For many people, working part-time can prove to be an ideal option, perhaps because of child-care considerations or other practical reasons. One motivation for working part-time is to allow more opportunities to pursue a dream role, whether that process involves building a business, undergoing further training or education, or trying to highlight your skills. We spoke to some people in Scotland who have purposely chosen to work part-time to help them achieve their ambitions.
The Comedy Writer
Marc Jennings works three days a week in the customer service department of an insurance company, taking calls from customers to answer queries and help to process changes of details. Though he’s fully professional when fulfilling the role, it’s not where his burning passion lies, as he explains to us.
“With the rest of my time I’m doing a lot of comedy writing, which will usually either be used in my own stand-up act or in a sketch which I’ll have filmed and put online. I’d been working full-time for eight months after graduating and felt like my goals were slipping away, so I decided something had to change.
For the most part it’s been great. When I first went part-time my ambitions were to film a whole load of sketch ideas I’d had and to become a bit more established as a stand-up (at that time no one even knew I was doing it). Since then I’ve put out about a dozen sketches, done hundreds of stand-up gigs and have nearly finished a 30 minute short film which had been on the backburner for years.”
The Hypnotherapist
Slavka Craig has grown used to working part-time to follow her dreams, having given up a full-time wage to study psychology as a mature student.
“I had always wanted to study psychology and one day I just decided to go for it. Having to give up a full time salary, go to university and live off a part-time income was a daunting thought. However I managed to combine studying with working part-time well. I had no other option but to work part time alongside studying as I had no student loan. I combined the job with getting invaluable clinical experience as I worked in a psychiatric hospital.”
Slavka’s decision paid off as she graduated with a first class degree. Now, having since gained a Practitioner Diploma in Analytical Hypnotherapy, she has again turned to working part-time to give her the flexibility she needs to establish her hypnotherapy practice.
“I work for a charity as a mental health support worker in the third sector. Last year I chose to swap my permanent contract with the company for a zero hours contract instead. This gives me more flexibility as I can choose to work hours that suit me. I made the decision so that I can pursue my passion for hypnotherapy.”
As well as allowing her time to build her practice, it also allows her to continue to grow her skill-set.
“I am committed to my continuous professional development (CPD), so when I am not working, I am always studying. From October I am commencing fast-track post-graduate training in Hypno-Psychotherapy (which combines both hypnotherapy and psychotherapy). It feels like I have been a student forever but in this line of work, you never stop learning and studying.”
Sometimes people will give themselves a timeline to try to stick to in terms of how they see themselves progressing from working part-time to turning their dream role into a full-time reality. How does Slavka see things unfolding?
“I am hoping to finish my psychotherapy training in a reasonable time, which will definitely help in terms of reaching a wider clientele. I have already worked with clients with depression and anxiety in my practice and also regularly do so in my support work role, so it made professional sense to do the training.”
“Other hypnotherapists, including my supervisor, advised me that it can take around two years to establish yourself as a hypnotherapist. I am hoping that with my mental health background and further psychotherapy training I will be able to differentiate myself on the hypnotherapy market.”
Given the ability to focus that hypnotherapy brings to people, Slavka should be in the perfect role to help her realise her dream.
The Comedian
Like Marc, Grant Gallacher dreams of turning his passion for comedy into a full-time career. For now though, they both also share a similar part-time role.
“I work in a call centre for a multinational that gets work contracted out to them by other large companies. I wanted to leave myself enough time to write and perform, so decided to take the cut financially and dedicate more time to performing. It has been tough. Comedy is my passion and I want to be the best I can be, but I’m near permanently worrying that I may not be good enough, or that I’m wasting my time. Working more would give me more money, but I didn’t feel it would satisfy me as much.”
“I have one year of university left to finish, so I am planning to also do that part-time next year, still pursuing comedy. My focus is on being able to make a reasonable living from comedy by the time I’m 26. I’m 24 now, so I have two years.”
The Musician
Henry Bird is a part-time bar person at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh, while splitting his remaining time between completing a university degree and playing music. He’s currently involved in not one, not two, but three musical projects! Those are “an indie-band based in Edinburgh, a zydeco folk ‘n’ roll band in Newcastle and my own soul/pop project”.
Working part-time has proved to be the perfect solution for Henry, as he explains.
“I wouldn’t have time to work a full-time job and make as much music as I wanted to and secondly because part-time work allows me to prioritise music. I can take last-minute gigs and book long periods of time off for tours. It means having the freedom to jump at opportunities in the music business that are very rare and precious.”
Can he see a point at which his part-time passion will turn into a full-time calling though?
“Yes I can, although it takes an awful lot of courage and faith in myself (and possibly delusion!). Music is my calling, I can’t see myself not doing it and I don’t really know how I would stop. However, there are different levels of music-making and not pursuing a career in it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy music anymore or that you’ll enjoy it less.”
“I have a contingency plan that ranges over the next 10 to 15 years. In an ideal world I would be a platinum-selling, award-winning, world-touring artist making money from my own songs. In a next to ideal world I will be a session musician, teacher and songwriter, building an income out of several avenues in music. Failing all of those things I would most likely give up a career in music and play as a hobby. My other great passion is teaching Ancient Greek and Latin so I would look at postgraduate study and then teaching. If I fail at everything then I’ll turn to lawyering…”
![[Caption: Henry Bird. Either working behind a bar or working on raising the bar musically.]](https://www.s1jobs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/s1jobs.jpg)
[caption: Henry Bird. Either working behind a bar or working on raising the bar musically.]
At s1jobs, we’re working full-time to aid your part-time dreams
As our brand manager Kayleigh Lockhart says, “At s1jobs we’re committed to making the widest possible variety of job opportunities available to people on the Scottish employment market. We’re very aware that offering roles of differing working hours can be key in giving people the best work/life balance and also in allowing them to follow their dreams and ambitions. Employment exists to assist and empower people and that’s something that we’re more than happy to be a part of.”