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Making the most of part-time or seasonal work

Posted by admin on July 15, 2010 in Jobs

Having distinctly remembered the early 90′s recession and being a history buff, I feel like I am watching a remake of the economic recovery- new players, new styles but same old script and feeling. The early 80′s was marked by a double dip recession. The early 90′s recession was characterized by a jobless recovery even though corporations had millions in cash reserves (exchange millions for billions this time around but the pattern remains). Everyone is mad at the banks (1,600 U.S. banks closed or received government aid between 1980-1984; in the 1990′s, banks made record profits while unemployment rates stayed high). Politicians keep saying they will create jobs. Generational animosity bubbles to the surface etc. etc.

If the script holds true, many of us are also under-employed. Work is not extremely stimulating, the pay is mediocre and, given education and experience, there is a waste of human potential and talent. In the 1990′s, the term “McJob” was popularized by author Douglas Coupland to describe low-paying, no benefit, no future jobs Generation X was taking. What can you do if all you have are a series of part-time, seasonal or no-future work?

We have had a series of temps in our office to complete some projects. I would hardly describe the work as stimulating and, if this was a full-time job, there would be no future. But, it puts a few bucks in people’s pockets if nothing else (the temps have mostly been students or recently graduated students).

It is what it is -a McJob. However, knowing what I know now, I would take the following out the position:

1. Chance to network and meet people you otherwise would not meet.
2. Make a good impression by being positive and enthusiastic about things. The impression you make by being positive, not over the top Pollyanna positive though, and having a good attitude cannot be under-estimated in impressing people in work environment.
3. Learn by doing and, equally important, by observing how successful people interact with others. Every office has an alpha dog- pick and choose the characteristics you admire about the alpha dog. If you learn one soft-skill trick from each alpha dog you meet, it will help your career development as much as any technical training can.

Number 1 is probably something most University Career Centres do not emphasize enough to grads- expand your network to people you otherwise would not meet in your normal day-to-day life. If you are a younger person, network with older people. If you have worked in one industry only, network your way to other industries (remember you are just another Jon or Mary in your industry; outside your industry, you are something new and refreshing). Again, my broken record advice is volunteer. It will be a good way to meet new people.

A friend of mine once gave some really good advice-  move from McJob to McJob after a modest period of time; the fact you are employable by many different employers says something about you and your network will eventually grow that you end up where you want to be- maybe not necessarily in the order you thought but the journey is as exciting as the destination.

Good luck.