Ideas for jobs at don't require full time hours? More like 30 hours a week?

I am relatively fresh to the IT field. I have about 2 years experience, primarily doing tech support. So far just an A+ and Net+ cert, but probably pursuing a CCNA. (Though I really don't think I want to be a cisco guy, I just want it for the prestige, and already have a good deal of network experience). My experience in those 2 years is pretty broad, troubleshooting a wide range of issues at the business/government level down to home user level, and troubleshooting a broad range of different types of network applications, technologies, and protocols.

It seems like it was a pretty good entry level stepping stone, but I'm looking to gain a couple more certs and move up. My biggest goal of all is work/life balance and overall quality of life. 40 hours a week, aka 11 hours a day when lunch and commute is factored in is just not a quality lifestyle for me, especially when I have a few hours worth of responsibilities each day outside of work as well.

Anyone have any ideas for good positions to pursue that don't generally require a full 40 hours? Something more along the line of 30 hours give or take? Or else jobs that in some other way help contribute towards a good work/life balance?

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Comments

Sheiko37

You say you want prestige and to move up, but you want to put in 75% the effort of everyone else, is that right?

Danielm7

Yeah that's a tough request to fill. Maybe find somewhere closer that doesn't require an hour+ each way commute? If you want a full time salary, benefits, etc, you're typically looking at 40 hours as a min. Most people want a good work / life balance, getting a job you don't hate that doesn't require 2+ hours a day of driving is a good start.

TomkoTech

The "prestige" of the CCNA isn't really going to help you unless you are doing cisco stuff. It's also probably the best way to accomplish what you want. You won't be able to work 30 hours a week and get a full time salary, but you could probably find consulting gigs, or a work from home position that pays relatively well that you can work 30 hours.

Nightflier101BL

If you want to move up and want "prestige", you're going to have to work for it. I work 44+ hours per week and commute 2 hours every day and I don't even get a "lunch".

You're missing the point of certifications. Certifications are meant to validate your knowledge and experience, not to be used in place of them.

If you're looking to put in the least amount of time, this field may not be the best for you. Nobody is going to let you move up unless you show initiative and are willing to go the extra mile.

TheFORCE

Get ready, I can feel it, this forum is going to be over-run by millennials wanting to work 50% or 75% of the time but get paid the same and sometimes even more than the seasoned veterans. I've seen quite a few posts like this one recently. They have "other responsibilities, outside of work" I think that is called having a life, and I don't know about the OP but previous generations had "other responsibilities outside of work" but without the "main" responsibility, that is called "work" nothing else can be achieved.

I will bite though and give you an advice, quit IT support and IT infrastructure and become a programmer or a developer. You will get to work from home if you are really good.

powerfool

Unfortunately, employers tend to equate time and presence to money. They want a butt in seat for 40 hours or more, because that is the way they have always done it. What you really want to work towards is money for results. Somebody clocking 40 hours isn't working 40 hours... there is downtime and times where productivity is lower... and that is only natural. I have been there, I have worked 50-60 hours each week because it looked good to my employer. It is a waste.

My current job requires 40 hours a week, but that is pretty loose. They require a certain amount of billable work (I do consulting), and that is a little less than 30 hours a week. I have certain other things that I have to do each week, like certain non-billable meetings, pre-sales stuff, etc. But, even better, I generally work from home... so I don't waste a lot of time on commute. Plus, I schedule around my customers' needs. I got this gig after 15 years of experience, some folks get them sooner, some never qualify.

If you really want more flexibility, however... you should work for yourself. The problem that you have probably experienced is that this puts all of the responsibility on you. You have to make sure you have enough paying customers... you have to be in charge of the quality of the work and keeping customers happy... you have to handle everything.

markulous

It'll be tough to find it as others have said. Powerfool probably has the best suggestion with making your own hours and work for yourself. Maybe you can find somewhere that will do 3 12 hour shifts a week.

Would you be opposed to relocating? You may have better luck finding that in Europe.

Danielm7

powerfool wrote: »

If you really want more flexibility, however... you should work for yourself. The problem that you have probably experienced is that this puts all of the responsibility on you. You have to make sure you have enough paying customers... you have to be in charge of the quality of the work and keeping customers happy... you have to handle everything.

I was going to suggest that originally but considering he wants <30 hrs a week of work that would never fly in your own business. Not if you want it to be successful and definitely not in the beginning.

Now, if you were like a rockstar programmer making apps for sale at home, then sure, we're having a totally different conversation. But doing lower level support that isn't really typical.

powerfool

Danielm7 wrote: »

I was going to suggest that originally but considering he wants <30 hrs a week of work that would never fly in your own business. Not if you want it to be successful and definitely not in the beginning.

Now, if you were like a rockstar programmer making apps for sale at home, then sure, we're having a totally different conversation. But doing lower level support that isn't really typical.

I wouldn't approach it that way... it would be a process. And the other side of it is that maybe 30 hours a week isn't what will really create the balance... maybe it is the flexibility of being able to choose when and where to work. Saving a commute can add up to a significant amount of time, too.

sthomas

How about finding a job closer to home or moving closer to your current job? That way you save time on the commute and you can use your hour lunch to get personal things taken care of.

CMalon02

In my area I've seen part time jobs but I don't feel that would be an effective way to move up.

scaredoftests

They are few and far between. I lucked out when my son was young and found a great part-time job with great benefits. However, when there were budget cuts and I was let go, I couldn't find any IT jobs that were part-time. With you and your age, I doubt you'd be able to find such a job.

powerfool

An "in between" would be to look on the contracting websites where they are looking for someone X hours per week. Maybe to me your goals, that ends up being a mix of multiple contacts, 1 @ 5hrs/week, 2 @ 10hrs/week, 2 @ 2-3hrs/week. Something like that.

UnixGuy

Wait CCNA has prestige now?

TheFORCE wrote: »

Get ready, I can feel it, this forum is going to be over-run by millennials wanting to work 50% or 75% of the time but get paid the same and sometimes even more than the seasoned veterans....

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Previous generations had their own problems, technologies, and worries. With the way the technology is improving, I see it as an insanity to still work in the same ways of the last 200 yrs.

lawrence_of_arabia

If you are 'relatively fresh to the IT field' I am kind of surprised that you're already looking to do less than the norm. You have 2 years of experience. Im not sure what type of consulting you plan to do with that, and you are simply not going to get handed the full salary for part time work. I agree with TheForce- get out of IT and pick up dev.

supportmonkey

This is the OP. Thanks for the responses so far. I would like to clarify something.

I'm not some lazy millennial looking for full time pay for 75% effort. Not at all. I am looking for 75% of a good salary, for 75% of the typical hours. I work very hard the hours that I am on the clock. I have been responsible with my finances, purchasing a home, income bearing investments, etc and setting things up so that I could afford to work just a little bit less. My big limitation though seems to be dealing with the herd mentality that dictates 40+ hours as standard.

I'm surprised most people accept this. I mean, here is a rough example of a typical full time workers schedule. 8 hours working, 3 more hours factoring in the commute/lunch/etc, 1 hour for exercise (which despite some people skipping, is very important for sedentary it workers), 1 hour for general eating/hygiene/showering, 1 hour for general daily responsibilities that are always present household maintenence/chores/repairs/shopping for necesseties/many other things, 8 hours sleeping. Add that up and you have only 2 hours of free time a day which is not consumed by working/necessities/responsibilities. And people are expected to do this till retirement? I find it absolutely maddening being a rat race drone who only has 2 hours of free time per 24 hour day to actually live life. I personally don't think life me meant to be lived like that, and don't think anyone wanting more than 2 hours of time to spend actually living and enjoying life, after all the hard work they put in should be considered lazy. I would be curious to hear others opinions on this.

I have considered the idea of moving to another country such as France, as Markulous mentioned where they seem to have more of my mentality on work life balance, but I haven't had a chance to even visit there yet, and its just not an option in the immediate future, but a serious consideration.

techfiend

Luckily IT is one of the few fields where companies are going with shorter hours, like google and airbnb. On the other hand it's also a field known to have a very poor work/life balance, for example some amazon IT employees are expected to work 50+ hours a week.

In my current position as a systems engineer for a SMB I'm responsible for what's needed at the time. My average week is about 30 hours but there have been 50 hour weeks and a few 20 hour weeks. It depends on what needs to be done. I'm basically always on call and am required to have my laptop on vacation in case of emergency. I'm treated as a full time employee with exempt salary and full benefits in the USA.

I'd say look at SMB's maybe favoring startups.

kohr-ah

supportmonkey wrote: »

I'm surprised most people accept this. I personally don't think life me meant to be lived like that, and don't think anyone wanting more than 2 hours of time to spend actually living and enjoying life, after all the hard work they put in should be considered lazy. I would be curious to hear others opinions on this.

Should life be like this? No. It shouldn't. I have to do what I do because people depend on me and their lives matter more to me than my own. I suffer so they can enjoy theirs.

The distance to work and work life balance helps with that greatly as yes the commute makes a big difference but you make the commute work for you. Ride the train? Do bachelors/masters/cert work or game, read a book, learn a new language, etc.

I get usually from 6 - 10:30/11:00 for me and family time every night. I've learned I dont need 8 hours of sleep at night anymore and havent for a long time and for the most part, besides when on call, I dont work after 6:00pm unless a big issue comes up and even then I PUSH for comp time.

Life is what you make it but you want to enjoy life then sure you can fine 75% jobs. I won't pick on you for that.
If you want to move up in the world career wise 75% wont cut it (most the time)

I work to fund my life and not to live to work.

bumg

This thread hits very close to home right now for me. I currently work 50 hours a week on the night shift, am pursuing a bachelor's degree in IT, have a web design company, and do property management as well. On average, I only get 3 hours of sleep a night which is for a few hours while my children are in school. Sometimes I go without any sleep when life happens and there are doctor appointments or sick children. There have been multiple periods in my life where I have had to push myself like this. I do all of this now so that I can enjoy my life much more later on. Granted, I still stay very active and spend my days off spending that time completely devoted to my children, with the rare exception of something coming up that has to be addressed.

Every company I've worked for has provided the opportunity to move up the ranks because of my hard work and determination. I could very easily scale things back to just get by living a very frugal lifestyle. My goal is to provide the best life for my children and create ever lasting memories for them. I don't wake up everyday thinking how can I avoid doing as much work as possible. Instead, I look at it as an opportunity to accomplish something. Sometimes those accomplishments are great and other times not so much, but at the end of the day I know I put forth the effort.

If you want to work less, then earn it. Put forth the effort and earn that privilege. IMO TheFORCE was referencing this lack of appreciation of hard work and the rewards you reap as a result. I see this myself all the time in the workplace and it is very frustrating. I'm 31 myself but I see this lack of willingness to put forth the effort more and more with younger employees. As a business owner I cringe at the thought of hiring some entitled kid that doesn't want to work and expects everything to be handed to them. If you have the talent then you can get all that you want but you have to prove yourself first.

TheFORCE

That's exactly what I was referring to. I'm in my thirties also. I've worked hard to be where I am. I don't understand how some people think that they can go ahead without putting in the effort. At work, just as in the sport of life, if you want to be good and great, you have to work when the other people take breaks. Nothing wrong with being satisfied with 30 hours of work, but dont expect to be as good as someone that always tries 100% and works 40-50 hours a week. Same as in sports, those who practice more end up being the greatest. So, you can't have the best of both worlds. There are limits and sacrifices in every path you take.

dhay13

that is why i only sleep 4 or 5 hours per night

techfiend

I judge success by ability and efficiency most of all. If it takes Joe 8 hours to complete a task John can complete in 6 is Joe really better because he worked more hours?

There's been many studies showing the efficacy of an average employee decreases significantly after 5-6 hours. Work smarter not harder (or longer).

Some common traits among the successful people I've met are be personable, competitive and come up with some of the greatest solutions before anyone else.

Danielm7

There are a lot of great replies in the thread. One of the biggest considerations for me is the commute. Even if someone paid you 10K extra a year, is it really worth an extra 2 hours every day? Not at all, not for me anyway. If you find a closer job you can shave hours off all your estimates.

Also, the way you break out the time, most of what you list is actually personal time. You can't just say the gym isn't personal time, you can't say "household duties" isn't personal time, because really, it is. If you want more time above all the other things you want to do, while still maintaining a good career path there are a few ways to do it. Shaving 1.5+ hours off your daily commute estimates is a good way. Maybe a day or more remotely working is an option for you? I know when I work from home it's way different for me. I get a lot of work done, but I save the drive and am generally way more relaxed, I'm working and get plenty done but I don't feel like a typical day at work.

As for the whole herd mentality of 40 hours a week, it's the US, if you want to change that you can start your own business and hire people for 25 hours a week. Then of course you have to decide if you want to pay benefits, and if you do is it worth paying 2x the benefits for the 2 employees you'd need to fill up the time to do the work that one can do under the typical 40 hour a week schedule? Lots of reasons that most companies just allow people to work when they want and get an even sliding scale of income.

dave330i

Move to Venezuela. They are working 2 days/week atm.

powerfool

Also, as others have alluded, that "herd mentality" is people trying to get ahead. If you want a raise or a promotion, you have to work for it. Most working people are working to support themselves, alone. It's great that you have set things up so you can get by on a little less, but that little less won't cut it if you add two more mouths to the equation without extra income; then try another mouth, and another mouth... Besides, once you have been in IT a while, you realize that IT is a rat race... you always have to learn new things. I would prefer to bust my tail harder now, prepare better for retirement, and then retire early; I am attempting to set myself up to be able to retire by 45... can't do that working part-time.