Part-time is still better than 'no-time' -- Career Center Blog

September 15, 2011

Part-time is still better than 'no-time'

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By Randy Woods
NWjobs

When an employment search drags on for enough months, many job seekers turn to part-time work to help pay the bills and fill in gaps in their resumes. This may be a financial necessity for those with mortgages to pay and families to support, but can part-time work hinder your long-term career goals? In this economy, do hiring managers really look askance at part-time positions on your resume?

According to a recent report by global human resources firm Randstad, there is some disagreement on this topic between job seekers and businesses -- and not necessarily in ways one might expect.

In its latest quarterly Workmonitor report, Randstad asked employees in 29 countries about their attitudes toward part-time work and its impact on their careers. Overall, nearly half of the employees surveyed (46 percent) said that taking on part-time work could possibly damage their long-term career opportunities. In fact, only about 15 percent of the respondents said they were working part-time.

While the results show a significant negative perception of part-time work among employees, Dr. Eileen Habelow, Randstad's senior vice president of organizational development, says the concern is largely overblown.

"The number-one thing prospective employers are concerned with is that people should be seen as working, whether it's part-time or full-time," Habelow says. "What hiring managers want to know is, 'What did you do at your last job? What were your responsibilities?' It's a lot more important to focus on your experience than on how many hours you worked each week."

Habelow says that some executive positions may require a longer track record of full-time work. But in most cases, the issue of part-time vs. full-time work rarely even comes up. Of course, it's never a good idea to lie about working part-time if you are asked about it, she adds, but it's not something that is seen as a requirement for many hiring managers.

Much of the lingering stigma about part-time work comes from traditional American definitions of professional work that are becoming outdated in today's work environment. "Part-time work is still thought of as something that teenagers do while going to school," Habelow says. "We really have to get over that perception in the U.S. with the current economy."

This disconnect can also be seen when the Randstad data is broken down by gender. Men in the survey had a lower regard for part-time work, with 51 percent either agreeing or strongly agreeing that working part-time can hurt their career prospects, compared to 42 percent of women saying the same thing.

"Much of that, I think, has to do with traditional gender roles, as men have historically entered the workforce earlier," Habelow says. "Women also have more often started out in part-time positions, so it's considered to be more acceptable."

For those who are still worried about how part-time work will look on a resume, Habelow recommends a shift in attitude. "If you don't want to be seen as a part-time worker, don't act like one," she says. "Be willing to stay longer than you have to. Show a pattern of being a worker who's fully committed to the job. I always say you should act like the promotion level you seek."

The Workmonitor survey also unearthed an interesting nugget about workers' ability to rise in an organization with part-time work. About 41 percent of the employees in the survey said that a management position would be possible working part-time. The rate of acceptance for part-time management work was even higher in rapidly evolving labor markets around the world, such as Switzerland, Chile, India and Japan (all above 50 percent); in China, 72 percent of respondents said part-time managerial work was just fine.

"A year of part-time work looks a lot better on a resume than a year of searching for a job and finding nothing," Habelow adds. "Attitudes are changing, but we still have a long way to go to make it truly acceptable to be a part-time worker."

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.