Championing part time work
by: Sarah Maple | Total views: 3 | Word Count: 549 | View PDF | Print View
Part time job aren’t just something that you get whilst you’re at college or university in order to fund your leisure exploits. Professionals would do better to describe part time work as a lifestyle necessity rather than simply a choice for the otherwise occupied or lazy. If you have children or have to care for anyone else in the family some of the time then part time work offers the right flexibility to incorporate these other essential commitments. Part time work is a great way to ease back into the working world if you have been absent for a while and it could also be the perfect way for people recovering from an event or illness without diving back into the deep end too soon.
If painting or writing music or prose is your passion, no one expects you to be able to follow your dreams on a pittance. Unless you happen to be going out with a Russian Oligarch or the offspring of a successful racing car franchise then part time work is the best option. People who have genuine talent most certainly have to take time proving it for it is seldom handed over, that is unless you own a goose that lays golden eggs.
In France the weekly maximum of hours you can be expected to work would practically be labelled ‘part time’ over here. Think of the Spanish and their famous siestas! No one would even dare rush an olive to get back to the office on time, after all indigestion is a terrible thing!
That is the problem with our culture today. Living to work instead of working to live has pervaded every element of British life and it’s rather stifling. I yearn for a three day weekend but I know that it is extremely unlikely to happen within my lifetime. Until everyone comes to their senses I must make people realise that part time is the way forward, mental stability and physical health are prioritised and the greed of the consumer is sidelined.
If you are a graduate then you can expect to earn the same on a part time wage as someone without a degree earns on a full time wage. Your skill set is higher and many good calibre jobs offer part time positions or flexible work options to suit your needs.
Don’t feel like you need to follow the crowd when it comes to the way you live your life. Working out the best option for you whether it is around other commitments, creative pursuits or lifestyle choice for each individual is different. Carve your own path with confidence.
I myself have recently decamped to a part time position within my own company after seeing an advert online. I enjoy more time to work on the book I am writing, I can take my children to school half of the week and I even have time to take the dogs for a long run in the park instead of leaving it to my husband or a dog walker to do.
What for me has begun as a lifestyle choice has become a lifestyle necessity but now I wouldn’t choose to have it any other way.
About the Author
Sarah Maple writing about part time jobs and the job market
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