February 17, 2009

Lesser known pros of working a second job

• 1 Comment |
• E-mail |
• Print
• • Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

By now, we all know that first, second, and third jobs are hard to come by. And that those who take a second job to earn some extra cash have been known to skimp on sleep, social life, and balance.

But I was struck by the refreshing points on working a second job that freelance journalist Caitlin Kelly raised in her New York Times "Preoccupations" column this past weekend. A former newspaper reporter, Kelly says she gave up sending out resumes for full-time work long ago and settled into a career of stringing together freelance writing assignments.

However, the isolation of working solo was driving her batty. So 18 months ago, she began working a retail job one day a week, where she earns under $12 an hour, far less than she makes as a freelance writer during the rest of the workweek.  

Not surprisingly, Kelly found that rude, disparaging, self-entitled customers come with the territory of working a retail job. But she also found a few unexpected perks that she did not enjoy during her newsroom days as a staff reporter.

"In journalism," Kelly writes, "my workplaces often felt like rooms filled with balloons, enormous and fragile egos rubbing and squeaking up against one another until, inevitably, several burst with a bang."

But, she continues, "In retail, divas are fired or soon quit."

What's more, for the first time in her career, the measure of her success isn't subjective -- it's concrete:

"In retail," she writes, "numbers win. I've become one of my store's top salespeople, and, for the first time in 30 years of professional life, I know my clear value to my employer. Our individual sales are posted on a wall for everyone to see. I like that clarity. Social capital means nothing here. Our retail sales floor is the levelest playing field I've yet seen."

If you, too, have taken a second or third job in recent months, either to shake up your work environment as Kelly did or because you need the extra cash, I'd love to hear what unexpected pros (or cons) you've discovered: Have you unearthed a new skill you didn't know you possessed? Flexed a workplace muscle you thought had atrophied long ago? Found a preferable corporate culture to the one you came from? Do tell.

Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com

• 1 Comment |
• E-mail |
• Print
• • Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Read more

1 Comments

Monica on February 28, 2009 7:58 AM | Reply

I work three part-time jobs. It's tiring, but it's also nice to swap sets of "office problems" sometimes instead of letting one workplace become your whole world. Even if things are stressful or aren't going well at one job on a particular day, it's not likely that it will be a bad day at all three, so even though I'm tired, I'm much less stressed out.

Leave a comment

* required field

Your name: *

E-mail address: (Will not be displayed)

Your comment: *

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.