Even before we had our first child, I shared with my husband that I wanted to be a full-time mom and a part-time professional. It was an interesting discussion over several weeks or maybe even months that was uncomfortable at times. At that point, I wasn’t sure how it would work, but I wanted to try to make my idea a reality.
When I got pregnant in mid-2010, I worked for a large marketing agency. I had been there for several years in various non-traditional roles. I shared with my boss that I was pregnant. Months before going on maternity leave, I sprinkled the seeds of my interest in a part-time role. The economy was still hurting. The company had done a few rounds of layoffs, even before the economy started to dip. (Marketing agency life is very cyclical and sometimes your company is down, even when everyone else is up.) I wanted to guarantee I had a job, even if it wasn’t full-time, and part-time was what I really wanted anyway once the baby was born. Our baby was born 10 weeks early, so the conversations about work after baby stopped pretty abruptly.
About two months into maternity leave (I took 3 months off), I called my boss to ask her about the general situation I was going back to. She asked if I was still wanting to go part-time, which was still very much my preference. The reality was that I was a non-billable person in a company where being billable mattered, so I was flexible. Plus, the part-time role was a win-win ( I was less expensive to them while still getting benefits and was able to spend more time with our son).
My boss originally wanted me to work 24 hours, but 20 hours made more sense to me (essentially half my previous pay, workload, etc.). When we agreed on 20 hours after some negotiation, she asked for 4 hours each day in the office. I was concerned about finding in-home part-time childcare every morning, so we settled on three days a week. The agreement was that I had to make myself available outside of my time at the office, especially if I had a deadline or if something came up.
My largely project focused role allowed me to cut my workload in half. I worked on projects as my time and expertise were needed. Dealing with unexpected deadlines was hard at times. I often worked evenings and weekends if I was time-pressed, but all that time helped fulfill my 20 hour weekly commitment, so it wasn’t a bad thing. When things did start to pile on, I had to quickly prioritize. Sometimes, that required having tough conversations with people about deadlines and about their needs and priorities.
What it all came down to was sprinkling the seeds and having a discussion before going on maternity leave, understanding the company’s policies, generally having an idea of what I could handle with my family situation, and understanding what needed to be done to fulfill my workload. Negotiation skills don’t hurt, BTW. To make it work, I needed to be flexible when I was away from the office and very accurately track my time so that it averaged out to 20 hours.
My career path definitely took a turn with going to part-time. My role didn’t seem to be as meaty as it was before having a baby. I have worked for myself for about 3 years now as a marketing consultant. We now have two little boys – a pre-schooler and a toddler. I take on projects and clients that understand my schedule restraints and I set expectations upfront. I work part-time while the boys are in school, napping/doing quiet time, and while we have someone help us in our home two afternoons a week. Now it’s all about flexibility, setting expectations from the beginning of a project, and using my time efficiently.
Working for yourself is another set of challenges and I still question some aspects of my career choices and my career path. In the end, though, I do it to spend more time with our boys and be more involved in their lives which was the point of the interest in working part-time.
How did the part-time career path start for you? If you’re looking to go part-time, have you thought about how to make that transition happen?
