Not everyone is already employed in a career position when looking for a new job; some are still juggling side jobs while waiting for the offer into their industry of choice. While it is necessary to maintain some sort of income, it is also equally important to try your best to make sure that the side job you work can relate to experience for your future career.
Try to find positions with companies that are a part of your industry. For example, if you are trying to get into publishing, try to become an ad stuffer. Even though it is not necessarily the journalist position you wanted, it does get you into the building and learning how the company works. If you can’t get a job with a company in the industry, get one that uses the same skills only in a different field. Just get yourself working in a way that is lucrative as well as useful.
Now, not everyone can do this given the specificity of certain fields, but there are still general skills you can prove you have by taking certain jobs. Prioritizing, working a deadline, effectively communicating- these are all skills that are universal qualifications for any position. This means that there are also a lot of sub-jobs that can prove to employers that you have these qualities. Being a dinner cook at a restaurant shows that you know how to multitask and work well under pressure. Being any kind of assistant proves you are great at organization. This is how you should break down side jobs when you are wondering which to take because it is exactly how employers will look at them.
Employers like to see that a potential candidate is keeping busy. It demonstrates drive. But what they like seeing more is that you are keeping busy by working towards a goal other than paying rent. Interview questions are about discovering the character of a prospective employee as well as their qualifications for the position. Someone could have been lucky enough to do everything right and be the perfectly qualified employee, but if in the interview the employer senses they are lazy and unmotivated, guess whose resume is going in the trash? They won’t even keep that on file for future job openings.
Succeeding in life is all about making the most effective use of the time you have. This means that everything you do should have more than one purpose, i.e. mowing a leafy lawn will cut the grass but also sweep up all of your leaves, saving you time. This mentality should be brought over to how you conduct your professional life, including the side jobs you take in order to keep eating until you get the job you want.
What are some side jobs that you took on in your career in order to stay on top of your game? Share with us in the comments section below!
IMAGE: Courtesy of Flickr by m.gifford
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