Need Advice on Free-Lance Job Possibilities in IT Project Mgmt

Our_Heroine

Hi All,

The biggest red area of my MAP is my career.  I married late in life, and before that, I had a moderately successful career as an interactive project manager/marketer for some big name companies in NYC.  I could have earned more, but I always worried that being too driven and successful might hurt my chances at marriage (didn't want to outearn/outwork my future husband).

Anyway, when I got married in my late 30's to an attorney, I thought we were all set.  He was solvent and pulling a nice income, I had no debt other than residual (about $8,000) student loans, I owned some stock, and already had $153,000 in my 401k. I quickly got pregnant and became a SAHM (which we both wanted).

2 years in and I see our financial health is not what I thought it was.  We now have two kiddos, my husband lost his job not long after we were married, and he is content with per diem work that comes with no benefits or security.

Nothing has been contributed to his/our retirement in 2 years, we have no investments other than my stock, and I worry constantly about what will happen to me and the kids if something happens to my husband, or if this per diem work goes away and we have no income.

That's the long backstory to my request: I need to work. And I am looking for career ideas that (ideally) are not far off from what I already know, that I can do now part-time or from home (if possible), that are lucrative, and that I can do for a long time: into my 60s at least if I can't retire before.

I AM willing to go for training to learn a new job. And I AM willing to work full-time outside the home if I have to.

But my dream job would be something related to project management/requirements documentation/UX/content management/etc because I have those skills already that I could do part-time or at home for now, and then in 5 years (around age 45) jump into full-time until retirement or death.

Thanks!

Scarlet

I'm in health care so have *zero* knowledge of this, but I'm so glad you're doing something about it.  

And wait, weren't you pregnant last time you posted?  Congratulations! 

Templar

In your previous field, is some level of tele-commuting possible? Not sure what level of project management/marketing you were at. I have quite a number of clients who tele-commute, but here in the Pacific Northwest that is pretty common.

Tennee

Our_Heroine said:

my husband lost his job not long after we were married, and he is content with per diem work that comes with no benefits or security.

I don't mean to take this off-track at all, but have you had a conversation about your concerns re: financial health/future with your H, in light of your statement above?  Is the per diem work lucrative but w/o bennies?  Or is it at piecemeal pricing?  Why is he content with this?  

KatherineKelly

Separate from job ideas you may want to follow a few sahm's that are also successful entrepreneurs who write blogs and network with others of like mind.

An example is Penelope Trunk http://penelopetrunk.com  or Kelly Lester http://www.easylunchboxes.com/blog/

Also there are a number of powerful organizations by women and for women worth considering membership in.

I belong to the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs and it is worth a look in my opinion. http://www.phillyawe.org/  ; Very convenient for you being in PA.

Our_Heroine

Thanks all for the feedback!  And please keep the ideas coming!  I don't care if the careers are outside the digital/project management world, that's just my comfort zone, but I'll leave it if I have to.  The key factor is the ability to have longevity in the field, aka: low levels of age discrimination, because I'll be working for a loooong time at this rate.

@Scarlet ; Kiddo #2 is still in my tummy!  I was using shorthand

@Templar Yes.  I am doing part time work producing web documentation from home.  The job is so ideal, I worry it is the magical unicorn of WAHM jobs.  Can it be repeated once this project ends?

@Tennee I have talked to my husband about my financial concerns, for sure! But he's paralyzed both by fear of failure and not knowing where to start.  The burden of being the captain is too much for him and he is opting to play ostrich and stick his head in the sand.

@KatherineKelly I used to blog!  I was pretty popular for a while.  I wonder if that market is saturated, but I loved doing it, so it's worth looking into.  As are those orgs.  Thanks!

Tennee

@Our_Heroine‌ said: " I have talked to my husband about my financial concerns, for sure! But he's paralyzed both by fear of failure and not knowing where to start.  The burden of being the captain is too much for him and he is opting to play ostrich and stick his head in the sand"

OK so a part of your job attack plan is addressing this issue, I'd say after you attack the primary issue of your gig first.  You need a gig with benefits ASAP. I know zero about the tech world, but I imagine there's headhunters.  Have you sought out recruiters that specialize in this arena?  I would imagine telecommute would be possible here.   Recruiters don't get paid unless they get you hired so let them do some heavy lifting.  

On H, why is he paralyzed with fear?  Failure is a part of life.  You get up, dust off, and do it again. And again. And again until you win.   He's an attorney, he should be used to conflict and battle, and losing.  That's a part of the adversarial process.  What happened?  Losing a job is part of life....

Serenity

Just to keep this thread on track ....

OP is specifically looking for career advice as part of her Map. At this point, she needs to become self-supporting, regardless of what happens with her marriage or her husband.

It would be a great help to keep your comments specifically focused on career possibilities she can explore.

The_Dude

Look into getting a project management certification.  They are respected by many companies and can up your salary.  And nowadays a lot of companies have no problem with remote workers. 

http://www.pmi.org/Certification/Which-PMI-Certification-is-Right-for-You.aspx

Our_Heroine

Thanks @The_Dude!  I have my exam book and have just started studying.  Your suggestion is my Plan A, unless there's a better paying, better hours, better work/life option career out there I need to explore while I'm home with the baby(ies).

Templar

Have you done any professional networking? Certification and then getting your name out there are key. Do you still have contact with anyone from your previous job? Are they a big enough company that they are solicited for jobs that are "too small" that they could send your way?

Serenity

How's this going, @Our_Heroine‌?

Josh

@Our_Heroine‌ ;

If you're looking for work from home stuff I would suggest creating a project management profile on odesk and start applying for jobs.

I did the same thing and have been doing project management for a software publishing company for 3 months now.  The development team is mainly Polish and I'm in Arizona so I wake up and start work from 5am-8am (mainly meetings with the various teams), then get ready to head to the office for my other job.  I try to find another 2-3 hours throughout the day to fit in anything else that needs done.

The company I work for creates and markets wordpress plugins.

My job as their project / delivery manager is to take the "vision" of the product from the marketing team.  Break it down into user stories (kind of like tasks) for the developers, then insert everything into Jira (our workflow management system).  Each day I have a meeting with the separate development teams to keep putting work into the funnel.  Work comes out the back end, we get version approved by marketing.  Rinse repeat...

I've been very fortunate to have found an awesome boss right out of the gate and have learned a ton.  It's been enjoyable for me, I hope you're able to find something similar.  My hourly started at $20 and was moved to $30 after 3 months.

These wages are obviously pretty low.  The person I'm working for though completely makes it worth it.  We've spoken to great lengths about timeline and said that with my work ethic and the skills I already have/am learning he sees no reason why I could not demand a day rate in the $400-$500 range consulting in about a year.  He has buddies who are doing the same.  Granted in London, but the opportunities should be available wherever.

Perhaps an option, good luck with the Project Management stuff.  I really really enjoy it, talking with and organizing the teams and workflows is very fulfilling.

Josh

try_red_pill

Do you have a Linkedin profile? If so have you joined a discussion group. Are you in contact with ex-colleagues, people you went on courses with etc?

A lot of PM contracts seem to be industry specific and get hired based on word of mouth or personal networks. So spending time keeping in touch with your network or at your local PMI chapter will be worthwhile.