Part-time work, full-time position

June 24, 2009 1:38 AM

I wish to apply for a job that is advertised as full-time. At which stage should I mention that I would prefer a part-time job?

I live in a place where the job market is still very much in favor of employees, even in these difficult financial times. For that reason, and because of my skills, it's quite likely that an employer will consider taking me on as part-time even though they have a full-time position available.

However, I'm not sure when the best time would be to raise the subject. I don't want to waste anybody's time, either mine or the employer's, by leaving it until the interview if that's really not going to work for them. But I'm not sure where to put it in my application letter.

What would you suggest?

(Please, don't respond just to snark 'don't apply if you don't want a full-time job'. I know the job market where I live, and my skills are in short supply, so part-time work is definitely an option).

posted by ask me please to work & money (10 comments total)

Common-sense would say put it in the application, but personally, I would leave it to the interview. You'll be able to get a feel for whether or not they'd be open to it, I think. You could always just drop something non-committal in about part-time work and see how they react.

You could even leave it till after, but that depends on whether or not you'd be likely to take the job as full-time, even though you want part time.
posted by ryanbryan at 1:54 AM on June 24

You don't really have to - Starting from interview one, tell them how hectic your schedule is but be very eager to make it work, no matter how hard, and be willing to put in some hard hours if they do work around your schedule. If they're really in need of your talent, they'll breathe a little easier immediately and, once you're hired, start working on filling in the gaps when you just-can't-do-that-next-week.. It'll cost them less in training/benefits if they can only find one more part-timer and don't lose you.
posted by hypersloth at 1:57 AM on June 24

Collective experience of women in the UK says don't bring it up until you have landed the job -- or even not until you have been in the job 3 weeks.
posted by Idcoytco at 3:16 AM on June 24

If your skills are in short enough supply, they may be willing to work with you. I would suggest bringing it up as early in the process as possible, but do wait until you are talking to someone with actual hiring authority for the position. An low-level HR employee who is screening resumes may lack either intimate knowledge of the shortage of skilled workers in your profession or the authority to flag a resume for further consideration even if it deviates from a clearly stated requirement. If you don't want to waste a manager's time by waiting until you interview for the position to discuss part-time possibilities, you might consider requesting a brief phone interview first.
posted by timeo danaos at 3:48 AM on June 24 [2 favorites]

I wouldn't put it in my cover letter, an office manager may just trash it or the hiring people may think it's not worth the trouble to ask you in. Where I work we have hired part-timers alongside the full-time professionals and it's always been based on good interviews that make us say "we want this guy" and some sort of seems solid/doesn't seem flaky sense from management.
posted by jamesonandwater at 5:31 AM on June 24

You should do this in the first interview/conversation with a real person. Dragging it out longer than that is deceptive and dishonest, and definitely "wastes someone's time", which you say you don't wish to do.

But I do agree that you shouldn't mention it in your first letter/application, since that might just get you screened out by a secretary.
posted by rokusan at 6:15 AM on June 24

As soon as you talk to the hiring person mention it. Once you are interviewing with the hiring manager you will have already wasted that person's time - reviewing resumes and screening interviews are time consuming processes.

What you're doing is no worse than the gobs of people who send submit their resume for jobs when they don't meet the qualifications. It's also no better.
posted by 26.2 at 8:05 AM on June 24

(Please, don't respond just to snark 'don't apply if you don't want a full-time job'. I know the job market where I live, and my skills are in short supply, so part-time work is definitely an option).

If this is true, then you already had the answer to your question --- there should be no problem with putting it in the resume that you are interested in a part-time job.

(Or, to put it another way: If you anticipate that putting your desire for part-time work in your resume might cause problems, doesn't that mean you may not know the job market as well as you think you do?)
posted by jayder at 9:41 AM on June 24 [1 favorite]

One more thing:

In my experience as an employer, the fact that a certain skill-set may be in short supply in my area does not mean I want a part-timer doing it. Good paralegals are hard for me to find, for example. But I will not hire a part-timer, because I don't want to have the additional trouble of coordinating the efforts of two people to do a job that could be done by one full-timer, nor do I want to deal with the problems that would result from this arrangement. I would rather keep looking, to find a full-timer. So scarcity of skilled employees does not equate to "part time is an option," at any given employer. Be sensitive to the possibility of wasting someone's time in interviewing you.
posted by jayder at 9:49 AM on June 24

Mention it in the interview. You'll definitely be screened out if you mention it in the cover-letter.

That said, rather than part-time, you might negotiate flex-time, or perhaps to be on-call. Many jobs are 40 hours not because there is 40 hours worth of work per week, but because the person is needed to be available full-time. With my job, most weeks' workloads could be finished in a 10-hour marathon session, or 15 hours, tops. There are the peak seasons when it's hard work from 9-5 each day, but the real reason I'm not a part-timer is that a rush job might come in at 3pm on Thursday, and it can't wait til Monday.

The nature of your work and the job itself will dictate your schedule as much as anything else.
posted by explosion at 10:21 AM on June 24