For any mum, it’s hard to not feel the impending doom that creeps over us towards the end of maternity leave at the thought of not being able to be there 100% of the time for our perfect little people. And I’m not going to lie, this ‘doom’ was also made worse by the added panic at the thought of “how are we (my fiancé and I) actually going to logistically ship our daughter to and from pre-school everyday, and who is going to look after our baby boy?”
You see, when our daughter was born we were lucky. I had an employer that allowed me to reduce my working pattern to 4 days a week. This was fabulous as at the time we could just about manage the childcare with reliable family help in the form of ‘Super Papa’. However, this altered when his working commitments changed and our whirlwind son was born earlier on this year.
So, we could no longer call upon family to commit to certain days of childcare, and this coupled with my other half’s crazy shift pattern where no two weeks are ever the same, meant that the onus landed with me – and I had to find a solution. I needed to be the ‘half’ who organised the family, and was around to fulfill the necessary pick-ups, drop-offs, doctor’s appointments, and dentist appointments. I knew that working 4 days with a 40minute commute was not going to suffice.
Even though I was incredibly grateful for my 9 years at my past employer and its flexibility with our daughter, I knew it was time to find a more flexible solution that meant I could still ‘use my brain’ (in a professional sense), and not accept that ‘Go Jetters’ and ‘In the Night Garden’ was the height of my professional intelligence – a fear that most people are familiar with, once they’ve had a career break for one reason or another.
This is where 9-2-3 Jobs came into my life via a very good friend, and old colleague Jenna Doran. I could not believe my luck at finding a company that helped other mothers (or those that have had a career break) back into the workplace - and also practiced what they preached too! And so the penny dropped. I called Jenna, and she mentioned that our amazing Founder, Helen was looking to expand up into the North West. She suggested that I go and meet her at an event they were attending in Manchester. So I did, and the rest is history!
Prior to my 9 years marketing experience, I also have business development and recruitment experience thrown in there too. So, this role excited me: not only was it a fantastic challenge, it encompassed all my skills that I had developed since I had started working. But I was now able to fully flex my career around my family and be there for them too.
I love Manchester and the North West and have lived here all of my life. To be offered the opportunity of expanding our business in this region – and helping other people in a similar situation get back to work on a flexible basis - was an opportunity not to miss. I am so excited to be part of this forward thinking team that not only promotes flexible working, but enables me to be everything to my family - and more!
If you are looking for flexible work and live in the North West and would like to receive 9-2-3 Jobs updates, please email your CV to kat@923jobs.com
Similarly, if you work for or own a business in the North West and have flexible vacancies that you would like fulfilled by experienced skilled professionals then give Kat a call on 07878272697 / kat@923jobs.com