Part Time on Shine

The new flexible workforce

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When I was researching my book a few years ago, I was looking for employers who were taking advantage of people’s desires to build significant careers while working a flexible schedule. I highlighted companies like Axiom, a new kind of law firm that caters to lawyers who don't want traditional full-time hours (e.g. working parents, artists, or those starting businesses on the side). Axiom pitches itself to clients as an economical alternative to big law firms since it can avoid the high overhead associated with overstaffed firms. Another firm, Virtual Law Partners,
has been getting some buzz lately with a similar approach.

Now scores of companies are thinking flexible and virtual, in all kinds of fields -- from virtual assistants (check out Delegate Solutions), to corporate executives (see Epoch Workforce). The troubled economy has been a boon to businesses like these, which can offer part-time employment to displaced workers and deliver lower cost services to clients.

How to break into freelancing

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I can’t go a day without talking to someone about how to get started as a freelancer, consultant or entrepreneur. Some folks are going solo by necessity; others are betting on themselves over employers in a market where jobs are no more stable than gigs. I spent the weekend with my cousin and her fiance who had both been laid off from jobs in adventure travel. We brainstormed about how they could build careers as entrepreneurs or consultants.

A few days later I had lunch with a colleague who is in the midst of a negotiation with her boss about moving from employee to consultant because she thinks she’d have more opportunities if she diversified her client base rather than remain at one company.

Those conversations came in handy this morning when I was interviewed by Tory Johnson on how to break into freelancing for a video series promoting her new book, Fired to Hired, which will be published in early August.

Here's a summary of our chat:

Dip into freelancing while keeping your job. Start by quietly spreading the word that you are available for projects and taking on assignments that don't present a conflict with your current job. The goal is to test the waters to see whether your services are in demand and to have at least one or two clients lined up once you're completely out on your own.

Career advice for grads, and the rest of us

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Graduation speeches are long on lofty advice, cliches that ring true, and humor: follow your dreams, be authentic, wear sunscreen. But they are often short on career advice. So now that we’ve all watched videos of the best of the lot on YouTube and shared them by email or on Facebook, it’s time to get down to what new grads need to know about how to get a job and build a career. And since 50-somethings and 20-somethings are likely to be competing in today’s market, most of these principles make sense for the rest of us as well.

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.

Who's finding jobs now?

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While headlines continue to report on the grim state of the job market, people are getting hired every day. This ongoing series will bring you snapshots of who’s getting hired now with the back-stories of how they’re snagging the jobs.

This week's job successes include a nonprofit manager who made a move when it seemed like no one was hiring, an engineer who tweeted his way to a new gig, and an event planner who created a full-time position out of two part-time jobs to bring in extra cash during her slow season.

7 best part-time jobs

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The common perception is that part-time jobs have less to offer than full-time positions.

That may be true in terms of hours in the work week, but many part-time jobs pay just as well as a traditional 40-hour week ones and a number of positions come with health insurance coverage, paid vacation days and employee discounts.