Variety / Mixture of Jobs

**tp6626** · 03-02-2009, 03:11 PM

I get bored in my current job. I feel I am investing too much time in one single outlet for my professional work.

Ideally, I think I would like my week structured like this:

Mon: Job 1
Tue: Job 1
Wed: Job 2
Thu: Job 2
Fri: Teaching / Learning
Sat: Rest
Sun: Rest

Job 1 and 2 should be quite different from each other. I like to keep a broad base of experience.

Does anyone know how I might be able to achieve this schedule?

I'm particularly interested in anyone's experiences of part time work. And I'm intending fully professional roles for those two jobs, not just part time as in working at a shop or bar or something - I mean engineering / design related.

Has anyone managed to gain a varied mix of work in this way?

**Cesare Borgia** · 03-02-2009, 07:25 PM

Try a couple of part time jobs, 20 hours at one, 20 hours at the other.

**Subverted** · 03-02-2009, 10:13 PM

	Originally Posted by tp6626 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Mon: Job 1 Tue: Job 1 Wed: Job 2 Thu: Job 2 Fri: Teaching / Learning Sat: Rest Sun: Rest

That is what I want to achieve if I ever actually like college enough to finish it. Teaching two days a week, lab work two days a week, fieldwork on the remaining week day.

But, for a technical jobs, maybe look into getting a technical drawing/CAD job and a job in doing the actual work(milling, machining, fabricating). Or, if you are more fond of computers, CAD and then hardware designing?

**Flamethrower** · 03-03-2009, 02:09 AM

I am looking for a part time job at the moment for exactly this reason. Half the week doing some job for someone else, half the week doing whatever I want, whether that be my own business or something else.

**tp6626** · 03-03-2009, 10:20 AM

Yes part time does sound interesting. I'm just a little unsure whether the wage levels are equal (pro-rata), or whether there's in effect some penalty for not being there all the time.

I could quite easily survive now on just half my current wage.

Part time jobs just seem harder to find on the web.

**Synamon** · 03-03-2009, 10:33 AM

	Originally Posted by tp6626 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Yes part time does sound interesting. I'm just a little unsure whether the wage levels are equal (pro-rata), or whether there's in effect some penalty for not being there all the time. I could quite easily survive now on just half my current wage. Part time jobs just seem harder to find on the web.

Part time engineering jobs are practically impossible to find. The industry is patriarchal and not very flexible regarding hours.

The only thing I can think of that would be structured the way you described your ideal job would be contract work. I'm still not sure you would be able to work on more than one project at a time, but at least you could go on to another challenge after 6 months or a year.

You might have to settle for doing the learning component in your free time and striving to get as much variety as you can in your job by identifying opportunities to expand your role.

**tp6626** · 03-03-2009, 12:21 PM

I'm extremely tempted to resign (again). My boss said something to me today that just made me think he and most others at the company basically have little to no respect for me.

I would like to see how they get on without me, because I seem to be at the centre of every important project that is going on in the company, and without me, most of these simply wouldn't get done.

Plus, more recently he's been getting more involved with (read: screwing up) my projects, not listening to my advice / expertise (he's not an engineer), and then trying to make me feel bad when there are problems (even though I tried to warn him earlier).

I even feel like he's making me look like an idiot in front of clients & suppliers, because things are going wrong that shouldn't be with any competent engineer.

I feel that his company is enthused with values that are wrong, and don't reflect my own, and that after 5 years of trying to change the company for the better (and it is better now), I've hit a wall and am achieving less and less with more and more effort.

I feel I need to find a better (more professional) team.

The only annoying thing is that here I have 5 years prior experience and I think I can become chartered in the next few months. Don't feel like sticking it out either, yet if I move on bad terms, I can kiss goodbye to all that evidence of competence, and it'll be another 2 years required building up a portfolio at a new company.

I am extremely tempted to send my CV off to
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that I notice are expanding their engineering team at a site very close to my old home town that I want to return to some day (where all my friends are!).

Its just a toss up between sticking it out here to become chartered before I move, or moving to a more professional (and hopefully happier) place, and taking a bit longer to get chartered there.

Hmmm... decisions decisions...
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03-02-2009, 03:11 PM	#1
tp6626 Core Member [108%] MBTI: iNTj Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 4,338	I get bored in my current job. I feel I am investing too much time in one single outlet for my professional work. Ideally, I think I would like my week structured like this: Mon: Job 1 Tue: Job 1 Wed: Job 2 Thu: Job 2 Fri: Teaching / Learning Sat: Rest Sun: Rest Job 1 and 2 should be quite different from each other. I like to keep a broad base of experience. Does anyone know how I might be able to achieve this schedule? I'm particularly interested in anyone's experiences of part time work. And I'm intending fully professional roles for those two jobs, not just part time as in working at a shop or bar or something - I mean engineering / design related. Has anyone managed to gain a varied mix of work in this way?
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03-02-2009, 07:25 PM	#2
Cesare Borgia Member [03%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 122	Try a couple of part time jobs, 20 hours at one, 20 hours at the other.
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03-03-2009, 02:09 AM	#4
Flamethrower Member [17%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 703	I am looking for a part time job at the moment for exactly this reason. Half the week doing some job for someone else, half the week doing whatever I want, whether that be my own business or something else.
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03-03-2009, 10:20 AM	#5
tp6626 Core Member [108%] MBTI: iNTj Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 4,338	Yes part time does sound interesting. I'm just a little unsure whether the wage levels are equal (pro-rata), or whether there's in effect some penalty for not being there all the time. I could quite easily survive now on just half my current wage. Part time jobs just seem harder to find on the web.
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03-03-2009, 12:21 PM	#7
tp6626 Core Member [108%] MBTI: iNTj Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 4,338	I'm extremely tempted to resign (again). My boss said something to me today that just made me think he and most others at the company basically have little to no respect for me. I would like to see how they get on without me, because I seem to be at the centre of every important project that is going on in the company, and without me, most of these simply wouldn't get done. Plus, more recently he's been getting more involved with (read: screwing up) my projects, not listening to my advice / expertise (he's not an engineer), and then trying to make me feel bad when there are problems (even though I tried to warn him earlier). I even feel like he's making me look like an idiot in front of clients & suppliers, because things are going wrong that shouldn't be with any competent engineer. I feel that his company is enthused with values that are wrong, and don't reflect my own, and that after 5 years of trying to change the company for the better (and it is better now), I've hit a wall and am achieving less and less with more and more effort. I feel I need to find a better (more professional) team. The only annoying thing is that here I have 5 years prior experience and I think I can become chartered in the next few months. Don't feel like sticking it out either, yet if I move on bad terms, I can kiss goodbye to all that evidence of competence, and it'll be another 2 years required building up a portfolio at a new company. I am extremely tempted to send my CV off to To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. that I notice are expanding their engineering team at a site very close to my old home town that I want to return to some day (where all my friends are!). Its just a toss up between sticking it out here to become chartered before I move, or moving to a more professional (and hopefully happier) place, and taking a bit longer to get chartered there. Hmmm... decisions decisions... To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
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