Trying to get pt jobs

[FranMay]

Did anyone else looking for part-time hours/flexible working/job share jobs apply for positions advertised as full time? If you did, at what point did you mention that you were looking for part-time/job share? I am looking for a job in my field in the local area and there are rarely any vacancies and if there are any, they are almost always full time. So is it okay to apply anyway and later ask for part-time/job share or is this a bit underhand? Any opinions/advice gratefully welcomed!!

[hatwoman]

there's been quite a few threads on this and lots of different opinions. I went for a f-t job and wrote on my covering letter that I was only availble 4 days a week. at interview I said - quite truthfully - that this was because the job was a bit of a diversion from my normal area of expertise and I wanted one day a week to read and keep up to date with my normal area (I didn;t mention that this would be limited to school hours and term time). they offered me the job. I turned it down in fact for a number of reasons.

for a different job I didn;t mention it until the end of the interview. I knew the organisation was reasonably good on such things and I felt the interview had gone quite well - so I asked if it would be a possibility - said it was partly kid-related partly cos I wanted propoer reading time. at the interview I got a very positive response - "in fact hardly anyone in the team is 9-5 5 days a week and I think we can be flexible for the right person". I didn't get the job (apparently I knew too much about certain areas of the work and that would render me less flexible in my approach ).

The third option is mention it after you've got a job offer. I know people who've done that sucessfully but I've never had the balls. as it were.

I think you have to feel your way, suss out teh employer - talk to as many people as possible. but most of all be impressive at interview.

[stripeytiger]

FranMay, what sort of work are you looking for? Maybe you could try going through an agency, do some temping and who knows what opportunities that may open up. I am thinking of returning to part time work but like you say sometimes vacancies for a particular field are very hard to come by. If you go through an agency and are prepared to temp for a while that takes a bit of the leg work out of finding the openings.

Just a thought.

Good luck with your search.

[flowerybeanbag]

I think if you feel the interview has gone well, asking if it is a possibility is a good approach, particularly if like hatwoman, you only want to do 1 day a week less.

I think applying for a f/t job when you are only available 20 hours or something and not saying until later on in the process or after you've had an job offer is likely to irritate people though. I would not be impressed. If there was a really good candidate who asked at a late stage whether it would be possible to reduce the hours a bit I might consider it depending on the job.

I think waiting until a late stage and then announcing that you will need a job share partner is cheeky. Applying for a fulltime job with a job share partner you have already found is good though, would definitely welcome that.

Otherwise I would state in your application that you would be looking for a job share.

Usually if the role is ft it is for a reason, there is at least perceived to be that amount of work to do. Requesting flexiblity/reduction in hours once you are doing the job and able to make suggestions about how this could be done is one thing, but if you are not in the job you won't know whether there are tasks being done unnecessarily/things which could be arranged differently etc

If you do know enough about the circumstances/job to know that it would work more flexibly, I would want to see some kind of proposal about how it might work with your application, to demonstrate that you have thought about all the issues involved and can address them. That would impress me.

sorry for ramble!

[FranMay]

Thanks for your replies! I'm looking for information management/library work so there are a number of agencies. I just started back in my London job following maternity leave no. 2. It offers me great part time hours and loads of flexibility but trouble is it's a long commute now we've moved out of London and the cost of travel is prohibitive! (Don't get me started on the subject of why you can't get season tickets for only part of the week!!)

There's a vacancy advertised via an agency that I've got an interview for, hence the dilemma. I explained to the consultant that I'm ideally looking for part-time so not sure how she has framed it with the employer - need to check that! good advice hatwoman - thanks. I will check out some of the other threads...

[FranMay]

Thanks flowerybeanbag, great advice - can see I need to think harder about this and work out a plan before I go any further. I probably need to speak to the agency person properly because the times she has rung about this I have been distracted by my children or on the way to the playground! Difficult to think clearly!

[hatwoman]

franmay - could you work from home in your current job - maybe communte in once a week? I complained to TFL years ago about the lack of discounts for p-t workers - and I had thought I had seen more recently that you can now get a p-t travel card. Now I'm 4 days a week and often hop on the bus other days too I've gone back to paying for f-t travel. I could save about £1 a week by buying tickets seperately but I consider it money well-spent on lack of hassle

[FranMay]

Yes, maybe you're right! The more I think about it, the more I can see the benefits of my current situation.

Will look into the pt travel card thing but maybe it's just for the tube? I'm overland train and then a run to the tube to try and get in at 8.30... (so far the earliest I've made it is 8.35 and the central line is a SHOCK!) Part of me is in denial about this work thing - I'm still half lurking in maternity land... (I digress!)