Should You Add a Side Job?
Why Take On A Second Job?
Full-time employees with a side job are doing so because they have a specific goal. One goal is that they may have debts that they are trying to pay down or pay off, they need a car, have a baby on the way, they are attending college, or they are attempting to pay off a college debt. Another goal includes a person’s desire to start their own business and to become their own entrepreneur. They need to continue working full-time to help with their start-up plans, especially if they have taken out a loan to help alleviate financial burdens.
Statistics for Age Groups
Who are the individuals who are working beyond a 35 to 40 hour week? Online job career sites report that around 29% of workers have a side job with millennials leading the charge. The statistics for other age groups are broken down in the following manner:
Ages:
18 – 24: around 39% have side gigs
25 – 34: around 44% earn extra money on the side
35 – 44: around 29% have a part-time job
45 – 52: around 22% work another job
55+: around 19% are also working a second job
In the age group of 50+, they often take on a second job because of their age at their full-time position. Unfortunately, many companies are grooming younger individuals to take on more responsibilities. Older employees are actually asked to help train them. This does not convey confidence for the future of older workers, therefore to hedge their beats and to have the promise of a solid income, they take on another job.
Part-Time Jobs
The younger generation does seek side jobs, but this generally falls into the category of seeking another career option like opening their own business or learning as much as possible about their career goal. A second job can be one that leads to another career or it is just a side gig for extra money. Either way, persons with a part-time job will be starting at the bottom of the ladder, making minimum wages. To make extra money, side jobs are generally those in the retail industry, modern ride-sharing jobs, tutoring, caregiver, or a landscaper, just to name a few.
Freelancers
Another option that gives full-time workers a second job opportunity is to work at home. Many businesses, including Fortune 500 companies, are offering freelance positions to individuals who meet their criteria. At-home-jobs are available in all industries across the board. Until people have established themselves, however, they might need quick cash loans to get through some hard times. But once you find a company to work for, you can work at home in the following areas:
*medicine
*education
*entertainment
*personal assistant
*writers
*consultants
*interpreters
*data entry
*customer service
Don’t Work Yourself To Death
Working both a full-time job plus a second one is a balancing act. If you throw yourself into another job out of fear or an anxiety, you could negatively affect your health. Plan the time and location for your second job, if possible, because you don’t want to rush directly from job 1 to job 2 without a mental and physical break.
It is not advisable to take on a second job that asks for as many hours as your first job. Start out with a couple of nights each week to see if that will work for you, both timewise and financially. Get enough sleep, exercise, and eat your veggies and fruits without relying on snacks to keep you going. If a second job is long-term versus short-term, you must take care of yourself or why would you want to do it, even for a few extra bucks.
Do I Tell My Boss?
Let’s look at the second job from your boss’s side. For whatever reason, you need or want a second job, but does your full-time employer feel the same way for you? This is a chance you have to kind of feel out because some employers don’t want their employees working a second job fearing that you will not be able to give your position a 100% focus. Then there are employers who wish you the best and will probably tell you that if they could, they would give you more money naming you as a valuable employee. That is true with the freelance culture, that employers are more likely to expect their staff to have another after-hours job. It would not be surprising to them at all!