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TRENDS
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Part-Time
Careers Lead to Full-Time Satisfaction
By Laurie Burstein
Is it really possible to be a doctor, judge or corporate executive
on a part-time basis? One would assume these high-level professions
would require a typical 40-plus hour workweek, but an increasing
number of people are proving it is possible to hold responsible
positions with reduced hours. These professionals are choosing to
make their careers part time in order to balance the needs of their
families.
Dr. Nick Holekamp says he has the best job in the world. As a pediatrician
and the medical director for Ranken-Jordan Pediatric Rehabilitation
Center, he works 20 hours per week. The rest of the week he spends
with Jack, his 2-year-old son.
“This is the ideal situation for me and my family right now. Plus,
I’m doing something worthwhile for the community,” he says. Ranken-Jordan
is a healthcare facility for children who no longer need hospital
care, but do need daily nursing care and rehabilitative services.
Holekamp worked long hours as a full-time physician before starting
with Ranken-Jordan more than a year ago. He is on call 24 hours
a day for Ranken-Jordan, yet, his current set up gives him flexibility.
Holekamp acknowledges it’s rare for a pediatrician to be able to
work part time. He also says he doesn’t know of many other dads
cutting back on their careers to take care of the kids.
“When people find out about my part-time career, their reactions
are mostly positive, and even a bit envious,” he says. He admits
that his wife’s career as an ophthalmologist makes it financially
possible for him to work part time, and he will consider going back
to full-time hours once Jack is older and in school.
For now, Holekamp couldn’t be happier with his situation and recalls
being paged one day while at the Science Center with Jack, yet he
was able to handle the situation by phone later in the day during
his son’s nap.
It’s that kind of balance Judge Amy Weinhaus also wanted. As a federal
administrative judge for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities
Commission (EEOC), Weinhaus works two-and-a-half days in the office
and one-half day from home each week. Much of her job consists of
hearing employment discrimination cases, which is perhaps why she
understands the need for flexibility at the workplace. After the
birth of her first daughter, she originally went back to work full
time before realizing she wanted to cut back on her hours.
“I feel strongly about raising my own family, yet I love what I
do and don’t want to completely give it up,” Weinhaus explains.
Judge Tatjana Schwendinger, Weinhaus’ supervisor, certainly didn’t
want to lose a great judge. So when Weinhaus approached her, she
was all for a part-time arrangement. “Employers can look at flexible
schedules as a win-win. For a valued employee, I would rather have
them part time than not at all,” she says.
Schwendinger says in order for the arrangement to work, a job needs
to lend itself to part-time hours and the employee needs to be a
self-starter. And, working out an agreement is like managing a valuable
resource. “Amy is a valuable asset that we didn’t want to lose.
I went through the proper channels at the EEOC to make it happen
and it has been working wonderfully for the past two years.”
These options were not available to Schwendinger when she was in
a similar situation 25 years ago after her first child was born.
“It didn’t occur to me to propose a part-time schedule when I was
working as a lawyer in 1976. It just wasn’t done then, and I took
off several years to raise my family. Today, a part-time schedule
is a great arrangement for people with kids. It allows them to go
through different stages in their careers and be more involved with
their children.”
Weinhaus concurs and says she can drive car pool or be at a school
play and not feel guilty about missing work. She can also keep the
job she loves and set an example for her daughters. “I want my daughters
to see they have career choices as I do. And, I’m very grateful
to Judge Schwendinger because she really championed my cause.”
Another example of someone who carved out a niche in a field not
known for part-time workers was Julie Stern. As a teacher of gifted
children, Julie Stern worked her way through the Parkway School
District system to negotiate a part-time schedule. Stern says it’s
rare for a teacher to be able to work part-time at the elementary
school level, but her proposal to job share with another teacher
made sense. “It’s hard to find teachers for gifted children, so
my partner and I wrote a proposal and pitched it to the principal
at our school and he agreed. Our students now get 100 percent from
both of us or 200 percent.” Stern adds that she would like to see
more situations like hers offered in education. Schools that do
not offer flexible arrangements often lose good teachers she says.
“My children are only young once, and I didn’t want to miss out
on seeing them grow up. Now since I work two-and-a-half days a week,
I have the best of both worlds,” Stern says.
But part-time jobs aren’t always acceptable to employers. One public
relations executive proposed a part-time schedule at a large agency
and was turned down. She decided to leave the company and now is
an independent consultant able to make her own hours.
Although many area companies are offering more flexibility, some
employers and employees are hesitant to publicize the fact. One
marketing executive at a major St. Louis corporation who works three
days a week preferred not to be identified, because the program
is only offered selectively. While part-time arrangements are available,
they are subject to individual supervisory approval and are mostly
for high-performance employees.
This same busy executive says that technology has really helped
her keep up with her workload when away from the office. She takes
her laptop home on off days and regularly checks e-mail. She also
checks voice mail and schedules conference calls from home when
needed. “Some of my co-workers don’t realize I’m only there three
days a week, which I take as a compliment. With a part-time schedule,
I can still add value to the company, and balance my personal and
professional needs too,” she explains.
Laurie Burstein is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer
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