Background - I have a full-time job, that pays well, but it's in a space that I don't want to work and they have so little work for me that I mostly listen to podcasts during the day.

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Anonymous

02/01/21 at 2:04PM UTC

Background - I have a full-time job, that pays well, but it's in a space that I don't want to work and they have so little work for me that I mostly listen to podcasts during the day.

I also have a part-time job, which I love, but limited in hours because it is a start-up. They hope to do more full-time hiring in the future but its contract dependent so the timing is unknown. Question - Has anyone ever switched from full-time to part-time? I would like to keep the well paying boring job but cut back on my hours so I can take on more responsibility for the part-time job. I am unsure how to approach the issue. They know about my part-time job so I don't want to give them the impression that I am quitting (but I do intend to if I get an offer from my other job). Advice and suggestions welcome. Thanks!

12 Comments

C. Klein

608

Security Consultant

02/01/21 at 3:23PM UTC

How comfortable are you with your supervisor at your full-time job? Sometimes, it's worth it to just be up-front in a situation like this. Ask to speak to your supervisor and explain your situation. Be very clear that you don't want to leave your FT employment, but you don't feel like you're being well utilized, meanwhile at your PT job you are able to grow your career and skillset. It might also be worth checking with the people at your PT job to see if there are currently more things you could be helping with. Taking the hours cut at you FT job may not be worth it *right now* if your PT employer doesn't need more out of you. When that changes, you can look at swapping hours then.

1 Reply

Anonymous

02/01/21 at 5:12PM UTC

My supervisor could care less about my workload since his office isn't paying me, my paycheck comes from a different office. My part-time job is always asking for more work.

1 Reply

C. Klein

608

Security Consultant

02/03/21 at 4:49PM UTC

Just on an organizational level that seems like a problem, but hey, I guess you can't change that. I'd say start taking on more stuff from your PT job and if/when you reach capacity scale back hours at your FT job.

Anne Krook

240

owner and principal, Practical Workplace Advice

02/01/21 at 3:59PM UTC

as you think about this, also think about these tradeoffs: if you reduce your hours and your pay at the full-time but boring job and then the start-up fails, will you be able to get by on the reduced income? would you be comfortable having all or a majority of your income come from a startup that is contract-dependent?

1 Reply

Anonymous

02/01/21 at 5:13PM UTC

It's a valid concern. I am just weighing the risks since this job is oriented towards my career and the other is not.

User edited comment on 02/01/21 at 5:14PM UTC

1 Reply

Anne Krook

240

owner and principal, Practical Workplace Advice

02/01/21 at 5:16PM UTC

Totally makes sense. And one thing about having a job that is nearer your chosen field, it makes the other job even harder to put up with. Best of luck!

Marquisha Thomas

Admin Coordinator (popwe-Matthew West Ministry)

02/01/21 at 4:11PM UTC

I have, but found a completely different job to do so. It wasn’t possible to keep my weekday hours with the job I was at, so I had to start looking elsewhere and now work three week-days, have a work life balance to spend time with my family, and it’s something that is positive, enjoyable, and where I am using my strengths. So, sometimes looking elsewhere is needed, which is so hard to do during these pandemic times. But this is of course after you have that conversation with your higher-ups!

1 Reply

Anonymous

02/01/21 at 5:14PM UTC

Always looking for hoping that this would be an easier solution

Anonymous

02/01/21 at 4:56PM UTC

If you ask for fewer hours at your full-time job & they agree, you might find that it's not as well paying (especially if they cut your benefits). Are both jobs work-from-home jobs during covid? If you have a work computer & a personal computer... just do your full-time stuff on one computer & your part-time stuff on your other computer. Nobody needs to know that you're doing "other work" instead of listening to a podcast :) I worked at a start-up for 1 year. When they got bought, I had to find a different job because I didn't want to relocate to another state to keep the job... so start-ups can be fun, but also unpredictable because you don't know if/when they'll keep getting funded, go public, or get bought out. However, I would say don't do too much extra work at the start-up without getting paid for it. They'll probably take advantage of you because they can't help it, since they probably have very little control over their funding.

1 Reply

Anonymous

02/01/21 at 5:18PM UTC

My full time job is a desk job in a hospital and I am required to be in the office despite not having work and that I can do it from home. I do overlap my work sometimes but it can be mentally taxing to do that. The part-time gig is fully remote and decent pay for part-time. I don't work for free. The owner is very cautious so the full-time staff is small until they can make actual commitments.

User deleted comment on 02/01/21 at 5:18PM UTC

April Chu

Customer Engagement Leader in San Francisco

02/11/21 at 3:43AM UTC

Does your FTE company have a position similar to what you do in the PT capacity? Withouth knowing what it is you enjoy about the PT role, you should have a conversation with your manager about signing up for projects that will allow yourself to do something similar. In this pandemic environment, there is so much ambiguity. I wouldn't leave to pursue the startup as you have security right now with your current company. But if you can find a way to design the PT role into your company then that can probably work out better while waiting for something at the startup to become firm (at least 6 months - 1 year when hopefully we can resume some normalcy).

1 Reply