This month is all about the transition to a professional part-time role. I will be sharing different aspects to help you think through this transition as the next step in your career. I’ll share my own experience and research in addition to tips, insights, and advice from the more than 110 professional part-time working moms who I interviewed for my two books.
Why Talk about Career Transition Now?
Why talk about this in the summer? While summer might not be idle for making changes in your career, it’s a great time to start strategizing changes you want to make when kids are back in school in the fall. It takes time to find the right opportunities and make the changes you want to come to life. And back-to-school time is a natural time when as working moms (and dads), we look at our lives and see if we want things to be different as the new school year starts.
You’ve gone through the summer and realized you want certain things to change that either happened in the summer months or during the previous school year. Likely something has triggered this interest and this is a great moment to explore that. Whatever that catalyst was, you want to make sure it’s for the right reason.
Why I Work Part-time
I worked in the corporate world for more than 12 years in a full-time role. When our older son was born more than 8 years ago, we had to make some pretty big changes quickly. Sure, motherhood changes things, but our world was turned on its ear. You see, our older son was born 10 weeks premature and was in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for 5.5 weeks.
I had worked for a large marketing agency at the time and, thankfully, I had paid maternity leave (through short-term disability) for 8 weeks. And then I took another month via sick time and vacation days. Shortly before coming back from my 12-week leave, I negotiated a transition to a part-time role with my then manager.
I work 25-30 hours per week in my two businesses and I can’t imagine going back to a full-time job at this point in my life. I want to be the one who picks up my young boys (we also have a 5.5-year old) at the end of their day. And, besides, working part-time allows me to have more of the work-life balance that I’m looking for. There is no question that this became increasingly more important to me after having a demanding job for years.
For those wondering why I didn’t simply walk away from my career, the reality is that I like working. I love the opportunities I have to help shift how working moms and dads as well as company leaders think about balance. I like using my expertise and experience to help companies with their strategic marketing challenges. Having my own goals and achievements outside of motherhood makes me a better mom. It helps with my own personal identity and keeps me satisfied in all areas of my life.
hours or will it require less office time and fewer hours?
The Importance of Understanding Your Motivation
When I interviewed more than 110 professional part-time working moms for the book I’m writing, one of their collective key pieces of advice is to figure out why you want a change – your motivation. You must understand the driving force and that will help you figure out what actually meets those needs. It helps you create a roadmap to see what things to include or to leave out as you make the transition.
You must figure out what works best with your own situation and that of your family. Your “why” will be your guide for what types of roles you should take on and what to avoid. Focus your search, whether internal or at other companies, to roles that provide the parameters and flexibility you’re looking for.
For example, if you want to spend more time with your child as the driving force behind making a change, then look for a job that you can do the days and times your child is in school so that your work doesn’t cut into your family time.
Or maybe you want time to spend with your aging parent who is having health challenges. Are there appointments, which you’d like to be present for? Will that require a job with more flexibility and not necessarily fewer
How to Figure Out Your Motivation
You know you need to understand why you want to make a change. How do you figure out your what’s motivating you, though? These are some of the questions or types of questions to help you figure out why you want to change your career approach and give you some answers.
- Ask why you want this change. You know your motivation (e.g., spending time with your kids), but what is the “why” behind that? Ask “why” a few times to the real answer behind your motivation.
- How are you feeling at work? Are you wanting change for the right reason or are you angry and frustrated about things at work? Only you can decide which is the case.
- Are you still excited about your career? Maybe it’s not a transition to part-time that you need. Do you need a career overhaul? Maybe you need to transition into a new career, not a new career approach. Perhaps it’s time to engage a career coach to make this happen and not simply look for a new job.
- Will having more time make a difference in your day? Do you need more time or more flexible time or both? This can help you decide if a part-time role can fulfill your needs or maybe a flexible schedule is a better option.
- Do you have time constraints? Is bonus time around the corner? Is it the holidays? Do you have a big conference coming up? Understand any potential time constraints and how they might affect your transition to part-time and your thinking about making changes.
As you read this and do some thinking, what have you uncovered? What’s driving your interest in making changes and considering a part-time role? Can you make those changes in your current job or do you need to find a new role, either internally or at a different company? Or is it time to start your own thing?
If you’re looking for help to uncover some of these things, my Know Your Why Guide can help. Dig into why you want to change things so that you know what to change and who to help you make those things happen.
