Making part-time work stick
Feb 25th, 2009 by admin
![R_C_Alarm_Clock[1]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3492/3310924616_6ecbd26a27_m.jpg)
The goal of a part-time job is simple: To make money. But for the unemployed, there is a lot more to working at a part-time job than just making some money.
There’s the hope that it will lead to a full-time job. That the CEO will see what a great job you’re doing and will fall in love with your work and will hire you at a better wage than the job you were laid off from.
And with that full-time job come all of the things, for better or worse, that full-time employees get that part-time or contract employees don’t: Health care benefits, paid vacation, sick days, an office, etc.
That’s what I’m after. Mainly for the health care benefits, which are extraordinarily high if not partly financed by an employer. But also because I don’t want to be what government officials who track such things call me — underemployed. In other words, I was unemployed, but found part-time work and still seek full-time work. I’m no longer technically unemployed, but underemployed.
So in my quest to keep money coming in, I’ve taken on numerous jobs that I’ve written about many times in this blog. My goal has always been, and is especially now, eight months after being laid off, to turn one of my part-time jobs into full-time work.
I enjoy a lot of being a freelance writer/editor, such as making my own hours. But a lot of those hours are exactly that — a lot of hours. Today I’ve been writing, calling, e-mailing and many other work-related things since 8:30 a.m. and won’t be done until 11 p.m. or so. I took a lunch break and from about 5-9 p.m. to take care of my daughter. It’s getting exhausting.
When I started working as a personal finance blogger at WalletPop in November, and later for writing Search Engine Optimization articles for AOL’s shopping Web site, my ultimate goal was for AOL to hire me as a full-time editor. I haven’t worked for them for too long, so I don’t expect that to happen soon.
The same for Spot.us, a journalism Web site that takes small donations to pay for news stories. I’m hoping my work there will be seen and I’ll be contacted to either write more, or help other journalists get their stories online.
Broadcasting my work was also a goal of writing press releases for Moving Arts Dance and writing and editing the quarterly newsletter for the city of San Ramon.
I don’t hide the fact that I have ulterior motives for all of the part-time work I do. Getting paid is an obvious motivator. I look at these jobs as a tryout for employers, to show them how well I can do the job.
Next week I have two more tryouts. One is writing press releases and doing some public relations for an auditing firm, and another is writing some stories for an engineering firm. I expect both to be interesting freelance work, and I can understand why employers want freelancers or contractors: No overhead to pay, no benefits and minimal hassle. Just write a check and be done with them.
I’m giving myself another month of being underemployed and doing everything I can to get full-time work before I look for other ways to get there. If these part-time jobs can’t get me there, then there has to be another way.
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Hi, Aaron.
I hear you about the high cost of benefits being a key motivator to find full-time work. But what you may find, as you continue to build your freelance business, is that it can become lucrative enough in its own right so that you no longer feel underemployment.
Have you read Peter Bowerman’s book “The Well-Fed Writer?” I highly recommend it. He writes about his decision to leave the 9-5 corporate world behind and become a freelancer, much as you have been forced to do through circumstance, and offers excellent suggestions for how to find clients and grow into the business. Unlike you, he had no background as a writer or journalist. He recently wrote a follow-up book called “Back for Seconds,” which I have not personally read. Both are available through Amazon.
He also has a website, http://www.wellfedwriter.com, on which he blogs about the business. You might want to check it out.
How about this?
The Society of Professional Journalists presents the first in its series, “Journalism in the Age of the iPhone” on Thursday, Feb. 26:
Journalism in the Age of the iPhone:
Online Opportunities: Who’s Hiring
Afraid for your job in an atmosphere of consolidation, cutbacks and layoffs? Interested in finding out what outlets will offer decent-paying, rewarding opportunities for journalists in the future, and what you’ll need to do to make yourself attractive to those employers? Come hear top journalists discuss the state of the industry and where future opportunities lie. In addition, you’ll get a chance to network and swap job leads with colleagues at this panel/mixer sponsored by the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
TIM GILES is the editor of the Technology and Science channel at BusinessWeek.com, where he oversees BusinessWeek’s daily tech and science coverage. Before joining BusinessWeek.com in 2005, Tom was deputy technology team leader for North America at Bloomberg News. While at Bloomberg, Tom covered telecommunications from San Francisco, European financial services from London, and the foreign exchange market from New York and London. He holds a master’s degree in
international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University.
JEFFREY DAVIS is the Executive Editor of Bnet.com, a Web site focused on crucial news and information for management professionals. He develops, edits, and assigns features, as well as overseeing a network of some 20 bloggers on various industries. Prior to joining Bnet.com in 2007, Jeffrey was assistant managing editor at Business 2.0 magazine. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and political science from the University of California at Davis.
New panelist
Brian Back is the editor and publisher of Sustainable Industries magazine and sustainableinduststies.com. He was formerly a reporter and columnist for The Business Journal in Portland, where he pushed his editors to develop a new beat in the same topic area. Back began his career as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Who: SPJ Northern California Chapter
What: Journalism in the Age of the iPhone ? Part 1 of 4, panel discussion/mixer series
Panel #1: Online Opportunities: Who’s Hiring?
Speakers: ? Tom Giles, Tech Editor, BusinessWeek.com; Jeff Davis, Executive Editor, Bnet.com, Brian Back, editor and publisher of Sustainable Industries.
Where: Schroeder’s Bar/Cafe
240 Front St.
San Francisco, CA 94104
http://www.schroederssf.com
When: Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009, 6:00 p.m.
Cost: $10/person, or FREE with new or current SPJ membership
No-Host bar and food
And the hits keep on coming…
http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=news-press&sParam=30247015.story
RIP Rocky Mountain News.