Finding the Best Nuggets in the Part-Time Employment Stream and Avoiding the Rest of the Sludge

My disdain is palpable. Those so-called employers who write “Looking for 10 PT people immediately! Must be willing to earn $5000+ a month working part-time from the comfort of your own home! No experience necessary! We’ll train!” With all the spin wizards and snake oil salesman out there, it can be difficult for part-time jobseekers to distinguish fact from la-la-land, but here’s a quick tip: If a company’s help wanted ad has more exclamation points than actual job description bullet points, chances are good that they are sales firms preying on people’s naïve hopes. I had a friend who answered a similar ad a few years back and he ended up selling pork chops out of the back of his car. No kidding. It goes back to the old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true…”

So how does one find the perfect part-time job? Here are three simple things you can and should do if you desire to go the PT route:

Keep Your Ear to the Ground. Scour the internet. Read your local newspaper. Look for “help wanted” signs. There is an abundance of traditional avenues for you to follow that will, at the very least, give you an understanding of the PT opportunities being posted. You can use these methods as the frontline of your job search or simply as a starting point to research some current available opportunities.

Suggest a position. Say, for instance, you are a copywriter and your spouse works for a good sized company that is lacking a corporate newsletter. Or perhaps you know of a business executive who could probably use a little extra help. There is absolutely no harm done in suggesting to fill a non-existing position if your employment proposition can add value to the targeted company. One friend of mine (not the pork chop guy) offered to intern for a creative director at a heavy-hitting advertising agency with the understanding that if she proved to be invaluable, which she did, she would be offered a permanent position. The opportunity really helped launch her career and it can all be attributed to a little hard work and a single phone call.

PT Placement Service. A new emerging trend in the staffing industry, part-time placement services are quickly becoming a valuable resource to both industry and jobseekers. Companies that have never utilized part-timers are now seeing the value of hiring skilled professionals, many of whom had dropped out of the workforce to raise a family, on a part-time basis. Mothers and others (recent retirees, laid-off full-time professionals, people simply seeking a more satisfying work-life balance) are increasingly turning to a part-time placement service that can connect them with businesses that are anxious to hire seasoned employees to fill their less-than-full-time needs. You can do an online search for part-time placement services to see what is available in your area.

Part-time gems are increasingly available. Do a little digging and chances are it will all pan out.