Career suggestions for child-bearing years

amother

Turquoise

Wed, May 02 2018, 10:23 am

I’m 32, have a BA in liberal arts, 3 kids ages 6 and under with 1 on the way IYH. I have very difficult HG pregnancies which mean I’m out of commission for 9 months plus 2-3 months afterwards looking after each new baby. Because of this, I’ve worked in several fields since getting married: editing, office work, tutoring - but have been unable to build up much of a career since with each child I’ve had to take up to a year off. I would also love to have a couple more children in the future IYH.

What kind of careers are there that I could study for or enter immediately that would allow me the flexibility of another two years off over the next decade?

At this point I’m open to hearing ideas from any field, but would like to end up with a full-time position, preferably not freelancing. Thanks!

amother

Denim

Wed, May 02 2018, 12:54 pm

any career in Canada.

Yes, I know that's not helpful.

its not the career - its having a sympathetic employer who can handle the long term absences.

PinkandYellow

Wed, May 02 2018, 1:05 pm

Do you live in NY? In NY, civil service jobs are appointed based on tests taken for various positions. Right now, there are no upcoming exams in the near future. And the hiring/appointment process can take time, so it's not for right now. but it's a good long term prospect to take the exams when they do come out. And I or another family member will often post on imamother when a new exam is announced. or you can check their website http://www.nycourts.gov/careers/exams.shtml

amother

Mauve

Wed, May 02 2018, 1:08 pm

Honestly, such a thing doesn't exist. An individual employer can choose to be flexible and let you take that kind of time off and come back when you can, but that's going to be quite hard to find regardless of career choice. Usually, careers good for childbearing years means it's possible to do part time/flexible hours/from home. And even then, many fields don't have those options until you've established yourself. I think your best bet is to either take a break from having babies and work for a few years to get your career off the ground, or to focus on adding to your family and then establish a career when you're sure you're done.

mha3484

Wed, May 02 2018, 1:09 pm

I work as a recruiter and I really enjoy it. I work 9-5 very close to home, no nights no weekends only take work home with me if I want to get some time off during the week. I keep current on industry trends but if I took a year off tomorrow I cant see why I could not go back to working when I wanted.

amother

Ginger

Wed, May 02 2018, 2:05 pm

amother wrote:

any career in Canada.

Yes, I know that's not helpful.

its not the career - its having a sympathetic employer who can handle the long term absences.

Norway is even better.

amother

Turquoise

Wed, May 02 2018, 2:34 pm

PinkandYellow wrote:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
Pink and Yellow, no I don’t live in NY but I’ll look into civil service jobs in my area.

ellacoe

Thu, May 03 2018, 12:26 pm

Graphic Arts is a very flexible field. You can do it from home, you can even do it in pajamas in bed and it is a fairly easy field to enter, you can learn everything you need to know from online courses. There are also lots of options, doing invitations and business cards, or creating logos and branding, as well as creating and managing web presences and social media.