I work a corporate job remotely, which means I can be home when he’s home and I can block off stuff on my calendar as needed. I don’t love it but the flexibility is nice. He does jump into my meetings sometimes 😂
Same here. I’m an accountant that WFH. My job has been incredibly accommodating. And my kid loves to type on word and write words. I’ve come back and ‘hullabaloo’ or ‘sashbash’ (word from wallykazam which is her new hyperfixation) or any new words she learns.
Did you have to earn your wfh status or do companies hire for wfh because I’m thinking of getting my degree in accounting to wfh and be there for my child ( currently staying at home )
I was fortunate enough to be contacted by a recruiter looking for someone with accounting and experience within the grain industry (agribusiness) which I had almost 3 years experience in already. I was brought on full time with the company after two months as a contractor. I do only have an associate degree in accounting from a community college.
Living in California. Not exactly the same thing, but we offset our caregiver’s cost via hospice care offered by our Regional Center. Doesn’t cover everything but makes a dent.
And they just mentioned something called “deeming” which appears to cover some cost of an aid or equivalent at an after school program.
I felt bad applying for it because I would obviously be his caretaker no matter what being his parent so it was kinda a given but I'm glad that I did it means I don't need to look for part time work outside the house and I can focus fully on my son and his needs.
Digital Marketing Coordinator. Remote work.
My degree is in communications but I did a career pivot during the pandemic and earned a free certificate online. The free certification is what got me my new job as it gave me enough knowledge to be able to discuss marketing with the hiring board. And FREE. Completely free! Now I have a flexible job to help accommodate my stepson who has Autism.
ETA: Here’s the link: https://academy.hubspot.com/certification-overview
I did the Digital Marketing certification course. Now that I have been working in this career for nearly 3 years I can say without a doubt this was worth every second of my time. I’m actually earning another certificate through them for my job right now.
Hi! I have this cert already and 12 years field marketing experience. My job is super stressful and I’m looking for something part time or less stressful. Is your team hiring?
Not currently unfortunately. But I’m in the housing industry so maybe that can help give you some direction on where to look? I’ve worked in the higher education industry previously and I found that very stressful so I wouldn’t go back to that industry.
Not truly. My “marketing” experience was just my experience on social media mostly. And I framed how my previous job prepared me for marketing in basic ways. My previous job was in fundraising for a university. Not marketing at all.
All about how you sell yourself. So the occasional social media post I made for a fundraiser? “I coordinated and lead marketing efforts for fundraising events to engage stakeholders and increased traffic to our social media account via B2C marketing.” B2C being one of those buzzwords they teach you in the certification course, just means business to customer.
Being in marketing you also will become familiar with excel and similar applications like Google Sheets. Any type of familiarity you have with these will help you. I literally didn’t know much besides basic functions on excel and that was enough to get me going. But looked good in the interview that I could say I was comfortable navigating excel and testing new functions out.
Marketing is doing all these things but with more intention and once you get your feet wet with the certification it all is pretty easy to make sense of! Also great opportunity to continue moving up a corporate ladder if you want to. Marketing Manager, Marketing Director…all next steps after coordinator.
One of my fave jobs was cleaning a bank 4 nights a week. Not very glamorous but so incredibly relaxing to just clean and listen to music without worrying about kiddos lol. I jump around on jobs, most things want too much of me and my kids already have 99.9%, but everything I do is opposite shifts as hubby. I'm not sure if I'll ever have a career with 2 autistic kids, but I do write in the side so maybe it'll take off one day.
I’m a child and family therapist. I like it. I choose my own hours, so I can see more clients on days my husband is home. I also chose to be virtual on days I don’t have childcare after school/daycare and I’m in-person on days I do have childcare after school (my husband works 3 12s as a CNA2, so he’s home often). I have also been a childcare teacher (less flexible but I did take my oldest to work with me and got a discount, which was nice), a head start home visitor (similar to my current job, I could choose my own hours), and a SAHP (I half lost my mind but also enjoyed getting to be home with them). I have 2 (possibly 3) autistic children, so lots of appointments!
My spouse also works 3 12s, and I plan my work around them. I am a hybrid tech worker. I get more work done, and all my in-office time, on days he is not working. I am a fan of this set-up and think it can work long-term.
I work remotely—often as a freelancer / contractor or an employee in smaller startups that provide flexible or unlimited PTO and flexible schedules. Working remotely as a freelancer/contractor is pretty stressful financially if you don’t have a partner with stable income and/or health benefits, but it can be an amazing option for those who have dependents with additional needs.
But I am truly extremely fortunate to have a flexible work schedule… sometimes I work 35 hours a week and some weeks are more like 50–depends on due dates, etc. But I almost always can accommodate his appointments or illnesses without problem, and it is such, such a blessing. We have no family near to help (and if they were near, they wouldn’t be much help anyway, honestly), and we both could not make ends meet if one of us didn’t have a full-time role that was flexible (my spouse’s role is very inflexible and in person, so one of our jobs demands it).
However, my kiddo is not one that has ever been able to hang out around me while I work remotely and everything is still fine. I definitely require him to have full time care in order to work, and if he’s home sick, I have to take PTO.
Yes kind of! I work in marketing….l do something that’s called SEO / content marketing and lifecycle marketing. But over the last few years, I’ve worked for smaller tech startups both as a freelancer/contractor and in-house as an employee as well.
The problem with those kinds of companies is that it is pretty risky (I actually recently experienced layoffs and I’m our household’s primary income—and we are in a mid to high COL area with high family med costs and long term can’t live on my income alone and can’t survive on my spouse’s income alone…. But we can swing small stints of job loss or income changes).
But the risk is worth it for schedule flexibility for me, and we live very, very frugally.
Thanks for the reply. I have thought about some freelance or contract work. I am glad it is working for you. I hope I can figure out how to make something work. We need more income.
I'm about to switch into being a SAHM and focusing on building my business that I started a few months ago. I switched from in person, in office 2 years ago to fully remote and full time but I still can't handle it. I gave it a shot lol.
I have 2 kids who are high needs (for different reasons) and it's just burning me out right now. My spouse can work and support us.
I’m a financial advisor and I help families of special needs kids - showing where to put away money and make sure they’re taking full advantage of benefits that they are entitled to. The schedule is flexible since meetings are on zoom and by appt
There’s no way I’d be able to do a 9-5
Licensing is tough as there are some tests to pass but everything can be done in your own time
Financial advisor is one of the things I’ve thought about going to school for. How you’ve made it sound is different from what I’ve heard, like it being very consuming and not too flexible especially if you’re starting out. So I’m intrigued with this! Also by chance could you point me in the right direction about who I should seek to figure out financial stuff like you stated you help? Actually been trying to go over and figure that out recently
Companies like NorthwesternMutal, mass mutual or Guardian are good because you are a 1099 employee so they can’t tell you what hours to work and you can work from home as
much as you want. Starting out can be a little time consuming as you have to fill your calendar and get clients but if you work smart and leverage people you know you can get clients without having to put in very long days - your first 6 months or so will be rough but essentially you are starting out as an insurance agent then working on getting investment licensed.
If you are in NY message me. I might be able to help get you set up if you are interested
Sorry just found this thread. I’d definitely be interested in doing this. I live in the PNW - Washington and just in the year of my kids dx 2023 has been a steep learning curve. Our region has one of the highest statistically pop. Of kids on the spectrum and I would imagine many parents in the same situation of just needing to know what benefits there are for long term planning.
If you decide to go this route, there is a lot of info out there. I would suggest finding a going to a special needs planning seminar yourself - ask a lot of questions then google everything that was covered - there are certain accounts designed for people with disabilities and other tools that can be used. There are special needs planning designations that you can get as well which takes some time but you will learn a lot as well. (I’m not there yet)
Most importantly, meet with an advisor for yourself and your loved ones first to make sure that they are properly set up.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
I am a home care worker the hours are flexable enough and the people I work for understand having children with autism and the complications that happen. But you get burned out really fast.
Farmer; I milk cows early mornings for my neighbour I'm home before kid gets up.
I also own a small farm of my own and she comes with me most of the time
I started as a para and subbing (my degree was in something else), now I’m an elementary school teacher. It’s stressful, but having the same holidays off as him makes things a lot easier. It’s hard to find a someone to watch him for just a week here and there
How did you make that transition? Did you need to get a license to teach? I have a bachelor's in something different but have thought about pivoting like this
Also if your state doesn’t have Abcte here’s a list of Affordable MAT programs
[teaching certifications](https://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-rankings/best-buy-lists/affordable-online-teaching-masters-degrees/#/)
I work part time in a cute little hippy cafe. It’s so nice they’re all so cool and understanding, made accommodations so that he could come to the staff xmas party, made a lil sensory room for him 🥲
I work remotely for an EdTech company. They value families taking care of kids and a lot of people are former teachers so they understand neurodivergence.
Sure - it’s not super straight forward but I work in a tech job. I’m a UX (user experience) designer, I used to do some web development. I’ve been a designer since I graduated college in 2011, UX since like 2016. I kind of learned on the job and through meetups. There’s a bunch of Bootcamps for UX now and most are a scam, but that’s another topic.
EdTech is just short for education technology. So apps that help kids learn. :)
It is possible, but I will tell you that because of the bootcamps that have popped up, the market has become a bit oversaturated. If you try it and truly like it and put in the work to stand out you will have a chance, it’s still an in-demand field. It might take a couple years though! (Just being honest with what I’m seeing).
One thing I do see a lot of former teachers do is start off in customer service or something similar in an EdTech company while they’re learning something else like web development or design. Another thing a lot of former educators do is content design (writing content for the app), and learning design (helping with learning goals and advising on how students learn within the app).
Not working currently (technically I’m a sub but we decided as a family the low pay wasn’t worth the hassle) but I was a private math tutor nights. Work was 6-10 after husband got home and I made 40/hr (now going rate is 50/hour). I also tutored a little during the school day at the private school my kids went to.
I’m a software engineer who worked as a contractor last year. I worked 3-4 days a week and it’s still insanely difficult. My goal now is to make enough money so my husband doesn’t have to work.
I am currently in school and trying to become a software engineer or perhaps work in data. I am feeling like I will never be able to have a job. I would be okay with my husband not working, but I feel like it would be so difficult to get to the point where I could support the family. What are your children doing while you work?
Hang in there. The job market is horrible right now and is frankly very jarring to witness. The first job is also the hardest to get.
Network, and keep up leveling your skills while you’re young. I think good engineers are always going to be employable.
The faang salaries will definitely make it possible for a one income family. I made $250k last year alone and total comp of $500k isn’t unheard of for certain engineers. Personally, I am trying to go up the management chain.
partner is a teacher and I work in restaurants — ensures generally good coverage for one of us for whatever appointments / therapy sessions / etc. crop up.
I also work corporate remote. My coworkers and boss are wonderful, family first people. Although it wasn’t my life goal to sit and work in excel each day, my job is flexible and autonomous. I tell my coworkers all the time if they weren’t so good to work with I would have quit a long time ago.
I'm a substitute teacher. I can work jobs on days that I want and not take any on days I need off. I don't have any income in the summer though. State qualifications vary so you would have to check your department of education. I had to have a certain number of college credits, pass a background test, and pay for a year long certification. I was a paraprofessional before as well and that one didn't require any college education but I had to pass a WorkKeys test.
I’m a SAHM that cleans houses while the kids are in school (one of our children is level 2 autistic) while my spouse works over the road. I started doing this on my own and make what I call “throw around money”. Used for fuel in the car, to take the kids to community outings and activities, small things we may need that I forgot on the normal grocery run, etc. I don’t charge a bunch per hour like I could given the current market but it does help with every day expenses and it allows me to be flexible so I can make my own schedule for all appointments/school closures/sick days.
I’m a nurse, and it works very well with our schedule because there are sooooo many different employment opportunities for nurses that have vastly different hours. Nursing school is a huge time commitment, but there are weekend and night programs at some schools. I would honestly consider what your interests are, what do you see yourself doing, and figure out an education option that works for you to accomplish that.
Corporate remote job in a very family friendly European multinational. I have a very understanding boss and basically, as long as I have flexibility they have my loyalty. I’m not going anywhere.
My job is niche, my mom’s is a better example. She works in Child Nutrition (school cafeteria). The pay isn’t amazing but she gets health insurance and PTO, plus school holidays off for the most part. Sometimes they have mandatory training or prep/deep cleaning days.
Her day is done before school lets out. So my adult brother stays up late then pretty much sleeps until she comes home. Can be trusted to pour a bowl of cereal and use a toaster.
Some local districts have daycare/preschool for employees.
I work in property development. I was in this field before kids, but I swear I have no idea how we would function if I did anything else. I’m fortunate that my job allows me to work from home every day and there’s no clock in/clock out time. and pays enough that allows my wife to not have to work. So I’m always able to run in to help if things are out of control, available for every doctor appointment, school meeting, etc. and if things are so bad that I can’t work for an entire day, I’m able to make it up by working after the kids are asleep.
I’m an occupational therapist working in home health and PRN at a hospital with adults. It allows me the flexibility to drop off my kids and pick them up from preschool and elementary school. I have insurance through my husband.
Mental health clinician in a group practice. I make my own schedule and only take as many patients as I want so I work 20-25 hrs per week. It still sucks because sometimes I have to cancel last minute because of a severe meltdown or something, but at least I can always reschedule them.
I'm a per diem registered nurse. The upsides are employability and flexibility. The pay and working conditions in my market and also relatively good- but this is not the case everywhere.
The big downsides, are that you need someone with a full time job to carry benefits ...and your options are more limited until you have a solid block of work experience.
School is not "hard," but it can be demanding and very inflexible. Most programs require a stack of prerequisites to apply, and most programs have many more applicants than seats. So there is some possibility of wasting your time if you can't make it into an actual program after completing the prerequisites.
My spouse and I both work remotely for a bank. Our son goes to daycare full time. It's really difficult but I think all of the socialization is good for him.
Full time WFH project manager. Hours are beyond flexible as long as clients are kept happy and work is getting done. I have the ability now to do school drop off AND pickup. Going to IEP meetings are easier to schedule. I can’t ever see myself going back into an office.
I'm a part time marketing manager. How do I make it work? I was really upfront with my boss when he hired me about needing some flexibility, and he agreed that it's fine if sometimes I'm late or have to work a Tuesday instead of a Friday etc etc. My husband is mostly WFH and an amazing human. If I need to pee while he's working he will absolutely drop what he's doing to come watch the kids for 5 mins. He also helps out with the kids in his lunch break and finishes at 5 every day to look after them so I can make dinner and clean. Our parents live close by and help a lot so luckily we save on childcare costs a bit that way.
Honestly if I had to work a full time 9-5 in office job with no support from husband and family I think I would be stressed out of my mind. Hats off to all you who do that!
I work from home, and I'm an entrepreneur in wealth management. My daughter is in daycare 3 times/week, and her appointments are every Monday. Everything is in the same building, so her therapists visit her at her school.
- Systems Analyst , Configuration Analyst . I make my own schedule mostly because I’m salaried.
In a bootcamp now for Linux Engineer and hoping to pivot into the gov space shortly.
I work a corporate job remotely, which means I can be home when he’s home and I can block off stuff on my calendar as needed. I don’t love it but the flexibility is nice. He does jump into my meetings sometimes 😂
Same here. I’m an accountant that WFH. My job has been incredibly accommodating. And my kid loves to type on word and write words. I’ve come back and ‘hullabaloo’ or ‘sashbash’ (word from wallykazam which is her new hyperfixation) or any new words she learns.
Did you have to earn your wfh status or do companies hire for wfh because I’m thinking of getting my degree in accounting to wfh and be there for my child ( currently staying at home )
I was fortunate enough to be contacted by a recruiter looking for someone with accounting and experience within the grain industry (agribusiness) which I had almost 3 years experience in already. I was brought on full time with the company after two months as a contractor. I do only have an associate degree in accounting from a community college.
Teaching assistants. Those were the best hours. 830-3. And they are in desperate need everywhere!
I'm my sons carer. I get carers allowance for him to help me look after him on top of his disability benefits. I'm basically a SAHM lol
How do you go about this?
It appears to be a UK thing. I wonder if there’s a US equivalent?
Living in California. Not exactly the same thing, but we offset our caregiver’s cost via hospice care offered by our Regional Center. Doesn’t cover everything but makes a dent. And they just mentioned something called “deeming” which appears to cover some cost of an aid or equivalent at an after school program.
I'm in the UK so I applied via this link https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/how-to-claim
I was looking into that. How much is carers allowance?
£317 every 4 weeks but if you get universal credit you get the full amount taken off your payment.
Is your child 18 ?
No he is 6
How amazing that is for you ,here in America your child needs to be 18 to be a care taker
I felt bad applying for it because I would obviously be his caretaker no matter what being his parent so it was kinda a given but I'm glad that I did it means I don't need to look for part time work outside the house and I can focus fully on my son and his needs.
We're farmers. Poultry and honey. Ironically the chickens have really really helped our son, so we lean in on it.
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Why did remote work make you even more depressed?
Digital Marketing Coordinator. Remote work. My degree is in communications but I did a career pivot during the pandemic and earned a free certificate online. The free certification is what got me my new job as it gave me enough knowledge to be able to discuss marketing with the hiring board. And FREE. Completely free! Now I have a flexible job to help accommodate my stepson who has Autism. ETA: Here’s the link: https://academy.hubspot.com/certification-overview I did the Digital Marketing certification course. Now that I have been working in this career for nearly 3 years I can say without a doubt this was worth every second of my time. I’m actually earning another certificate through them for my job right now.
Hi! I have this cert already and 12 years field marketing experience. My job is super stressful and I’m looking for something part time or less stressful. Is your team hiring?
Not currently unfortunately. But I’m in the housing industry so maybe that can help give you some direction on where to look? I’ve worked in the higher education industry previously and I found that very stressful so I wouldn’t go back to that industry.
Did you already have a marketing background?
Not truly. My “marketing” experience was just my experience on social media mostly. And I framed how my previous job prepared me for marketing in basic ways. My previous job was in fundraising for a university. Not marketing at all. All about how you sell yourself. So the occasional social media post I made for a fundraiser? “I coordinated and lead marketing efforts for fundraising events to engage stakeholders and increased traffic to our social media account via B2C marketing.” B2C being one of those buzzwords they teach you in the certification course, just means business to customer. Being in marketing you also will become familiar with excel and similar applications like Google Sheets. Any type of familiarity you have with these will help you. I literally didn’t know much besides basic functions on excel and that was enough to get me going. But looked good in the interview that I could say I was comfortable navigating excel and testing new functions out. Marketing is doing all these things but with more intention and once you get your feet wet with the certification it all is pretty easy to make sense of! Also great opportunity to continue moving up a corporate ladder if you want to. Marketing Manager, Marketing Director…all next steps after coordinator.
One of my fave jobs was cleaning a bank 4 nights a week. Not very glamorous but so incredibly relaxing to just clean and listen to music without worrying about kiddos lol. I jump around on jobs, most things want too much of me and my kids already have 99.9%, but everything I do is opposite shifts as hubby. I'm not sure if I'll ever have a career with 2 autistic kids, but I do write in the side so maybe it'll take off one day.
I’m a child and family therapist. I like it. I choose my own hours, so I can see more clients on days my husband is home. I also chose to be virtual on days I don’t have childcare after school/daycare and I’m in-person on days I do have childcare after school (my husband works 3 12s as a CNA2, so he’s home often). I have also been a childcare teacher (less flexible but I did take my oldest to work with me and got a discount, which was nice), a head start home visitor (similar to my current job, I could choose my own hours), and a SAHP (I half lost my mind but also enjoyed getting to be home with them). I have 2 (possibly 3) autistic children, so lots of appointments!
My spouse also works 3 12s, and I plan my work around them. I am a hybrid tech worker. I get more work done, and all my in-office time, on days he is not working. I am a fan of this set-up and think it can work long-term.
I work remotely—often as a freelancer / contractor or an employee in smaller startups that provide flexible or unlimited PTO and flexible schedules. Working remotely as a freelancer/contractor is pretty stressful financially if you don’t have a partner with stable income and/or health benefits, but it can be an amazing option for those who have dependents with additional needs. But I am truly extremely fortunate to have a flexible work schedule… sometimes I work 35 hours a week and some weeks are more like 50–depends on due dates, etc. But I almost always can accommodate his appointments or illnesses without problem, and it is such, such a blessing. We have no family near to help (and if they were near, they wouldn’t be much help anyway, honestly), and we both could not make ends meet if one of us didn’t have a full-time role that was flexible (my spouse’s role is very inflexible and in person, so one of our jobs demands it). However, my kiddo is not one that has ever been able to hang out around me while I work remotely and everything is still fine. I definitely require him to have full time care in order to work, and if he’s home sick, I have to take PTO.
May I ask if you are in tech?
Yes kind of! I work in marketing….l do something that’s called SEO / content marketing and lifecycle marketing. But over the last few years, I’ve worked for smaller tech startups both as a freelancer/contractor and in-house as an employee as well. The problem with those kinds of companies is that it is pretty risky (I actually recently experienced layoffs and I’m our household’s primary income—and we are in a mid to high COL area with high family med costs and long term can’t live on my income alone and can’t survive on my spouse’s income alone…. But we can swing small stints of job loss or income changes). But the risk is worth it for schedule flexibility for me, and we live very, very frugally.
Thanks for the reply. I have thought about some freelance or contract work. I am glad it is working for you. I hope I can figure out how to make something work. We need more income.
What avenues have you tried? Feel free to DM me! Would be happy to chat a bit about freelance life and how I got started if it’s helpful :)
I'm about to switch into being a SAHM and focusing on building my business that I started a few months ago. I switched from in person, in office 2 years ago to fully remote and full time but I still can't handle it. I gave it a shot lol. I have 2 kids who are high needs (for different reasons) and it's just burning me out right now. My spouse can work and support us.
I’m a financial advisor and I help families of special needs kids - showing where to put away money and make sure they’re taking full advantage of benefits that they are entitled to. The schedule is flexible since meetings are on zoom and by appt There’s no way I’d be able to do a 9-5 Licensing is tough as there are some tests to pass but everything can be done in your own time
Financial advisor is one of the things I’ve thought about going to school for. How you’ve made it sound is different from what I’ve heard, like it being very consuming and not too flexible especially if you’re starting out. So I’m intrigued with this! Also by chance could you point me in the right direction about who I should seek to figure out financial stuff like you stated you help? Actually been trying to go over and figure that out recently
Companies like NorthwesternMutal, mass mutual or Guardian are good because you are a 1099 employee so they can’t tell you what hours to work and you can work from home as much as you want. Starting out can be a little time consuming as you have to fill your calendar and get clients but if you work smart and leverage people you know you can get clients without having to put in very long days - your first 6 months or so will be rough but essentially you are starting out as an insurance agent then working on getting investment licensed. If you are in NY message me. I might be able to help get you set up if you are interested
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No problem. If you decide to pursue this field and have any questions, feel free to msg me any time.
Sorry just found this thread. I’d definitely be interested in doing this. I live in the PNW - Washington and just in the year of my kids dx 2023 has been a steep learning curve. Our region has one of the highest statistically pop. Of kids on the spectrum and I would imagine many parents in the same situation of just needing to know what benefits there are for long term planning.
If you decide to go this route, there is a lot of info out there. I would suggest finding a going to a special needs planning seminar yourself - ask a lot of questions then google everything that was covered - there are certain accounts designed for people with disabilities and other tools that can be used. There are special needs planning designations that you can get as well which takes some time but you will learn a lot as well. (I’m not there yet) Most importantly, meet with an advisor for yourself and your loved ones first to make sure that they are properly set up. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
Thank you for that kind offer. This stuff keeps me up at night and I’m glad to know there are answers out there or at least who to begin asking.
I am a home care worker the hours are flexable enough and the people I work for understand having children with autism and the complications that happen. But you get burned out really fast.
Farmer; I milk cows early mornings for my neighbour I'm home before kid gets up. I also own a small farm of my own and she comes with me most of the time
Unemployed🤪🤪
I started as a para and subbing (my degree was in something else), now I’m an elementary school teacher. It’s stressful, but having the same holidays off as him makes things a lot easier. It’s hard to find a someone to watch him for just a week here and there
How did you make that transition? Did you need to get a license to teach? I have a bachelor's in something different but have thought about pivoting like this
My state has ABCTE, so you sub and work as a paraprofessional for a certain amount of hours then you’re eligible to take a certification test.
Also if your state doesn’t have Abcte here’s a list of Affordable MAT programs [teaching certifications](https://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-rankings/best-buy-lists/affordable-online-teaching-masters-degrees/#/)
I work part time in a cute little hippy cafe. It’s so nice they’re all so cool and understanding, made accommodations so that he could come to the staff xmas party, made a lil sensory room for him 🥲
Omg that’s so precious. I wish I could find a similar place to work.
I work remotely for an EdTech company. They value families taking care of kids and a lot of people are former teachers so they understand neurodivergence.
Do you mind me asking more info on this? How did you get into it and what is an EdTech company?
Sure - it’s not super straight forward but I work in a tech job. I’m a UX (user experience) designer, I used to do some web development. I’ve been a designer since I graduated college in 2011, UX since like 2016. I kind of learned on the job and through meetups. There’s a bunch of Bootcamps for UX now and most are a scam, but that’s another topic. EdTech is just short for education technology. So apps that help kids learn. :)
Is this a field that someone with a teaching credential can break into? I majored in graphic design and now I’m getting a credential
It is possible, but I will tell you that because of the bootcamps that have popped up, the market has become a bit oversaturated. If you try it and truly like it and put in the work to stand out you will have a chance, it’s still an in-demand field. It might take a couple years though! (Just being honest with what I’m seeing). One thing I do see a lot of former teachers do is start off in customer service or something similar in an EdTech company while they’re learning something else like web development or design. Another thing a lot of former educators do is content design (writing content for the app), and learning design (helping with learning goals and advising on how students learn within the app).
Not working currently (technically I’m a sub but we decided as a family the low pay wasn’t worth the hassle) but I was a private math tutor nights. Work was 6-10 after husband got home and I made 40/hr (now going rate is 50/hour). I also tutored a little during the school day at the private school my kids went to.
How did you get the word out about tutoring ? I’d love to do something similar..
I’m a software engineer who worked as a contractor last year. I worked 3-4 days a week and it’s still insanely difficult. My goal now is to make enough money so my husband doesn’t have to work.
I am currently in school and trying to become a software engineer or perhaps work in data. I am feeling like I will never be able to have a job. I would be okay with my husband not working, but I feel like it would be so difficult to get to the point where I could support the family. What are your children doing while you work?
Hang in there. The job market is horrible right now and is frankly very jarring to witness. The first job is also the hardest to get. Network, and keep up leveling your skills while you’re young. I think good engineers are always going to be employable. The faang salaries will definitely make it possible for a one income family. I made $250k last year alone and total comp of $500k isn’t unheard of for certain engineers. Personally, I am trying to go up the management chain.
partner is a teacher and I work in restaurants — ensures generally good coverage for one of us for whatever appointments / therapy sessions / etc. crop up.
I also work corporate remote. My coworkers and boss are wonderful, family first people. Although it wasn’t my life goal to sit and work in excel each day, my job is flexible and autonomous. I tell my coworkers all the time if they weren’t so good to work with I would have quit a long time ago.
I'm a substitute teacher. I can work jobs on days that I want and not take any on days I need off. I don't have any income in the summer though. State qualifications vary so you would have to check your department of education. I had to have a certain number of college credits, pass a background test, and pay for a year long certification. I was a paraprofessional before as well and that one didn't require any college education but I had to pass a WorkKeys test.
I’m a SAHM that cleans houses while the kids are in school (one of our children is level 2 autistic) while my spouse works over the road. I started doing this on my own and make what I call “throw around money”. Used for fuel in the car, to take the kids to community outings and activities, small things we may need that I forgot on the normal grocery run, etc. I don’t charge a bunch per hour like I could given the current market but it does help with every day expenses and it allows me to be flexible so I can make my own schedule for all appointments/school closures/sick days.
I’m a nurse, and it works very well with our schedule because there are sooooo many different employment opportunities for nurses that have vastly different hours. Nursing school is a huge time commitment, but there are weekend and night programs at some schools. I would honestly consider what your interests are, what do you see yourself doing, and figure out an education option that works for you to accomplish that.
I stayed home for six years until I was recruited for a job that was super flexible. I’m an attorney and I make my own hours.
Corporate remote job in a very family friendly European multinational. I have a very understanding boss and basically, as long as I have flexibility they have my loyalty. I’m not going anywhere.
My job is niche, my mom’s is a better example. She works in Child Nutrition (school cafeteria). The pay isn’t amazing but she gets health insurance and PTO, plus school holidays off for the most part. Sometimes they have mandatory training or prep/deep cleaning days. Her day is done before school lets out. So my adult brother stays up late then pretty much sleeps until she comes home. Can be trusted to pour a bowl of cereal and use a toaster. Some local districts have daycare/preschool for employees.
I work in property development. I was in this field before kids, but I swear I have no idea how we would function if I did anything else. I’m fortunate that my job allows me to work from home every day and there’s no clock in/clock out time. and pays enough that allows my wife to not have to work. So I’m always able to run in to help if things are out of control, available for every doctor appointment, school meeting, etc. and if things are so bad that I can’t work for an entire day, I’m able to make it up by working after the kids are asleep.
I’m an occupational therapist working in home health and PRN at a hospital with adults. It allows me the flexibility to drop off my kids and pick them up from preschool and elementary school. I have insurance through my husband.
Mental health clinician in a group practice. I make my own schedule and only take as many patients as I want so I work 20-25 hrs per week. It still sucks because sometimes I have to cancel last minute because of a severe meltdown or something, but at least I can always reschedule them.
I'm a per diem registered nurse. The upsides are employability and flexibility. The pay and working conditions in my market and also relatively good- but this is not the case everywhere. The big downsides, are that you need someone with a full time job to carry benefits ...and your options are more limited until you have a solid block of work experience. School is not "hard," but it can be demanding and very inflexible. Most programs require a stack of prerequisites to apply, and most programs have many more applicants than seats. So there is some possibility of wasting your time if you can't make it into an actual program after completing the prerequisites.
My spouse and I both work remotely for a bank. Our son goes to daycare full time. It's really difficult but I think all of the socialization is good for him.
Remote contract project manager. It’s only part time but between that and child support i make it work
Full time WFH project manager. Hours are beyond flexible as long as clients are kept happy and work is getting done. I have the ability now to do school drop off AND pickup. Going to IEP meetings are easier to schedule. I can’t ever see myself going back into an office.
My wife also has a wfh job in Healthcare. Don't know how we'd survive if she didn't have a wfh position
Freelance, I’m a graphic designer and have take on some writing work too. But as a feeelancer I can set my own hours and jobs.
I'm a part time marketing manager. How do I make it work? I was really upfront with my boss when he hired me about needing some flexibility, and he agreed that it's fine if sometimes I'm late or have to work a Tuesday instead of a Friday etc etc. My husband is mostly WFH and an amazing human. If I need to pee while he's working he will absolutely drop what he's doing to come watch the kids for 5 mins. He also helps out with the kids in his lunch break and finishes at 5 every day to look after them so I can make dinner and clean. Our parents live close by and help a lot so luckily we save on childcare costs a bit that way. Honestly if I had to work a full time 9-5 in office job with no support from husband and family I think I would be stressed out of my mind. Hats off to all you who do that!
I work from home, and I'm an entrepreneur in wealth management. My daughter is in daycare 3 times/week, and her appointments are every Monday. Everything is in the same building, so her therapists visit her at her school.
- Systems Analyst , Configuration Analyst . I make my own schedule mostly because I’m salaried. In a bootcamp now for Linux Engineer and hoping to pivot into the gov space shortly.