What do you want out of a job? A great salary? Lots of promotion opportunities? These days, more and more people want a good work-life balance. Whilst some countries, such as Sweden, have been very proactive in promoting a good work-life balance for its citizens with their introduction of a six-hour working day, other countries, such as the UK, are less proactive in pushing work-life balance.
However, it is easier to get a good work-life balance in some occupations than others. The employment website Glassdoor.co.uk looked at the company reviews submitted by its users to find out the occupations with the best work-life balance. So, if you are looking for more time to spend socialising without sacrificing your career, we’ve published the top 20 results below and have taken a look at each occupation in more detail. You never know, you might find the job of your dreams and buy yourself more time to party and play!
Data Scientist
Data science is an interdisciplinary field that looks at data and how to extract knowledge and insights from it for practical use. It is used in nearly every industry in the world and is especially suited to very numerate individuals. To become a Data Scientist you’ll need an undergraduate degree in maths and also a postgraduate qualification too in maths, statistics or data science.
SEO Manager
SEO stands for ‘search engine optimisation’ and is concerned with ranking websites on page one of Google for the keywords used to search for it. SEO Managers use a variety of techniques such as optimising the content on a site and link building. Many of these services are offered very cheaply abroad, so we suspect there may be a few people outsourcing their own job abroad, which obviously gives them a fantastic work-life balance!
More information: There’s no professional associations in SEO, but websites like Backlinko and courses like Fresh Bananas SEO are a good place to start.
Talent Acquisition Specialist
Talent Acquisition Specialists are essentially posh recruitment consultants. Operating in highflying positions in a range of industries, they tend to recruit candidates in executive positions earning £100k+. Because of the fees involved, even placing relatively few candidates can reap big rewards.
More information: Recruitment and Employment Confederation
Social Media Manager
Social Media Managers run the social media campaigns for companies. Part of the marketing department, they specialise in using social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram to communicate their company’s message. To become a social media manager, you need to have a good grasp of marketing, as well as social media. We suspect that Social Media Managers have a good work/life balance because social media these days can be automated with tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer and you can work from home too if your company allows it.
More information: Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing
Substitute Teacher
Substitute teachers stand in for a class teacher when they are off ill or on a training course. The excellent work-life balance that they have comes down to the fact that they have none of the planning or marking that a regular teacher does and work when and where they like. Pay is good, but they do not get paid in the holidays like normal teachers, so that must be taken into account. Also, kids can play up big time with substitute teachers, which can really boost the stress levels!
More information: Get Into Teaching
Recruiting Coordinator
Recruiting Coordinators are like recruitment consultants but tend to work ‘in-house’ for a company. Unlike a recruitment consultant who is essentially a salesperson always chasing vacancies, Recruitment Co-ordinators are solely concerned with the actual business of recruiting people into the business. As interviews tend to all take place during working hours, a good work-life balance is maintained.
More information: Inhouse Recruitment Network
UX Designer
UX Designers concentrate on websites. They’re part of the team that build the website but they don’t actually do any of the technical coding. They are there to look at things from a user’s point of view to ensure that the website ‘flows’ and ensure the user experience is maximised. Because much of their work is online, UX Designers can work anywhere at any time, which is conducive to a fantastic work-life balance.
More information: User Experience Professionals’ Association
Digital Marketing Manager
Like a Social Media Manager, Digital Marketing Managers will utilize social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to communicate their company’s message. However, they also utilise other channels such as pay-per-click advertising and other digital marketing channels. Like Social Media Managers, they can work from anywhere and much of their work can be done in advance which can help promote a good work-life balance.
More information: Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing
Marketing Assistant
Marketing Assistants assist marketing managers with a whole host of marketing activities. This can include social media marketing, digital marketing, as well as public relations and advertising. Marketing assistants are generally office base and do not have a great deal of travel associated with their job which aids a good work-life balance.
More information: Chartered Institute of Marketing
Web Developer
Web Developers build websites and applications. Because of the online nature of their job, they can work from home if allowed, which is a great aid to work-life balance. Often paid by project rather than on an hourly basis, this means that they can fit their work around other areas of their life, which is enormously handy if you have an active social life.
More information: The UK Web Design Association
Risk Analyst
Risk Analysts work for companies in areas such as insurance to conduct specialist surveys of properties and analysing the findings and reporting them back to your employer. There’s lots of data analysis in this job and interpreting results, which means you, need to be computer literate and comfortable with mathematics.
More information: Society for Risk Analysis
Civil Engineer
Civil Engineers can work in a variety of specialisms such as construction, transport, environment, maritime or geotechnical. Civil Engineers plan, design and manage a variety of projects and work on anything from buildings and bridges to roads and oilrigs. Civil Engineers enjoy a fantastic work-life balance and also excellent salary levels. To become a Civil Engineer requires a university education in engineering and strong mathematics skills.
More information: Institute of Civil Engineers
Client Manager
Client Managers manage the relationship between their company and its clients. It involves ensuring that the clients receive an excellent service and all targets are met, as well as always trying to grow the business that they do with them. Client Manager jobs can often require a lot of travel, which can be rewarded with time off in lieu. Client Managers as part of their job often get to dine out and attend social events.
More information: The Role of a Client Manager
Instructional Designer
Instructional designers essentially make complex matters simple through design. Therefore, they make instructional designs that relay information in the most comprehensive but efficient way. To be successful in this sort of role, people need to be technical, as well as having good artistic and engineering skills.
More information: Instructional Designers Association
Marketing Analyst
Marketing analysts are the people that collate and analyse the results of market research surveys. If you’re good with numbers and statistics, and would like a job reporting on public opinions, this could be ideal for you. Why it is classed as one of the best jobs for a work-life balance is the fact that it is an entirely office based job requiring no travel, and work could just as easily be done at home, making it a flexible job and one that you can fit your life easily around.
More information: Market Research Society
Software QA Engineer
Software Quality Assurance Engineers work to provide assurance that certain pieces of software meet certain standards in terms of quality and in terms of regulatory compliance. Software Engineers routinely test software systems and it is a job that requires a methodical way of working and a dedication to accuracy. Software QA Engineers can in theory do their job from any location as it can all be done online, which is the reason it appears on this list as a job with an excellent work-life balance.
Web Designer
Web Designers, like Web Developers, build websites and applications, but they tend to concentrate on the aesthetic features of the site rather than the technical side or ‘back end’ as it is known. Like Web Developers, because of the online nature of their job, they can work from home if allowed, which is a great aid to work-life balance. Often paid by project rather than on an hourly basis, this means that they can fit their work around other areas of their life, which is enormously handy if you have an active social life.
More information: The UK Web Design Association
Research Technician
Research Technicians work in a wide range of areas in both science and social sciences. They are usually based in university departments and work collaboratively on projects within their department and often in conjunction with departments from other universities. The hours of work are flexible, but researchers may need to work longer hours as deadlines approach for certain projects.
Program Analyst
Program Analysts are often freelance consultants, which makes their job very flexible in terms of work-life balance. Private companies usually employ Program Analysts and they are tasked with making them more profitable. Program Analysts take a thorough analysis of the business and make recommendations to management. Program Analysts can also work in the public sector and are usually tasked at highlighting efficiencies rather than maximising profits.
Data Analyst
Data Analysts collect numerical information, analyse it and present the results. They can work in any sector and jobs are often flexible in nature due to the fact that they can work entirely online if they want, which means that there is the potential to work from home, which can aid a good work-life balance.
More information: Digital Analytics Association