Not me, but a friend in the UK wishes to move from a full-time, professional position, to a part-time retail position so she can spend more time with her kids. (One has ADHD).
What’s the best way of explaining to potential employers why she wants to give up a ‘good’ job for a less well paid, and ‘less interesting’ position? Will saying ‘I want to spend more time with my family’ act as a red flag?
Any suggestions on how to phrase the cover letter gratefully received.
It’s the UK, I’d expect “I want to go part-time so I can spend more time with my family” to be ok. Part-time jobs in retail are often covered by married women with children, precisely for that very same reason. Sometimes your time is less valuable than the money you get for it, sometimes the time itself is the most valuable asset.
isn’t “i want a fresh start and i’ve always been intersted in…” as good as any? i mean, i like employees who genuinely care for their families and obviously need their jobs, but i prefer someone who’s showing real interest in the work.
Even if it’s not true, you can say you’re trying to reverse the Peter Principle. Dr. Lawrence Peter posited that, “In a hierarchy, every individual will rise to his level of incompetence.” That is, you will be promoted until you reach a job you can’t do, and you’ll stay there until you retire.
I may have misquoted the principle slightly. It has been many years since I read the book.
I would say that exactly. I want to spend more time with my kids.
Now here is the tricky part, once you say that, you immediately have to reassure the employer that the kids are not the priority. After all who wants to hire someone that is going to be calling off or being late because of their children.
So once you say, you want to spend more time with your kids, you have to immediately tell the interviewer exactly how you’ve arranged your life, so that your kids are 100% of the time looked after so you can work.
This is the key. You have to do it immedately after don’t give the interviewer a chance to think about this. Say, “I’ve been wanting to spend time with my childrend, it’s been a challenge but I’ve arranged all the babysitters and transport for them, so their needs are attended to and I can devote a full 24 hours a week to this new job, without any fear of interruption.”
Or something like that
Personally, I vote to take on a part-time job at a retail place while you’re still employed full-time. Phrase it as wanting to take on a second, part-time job for 20 hours a week because you have too much free time, you love shopping at this store, and you’re trying to save up more aggressively for your retirement in 20 years. Then, after you land the part time retail job, quit your day job. Let your retail manager know your availability has now increased (you can tell her you got fired, or not tell her anything at all–whatever you want really). Voila! And you didn’t have to mention your kids in the interview, or get into why you wanted to step down in the workforce.
I always think that talking about kids in an interview is a foot in the mouth (but then, I don’t have any). That’s something they’re not allowed to ask you, so why volunteer something that can only hurt your chances? Given a choice between you (with family obligations and kids who will inevitably develop runny noses) and Suzie Singleton (18 with no family obligations), they’re far more likely to hire her. If you both appear to be single, then you naturally appear less inferior. Focus the interview on what you can bring to the company.
When I worked at Blockbuster and then at Joann Fabrics back in my retail days, I worked with several older women who held down a full-time day job and moonlighted as retail slaves. Nobody batted an eye. Just pretend that’s you when you apply, then ditch the full time job. I don’t see how you can lose. It’s not like the retail manager is going to fire you for not mentioning you had kids (remember, they can’t ask you that) or for having increased availability all of a sudden. You can just say you had a sudden change of heart and decided you didn’t like the 8-5 grind as a $whateveryoudo anymore, but you really like working at $retailplace.