Second Jobs

GlasgowGirl

Facilitator
Jul 22, 2008
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As we all get more and more worried about the coming recession, with predictions that up to 1 in 10 of us will lose our jobs, I wondered how many of us had thought of getting a second job? Not necessarily one with regular hours - for example, I know someone who sells hand-made clothes on the internet to top up her income, and another person who does freelance acupressure as a sideline. Many of us will have saleable skills, so perhaps now is the time to be thinking of making use of them?
 

scotchlass

Facilitator
Sep 5, 2008
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I think it will become more of a feature if unemployment begins to rise. My hubby works offshore and seems to be safe but I have been working as a freelance writer for about 4 months now. It is not big money, but an average of £50 a week helps to pay a bill or top-up the food shopping. I do work a fair bit but pay is low due to the recession just now so it will be interesting to see how the freelance market reacts to the credit crunch if more people go freelance.
 

Witch consumer

Moderator
Sep 8, 2008
1,593
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Debtors retreat
I have a 2nd job in a local Spar, I've been doing it for about 6 weeks and really enjoy it, the pay isn't good but I enjoy the company and having something different to do, I have even lost a few pounds with the walking and lifting!!!

Thing is tho, should we feel guilty about taking a second job when so many people are losing theirs?
 

Tony

What Consumer Founder
Apr 7, 2008
18,307
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Bolton

scotchlass

Facilitator
Sep 5, 2008
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Thing is tho, should we feel guilty about taking a second job when so many people are losing theirs?

Hmm I never really thought of that!! That's a tough one to answer- I'm not really sure where I stand on this..... I suppose that I would have to be in that position before I make my decision on whether it is morally wrong! :confused:
 

Tony

What Consumer Founder
Apr 7, 2008
18,307
3
38
Bolton
Most second-jobs are part-time and employers will offer these for the added operational flexibility. I don't think it is a case of taking opportunities away from the unemployed, as most won't, I guess, do a number of part-time jobs instead of a main full-time job.

Tony
 

katealpha

New Member
Sep 1, 2008
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Beds
I teach adults for my local authority. I'm currently teaching two courses, so its one morning and one evening a week until Christmas and I'm currently getting £188 a month (after tax).

If you go into adult education now to teach you do have to have qualifications to become a qualified teacher within 5 years. I did the first part (PTTLS) last year, which was 3 hours a week for 16 weeks plus coursework but my employer paid for it and so I only had to pay the assessment fee (about £40).
 

TracyG

Moderator
Apr 26, 2009
296
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For those with good writing abilities, a healthy second income can be made from writing short stories, magazine articles, poetry and more.

The continuing growth of the internet brings even greater opportunities for writers to earn, from blogs, website content and writing reviews.
 

Rachelle

New Member
Apr 25, 2009
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I think one of the problems with writing and the explosion of the internet and the opportunities that it throws up, are that now there are so many people out there who are willing to write for far below what the NUJ recommend. I think that they say journalists should receive £300 per 1,000 words but I have seen people offering writing services for far below that. It is very hard to compete against extremely competitive prices. I guess you can only hope that at the end of the day, clients will prefer to go for quality and decent references and know themselves what is a fair price to pay somebody for the sort of work they are being asked to do.
 

TracyG

Moderator
Apr 26, 2009
296
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The internet has changed the writing world in good and bad ways, though for the most part I believe the internet offers some great openings for writers of all levels.

The internet has given amateur writers the chance to get published through communities such as Helium, providing them with a good amount of exposure and a small boost in income from affiliate programs or page views.

One problem with this is that as a reader, it is difficult to take an online article as fact, not knowing if the information is exaggerated or simply false. Another issue lies with keyword optimising, which has changed what is considered to be good writing.

As far as I am aware there is still good money to be made from well written, well researched articles and short stories to the printed publications.
 

Rachelle

New Member
Apr 25, 2009
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Hi TracyG, that's great news to hear that there is still money to be made out there from writing stuff for everybody that wants to make a living that way. You're right about SEO and the affect that has had on the quality of writing. Also, I worry about some of the reviews I come across and wonder whether they are genuine as I have seen ads for writers of reviews, but asking them to write them in their hundreds. Makes me question whether they really have read that book, used that hoover, etc. Don't get me wrong - I think the internet is a wonderful thing and I guess, as you said, it opens up many more opportunities than it closes down ....in fact, I'm going to go and take a look at some of the sites that have been mentioned in these forums. I like the idea of being a secret shopper!!!