Dear Pat: I currently work 32 hours a week for a company I’ve been with for several years. I no longer like my job, but am having a tough time figuring out how to have similar flexibility in a new job. It seems I would need to go back to 40+ hours per week until they get to know me and I can then negotiate more flexible hours. Do you have any suggestions for how to handle the job search and ultimately negotiate flexible hours in a brand new job? ~ Moving On

Dear Moving On: As you recognize, the fastest way to flex for most professionals is to negotiate it at their current job after a sufficient time working a traditional schedule. In your case, it’s the job, not the schedule, that needs changing.

Most employers don’t offer a flexible schedule or telecommuting arrangement from day one.

But some do. Below are several viable options for finding or accessing flexible employers and jobs.

A Sampling of Staffing Firms for Professionals Who Want Flexibility

You might find your next employer through a flexible work staffing firm for professionals. I’ve seen businesses in this category come and go since the mid-1990′s, but in recent years, I’ve seen more staying power. This is an encouraging sign; employers are recognizing there are more effective ways to work than 8 to 5.

I recently asked several of these staffing firms to send a description of what they offered job candidates. Below are excerpts from the six replies I received.

Flexible Resources, a staffing and consulting firm, has championed the policies and practices of the flexible workplace since 1989. They have placed hundreds of Marketing, HR, Finance and high level Admin professionals in a variety of flexible work arrangements including permanent part-time, creative job shares, telecommuting and contract. Flexible Resources services client companies and job seekers in the New York City metro area. They welcome all to check out their website for free advice and job postings.

Flexforce Professionals is a niche recruiting and staffing service specializing in part-time professionals for the Washington, DC metro area. Most of Flexforce’s candidates are seasoned business professionals with at least 10 years of experience. Many are working moms who prefer to work on a part-time basis to balance work and family. Placements can be part-time permanent, part-time temporary, or project-based. Candidates may register with Flexforce through its website, where they can also find valuable return-to-work resources, view active job postings, and join the Flexforce mailing list.

Mom Corps is a national flexible staffing firm that works to match professionals with flexible job opportunities suited to candidates’ qualifications and scheduling needs. For its candidates, Mom Corps offers access to flexible job opportunities, events and job search support services such as an expert resume service and 30 Minute Mentor Webinars. Mom Corps is free of charge to job seekers.

Momentum Resources is a boutique staffing firm placing professionals in part-time and flexible full-time roles in the Richmond, Virginia, and metro Washington, DC markets. They work in a variety of industries including accounting, law, project management and non-profit, and typically work with mid- to senior-level professionals at no cost to the job-seeker.

Part-Time Pros staffing company unites degree-educated professionals with companies who have part-time, contract and full-time staffing needs. Their mission is to provide the perfect match between client needs, desires and wants with associates’ knowledge, skills and abilities, whether it’s a stay-at-home parent wanting to contribute to their household income, an early retiree wanting to continue to work part-time, or a college student needing to earn extra income.

10 til 2 knows that the workforce is changing and that professionals now strive to attain a more satisfying balance between work and family roles. 10 til 2’s long-term, part-time professional staffing has given thousands of jobseekers the opportunity to progress in their careers and still enjoy quality time outside the office. 10 til 2 is always looking for top-notch career professionals to join our team and revel in the perfection of part-time.

Professional Job Listings: All Flex All the Time

Have you considered job boards or job listing sites? There are scores of websites which list telecommuting and part-time jobs, but it’s tricky sifting out the scam sites to find the relatively few legit ones.

Another confounding frustration: some otherwise legitimate work-from-home websites allow ads from spurious “employers.”

To cut through the clutter, I recommend FlexJobs.

Some time back, I had an hour-long talk with FlexJobs CEO, Sara Sutton Fell. She has a personal story that translates into a passion for people looking for a saner work life. She’s all about offering viable job options with integrity. (More recently, I interviewed her to get her current comments about flexible work opportunities; the interview will be posted next week. Subscribe now to get it delivered to your inbox.)

Her team searches the web for you and hand-screens the telecommuting, part-time and free-lance jobs they find—throughout the US and beyond—checking the legitimacy of the employer and the posting. Only those jobs that make their scrupulous cut are posted on the FlexJobs site.

For a modest fee, you get full access to their huge listing of jobs. But you can read all the truncated listings for free, so you’ll have an idea of what you’d be paying for first. There are more than 50 job categories, most of them professional-level.

[Disclosure: WorkOptions is an affiliate of FlexJobs, and they are the only company for whom I, as a website owner, have agreed to be an affiliate. They're that good.]

How to Find Flexible Employers

Beyond these innovative staffing and job listing services, you might want to target specific flexible employers as part of your job search strategy. Here are several ways to surface them.

• FlexJobs offers a free online Guide to Best Companies for Flexible Jobs.
• Consult the Workplace Flexibility Directory for “certified Flex-Friendly” employers.
• Many of the 100 Best Companies on Fortune magazine’s list offer workplace flexibility. Start with the “Near You” category to see if any of the employers are within driving distance.
• Forbes magazine has a similar but smaller list.
• Check the listing of Working Mother magazine’s 100 best companies; all of them offer some sort of workplace flexibility
• Glassdoor has a top 50 list but there’s some overlap with other lists and it takes more work to find the flexibility factor.
• Finally, check with your nearby Chamber of Commerce and metropolitan business magazine. Some compile rankings of “best companies” among local or regional employers.

How to Vet a Prospective Employer for Workplace Flexibility

If you have targeted a specific company and you can’t find them on any of the lists, check their website under “Careers” or “Employment” to see if they position flexible work arrangements as one of their desirable employment features. Verify actual practices by asking current or past employees. Use searches and queries on GlassDoor and Linkedin.

Then there’s the reality-check tactic (if you’re within driving distance): check how full or empty their parking lot is between 5 and 7 pm!

How to Ask About Flexibility in the Interview Process

That covers the job search aspect of finding flexibility. In my next article, I’ll address how and when to inquire about flexible work arrangements during the interview process. Be sure to subscribe to get my latest articles so you get the information straight to your inbox.

You’re a professional, a smart “knowledge worker,” right? So doesn’t it frustrate you to drive daily to a desk that’s miles and miles and too-many-minutes away from home—only to use a computer and a phone to get your work done?

Do you want to know what keeps you from telecommuting?

It’s no longer the technology; we’re past that barrier. It’s mainly a management issue. It’s employers and managers who have not yet embraced the business strategy that is telecommuting, AKA telework, remote work, virtual office or mobile office.

Whatever you call it, there are far too many supervisors who only know a “face-time” management style and thereby thwart the strategic use of telework. Even though working remotely benefits both employer and employee in several well-documented ways.

What’s the ideal scenario? To have an enlightened employer that embraces flexible work arrangements as a business strategy, promotes a flexible culture, and provides management-by-results training.

My guess is your employer is not there yet. That leaves you facing three common reasons why you’re still not telecommuting. Here they are, and how you can overcome them.

Reason 1: There’s no policy for telecommuting where you work.

No surprise here. While progress is being made in many companies, your employer, like millions of others, has been slow to embrace telecommuting in a formal way.

You can probably walk through this barrier if you’ve worked for the same manager for at least two years and present your request using a professionally-crafted proposal.

Thousands of employees (who didn’t want to wait years for their employer to come around) have negotiated a one-on-one telecommuting deal with their respective managers, without benefit of a policy. You can, too. Use a quick assessment exercise to gauge your chances of getting your manager’s approval to work from home.

Reason 2. Your manager puts a premium on “face time” and wants you in the office every day.

Here are a couple of tactics that can change your manager’s mind.

First, make it very clear that your request is not to work from home every day.

Most employed telecommuters work from home one, two or maybe three days a week and go to the office the remaining days. You’ll propose the same. Plus you can stay very “visible” to your manager and coworkers using the phone, email, IM, web chat and texting, just as you do now.

A second tactic—and probably more crucial to getting your boss’ approval—is to stress the trial period for your telecommuting arrangement. A trial period is three to six months long.

Your manager may not like the perceived loss of control (“How do I know you’re working?”), yet wants to be reasonable in giving your request to telecommute a fair chance. Knowing that she can change her mind allows you to move forward instead of having the door shut on the proposal altogether. Three to six months gives you time to prove the arrangement.

Reason 3. You’re afraid to broach the subject of working from home.

In other words, you’re afraid to ask, or afraid of a “no” if you do ask.

Fear of asking is less of an issue among men, but it’s been a common thread I’ve observed among otherwise very accomplished professional career women.

These are women who are confident and capable in their work, yet they convey that asking for a flexible work arrangement for themselves is something they shouldn’t do, or something they don’t deserve, or something that might have very negative consequences, usually along the lines of threatening the professional relationship they have with their manager.

But guess what? It’s not true. The real problem is women’s perception of these things.

According to the authors of Women Don’t Ask, as a “result of powerful social influences,” women have an “impaired sense of entitlement” and they often “assume that they are stuck with their circumstances.” So they refrain from asking for what they want.

Among the ways to build confidence to ask for telework, rehearsing your proposal presentation is a research-backed tactic for overcoming nervousness to negotiate.

Do any of these three reasons resonate with you? Why do you think you are not yet telecommuting part of your workweek? Please let me know your comments and questions.

Dear Pat: I just read your advice about how many days working from home to request when proposing a telecommuting arrangement. My situation is different; I want to move from the Boston area to Charlotte, North Carolina, (where my wife has family), and still keep my current job.

We had our second baby six months ago, and with the cost of full-time child care and living expenses in general, it makes sense to make the move south. If we do, my wife, a full-time accountant, could probably work part-time, which she’s been wanting to do since our first child was born.

I don’t have a new job lined up yet, but it occurred to me that I could do my current  job as a credit analyst from just about anywhere. In other words, I want to telecommute full-time, far from my employer’s headquarters in Boston. (I figured could fly to Boston a few times a year, if needed.)

Would your Telecommuting Proposal Package work for me in this situation? ~ Ready to Relocate

Dear Ready: This is not the typical application of the Telecommuting Proposal Package, and it is a tougher one; the chances of approval are lower than the usual request to work remotely from home part of each week.

I’ve given some examples below where it has worked well—a couple of analysts included—but first, here’s some advice specific to you.

1. Can you stall the relocation for a few more months? If so, gauge your chances of approval for nearby telecommuting and if you score well, propose to work from home now, three days a week. Your effectiveness in that trial period will lay a solid foundation for your pitch for full-time, long-distance telecommuting from Charlotte.

2. Your wife could use the same tactic in her current job. Otherwise, she should start exploring job opportunities in North Carolina. Fortunately for you, there’s a Moms Corps office in Charlotte that specializes in flexible staffing for professionals. I also recommend FlexJobs for finding legitimate telecommuting jobs.

3. If waiting three months is not possible, and you plan to make the move anyway, you have nothing to lose by asking. In fact, if you’re ready to walk away no matter what, you’re in a strong negotiating position. So go ahead and make the pitch. Press for a three-month trial period, at least.

Can Full Time, Long-Distance Telecommuting Get Approval?

Yes. When your manager understands that your work is something you do, not somewhere you go, approval for the trial period will follow. (But some managers don’t get it, so you should also be exploring job opportunities in the Charlotte area, no matter what.)

Here’s an unvarnished description of the Telecommuting Proposal Package I found on a forum by a user who, along with her husband, is now working full time remotely “…in a much more affordable city.”  (Note to all: If the link no longer works, let me know and I’ll give you a free copy of the Proposal Package.)

More Inspiration

At the risk of sounding promotional about my proposal product, I want to  encourage you that a detailed proposal—whether your own from scratch or my fill-in-the-blanks template that is the core of the Proposal Package—can get you where you want to be: working remotely, full-time, in an affordable city.

“I moved from Houston to Abilene, Texas [375 miles away] and still wanted to work for my employer. They were not willing until I submitted the [WorkOptions] proposal to the COO of the company.

I will work from 730 AM to 4 PM Monday thru Thursday and off at 1330 on Fridays…I put in the proposal exactly what I wanted and they gave me everything. Thanks.” Marc E. Amberson, Master Trip Support Specialist, Licensed FAA Aircraft Dispatcher and Aviation Expert,  Abilene, TX

Marc told me he’d worked for his employer for 15 years before he moved. And it sounds to me as if his job is quite specialized. These are favorable negotiating factors, so the proposal’s role was to show how the new arrangement would work. And it did.

Baby boomer Janet wanted to telework from about 100 miles away from her employer to be closer to her elderly parents. She works for the federal government which has telework policies, but she still had to make her case for working remotely on a full-time basis.

“With your [Proposal Package ] guidance I prepared a strong document that convinced management to approve my request. Thanks—it made a tough sale much easier!” Janet (preferred first-name only), Management Analyst, Mississippi

Brad’s job was in a call center which was adaptable to remote work.

“I wanted to telecommute full-time in my current job because I was moving to Atlanta from San Francisco. With the [Proposal Package] template, it was easy to just plug in the pieces that related to my job. It also made me really think through what I needed to do to get approval; I was well-prepared with a strategy and ready answers to my boss’s questions and concerns. Bottom-line: my telecommuting proposal was approved. Thank you.” Brad Palmer, Atlanta, GA

This request for far-away telecommuting won over four higher-ups in three layers of management for first-time-ever approval:

“[My immediate boss] was impressed…Unfortunately, she was not the final decision-maker …Our VP…was very impressed with [the proposal's] professionalism, detail, references and quotes…he needed to talk to his boss (the Senior VP) and the CIO (about feasibility of technology and security issues…).

Two days later my VP told me that while he had never allowed an employee to work from a home office and that the idea was very progressive, his answer was “Yes!” The Senior VP and CIO had both approved my proposal.

I am walking on air and still can’t believe my dream has come true! I truly couldn’t have made a better impression without the help of [your Proposal Package. It] gave me the tools I needed to pursue this alternative work arrangement with confidence. Thank you…” Shannon Bryant (got approval to telecommute from Maine), Healthcare Analyst, Chesterfield, MO

So know it can be done and getting approval is a real possibility. Give it a go and let me know how it turns out.

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My diverse career path started in health care as a registered dietitian (RD). In the late 1980s, I was the coordinator for the local Optifast Program, a medically-monitored weight loss program for obese individuals.

This was a popular and busy program with lots of people enrolled. Especially after Oprah went public in 1988 with her Optifast Program results. (Remember the wagon of fat she pulled onto the stage as she wore size 10 jeans?)

At the medical group where I managed it, the Optifast Program was conducted in the evenings to accommodate the patients; virtually all of them were time-pressed professionals.

As I interviewed client and client, a familiar challenge surfaced: how to incorporate healthy habits into a hectic career life. For many of these people, this was a dire need because of the level of their health-threatening obesity.

If I knew then what I know now about negotiating flexible work, I would have added a few success strategies to the lesson plans of the program’s group support sessions.

Flexing Her Way to Fitness

Fast forward to this century to learn from Eileen, who took a different approach to weight loss and better health, using a flexible work arrangement to support her goals.

After decades of neglecting her health, Eileen had a recent medical scare related to her obesity that triggered an overhaul of her habits.

The changes she made to her diet and physical activity were dramatic. This concerned Eileen’s physician, who then counseled her to slow the pace and add monitored support. The goal was long-term lifestyle changes, not a quick fix.

For Eileen, that meant weekly afternoon appointments with a dietitian, daily afternoon time with a personal trainer at the gym, and regular attendance at group exercise sessions. Eileen also attends occasional nutrition and cooking workshops to learn healthier food preparation techniques.

Yes, it’s a lot. But health is Eileen’s current priority and that’s reflected by her willingness to trade some of her income for regular time off: she negotiated* a 30-hour workweek at her job as an assistant director of development for a city college.

So far, she finds the physical pay-offs worth it—she’s lost more than 25 pounds and has more energy—with the social dividends being a bonus.

Flexible Work Objective: Improve health and fitness through regular afternoon training sessions, exercise classes, plus nutrition appointment and workshops.
Custom Work Option: Work 8 to 3, five days a week
Type: Shortened workday
Total Hours Worked Weekly: 30
Salary Retention: 75%

Eileen plans to keep this schedule for six months before resuming full-time hours. She expects this temporary part-time arrangement to build a foundation of confidence and change to sustain healthy habits.

She might propose telecommuting two to three times a week so she’ll have time to hit the gym regularly.

Do you have new health goals for the coming year? How could a flexible work arrangement support your success? If you need help figuring out a custom answer, please let me know. I’m glad to help.

* Work Options offers low-cost proposal templates for getting approval of a flexible work arrangement.

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Now that you know how to find and choose your job sharing partner, consider the creative possibilities for splitting your schedule.

For many positions, a shortened workweek for each partner is the most practical arrangement, with a common one being:

Partner A: Works Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning
Partner B: Works Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday

Some job sharing teams, usually in sales and other positions which need seamless integration, choose to overlap Wednesdays, both working a full day. This means they are each working 60%, with the two together equaling 1.2 FTE (full-time equivalent).

But practical isn’t the only way to go. Your position may lend itself to creative yet workable schedules.

I had one client, an ER nurse, who successfully negotiated to work six months off and six months on with another ER nurse. This allowed her to spend extended time at her vacation home in Scotland.

Another was a corporate pilot for the company’s private jet. Because she was always on call, she couldn’t plan anything with her family without the risk of interruption. So she arranged alternate-week job sharing so she could secure her time off.

Partners A and B alternate a certain number of weeks, or even months

Another variation alternates days throughout the week:

Partner A: Monday, Wednesday, alternating Fridays
Partner B: Tuesday, Thursday, alternating Fridays

Alternating days breaks up work continuity and is not one I’d recommend unless it’s a really good fit for your position and objectives. An example is a job with distinct tasks on any given day, e.g., a physical therapist working with a set number of clients.

One that I’ve seen work well with teachers is:

Partner A: Works mornings, five days a week
Partner B: Works afternoons, five days a week

Job sharing is not always split 50/50. Consider this possibility:

Partner A: Works three days a week (60%)
Partner B: Works two days a week (40%)

With a variety of workable ways to schedule a job sharing arrangement, you can be practical or creative—or both. Consider the needs and objectives of the position and of the two job partners in coming to a scheduling decision.

If you’re ready to get started, my premium Job Sharing Proposal Package equips you to make a first-rate presentation, and you can download your copy today. Let me know if you have any questions first. I’m glad to help.

If you’re a new mom, you probably have mixed feelings about returning to work: You need or want to. Or do you? Yes. No. Maybe. Partly. What? How? Aghhh! So confusing.

To help you sort it out, here are five major return-to-work options for new moms. You can mix and match them to suit your needs, or use different ones at different times. But first, know your options. They are:

1. Gradual Return to Work

You can ease back into your full-time job over a period of several weeks after your baby’s arrival, whether you’re eligible for FMLA or not.

2. Flexible Return to Work

Lots of new moms prefer this option which combines flexibility with full-time hours (through telecommuting or a compressed workweek) or reduced hours (part-time or job sharing arrangement).

One way to approach this is to propose a flexible work arrangement as part of your maternity leave plan. Find specific language to use for doing this in the Max Maternity Leave Proposal Template & Negotiation Guide.

3. Work FROM Home

Also known as telecommuting or telework, this option would fall into the Flexible Return to Work category above. But you may want to ease back into work by performing some of your duties from home before stepping into the office regularly. Propose a part-time telecommuting arrangement, making it clear you are, in fact, returning to work, but part-time, from home.

4. Stay at Home

Before or after your return to work, you decide this is the best option for you and your family right now. But understand the long-term career and financial impact of this decision before taking the leap. Consider proposing a flexible work arrangement as an in-between step to see if that delivers the work and family fit you need. Do an online search for “stay at home calculators” to gauge if it’s an affordable option for you.

5. Work AT Home

Stay-at-home moms often morph into work-at-home moms (WAHM) to earn supplemental income and to keep their skills fresh. WAHMs earn money from home without a traditional job. There are many roads to go with this option but many of them filled with potholes (i.e., scams) and dead ends, so proceed with caution.

If leaving your job and full-time income for a home business is too risky for you, start by blending flexible part-time work and a home business. As your business builds over time, you may reach the point of being able to leave your “regular” job. This is the strategy I used when starting this website.

Take Your Pick

With these five options to choose from, consider and choose the best return-to-work road for you and your family. If you have questions, please let me know how I can help.

More Return-to-Work Advice

Find more Return-to-Work articles and advice at my “baby” website, Maternity Leave Mentor.

After you find prospective job sharing partners, how do you choose the “right” one?

Your job sharing success depends heavily on who you choose as a job partner. Get to know each of your prospective job-share teammates so that you make the right pick. (Does this sound like dating?)

Are You Compatible?

With each prospect, have a meeting to discuss the responsibilities of the job position and the expectations of the job sharing arrangement. This discussion alone will give you an indication of general compatibility.

As in any relationship, there is no perfect match, but in making your partner selection, consider the following:

1. Good communicator: This tops the list because thorough and consistent communication is crucial to job sharing success. The arrangement needs to be as seamless as possible to others—as if you’re one person—so you can’t let anything fall through the cracks.

2. Cooperative: An attitude of mutual respect and support plus a give-and-take approach to the exchange of ideas are positive indicators of the “right” partner. Pass on the person with a competitive streak.

3. Similar and complementary skills: While you want someone with a solid background in your field, a coworker who complements your strengths and weaknesses enhances the partnership by rounding out the position.

For example, a combination of your strong organizational skills and your partner’s creative bent will reap better results on projects than either strength alone.

4. Similar work habits: Attention to detail or big picture approach? Methodical or intuitive? Organized or sloppy (important when you share a desk or filing system)? Prompt or procrastinator? Swift or thoughtful in decision-making?

Compatibility in work styles may not be a make-or-break factor, but it fosters harmony.

5. Flexibility: Ideally, your partner would be able and willing to trade time with you should the need arise. Child or elder care arrangements may be the limiting factor in meeting this ideal, but include flexibility and trading time in your discussions. While you’re at it, you may want to discuss expectations about possible long-term absences, such as maternity leave or a short-term sabbatical.

Making the Selection

Follow your intuition about the match-up potential. Don’t ignore red flags; they’ll haunt you later. (Does this sound like dating? Oh, I said that already. You know what I mean.)

You may not start your job sharing arrangement as soon as you’d like, but it’s worth it for long-term success for you to take your time to pick the “right” job partner.