Having a job with some flexibility is something that is becoming more and more common these days. More businesses are realizing the advantage that flexible working can bring, as they see the benefit that a better work and life balance can bring to employees. The flexibility can go a long way to improving the happiness of employees, and employers are seeing that when employees are happy, it helps with their productivity levels. In fact, in one survey that was recently conducted, it showed that more than half of HR professionals reported that having flexible work arrangements has a positive impact on things like recruitment, retention, excellence of the team, and organizational success of the business in general as well. So it is definitely something to be thinking about when it comes to your own career.

For a lot of people, flexible careers are something that can be done from home. But this is only part of what flexible working means. Flexible work arrangements can also include compressed workweeks, where someone would work four longer days to then get an extra day off, as well as things like seasonal scheduling, job sharing, and having more flexible scheduling so that the team can do work outside of the normal ‘office’ or business hours. Jobs that come with more flexible hours are appealing to a lot of people who would normally put a premium on their time, or they need to balance work and other family or social commitments.

The good news is that flexible jobs are something that is available in a wide variety of industries. When you break down the facts, virtually any job could feature some flexible options if your employer was willing to offer them. So here are some flexible jobs in a variety of career industries, so you can see if they would work for you, as well as the kind of flexible working that is typically offered. 

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Flexible Jobs in Business and Administration

Because of the advances in a variety of areas, there are a lot of business-related jobs that were done only in an office. But now, they can be done online, from home, from abroad, and can be done at any time in the day, rather than having to stick to a traditional office schedule. These kinds of things would have normally involved things like traveling to different workplaces for meetings. But in fact, the bulk of the work can often be done through phone calls, emails, and even video conferences, which as of only a decade ago, wouldn’t have worked or been an option. Some of the flexible jobs in the sector of business and administration include:

• Sales Manager
• Tax Manager
• Virtual Assistant
• Actuary
• Accountant
• Business development manager
• Account manager
• Business analyst

Flexible Jobs in Health and Wellness

The good thing with jobs in health and wellness is that the demand for them won’t be going away anytime soon. This is something that could even get more in demand, as we have an aging population and obesity rates rocketing. Because of this, and the demand for client-facing roles to work around the hours that people want appointments, the jobs in these sectors can be really flexible. Things that are hospital-based, are some of the most flexible roles, as they can include night-shifts, as well as well as being able to work three or four long days, to then get more days off. So for flexibility, they could be a great option. And the good news is that you can join a nursing program, for example, and train up if you wanted to shift over to something like this. There are also options in this field for roles that are part-time, contracted, and flexible. So here are some of the jobs that you could enjoy, if you were trained up in the right way:

• Counselor
• Dental Hygienist
• Clinical Research associate
• Dietician
• Occupational therapist
• Home health aid
• Medical field (doctor, nurse)

Flexible Jobs in Communication and the Creative Arts

If you are more of a creative person that would prefer a role in communication or the arts, then it is already quite widely known that these areas have a great deal of flexibility, simply because of the nature of them. Those people who make their living working by writing or through images like photographers, are often roles that are based at home. In fact, many will take on work on a freelance basis, meaning that they are in charge of the hours that they work. Even if you did something like copywriting for a company and did it in-house, you are likely to be offered the chance to work from home and telecommute, as all you need is a computer and an internet connection. The following roles offer flexibility:

• Editor
• Copywriter
• Graphic designer
• Closed captioner
• Photographer
• Interpreter

Flexible Jobs in Education

Education is something that is often dismissed as not being very flexible, because of the nature of the role. And for school teaching, for instance, that is very much the case. A teacher can’t work longer hours one day to get the next day off, as there are still students there needing to be taught. But because things like distance learning and homeschooling are becoming more and more widespread, it opens up more things. Plus, as businesses increasingly move to web-based training, the need for having people in to deliver those courses is going online, rather than in person. So here are some of those jobs that are still in the field of education, but that can be pretty much done from home, or if not, are still on a flexible working schedule. Have you considered any of the following before?

• Online teacher
• Teaching English as a second language
• Test scorer
• Curriculum developer

This is definitely just the tip of the iceberg when you think about roles that offer flexibility; there are many sectors that do. Flexible jobs are becoming more and more popular as more people want to balance a career with a busy home life. It doesn’t just have to be about parents either, flexible working is a people issue. You may want more time with friends or more time to see sick parents, for example. So look carefully when you are next looking for a job, and don’t be afraid to ask about flexibility.