Finding part time work - experiences?

Hi there

Mate of mine is returning from Oz in two months and is looking into working part time in Dublin. Her part time hours of preference would be 2-3 full days of 9-5 o'clock rather than 5 mornings/evenings. She's worked as a secretary/pa/administrator in the past but recently she's held a post as a technical writer in Oz for four years.

She wants to whatever she can to be a good candidate for part-time work before she returns to Dublin, but I don't know anyone who works part-time so am pretty limited to the advice I can give her. I was wondering what is the opinion of any part timers out there about the following:

- Which professions have the most part-time work available? Mate is thinking about retraining as a legal secretary, is it worth it?

- Are employers more fussy about qualifications and experience when employing people part-time?

Thanks y'all!

HelloJed,

I have not worked part-time myself but as an employer i have used part-time workers. The big attraction of skilled part-time workers for our company is that we are small enough. We cannot always afford the wages that a skilled worker would deserve full time but cannot afford to have an inexperienced worker doing a crucial job unsupervised. 'But' i have to say when i did go looking for a part-time experienced administrator they were difficult to find so your friend could well be in demand. Job share seems a popular one these days too.