Where are the non-full-time jobs?

[Flat-6]

Due to time needs in setting up a business, I'm looking to dramatically cut my working week.

I have been looking for months, many months, over a year in-fact, for any sort of job in my area (Derby) or work-from-home, that I could do 1/2/3 days a week.

I have tried talking to a few employers but universally they seem to think they need someone strapped to a desk 5 days a week (they mostly don't really)

My main area of work is IT infrastructure and support (SME)

Any ideas chaps??

I don't want to dump my IT work entirely as my new business will take a few months to ramp up and obviously need to keep some level of income to cover bills and caviar.

[benjeffrey]

Both in the same line of work, currently on a 6 month gig in Birmingham.

WFH contracts have always been something I've wanted, but in Infrastructure it never seems to be the case. Best shout would be more of a Pre-Sales role, I've seen a lot of these been advertised as remote, although I can imagine the client travel could end up being most days.

Depends on your level of experience, but I could imagine a lot more Infra Architects being allowed to be remote, worth a stab at achieving TOGAF and moving in that direction (Experience permitting of course)

Is the new business in a similar line of work?

Edited by benjeffrey on Tuesday 20th March 14:28

[Flat-6]

zubzob said:

Too much hassle to manage. More training costs and overheads.

The work world has a clock, 9-5. Monday to Friday.

Edited by zubzob on Tuesday 20th March 14:36

And this is why the vast proportion of the UK's workforce are unhappy, taking anti-depressants, have no life outside of the drudgery of work, and have no "work-life-balance".

What line of work are you in "zubzob"

Edited by Flat-6 on Tuesday 20th March 15:41

[anonymous-user]

They seem to be very rare, I picked up first 3 day gig, late last year so I could focus on other things, it didn't work out at all and I ditched it after 2 months, they were expecting 5 days work in 3 days and the two day gap was a nuisance when communicating with colleagues and customers. It didn't help that the 4 directors were toxic and pretty clueless beyond their own specialities.

[SystemParanoia]

zubzob said:

Good for the worker though. The work got done,

This is my sole aim for my future career
I hate wasting time, fuel, money and having to maintain a vehicle purely to facilitate something i hate; commuting

I will fix my work life balance perfectly, as life starts the split second i finish work and i can enjoy my children growing up instead of being an occasional observer that's never home due to "work" and "commuting"


uugh

[Flat-6]

SystemParanoia said:

This is my sole aim for my future career
I hate wasting time, fuel, money and having to maintain a vehicle purely to facilitate something i hate; commuting

I will fix my work life balance perfectly, as life starts the split second i finish work and i can enjoy my children growing up instead of being an occasional observer that's never home due to "work" and "commuting"


uugh

Yep. This.

I don't understand the mindset of people who will commute 2+ hours each way, spend 1/3rd of their daily income on just getting to and from work and wasting several hours of their own time, to get home, eat, have a dump and sleep, just to get up and repeat, day after day.

On a short-term contract, this may just be bearable, but permanent? No.

I'd take a contract where i had to do say 1 day a week in London and the rest from home.

My new venture will be a mixture of from home and "on site" (2 miles from home) - Hope it works as I'm 20k deep before even starting!

[Bluesgirl]

I WFH, both running my own business and doing clients' work. I started a P/T job before Xmas which was advertised on Indeed and was happy to go out to work after many years WFH. However, it transpired that the job was very solitary in the office (small biz, sales force out all day etc) and the directors agreed it would be sensible to WFH as it didn't matter when the work was done as long as it's done (accountancy). So I'm back WFH since Xmas and it works well, although the social side of work which I was missing is still missing, but on balance its ok. I think it works well because the personnel got to know me for a few months before we changed over, so they know I'm reliable, get the job done, interested in the business etc, whereas otherwise employing someone to WFH, they would hardly get to know you before handing over responsibility for managing your workload, possibly dealing with sensitive company data etc, so taking a big risk, to my mind.

Of course, I realise that there are far more P/T jobs around for accountants to start with, but perhaps looking for something that starts as office based but could be transferable later on might be worth pursuing.

[Hoofy]

zubzob said:

The work world has a clock, 9-5. Monday to Friday.

9-5? That's very generous of you.

[marcosgt]

This is interesting.

I'm planning to work 3-4 days a week going forwards, but I am suspicious that it'll be a case of working 3 days, but being available for 5!

I'm looking to have a bit more time to do what I want, rather than having to stare at a computer or be on the phone 40 hours a week.

I'm going to give it a few months and see how it goes.

M

[Hoofy]

Before I quit my last full-time job, I went down from 5 days to 4. It was more or less manageable although I did get the feeling most weeks that I was fitting 5 days into 4. Then I went down to 3 and it really felt like I was cramming 5 into 3 so went back to 4. And then I decided to quit.

[Tempest_5]

I went down to 30 hours a week due to domestic circumstances but this was with an employer I had been with a while. You may have to establish yourself for a bit on the standard 37.5 hrs a week then try to reduce it.

Wrt the work life balance I was sold a job on the WFH thing, the problem was the employer isn't quite as keen on this as I was lead to believe. Most days I end up commuting 3 to 3 1/2 hours so I'm totally shagged in the evenings. My Strava has flatlined as I never have the time/energy to ride the mountain bike anymore. The children are moaning I grumpy all the time. I also need to help them more with up coming GCSEs. Unfortunately I work in a specialist field and my choices of employer are a bit limited.

So check you are getting what you think you are getting before jumping.

[Flat-6]

Tempest_5 said:

3 to 3 1/2 hours

Each way???????

would it not be better to just B&B?

[Flat-6]

Just to add to this - I have had a chat with my manager this week, and I'm now on a 4 day week :-)

He's over the moon, as (because I'm a contractor) his IT budget has increased by a good £1k a month now :-D


Now I just need this thing to work.
I have a lot to do. A LOT.

Edited by Flat-6 on Friday 23 March 00:34

[smashy]

Re that 9-5 schtick ........car sales at a local independant........one day off during week every other sunday off hrs weekday 9-7 sat 9-6 sunday 10-5.......they are having a laugh .you would have to be pretty desperate to suck on that

[User name]

smashy said:

Re that 9-5 schtick ........car sales at a local independant........one day off during week every other sunday off hrs weekday 9-7 sat 9-6 sunday 10-5.......they are having a laugh .you would have to be pretty desperate to suck on that

Fine if you're being paid by the hour plus commission......
But salary .. They can shove that one.