Dear J.T. & Dale: I have a full-time job, but I also work a part-time bartending job that’s not what I want to do, and it’s 40 minutes away. I would like to do something from home. I see ads saying you can make millions from home, but I don’t believe them. Can you point me in the right direction? — Craig
J.T.: I can appreciate you being guarded about all the work-at-home scams out there. One site that researches and presents work-at-home opportunities is WorkAtHomeCareers.com. It offers extensive articles that can help you determine if (A) something is a scam, and (B) if any of the real jobs would suit you. Even so, you will have to roll up your sleeves and do your own homework, including speaking with people who are doing the kind of work you are considering. Networking, even for home-based work, is key.
Dale: Good advice. But there’s a bigger issue with second jobs. Say you find a better one. Can you do two jobs well? Do them so well that you’ll excel and be beloved and get promoted to a great-paying job? If that sounds unlikely, then think of devoting more energy to a job search as your second job, getting yourself to a company with a single job that pays you enough to live on, or till you find something entrepreneurial that eventually can replace jobs one and two.
Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a professional development specialist and founder of CAREEREALISM.com. Dale Dauten’s latest book is “(Great) Employees Only: How Gifted Bosses Hire and De-Hire Their Way to Success” (John Wiley & Sons). Please visit them at www.jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via e-mail, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10019.
© 2009 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
