6 Job Options That Prove Workplace Flexibility Isn’t Just for Creatives
What does flexibility look like in the modern workplace? We put the question to women across the Mother Untitled community to find out.
Months into my full career pause for motherhood, I felt an itch to return to paid work. After years employed as a staff writer for a non-profit, it felt reasonable–simple, even–to take my writing experience and launch myself into the freelance world.
After all, there’s always been a template for workers in creative industries–from graphic designers to stylists to musicians–looking to parlay their skills and experience into flexible, freelance, or part-time roles. And for stay-at-home parents considering a return to the paid workforce, having this kind of flexibility about where you work and when can make all the difference in blending a career with caregiving.
But job flexibility isn’t just for creative types. According to a 2023 workplace study from Monster, 45 percent of workers across industries say they now expect employers to offer flexible work hours, while 49 percent say they expect some flexibility in regard to remote work options.⁽¹⁾
So how does this flexibility translate across industries? We put the question to mothers in the Mother Untitled community to find out.
Flexible Work Options Outside of Creative Industries
“I’m a speech language pathologist and opened a private practice before I had my son. While I was full time before my son, now I’ve been able to scale down and work part time. It allows me to work on a schedule that is best for my family, take on as many or as few clients as my family needs, and still do what I love within my skill set. I think careers with a very specific skill set allow for a lot of opportunities for consulting or coaching for individuals or larger groups/companies.” — Jen F.
“Finance for non-profits and small businesses. They need financial audits and balance sheet work but need to pay per assignment aka need a freelance finance person. I do private equity diligence as a freelance consultant! Never more than 25-30 hrs a week and work about 50 percent of the time. — Clair K.
“Offer to write about private equity/personal finance for business owners. Apply [your business experience] by developing a course or creating spreadsheets (people eat this up).” — Christine T.
“I’m a new mama in private equity thinking about a career pause. It seems to me like there are a lot of functional areas that can be outsourced (recruiting/talent, environmental - social - governance strategy, thematic research, etc.) where you could build a business.” — Caitlin R.
Finance is an incredible and always-in-demand skill to have, and the ability to find meaningful work that fits into the current stage of my life has been really encouraging.
“Look into contracting for non-profits! My background is in finance (specifically real estate finance and development) and I’ve found contract work for non-profits in the housing sector. There is actually quite a bit of money in this space right now and I’ve found the pay to be comparable (and at times more) than I made working for private companies. Finance is an incredible and always-in-demand skill to have, and the ability to find meaningful work that fits into the current stage of my life has been really encouraging. This has been one of the most rewarding career phases of my life.” — Michelle C.
“Consulting! Consider making a list of all the tasks you did or skills you developed while working in finance, for example. Then circle three or so that you could offer as a single “product” (for many people this is an audit, a strategy session, etc). Take what you’re best at, what’s easy and/or what you loved and leave the rest. Then you talk to your network about these new offerings (old coworkers, etc). You know the pain points of your industry so well, so you’re perfectly poised to offer something that the full time folks don’t have time or capacity for.” — Jenni G.
References:
1. 2023 Work Watch Report. Monster.com. Accessed 10/30/2023.
