Flexible on Shine

Finding the perfect part-time work

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Part-time work is on the rise, and it's no surprise. People are taking on extra jobs to make up for hours or income lost, an out-of-work partner, or even a business facing hard times. But part-time jobs can me more than a stop-gap money generator. They can also be a training ground for career reinvention or an audition for a full-time position with both parties getting a chance to try before buying.

Before you start searching for a part-time job, there are a few things to consider, especially if you already have a job and you'll be layering part-time work on top of that.

Design careers: Remote, flexible, great for the relauncher

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While I have always regarded design careers as a great option for relaunchers, I started thinking about them again when I received the October issue of Fast Company magazine, their design issue. “Design” is a broad category, encompassing building design, product design, typeface design, interior design, digital design of all kinds, shoe and athletic equipment design, fashion design, graphic design, and more. Flipping through the Fast Company pages, you can find everything from how Italian sporting firm CAMP redesigned their ice ax to mimic the angle of a hummingbird’s beak to how JDSU’s ChromoFlair refractive paints, used on everything from Cadillacs to Trek bike helmets, were inspired by the fine scales on a butterfly’s wing.

How to tell a work-from-home scam from a gem

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Sure as the desire to work from home while earning a good living hits new workers every year, scam artists will find all kinds of clever ways to trick people out of their money and time with work-from-home job promises.

As the Better Business Bureau notes, the Internet may be changing how scammers get ads and messages before a wide audience fast, but their targets have not changed. "Work-at-home con artists have always preyed most heavily upon senior citizens, the disabled, mothers who want to stay at home with their children, people with low income and few job skills, and people who just want to get rich quick," the BBB warns.

The too-good-to-be-true offers seem to be everywhere, even in the comments on Shine. So to separate true work-from-home opportunities from scams, follow your instincts and this advice:

How to make sure flexible work doesn't equal low rates

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I had a good chat with Allison O’Kelly, the founder and CEO of Mom Corps, a staffing firm that places professional women/moms in flexible jobs, about whether moms are hiring out their time and skills for less than their experience demands. O’Kelly, a Harvard MBA and cum laude accounting whiz from the University of Georgia, was on the management fast track at Toys ‘R’ Us after a stint at KPMG when she became a mom.

When the corporate world template didn’t fit her life as a working mom, she started her own business, providing small businesses with strategic planning, accounting, and tax services. She began hiring women, mostly moms looking to stay in the workforce without giving up all hope of a balanced life, and an idea was born. Mom Corps.

O’Kelly says Mom Corps does not have a set “rate card” that it provides clients, but generally, women candidates’ time is billed out at between $25 and $100 an hour. “We’ve turned clients away who’ve said ‘you’re just too much,’ “ O’Kelly said. The more in demand the skills, like accounting, the higher the hourly rate. Women need to know what the market rate for their skills/services is so they request a good rate, she said. Remember, O’Kelly added, “Once you start getting a certain rate, that’s generally where you’re going to stay.”