS about the importance of jobs that will offer the family balance they may want. My parents only worried about getting 'any' job, not a job that would better fit my longterm life goals

That's the rub. A lot of this is rather dependent on your SES.

[Anonymous]

I chose a career that has great flexibility and ease to work for yourself. However, since I worked for 13 years before I had kids, I would’ve chose a more demanding career and worked my butt off and then taken my foot off the gas. I also would’ve gone for an advanced degree to set an example for my kids. I was terrified of incurring debt at the time.