I have a full-time job in my chosen career field that I love, but I’m looking for a second, part-time job as well to help bring in a little extra income.
Anyone working two jobs? What do you find are the advantages and disadvantages? I have already decided that if a second job conflicts with either my family or my full-time job I will quit without a second thought.
Do you find the second income is worth it?
I have a second job working about 3 hours every wednesday, but it involves playing card games… and i only get 10 dollars a week…
I’ve done it in the past, and am going to be doing here shortly. It’s a bitch. You never really have time for much of anything and you always feel like you’re on the run.
It’s difficult to have much of a social life, and it’s difficult to maintain your house (since you’re not there). However, it beats starving and homelessness hands down.
I’m current working full-time doing military wireless networking simulations for a big-name defense contractor. I also periodically moonlight doing web development for a former boss o’ mine. Does this count?
Assuming it does, the immediate advantages are (a) more money and (b) an opportunity to keep my skills fresh and diverse. The biggest problem is that it eats up what little free time I have – my last freelance job, at its peak, had me working 2-3 hours a night and 5-6 hours on weekends, and after a while I missed spending the quality time with my family.
My answer may not be helpful to you. However, here are some advantages and disadvantages, and more detail about my situation.
Advantages
Education: My skill set is almost entirely from on-the-job learning and I’ve learned a great deal about many fields from working side-by-side with medical researchers, lawyers, marketing execs, concert producers, etc. etc.
Networking: By nature, I’m am not particularly social so I have to work at this, but it pays off.
Self-Esteem: When I’m feeling down, I just review the challenges I’ve faced.
Resume: The most time I’ve spent at one job was around five years. This hopping can be a drawback, but most often it allows me to answer any interview questions with specific examples.
Disadvantages
Scheduling: We’re planning a family reunion right now. All of my relatives know exactly where they will be and what they will be doing 11 months from now. I don’t. If you take a second job, you’ll have to think about this.
Taxes: There is no way I could do my own taxes. Sometimes I work on-site, sometimes I work at home, sometimes it’s split, sometimes I have fairly large expenses for work that doesn’t pay well, sometimes I get big bucks for on-site work that cost me nothing. Just add an hour a week for record keeping alone.
Health: Will your family pitch in to make good dinners? Will your family pitch in to do some housework? If you get home at 10:30, and then have to eat PB&J while doing chores… eventually your health will suffer.
My situation, in case you were wondering:
I do project based work (like rjung, but more so). Often I will be doing an on-site job which is basically 9-5 (which means 7-7 or worse half the time!) and also do some documentation or analysis or web sites.
There have been times when I was slammed from dawn till midnight for a couple months straight… and there have been times where I did nothing but little art projects (which pay jack) for a month or so.
During those no-life of my own periods, my attitude sinks… but this is usually because my SO, who I support, doesn’t hold up his end of the household chores. The cash disparity doesn’t make me bitter because his industry doesn’t pay well, the idea that I should be both Ward and June Cleaver gets to me, though. This is what leads to those times when I do cheap ass creative crap.
My situation is a little different, though. I take jobs either because I can learn something, or because the offer comes from someone I’ve enjoyed working with in the past - not for extra money.
This lifestyle is not recommended for parents. And I should point out that the opportunities in my second decade in the work world come to me because I paid a lot of dues in my first decade.
I love both of my jobs.
My first, my “real” job is as a project manager for an environmental corp.
My second, my “income for the psyche” job, is as a dance/aerobics instructor in the PE dept of a local university.
I’ve also taught various “regulatory” type classes on RCRA, etc.
The neat thing about a university is that you don’t necessarily have to have a degree for teaching. Just expertise in your field.
Though as soon as the semester starts I’ve scheduled training to get a personal trainer cert to add to my other ones.
It’s reallly fun to have two different jobs (provided they’re not the “McJob” type). If you’re working somewhere that you’re treated with some respect and appreciation, it’s great.
What types of skills do you have? One way to “diversify” so to speak, is to sign up for a temp agency.
Of course, I’ve only heard about the diverse types of jobs there, because I was hired by the company where I reported to my very first assignment.
But one of the young ladies who was our admin Goddess told me all kinds of neat (and some not so neat) stories about her jobs.
Good Luck!!!
My answer may not be helpful to you. However, here are some advantages and disadvantages, and more detail about my situation.
Advantages
Education: My skill set is almost entirely from on-the-job learning and I’ve learned a great deal about many fields from working side-by-side with medical researchers, lawyers, marketing execs, concert producers, etc. etc.
Networking: By nature, I’m am not particularly social so I have to work at this, but it pays off.
Self-Esteem: When I’m feeling down, I just review the challenges I’ve faced.
Resume: The most time I’ve spent at one job was around five years. This hopping can be a drawback, but most often it allows me to answer any interview questions with specific examples.
Disadvantages
Scheduling: We’re planning a family reunion right now. All of my relatives know exactly where they will be and what they will be doing 11 months from now. I don’t. If you take a second job, you’ll have to think about this.
Taxes: There is no way I could do my own taxes. Sometimes I work on-site, sometimes I work at home, sometimes it’s split, sometimes I have fairly large expenses for work that doesn’t pay well, sometimes I get big bucks for on-site work that cost me nothing. Just add an hour a week for record keeping alone.
Health: Will your family pitch in to make good dinners? Will your family pitch in to do some housework? If you get home at 10:30, and then have to eat PB&J while doing chores… eventually your health will suffer.
Weekends: Ha ha ha. What a weekend?
My situation, in case you were wondering:
I do project based work (like rjung, but more so). Often I will be doing an on-site job which is basically 9-5 (which means 7-7 or worse half the time!) and also do some documentation or analysis or web sites.
There have been times when I was slammed from dawn till midnight for a couple months straight… and there have been times where I did nothing but little art projects (which pay jack) for a month or so.
During those no-life of my own periods, my attitude sinks… but this is usually because my SO, who I support, doesn’t hold up his end of the household chores. The cash disparity doesn’t make me bitter because his industry doesn’t pay well, the idea that I should be both Ward and June Cleaver gets to me, though. This is what leads to those times when I do cheap ass creative crap.
My situation is a little different, though. I take jobs either because I can learn something, or because the offer comes from someone I’ve enjoyed working with in the past - not for extra money.
This lifestyle is not recommended for parents. And I should point out that the opportunities in my second decade in the work world come to me because I paid a lot of dues in my first decade.
When I was in high school and college I worked as a cashier in a grocery store and at a Ross as a fitting room attendant.
I have worked in my chosed career field (broadcasting) for 10 years now. I have considerable organizational and prioritizing skills, and I type like a fiend.
I guess I am looking for a “McJob,” except I know I don’t want to work in fast food or as a waitress. I’ve been a waitress, and I didn’t like it.
I’ve applied at Publix, Sears, and Circuit City. As far as planning vacations, we have one planned around Thanksgiving. I know that’s a big no-no for retail, so if it’s a problem, I won’t take the job.
It’s not like we’ll starve if I don’t get the second job. It will just ease my mind a bit about some upcoming debts we will be incurring.
I work three jobs, all in my field. It’s tiring and involves a lot of keys and parking permits. The advantage is that I’m very visible in my profession in my community and am seen as having the capacity to look at issues from several perspectives.
In Australia it seems like it’d be cheaper to only have once job. When I first started the job I’ve got now I accidentally ticked yes to a legalese question that turned out to be asking if I was working somewhere else as well. My first two paychecks were taxed so much that I was paying something like 50% to the government. Fortunately I got it back when I worked out what was wrong but if you’re going to work at more than one place here one of the jobs better be off the books!
I have worked more than one job through out the majority of my life…can’t imagine not. All through college I worked various part time jobs to survive most of them only a few hours a week to manage around class hours. later as a single aprent I worked three jobs to support my child.
Later I had expensive tastes and needed the extra income to supply my lifestyle. Now…well I suppose it is partially the same but mostly it is because after 23 years I am just used to it. I work 40 hours a week at a civil servive job and an additional 15 to 25 selling real estate. I also have investment properties that bring in extra income.
I have supplemented my 9-5 job three fold this way and I am able to live a much better lifestyle, pay for a college education for my three children, give money to my aging parents and put away money for a retirement. I don’t regret a thing. I’d rather work now while I am young (36) so that when I am old I can screw off and not worry about it.
Then again I have always been somewhat hyper active.
I spent several years working evenings at a movie theater – I liked it a lot. The pay wasn’t great, but it was much more layed-back than other similar-pay jobs. Eventually they taught me to be a projectionist and I had a blast doing that.
No matter where you go, I wouldn’t worry about Thanksgiving – if they don’t like it when November comes, just move on! Most places like that would rather you worked when they told you to, but considering that they have a hard enough time getting their regular employees to show up, being a proper adult worker with good work habits will earn you lots of latitude anywhere.
I have a full-time job and do occasional freelance work too. Unless the secondary work is genuinely interesting, I find it incredibly difficult to make myself do it – my full-time job is on the stressful side, and when I come home I’m TIRED, even though I’ve been sitting on my butt all day.
It can take a lot of discipline to do work that you don’t have to do, no matter how well you prep yourself for it ahead of time. I’d check in seriously with how motivating those upcoming debts are really going to be for you before you commit to a McJob. It can be extra de-motivating to have managers that are dumber or less organized than you are, which I understand is not uncommon at Sears and Circuit City (don’t know anything about Publix).
Best of luck to you.
I am currently working two jobs, and am a full-time student. But its not as bad as it seems-
My main job is as a Crossing Guard. I’ve been doing this for about a year and a half now. I only work 10 hours/week but the hourly pay more than makes up for that. I’m able to work each 1 hour shift before and after class in the afternoon, and the job is consistent with vacations and scheduling, so its easy to work more flexible stuff around my work schedule.
My other job is working at Score! Educational center. Initially this was only going to be a ‘temporary’ thing, but I enjoyed working there so much, and the scheduling was so flexible, that I decided to stay, and have been there for a year. The shifts there are only 3 hours long, and its only a 10 minute bicycle ride from my house. I usually work there in the early evening. It turns out the pay periods for both jobs are staggered, which means I get paid every friday, either from one job or the other- VERY nice to have.
Even though both jobs have relatively short hours, I am going to be very busy this semester. I’m taking 17 units, and not only have morning classes Monday-Friday but also have a class that meets monday evenings, and another class which meets thursday evenings. Tuesday evenings I have piano lessons, and every other weekday I am working at Score. I also will be working at Score on the weekends.
I’ve been doing this for about a year now, and haven’t felt ‘overworked’ yet, though one problem is that when I have brief 1 or 2 hour spans of free time at odd periods of the day, I have a habit of just wanting to zone out instead of study/do schoolwork. I don’t want the workload to affect my grades-I honestly enjoy both jobs quite a bit and the money helps me pay for textbooks, paying off the money my mom loaned me to help buy my car, and miscellaneous other expenses.
In a way, I kind of dread having to get a full-time job when I graduate. I really like the variety of having two separate jobs, even if it means some wacky scheduling involved in my day.