Part Time Jobs?

W

wadeblade

Joined
Mar 3, 2006
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I need some advice. I need to supplement my income as much as I can in order to take care of a couple of financial curveballs that have come my way. If any of you have suggestions as to part time jobs that have worked out well for you (or that haven't worked), I would really love to hear them.

Thanks,
Dave
 
The power plant where I'm a supervisor hired a night cleaning crew. They pretty much set their own hours. The only stipulation is that they come after the office people have gone for the day, and everything is done before they show up again in the am. Lots of flexibility timewise. Maybe there's something like that in your area.

Its tax season. How good are you at that? You could do people's (friends/family) taxes online using Turbo Tax or something. I've done that as a favor for friends in the past. That'd get you to mid-April.

Hope that helps, and good luck.

Scott
 
I took a part-time job that utilizes the skills I learned in my full-tie job as a firefighter. We are all certified EMT's and I took a job at the local hospital as an EMT on their paid squad. It pays very well and I keep my skills sharp.
 
If you have any experience as a waiter/server, you can make some pretty fast money with tips. Customers tend to tip males more than they tip females. If you are polite, a good server, make their dining experience good, they will generally leave you a good tip.

In the early 90's, I needed extra money, so I worked weekends at the local Sizzler Restaurant. I'd walk out the door with $75-100 in my pocket. Fri-Sat-Sun. Pretty good cash for a few hours work. The male servers made even more - just because they were guys.

You need to hustle, keep the customer way happy, get their food to them quickly, and keep their table clean. Lots of beverage refills.

Good and fast money if you don't have a skill to market that pays well part time.
 
I've never had a "part-time" job :) Started working full-time at 17, and I'm still full-time today as a service technician in an auto shop.

I cleaned houses for about 6 months with a cleaning crew. Pretty easy work, and it payed ~$9-13 an hour depending on if you drove your own car or not. There are a TON of independently owned cleaning business' in my area, but BEWARE trying to quit. They often try to pull illegal B.S like withholding your last paycheck, trying to get you to sign contracts that violate the law, etc. That's why I quit, alot of small illegal crap going down. Independently owned FTL.
 
Here in Oregon, passing the test to obtain a CDL (Commercial Drivers License)
is about as easy as just walking into the DMV. I don't know what it's like in TX, but a Class A or B CDL will allow you to drive most trucks over 26,000 GVW. If you've ever driven a large U-Haul, then you can drive 26K and under with no CDL. A lot of companies now are looking for drivers, full and part time for local runs, which usually involve either the smaller (under 26,000) box vans, or small single axle trucks with a short trailer. Depending on their business, many even have loaders and unloaders at each end of the haul, which means you just drive. If you're not uncomfortable driving large vehicles, check it out. Might be something there.
 
I bar-backed in college. All the perks of being behind the bar, none of the hassle. It's also how I learned to bartend, just covering while people were on break. I had a blast. As I sit here typing this in my cubicle under a flickering flourescent bulb...I'm not going to lie, I miss it.
 
If you can handle the late hours, the absolute best part-time job is a cleaning/janitorial job, as has already been suggested. I've taken jobs like that over the last 10 years or so, from time to time. Just don't get in with those national "chain" companies, like American Building Maintenance or Servicemaster. With them, you have to work with other folks a lot of times, and with an inflexible schedule. There are bunches of locally owned, mom and pop companies in most places that need a guy to work just 2-3 hours a night, on their own schedule. Usually these are office building that require light cleaning and have to be done by morning. They're nice because if you're good, you can quit when you've satisfied your cash need after a few months and they'll take you back next time you're in a bind (if they have enought work for you, that is)...
 
Are there any FedEx or UPS distro centers near you? I know of a few folks that load and unload trucks at night part time and the pay is fairly reasonable.
 
Saunterer said:
Are there any FedEx or UPS distro centers near you? I know of a few folks that load and unload trucks at night part time and the pay is fairly reasonable.
Click to expand...

Just two months ago, you probably could have been hired as a jumper on the truck for holiday deliveries. If you can get in the door, loaders and unloaders in the morning and evening shifts at UPS is a job to think about.
 
Why not use the skills you already have? There must be plenty of people who would like work done on theirs cars at a reduced rate. They save money, you make money!
 
ronsec said:
Why not use the skills you already have? There must be plenty of people who would like work done on theirs cars at a reduced rate. They save money, you make money!
Click to expand...

Nearly every mechanic I know does "side work." They stay late and work on friends' cars using their boss's garage and tools. The boss allows it.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. You have given me some good ideas on which way to go. One of the main themes I heard was to focus on my skills, which in my case is electronics and telecommunications. I can always start up where I began, installing phone jacks and car stereos.

Totally Judy- I never would have guessed that men waitpersons get better tips than women.

Steve Hayden- Knifemaking is my ultimate goal. Right now, I don't have the time for my learning curve to catch up.

Once again, thanks for the suggestions. Sometimes I can be so close to the problem that I need the solutions pointed out to me.
 
wadeblade said:
Totally Judy- I never would have guessed that men waitpersons get better tips than women.
Click to expand...

There is an exception - female waitpersons who play the "sex" card with short skirts and low-cut tops probably make more tips just because........ But all other things being equal, people tip men more because they have some weird idea that men have a family to support. I guess the women are just working to get out of the house - they obviously aren't working for the tips. ha!
 
pass on the knifemaking...you'll spend more than you'll make!

Also pass on building custom computers/electronics/etc. for people...always a loss.

Entrepreneurial endeavors require capital, and time to build a customer base.

Your best bet (imho) is going to be to work a graveyard shift somewhere to get extra pay and make it worth it. Or a good weekend job. Waiting tables isn't just for girls serving coffee....lots of regular places have male waiters.

There's also the idea that doing electronics/telecom for 16 hours a day instead of 8 will make you sick of it. You might find something different to compliment it. So you'll have enough energy/enthusiasm to return to your FT job the next day.

Be sure to check if your company has a moonlighting policy...they might not approve of certain types of work, or even working at all (which has happened to me before).
 
Hey Dave .... This is a great part-time or full time job where you are basically your own boss. you can work as little or as much you want and make very good money.

Installing Commercial real estate signs.

I'm talking about the 3ftX3ft coraplast signs. They look like coragated cardboard but are painted plastic and only weigh a few ounces.

Most of the larger real estate Companies do not like their well dressed Realtors installing their own signs unlike the residential sales people who just plop a sign in a front lawn.

Up here in Canada (s/w Ontario) A friend and I found out a very successful Comm., Realator was having trouble geting her signs put up in front of plazas, buildings and the likes once she had signed up a client.

We approached her and convinced her to give us a chance to proove our worth. She agreed and we showed her we were able to do it for quite a bit less than the competition.

WE got $40.00 per installation and $30.00 to take down the same sign once a property was sold or leased. We were putting up and taking down several signs a day between us once word got around to other Realtors how efficient we were and the hired us as well.

It all depends on your work schedule as to how much you can do.

This is how it works..... The realator supplies the signs which we would pick up and store in my garage. Usually had one or two dozen on hand. This is not a lot and would not fill the trunk of a car.

We supplied the following
1) 18 volt cordless drill with a rapid charger and two batteries....if you have to buy one $40.00 $60.00 will get a decent one to get you started.
2) steel "T" bar fence posts, (the kind with the holes in them to attach fencing), about $5.00-$10.00 each depending on whether you buy new or at a used construction materials yard. You can start with just a few to keep your cost down until you get paid for the first few installations. Then pick-up a few more but remember they are used over again once the original signs come down so do not over stock. You can always get what you need as you go.

3) steel fence post driver.You can purchase one or if you know someone with a access to a welder buy a steel pipe just big enough to fit over the fence post, weld a 1/4 inch plate over one end and weld a couple of re-bar pieces 4 inches long on oposite sides of the pipe for handles.
4) 8 ft long 2 X 2's ...$2.00-$3.00 each. These we cut in half and used on the backside of the "T" bars wings for additional support for the scews that attached the sign to bite into. Although a bit of an additional cost at first it prooved much more efficient for one man to do than trying to support the sign, screw in a bolt and attach a nut on the bacside all at the same time.

5) Several 1/4 inch Nut/screw driving bits,(cause you will drop the damn things in the grass).

6) Screws, Get the ones with the 1/4 " Nut shaped heads and intergal washers. This is so they do not tear through the plastic signs and hold better. We found that 1/2" length was best.

You will also need a step ladder or small stool to stand on while driving the posts into the ground.

All this should get you started if you have no tools at all for under $200.00 A van or P/U truck or even a passenger car will do to transport your supplies until you get into posting signs at higher areas on the out side of buildings then an extension ladder will do.

Oh yeah here is a really good point. In some cases all we had to do was place the signs inside a window with double sided tape. We still got the same $40.00 per install and $30.00 take down because the Realtor was busy at meetings or on other calls.

The only other expense could be if your local utilities charge for underground line locate services. This is not expensive and is deductable as a business expense BUT IT IS NECCESSARY so you do not brake a gas line or water line or electrical cable.

This is a gold mine if you want it to be. The only reason we got out of it was because both of our full time jobs changed and we were not able to put in the time.

Give it some thought


Jim
 
On the side I tutor, fix computers, work on cars, and pull valves on a fire truck. I consider them more as hobbies though, my main extra income comes from timber.
 
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