Transitioning to part time work- a personal story

I transitioned to part time work when I was 55. I had worked for a large business for fifteen years and had every intention of continuing full time. I enjoyed the work and loved the people I worked with. However an even larger institution bought my company and I knew right away that we would mix like oil with water, so we agreed to part company. I'd had enough of high pressure full time work after 35 years so I decided to pursue a portfolio work life.

The first few months were incredibly challenging. I went from a full diary, booked weeks ahead, and from spending each day with many stimulating people in different locations, to a study with an empty diary staring at me sat alongside a computer which I barely knew how to operate. The only interruptions to my solitary confinement were the occasional cries of ‘It’s your turn to walk the dog’ and ‘Can you come and peel the potatoes?’

It took me nine months to land my first part-time role, with a small public company. Subsequently I found a second role with a privately owned business that followed a call from an old contact of mine who had been a supplier when I had been in full-time work. (This reminded me of the old adage ‘be good to those you meet on the way up because you may well meet them on your way down’). 

I have now been working part time for fifteen years and in six different companies. What have I learned?

It’s a very different lifestyle. It gives you the opportunity to do many other things, in my case take longer holidays and much more exercise, as well as read more. Your engagement with the people you work with is less frequent, so if you want to have an impact you have less time to do so. Not working fixed hours as in my case means I need to be flexible and be available when people need me, even if I am taking a holiday. If you change the type of work you do, as I did, you have to be prepared to build your reputation all over again, because your previous reputation counts for nothing at the start. This was the hardest lesson for me to take on board. 

Are you thinking of working part time? What questions do you have? If you have moved to part time work, what have you learned that you can share?