Part Time Careers

Looking to fill in for a part time vacancy position?

Here’s a few great ways to make sure you’ll be first in line.

- Stay On Top Of Things – Even If A Company Doesn’t Hire Part Time Employees

Part time vacancies can come up at any time – sometimes when you least expect them.

Companies
will normally make changes at different times of the year on their
policy of part time employees – and being in there reminding them that
you’re looking will put you first in line if they ever shift their
policy from no part time to allowing part time

- Take Into Account Your Total Time

Traveling far to work? Having to take the bus?

Remember
that your time is valuable – when you calculate what you’re making from
an employer compared with the time you put into the job, keep in mind
that it’s important to calculate your travel time as well.

Part time jobs are notorious for canceling on you at the last minute, or sending you off early to cut down on their costs.

Take this into consideration, and factor in your travel time.

- Are You Better Off Working From Home?

At times, a home job is better than an office one.

If
you get 3 hours on a given shift, and it takes you a half an hour to
get there and back, then your $10 an hour job is really only making you
$7.50, and if it takes you another half hour on each end to get ready
and change back into your regular clothes, then you’re averaging $6.

You’re
in the territory where you could reasonably start making comfortable
money online – mostly from your own home (considering the calculation
of the total time involved). While this isn’t for everyone, it is a
reasonable comparison.

Career change and reputation – in many ways, they go hand in hand.

Hiring
agents will always look at a resume from many different angles – and
one thing that a resume does not do well is show a pattern of career
change.

Resumes are built so that people with long term,
reliable history look the best, while those with short, changing
careers do not.

There are, however, ways to break this trend, and ensure you’re presenting yourself the best way possible.

- Be Ready for the Objection

Many recruiters will simply ask why you changed positions so often.

It’s
good to have an answer ready for this – focus on the need for
additional challenges, or “extenuating circumstances” if there are any.

Keep in mind that if they’re asking the question, they’re willing to take your response into consideration.

Try
to avoid saying that you changed positions because of internal
conflicts or challenges at one location – even if this occurred.

Showing “conflicts” in past work history will only lead people to think that you’re likely to be in those situations again.

- Put it out in the open

Keep in mind, that the correlation between career change and reputation is mostly perceived – that is, a recruiter will look at you through that “lens” until you can do something to change it.

In an interview, bring up the subject before the interviewer does.

If
you bring the topic up, it shows that you’re not afraid of this part of
your background – and it may prevent the recruiter from feeling they
need to dig here any further.

Bring the conversation back to
your long term goals, and how this potential job meets them – that will
show a recruiter that you’re looking to focus on the long term, and
that this opportunity is a way to get there.

- Offer to Be Flexible

Instead
of trying to negotiate the largest salary out of the block, offer to
show your long term commitment with a lower starting salary, with the
opportunity for major review and revision or a retention bonus at the
3, 6, 9, or 12 month mark.

This will show that you are interested in the long term prospects of the job, and not just the short term potential.

Often,
the largest cost to an employer is the “on boarding” process – getting
you familiar with their systems, and working in their environment cost
them money – many employers will be protective of this, and try to make
sure that you’re the right “fit” for the long term.

What if you could try out different jobs and see how much you like them before actually starting in them?

Temping is a great way to find an entry level career – here’s three reasons why.

Great place to start if you have little or no network

Evey job recommendation site and article tells you to “work your network”

What if you don’t have much of a network? Or have recently moved to a new city? Or are looking for entry level careers?

Temping is a great way to start building a network of individuals.

You’ll work in a variety of roles, in different companies and industries.

Keep in touch with everyone you meet – these people could be a reference to something that you would really like to be doing.

- Work on multiple streams of income for Entry Level Careers

One thing that’s been a major asset to me was having multiple streams of income.

When looking for entry level careers, and temping, there is sometimes downtime between jobs.

If this is the case, focus on ways that you can still have income coming in when you’re not working.

Online surveys and data entry are great examples of this – with little or no skill, you can be up and running in no time.

The important thing to consider is that there are many scams in this area – sometimes $30 or $40 for a proper guide to this type of work is worth the investment.

- Focus on always making a good impression.

Many temping jobs turn into full time entry level careers. You never know where you could be working, or what the potential may be.

I personally know one person who was working the temping circuit, and one day got a call for a Fortune 10 company (many using outside agencies instead of their own internal staff).

The next thing she knew, she was full time with that company and moving up the corporate ladder. Today, she is a six figure executive – all from a connection through a temping agency!

Looking to turn part time careers into a full time series of occupations?

It
can be done – never returning to the full time grind of the same office
- working hard for two months, followed by a month of a “working
vacation” somewhere else.

Here’s some great ways to keep the part time life going all year:

- Know your demonstrable skills

Sports Pro? Tax Expert? Sales Shark?

Having a demonstrable set of skills will make it easier to pick up different jobs at different times.

It
will also show potential employers that they will not have to invest
too much in training you – if you’re already up to speed on a these
techniques, you’ll be able to teach a class or do people’s taxes with
little adjustment.

Keep your credentials together and up to date
so that you’ll appear as qualified as possible to an employer. Also
keep in touch with ones in your local area, so that they know you’re
available when the season comes around again.

- Focus on having the variety to cover most of the year

Sales
skills can help with selling calendars November-January, while being
able to do people’s taxes can help from January through until April.

Different sports seasons also go the same way.

- Use web based jobs to cover the holes

It
helps to be able to have an outlet of work on the internet as well -
often this work is not seasonal, and can be picked up or dropped off at
any time.

This way, you can still travel and pick up income from part time careers at the same time.

With a little bit of work, you can be an expert freelancer or designer, or even simply do data entry or fill out surveys.

I know some people who, through available programs on the internet, have turned a few part time careers into full time jobs through programs on the internet.

The
advantage of this type of revenue stream is that they can turn it on or
off whenever they want – once they’ve found the best data entry and
survey companies, it’s a matter of just putting the time in when
necessary, and filling the remaining income with “real world” jobs.

When looking for part time careers, its important to have references in place.

Even
if you have no prior work experience, references from teachers,
professors, people you’ve worked with on non-profit boards, and people
you know in general can be a help when looking for part time careers.

It is helpful to consider references early on in the career search.

- Know who you want to ask

What type of position are you looking for, and who can give you the best references for it?

A reference is 50% what your reference says, 50% who they are.

If
you’re looking for a restaurant waiting job, chances are that a
recommendation from a restaurant manager from another place will be
more helpful than a recommendation from a landscaping company.

If this is the case, keep a list of possible references and focus on
presenting the ones that work best for the career you’re trying to
obtain.

It goes without saying, that it is helpful to have references from people you are on good terms with.

I have seen too many times that people put forward references that either don’t know them or were not favorable relationships.

While not all employers will check references, many will.

- Inform your potential references they may be getting a call

Reference letters are helpful, however many references still happen over the phone.

Be prepared to give your potential reference a background on the
companies you’re focusing on trying to work for. This will help them
get their “reference” talk in their mind.

Having a good reference on your side can be irreplaceable – and the
better prepared your references are to ask a potential employer’s
questions can only help your chances.

- Be open about your intentions with current employers

Many people balance more than one part time careers at at time. While
this involves a bit of scheduling, with proper clarification it can
lead to mutual time sharing between employers.

Keeping your current place of work in the conversation can help you
with scheduling, and the sooner there is an overall understanding, the
better for everyone involved.

  By the time you’re at the interview stage, a potential employer is seriously considering you.

The interview has the potential to be the great equalizer of the part
time careers world – the person with the worst resume of an interview
group can easily blow all other candidates out of the water with solid
interview performance.

Here’s how to make sure you make the best first impressions:

- Review your resume and the basic points you made in it

This will ensure that you know “you” off the top of your head – too
many times it’s happened that people forget what they’ve said about
themselves – specific numbers, achievements.

This will make your resume information more credible, remove discrepancies, and keep the conversation going at a strong pace

- Check your background on google, review your facebook information for anything

Search your name on google, as well as your name with your city,
university, previous employers, and other organizations you’re with.

Employers will do these similar searches on you, and it’s likely that they will have a perception of you from it.

If it is good news, great.

If it is not, then you have a chance to acknowledge the perspective and do something about it in your interview.

- Check to see if your interviewers are on google or facebook

The purpose here is to see if there’s a common interest that you can bring up in your own life that they can connect to.

DO NOT tell them you have done this search, and do not bluff them into
thinking that you’re a fan of some obscure sport like underwater
kickboxing if you really aren’t.

Keep in mind that if you’re successful, this person will soon be your co-worker – you want to be as truthful as possible.

- Focus on the first impression

First impressions really do make a difference in part time careers. If
you look confident and assured, and are pleasant to talk with, you’ll
have a much better chance of success.

- Sit up straight and speak clearly

People really do judge the little things, and proper posture and tone
come off as confident, while lack of confidence and a slouch come off
as somebody who is unsure of themselves.