Hellobee Boards Tag: career

Hellobee Boards Tag: career https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 14 Apr 2026 21:35:27 +0000 snowjewelz on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family/page/2#post-2786307 Tue, 14 Nov 2017 10:21:23 +0000 snowjewelz 2786307@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Production/sourcing manager Where do you work: Small privately owned company 20 minutes from my house PROS (to ppl who have children): - Short commute - I have an understanding boss who is flexible - Not a ton of OT - Steady career CONS (to ppl who have children): - Horrible benefits due to company being small - Hard to get raises/no growth structure in place Does it affect your marriage? Not really. I mean sometimes when I have to OT then DH has to wrangle both kids/dinner, and if I have to travel into the city, have night functions, etc but most things we communicate in advance and plan for Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? For local moms yes. Having a short commute and living close to home is so essential that I am willing to live with all the cons for this one pro. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 5 Beth24 on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family/page/2#post-2786244 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 22:13:37 +0000 Beth24 2786244@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Sales Where do you work: At a small but quickly growing clothing company PROS (to ppl who have children): My company is pretty small and really laid back so I can come in late when I take my daughter to school and it's totally fine to take time off as needed for my kids. Working for a small company is great because I have been able to work my way to the top and get a good raise every year. I'm in inside sales so I don't have to make cold calls or anything like that. Our customers are great and are mostly outdoorsy people so I enjoy working with them. CONS (to ppl who have children): Benefits are pretty bad. I pay a LOT for health insurance, have no maternity leave benefits, and don't get sick days (all PTO is lumped together). Because it's a small company I feel like I do the job of multiple people. Overtime is expected and I work late on nights that my husband is home. Does it affect your marriage? Not really. My husband loves my coworkers and is jealous of how much I enjoy my job :) Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? I would, but mostly because of the specific company I work for. I never thought I work in sales, but I really enjoy it. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 9 Mrs. Yoyo on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family/page/2#post-2786240 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 22:01:55 +0000 Mrs. Yoyo 2786240@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Staff writer Where do you work: Finance/lifestyle website Pros: - Work from home, so no commute. I don't even have to wear pants. - As long as I can participate in a few conference calls a week, I can work when I want to. - I can be there for school field trips, occasionally volunteer, run errands during the day, etc -- as long as I plan ahead - I still have some dedicated vacation time/retirement benefits - Salary is decent. Won't be getting rich, but solid. Cons: - Deadlines. Always. - I'm the only staff writer, so feel pressure to produce - Smaller company, so no health insurance (not a big deal as I have a spouse who has it) - Sometimes miss the social aspect of being in an office - Since I work from home, I am the one who always has to deal with sick kids, school holidays, etc. On average, I probably lose one work day a week. - I'm not sure my kids think I have a "real job" since I'm so available to them. This can be annoying. Does it impact my family/marriage: Not typically. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Yes, though it can be hard to find work-at-home staff jobs. Had to freelance for a long time before landing it -- which is even more flexibility, but also income instability. Could be ideal in a situation where spouse is the breadwinner. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 9 Mrs D on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family/page/2#post-2786214 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 20:40:36 +0000 Mrs D 2786214@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @skinnycow: another former big 4 gal here...leaving was the best thing I did...I left 4 months before I got married bc I knew the days of all nighters and 90 hour work weeks were no longer what I wanted... wrkbrk on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family/page/2#post-2786178 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 17:40:53 +0000 wrkbrk 2786178@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @nwm: NYC!! Say no more!! :shocked: nwm on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786177 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 17:39:34 +0000 nwm 2786177@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @wrkbrk: Ha, hm, well I guess that's how I made it sound although I didn't fully intend to! I suppose accurately described it is fairly stressful, but I think the trade-off of it being manageably stressful is that I get a lot of responsibility in my cases and find it stimulating and challenging, in a good way. Yes, I am in NYC, and I definitely think my firm is on the far end of the spectrum as far as hours and profile (although perhaps not as far to the extreme as people outside the firm might assume). Even in NYC I am certain you can find other law firm jobs where the hours would not be quite as intense. wrkbrk on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786174 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 17:27:39 +0000 wrkbrk 2786174@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @nwm: Are you in a big city/on a coast? Your firm sounds pretty stressful. I think I got lucky because I live in a midwestern town so our "biglaw" is basically fake biglaw...... nwm on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786109 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 14:21:38 +0000 nwm 2786109@https://boards.hellobee.com/ These have been so interesting to read! Your Job: Associate Attorney Where do you work: Big law firm PROS (to ppl who have children): -Job can be flexible and limited face time requirements. It is very common for folks to sneak out during the day/come in late when needed, as long as you coordinate around meetings/depositions/court appearances, which is pretty easy to do. -Most of the people I work with have families so people are often really understanding about family commitments. The people who don't have families are pretty social/active outside the office with family/friends/etc. so in general there are a lot of models of what it looks like to carve out personal time. -The money is good. CONS (to ppl who have children): -On the flip side of my experience, the emphasis on family time in the industry generally has been growing, and there can sometimes be a sense of resentment among older attorneys that they feel they sacrificed a lot in terms of family time while younger attorneys are not having to do the same. Luckily I haven't personally had to deal with that attitude much if at all. -The hours are really long and deadlines are unforgiving. I work late at least a couple times a week. I am often able to avoid weekend work but not always. And I absolutely always feel like I need to be working more. Every weeknight is a struggle to stay awake long enough to get more work done. Does it affect your marriage? It does, but not in a bad way generally because my husband is super supportive and great and takes on a ton of childcare happily. It's only difficult because he has a demanding job too, so when we're both on deadline it can be tough to manage, especially because we both try to really limit how much DS is getting care from someone other than us on nights/weekend. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Really depends. I absolutely love my job, I find it stimulating and often fun. There are a lot of positives I didn't list above because they're not really positives "for people who have children." I've been really happy with how parenting has worked with this job and would really encourage anyone who wants to become a biglaw lawyer not to avoid it just because they want to have a family. But if you're just looking for a job to pay the bills so you can spend as much time as possible being a parent, it is a terrible option. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 8 for me, could see it being a 1 if this wasn't the job you really wanted. Mrs. Carrot on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786105 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 14:07:52 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2786105@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Program Manager for a nonprofit (focus on management training and professional development) Where do you work: Office building, downtown Washington DC PROS (to ppl who have children): *I will add a caveat that this is not typical for the nonprofit industry, but because we focus on improving managers and management practices, we tend to "walk the walk" -very flexible, family friendly environment (I can work from home whenever I want, we have non-PTO leave for things like dr appointments so you don't lose PTO, etc) -good insurance and PTO -no travel, except for 2X a year at far-in-advance set weeks -no early/late hours, with minor exceptions -no real "emergency" situations we need to deal with (unless the federal government heads for a shutdown) CONS (to ppl who have children): -occasional early mornings/later evenings, based on program schedules and what project you're staffing -nonprofit pay is not as good as private sector -we're fairly connected to the federal government, which can create job uncertainty when the gov't is unstable (though management is very intentional about not laying people off) Does it affect your marriage? -Not really. DH occasionally grumbles when I have to go in early or stay late, or when we have busier periods, but he's generally a more supportive guy. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? -It really depends more on the organization than the industry. Nonprofits can be notoriously "all mission, all the time," and really undervalue the work-life balance of their employees. Others are very good at it, because nonprofits tend to attract women and those who are service minded, which tends to correlate to being better on people values. It's very important to have the conversation and research the organization. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 8 csross217 on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786095 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 13:28:23 +0000 csross217 2786095@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Public Relations Where do you work: Non-profit mental health advocacy organization Pros: - Generous PTO - Decent, inexpensive health insurance - Relatively flexible schedule - Child-friendly environment. Almost everyone has kids and my boss is very family-oriented and expects everyone else to be as well. Cons: - Pretty crappy pay (non-profit...) - We are perpetually understaffed, which means I'm doing the work of 2.5 employees. - Overtime expected if there are upcoming grant deadlines, big events, etc. - Due to the nature of the work my organization does, it can be pretty stressful and emotionally draining. Does it impact my family/marriage: Not generally, though I do have to work to not bring my stress home. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Yes and no. Crappy pay but good benefits. The job itself could be much worse if my boss wasn't family-oriented. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 7 MrsLonghorn on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786078 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 12:43:00 +0000 MrsLonghorn 2786078@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: philanthropist/grantmaker at a foundation Where do you work: a community foundation PROS (to ppl who have children): * there is pretty much no such thing as a "grantmaking emergency", so I can protect my time at home or on vacation * I'm out in the community a lot, visiting nonprofits, so I know a ton about what is going on in our city and about programs/events for my kids and family * I could have flexible work hours and location if my boss allowed - you don't have to do this job from an office. * Because my grants are all local, I don't travel CONS (to ppl who have children): * my boss wants everyone in the office from 8:30-5, so I don't actually have official flexible hours or location....but as long as my work gets done I can duck out for school events on occasion. * it is impossible to explain to my child (and peers) what I do. * it pays better than working in direct service at a traditional nonprofit, but still doesn't compare to the private sector. * IF I worked for a foundation that funded in a broader geographic area, I could have a lot of travel for this type of job Does it affect your marriage? No - it is a great job for our marriage. (Well, I guess "yes" in that my husband is comfortable keeping his busier, less-flexible job because I have more flexibility in mine...he travels semi-regularly, so me not traveling is really helpful for us.) Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Absolutely! Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 9 skinnycow on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786076 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 12:32:45 +0000 skinnycow 2786076@https://boards.hellobee.com/ This is based on my current job and not at all indicative of the industry. I previously worked in public accounting and work/life balance was terrible. Your Job: CPA/Tax Accounting Where do you work: Large automaker PROS (to ppl who have children): - Flexible work - work from home 1x/week and set my own hours - 40 hrs/week, no late nights/weekends 95% of the time - Paid overtime (at current job) - Great pay/benefits - Stable job market CONS (to ppl who have children): - Overtime during deadlines (quarter-end/tax return filing) Does it affect your marriage? Not at all. I'd say it positively effects my marriage compared to my previous job. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Generally, no. My specific company, yes. Rate your career for someone who has children - My job - 9. Industry - 5. (0 worst - 10 best): skinnycow on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786074 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 12:26:37 +0000 skinnycow 2786074@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @skipra: Yep to all of that. I worked Big 4 until about 9 months ago and it became impossible to balance work/DD even after going part-time. bushelandapeck on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786066 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 11:48:50 +0000 bushelandapeck 2786066@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: child protection social work consultant Where do you work: a children's hospital PROS (to ppl who have children): my schedule is great-2 10 hour days and the ability to do some work from home, if needed. I also work with a very family friendly team so everyone is always understanding when things come up with our childcare, illness, etc. CONS (to ppl who have children): I work in child protection so some of the things we see/hear can be very upsetting. It can be hard not to take it home with you. Does it affect your marriage? At times. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Probably not, unless you had already been doing something similar. The on-call can be a real issue, especially when I have to solo parent at the same time. If your children were older, it wouldn't be as much of an issue. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 6 Ajsmommy on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786062 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 11:41:32 +0000 Ajsmommy 2786062@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Liability Adjuster Where do you work: Large Company in the Risk management dept of the DC group of our company PROS (to ppl who have children): -regular set hours -decent benefits -decent pay after reaching a certain level -lots of other similar staged co workers -somewhat flexible/per mgr CONS (to ppl who have children): -no work from home options (yet) -not much upward movement/potential unless willing to move states or dept's -some travel can cause pick up issues at daycare Does it affect your marriage? -no Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? -yes Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 9 skipra on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786055 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 11:19:40 +0000 skipra 2786055@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your job: CPA Where do you work: Downtown office building in a large city PROS: Typically a good amount of flexibility. Able to WAH, can work early or late to suit your schedule. Very good pay and benefits. If you can find the right employer or just work for yourself, can be a part time or seasonal job. CONS: Deadline driven which means a lot of overtime. If something needs to be finished, you have to finish it no matter what is going on in your personal life. I have stayed in the office until 2-3 a.m. on more than one occasion. If you work with clients you will also need to travel. Does it affect your marriage: Yes Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Probably not. The work itself is not at all rewarding and there is so much pressure to meet deadlines. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 1 for full time work in a CPA firm, 7 if part time/seasonal/flexible position Disclaimer: I SAH now because the work life balance was not worth it once I became a mom. Adira on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786033 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 10:52:10 +0000 Adira 2786033@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Software Engineer Where do you work: Office Building PROS (to ppl who have children): - Great Pay - Decent benefits - Flexible - no one bats an eye when I have to stay home with my kids, leave early, take school vacations off, etc. - Lots of people in a similar situation - lots of my coworkers also have small children, so we're all in the same boat together! - Regular work - I have a schedule and I stick to it - very rarely do I need to work late or come in on weekends, and people are understanding that I'm unwilling to travel - Nice accommodations for pumping moms! - Ability to work part-time CONS (to ppl who have children): - Not much opportunity to work from home - Some of the "pros" depend on your group - not all managers are as family-oriented or as understanding - not all groups are filled with people in similar situations - not all groups have a similar workload Does it affect your marriage? Nope Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Yes Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 8 - It's probably a 10 for me, but other people in the same industry probably don't work with as understanding managers/coworkers, so it probably doesn't feel as great for them krispi on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786028 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 10:34:17 +0000 krispi 2786028@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Instructional Designer / Corporate Training Where do you work: Right now, I work 3 days in the office and 2 days a week at home. I work for a national quasi-governmental institution. There is currently some talk about the possibility of my dept being completely work from home next year and only having to go into an office 2 days a month for meetings. PROS (to ppl who have children): Flexibility and great benefits. Everyone in my department has kids, so they're all understanding. Being able to work at home and use instant messenger / video chats / conference calls gives us a lot of flexibility. We also have great health insurance and retirement benefits and generous PTO. The trend toward online learning has been great for flexibility in my career. When I was teaching in-person courses in a classroom years ago, there was obviously a lot less flexibility in time and location. Now, everything I teach is via webinar or is recorded for learners to take online at their own pace. CONS (to ppl who have children): There aren't many. Sometimes overtime is required when we're up against a tight deadline. I hear we're paid less than the private sector, but I'm happy with my salary, and the benefits more than make up for that to me. I also work in a small department with a pretty tight budget, so the work load can be heavy, and there aren't always a lot of opportunities for moving up the ladder. Does it affect your marriage? My husband works 12 hour shifts on a rotating schedule. So me working from home and having extra flexibility has actually made it a lot easier to deal with his work situation. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Yes, although it's not that easy to break into if you don't already have experience. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 9.5 josina on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786023 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 10:07:36 +0000 josina 2786023@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Graphic Designer / Marketing Manager Where do you work: a small construction equipment sales company, less than 20 employees, midwest; some design and photography work on the side. PROS (to ppl who have children): My boss has 7 kids of his own so is very understanding as to sick days and early-offs. Its a non-stressful 8-5 job, no overtime, no travel. My at-home work is 'extra' money that I use for fun family outings or buy extras for the kids. CONS (to ppl who have children): I get 3 weeks PTO, which is great but runs out quickly with more than 1 kiddo. Maternity is non-paid, this year I had to use half my PTO to cover some of maternity after STD, and now any more hours off till January are un-paid. My side jobs can be stressful just because when I get home at 5:30 the last thing I want to do is sit at the computer more and not play with the kids. Does it affect your marriage? Not usually, unless I have a lot of side-jobs at once, then DH gets whiny if I'm not spending time with him. Sometimes he's like another child. ;) Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Yes Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 9 ShootingStar on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2786007 Mon, 13 Nov 2017 09:47:15 +0000 ShootingStar 2786007@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Software Designer Where do you work: I work for a startup that was recently acquired by a fairly big software company PROS (to ppl who have children): - Salary - Good maternity leave policy - better now that we've been acquired. In my industry this seems to be starting to become a competitive advantage for acquiring employees. - Hours are you typical work week most of the time unless you work for like a 5 person start up or something. - My job is pretty flexible and I can work from home when I need to. My boss also offered a permanent WFH day every week, but I turned it down. - Tons of demand for people right now, so the only reason to stay with a company is because you like it, not because you have to. CONS (to ppl who have children): - It's a male dominated field so you may experience varying levels of sexism depending on where you are. - Takes a fair amount of education. Most people in my functional area have master's degrees. Does it affect your marriage? - I could probably write a whole post on this. To some extent yes. Even though the hours are good, my job itself can be kind of intense. Plus I'll be moving into management at the beginning of the year while still keeping a large chunk of my work. So sometimes I can move my schedule and be the one to take the sick kid, and sometimes I can't. DH also has a job in tech and I feel like men are treated differently. As a man it's just expected that you can work late or be on call or come in for a weekend emergency because you have a wife that will do everything for the household. But it's not like I work at a part time job or sell MLM stuff a few hours a week. I have an intense job. There are times when stuff comes up we have to figure out who's job has to take the hit. But I have an amazing husband who's very supportive. And because my career has been taking off, he's been intentionally taking the hit more. But it's still a delicate balance. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? - Yes, I would recommend tech in general. But each company is different. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 8 Mae on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2785926 Sun, 12 Nov 2017 21:21:55 +0000 Mae 2785926@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Staff attorney in BigLaw Where do you work: Large law firm PROS (to ppl who have children): - Salary - Great maternity leave - My specific job has reliable hours without too many nights/weekends, but that is something I negotiated for and is absolutely not true of associates at the firm. CONS (to ppl who have children): - Basically impossible to be an associate/partner and have reliable hours and not work a lot of night/weekends so moving up would mean giving up a lot - Lots of after work social obligations - Not many women in BigLaw have kids so if you do, even if your boss(es) are supportive, your coworkers may give you a bit of side-eye if you work less than they do. Does it affect your marriage? - Not too much in my current position, but the stress of being either stuck where I am or knowing I'll have to give up a ton of flexibility to do more is a challenge. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? - Absolutely not. Unless you have a full scholarship to law school or something, and plan to work in the public sector. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): My specific job, 5. Working in BigLaw generally, 2. petitenoisette on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2785903 Sun, 12 Nov 2017 19:57:53 +0000 petitenoisette 2785903@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: world language teacher Where do you work: public high school (suburb of a major city) PROS (to ppl who have children): The teaching calendar/vacation time The daily hours- yes, we are out of the house early but I have about 3 hours with my LO at home after work every day. Plenty of time to cook dinner and get her to bed early enough and then still some solo time after. My particular position has a lot of freedom and I basically do whatever I want in the classroom. There are no standardized tests for my subject (except for AP which I do teach every other year) so it's pretty low stress and I am generally not teaching to tests. I get my work done at school, arriving about a half an hour early and staying about 1 hour late every day (so basically a normal 8 hr day). When I had less experience (this is my 12th year) I had to work more but enjoyed it and now I'm pretty well set up despite the fact that I am constantly retooling and planning new things. I can easily take off work if my kid is sick. Making sub plans can be stressful but I don't feel guilty being out if my family needs me to be and it's totally acceptable in my school culture. Will have been able to take 2 long mostly paid maternity leaves, but that's just because we timed it that way (includes the summer and i choose to have my salary split up to be paid year round). I work in one of the most highly paid states and have almost maxed out our salary schedule by tKing courses. I make a lot more than what some other teachers have shared. But once I max out I basically will be making the same salary for the rest of my career if you consider inflation. Pension. I started working at 22 so I should be able to retire at 58 w/80% my current pay. CONS (to ppl who have children): I do need time to decompress at the end of the day but I don't think I'm as tapped out as some of the other teachers who have posted bc of the nature of my position. Does it affect your marriage? Positively, yes. My husband happens to work similar hours (not a teacher)so it has been amazing for our family life. The only negative I guess is that my DH gets very little time off so we can't take as much advantage of my time off as I'd like. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? For sure. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 9.5. No job is perfect and I do ride waves up and down in terms of my overall happiness with my job. macintosh on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2785891 Sun, 12 Nov 2017 18:39:34 +0000 macintosh 2785891@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @irene: thanks for starting this thread, I like it! Your Job: Technology Consultant for a small firm Where do you work: client offices, schools, and from home PROS (to ppl who have children): I can set my own schedule and easily fit in dr appointments and errands. The clients I visit often are located near me and convenient to my son’s daycare. My clients are understanding about rescheduling due to sick days. CONS (to ppl who have children): I did a lot of my work from home in the first few years at this job, answering tech support phone calls. This was helpful when DS was a baby because I didn’t have to have full time care, but it was very difficult to get things done and I was very stressed. I’m so sick of working from home and the lack of separation that I would rather sit at a Starbucks. I’m often answering calls and emails on the go and from home after hours. Does it affect your marriage? No, my marriage is more affected by my husband’s disability. I’m still the primary caregiver for DS. DH stays home while DS goes to daycare and I work. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Yes! We need more women in tech and the flexibility of consulting can’t be beat. I never would have been able to handle a FT office job during the past 5 years. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 8 farawayyama on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2785876 Sun, 12 Nov 2017 16:24:06 +0000 farawayyama 2785876@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Teacher (math) Where do you work: Urban elementary school PROS (to ppl who have children): A lot more days off than a typical profession. My school is very female-friendly. All of our leadership (school admin and above) is female. 5/6 of those women are mothers, and four of them were/are single mothers (I am not but I find it adds to the mother-friendly culture of my work). I have never been made to feel bad for taking time off or bringing DD in with me on in-service days. My work is incredibly fulfilling. If I am leaving DD on a daily basis, I want to be doing something meaningful. As the pp said, I know a lot about learning and development. There are a lot of interesting career paths within education - I plan to get my PhD one day and go into research. Travel opportunities. I know a lot of teachers who have taught in international schools and their LOs get free tuition. DH and I are considering this in the future. CONS (to ppl who have children): It is so incredibly draining. A lot of my students have experienced trauma, so on top of being "on" all day, I am also dealing with a lot of really challenging behavior and difficult situations. It is hard to invest in DD in the evenings. I start at 7:30am with a commute. I don't see DD until after work most days. I get home between 5:30 and 6. Money. I also earn 40k with a masters and high health insurance costs. I am currently the sole income earner while DH finishes grad school and to say it is tight is an understatement. He stays home with DD, which helps. Does it affect your marriage?' Yes, but DH is a former teacher so is pretty understanding. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Probably but I am conflicted. The long hours when school is in for little money put me on the fence. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 6? DesertDreams88 on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2785841 Sun, 12 Nov 2017 12:22:22 +0000 DesertDreams88 2785841@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Teacher Where do you work: public school PROS (to ppl who have children): - 7-week summer vacation and 4 weeks of vacation during the year..... I work-at-home at least 1 day each 3-day weekend so that doesn't count. - Understanding how kids learn and how there is a huge variety, how to advocate for children in the educational setting, etc - Day starts and ends early so I get more time with LO in the evenings - The profession is dominated by women, many of whom have of want kids, so there's a shared understanding sometimes - My work is incredibly fulfilling at times, and fun too, at times. CONS (to ppl who have children): - Poor salary. I work in one of the most underfunded states (AZ), started at 36K and now make 40K, and that's after 8 years and getting a masters. Sad thing is, my district is one of the better paid ones :( Benefits are ok. - The busyness of taking care of 30 children / teen's needs all day long is very draining. It's a mental barrage all day long, some days. I think it will be very tough to teach and parent the same age level - luckily I don't have to face that for awhile. - The job is never done. There are always more parents to email, more lessons to improve, more feedback to leave on essays, etc. You HAVE to know how to set limits / boundaries, and it's very very hard for a perfectionist because when you fail, you are actually hurting / not helping other humans. - I regularly spend 10ish hours a week in "extra" work like meetings, school functions, grading, and lesson planning. So it's regularly a 50-hour-weekly job. Does it affect your marriage? yes hugely but that's bc DH is a teacher too :) which I mostly love. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Yes, but only in a different state or if they married someone with a good (better) income who had decent hours. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): I don't think I could accurately gauge this especially since I've never had any other style of jobs. Littlebit7 on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2785837 Sun, 12 Nov 2017 11:45:39 +0000 Littlebit7 2785837@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job:physical therapist Where do you work: small Community hospital per diem- 6-10 hours per week PROS (to ppl who have children): -I'll write this as though I work more hours. Depending on the facility it can be family friendly. You can typically work out alternate shifts, part time, per diem, etc I used to work for a huge teaching hospital FT,, moved, and now I'm at small hospital (was full time now per diem in which I basically set my own schedule). I make a great hourly wage My work ends when I clock out, which is typically on time. Salary is good across the country, 65-100k depending on experience and setting CONS (to ppl who have children): Some facilities aren't family friendly. There are often weekend work requirements Hard to just jump into...4 years college with set prereqs, 3 years clinical doctorate degree. Potential for large student loan debt Physically and emotional exhausting when working a lot Does it affect your marriage? No but I'm not the primary earner Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Yes but if you are switching careers it will be expensive and take a while until you are actually earning. I'd look at a Physical therapist Assisant track Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 8/9 depending on my caseload. Some days I feel like I get paid too much for what I do! youboots on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2785835 Sun, 12 Nov 2017 11:07:54 +0000 youboots 2785835@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I’m a self employed photographer. It is super flexible and lately I’ve been doing more commercial work so bankers hours. August- Nov is a challenge (fall family photos) and I work a lot of nights and weekends shooting. But I edit during the week when T is in childcare. I don’t make a ton of money since it’s part time and seasonal and I don’t get healthcare. That said I work about 1/4 of what I did at my corporate job and make 1/2 as much so I basically double my hourly wage but I have expenses by being self employed. Like with anything arts related you have to be good, have your own equipment and learn from experience over time. So it’s not something you can just decide to do and be instantly successful/ talented. I’ve been at it for 10 years and am still learning. The only issue it causes is DH travels during the week so if I’m working a lot of weekends we don’t get as much family time. I think it’s awesome! I closed my business last year to SAH and it was not for me. So I get to do something I love- take on as much or little as I want and still be mostly available to care for my kid and DH and home. 9/10 wrkbrk on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2785825 Sun, 12 Nov 2017 08:48:52 +0000 wrkbrk 2785825@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @irene: Yeah the illness is a while other story. I can take off (most of the time) when DS is sick but I always have to make the hours up so it means working some Sundays etc etc. looch on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2785817 Sun, 12 Nov 2017 07:21:05 +0000 looch 2785817@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: Business Analyst/Project Manager for a global financial firm Where do you work: in an office PROS (to ppl who have children):flexible location and hour arrangements, everyone around me has kids, so it's a culture where people understand that you have other stuff going on and they encourage you to be there. CONS (to ppl who have children): the commute, on call some weekends, late nights around deployments Does it affect your marriage? My husband does the same type of work, so he gets it. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Yes, but the thing is, you have to put in your time. If you expect flexibility, it has to make business sense. I am able to do what I do because I am a 20 year lifer with some pretty specific subject matter expertise and I can be given things to do without a lot of direction. On the flip side, I have put being strategic on the back burner for now, I am not rising up the corporate ladder. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 7 I rated it a 7 because you're expected to show up and do your job. It's frowned upon if you work from home with your kids in the background unless it's something like a snow day and you literally can't get out of the house. Mrs D on "Your Career vs. Family" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-career-vs-family#post-2785814 Sun, 12 Nov 2017 06:50:34 +0000 Mrs D 2785814@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Your Job: corporate controller (accounting) Where do you work: automotive company PROS (to ppl who have children): for my specific job...good pay, generally flexible work schedule, good advancement, challenging work which for me keeps me engaged. For the Accounting field as a whole...stable work, generally can have flexible work/life balance, easily transferable knowledge, many different career paths. CONS (to ppl who have children): busy seasons (quarters, year ends, tax time for some), male dominant field, can get mundane at lower levels of Accounting. Does it affect your marriage? We've had our moments - as I'm sure everyone has. I have gone through periods of traveling a lot fir certain work issues, those have been tough. I've also had my fair share of middle of the night calls, and all night working, but all in all I'd say no. Would you recommend your industry to a fellow mom? Accounting, absolutely. So many ways to make a nice career out if this industry. It's a skill that almost every business needs. Whether you want to be FT or PT, work just for tax season to make some $$, consult fir small local business out if your home...the possibilities are endless. As for the specific job I'm in, top accounting person at a large auto company...I'd recommend it if you are def a career driven person - if not the sacrifices and stress level would not be worth it. Rate your career for someone who has children (0 worst - 10 best): 8/9 depending on the family friendliness of the company!