Am I shooting myself in the foot by telling potential employers I don't want a full-time position in the long run?
Is it career suicide to explicitly state on a resume or in an interview that my goal is to find a permanent position working 20-32 hours per week? (And ideally closer to 20)
Obviously one solution is to only apply for jobs that are explicitly part-time, but:
- I'm whole-heatedly disinterested in house calls and SNFs,
- Urgent care and EM in my city seem explicitly interested in candidates with several years of experience (I have 2 years of family practice experience which is apparently irrelevant to them), and psych/tele jobs are apparently insanely competitive right now.
- Other listings for part-time opportunities are very scarce.
The other obvious solution is not to say anything, and then request to cut hours once I'm established somewhere. I'm not entirely opposed to this, but it's a gamble, and I'm so tired of living my life "just for the next little while" to get to a place of balance. In the end, life is entirely composed of one "next little while" after another. I would like to strategize less and live more.
Medicine is my second career and I really do love the work. But I've been around the block enough to know that I absolutely will not last in this field working full-time. The other parts of my life matter way too much to me.
I'm open to many different specialties. I love continuity of care, hard conversations (HIV and cancer diagnoses), constantly learning new things and being challenged. I just also love being a whole human with a family and personal life.
So. How do I navigate a job hunt for less than 40 hours a week? At what point in the interview process should I mention it, and how? Have any of you done it? How did it go?