Why taking on part-time jobs is good for your career
Why taking on part-time jobs is good for your career
The employment landscape has evolved, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Technology has opened up a whole new world of opportunities – remote working, on-demand gigs such as Uber and food delivery, running a digital store – we could very well be working at a day job and running an online business simultaneously. Mobile connectivity is redefining the future of work, and that’s a good thing.
If you’re contemplating taking up a part-time job, what’s holding you back? As long as it doesn’t interfere with your main job, which should be your main priority, there’s no reason you shouldn’t take on multiple gigs if you can manage it. Besides the obvious benefit of boosting your earnings, here are several compelling reasons taking on part-time jobs or gigs is good for your career:
1. You’re no longer restricted to one profession
Maybe in the past we didn’t have the flexibility of dabbling in different professions at the same time, or it wasn’t as convenient to do so. Not anymore though. If you ever wanted to explore your talents in a different profession without giving up your full-time job, you can easily do so on a freelance basis these days. It’s the perfect low-risk setting to try your hand at something new. Who knows what opportunities it might lead to.
2. You get to earn through your passion projects
Do you have a passion you wish you could spend more time on, without sacrificing your well-paid 9-to-5 job? Perhaps you’re an avid baker, seamstress, or sculptor, and you’d like to sell custom-made creations for a niche target market. With easily accessible, cost-effective and professional website creation platforms such as Squarespace and WordPress powered by Google’s advanced search algorithms, setting up a virtual store and marketing your services couldn’t be easier or more affordable.
3. It’s a great way to try out a business idea on the side
As an extension of the previous point, the low costs of setting up a digital business keep it relatively low risk to try out a new business idea. Instead of investing in inventory and committing to physical overheads, you can produce a minimum viable product (essentially the most basic version of a product or service) and, using a simple landing page instead of a full-fledged website, market it to early adopters for feedback. You can then use the feedback to improve or change the product or service, and grow the business in phases.
4. It’s your chance to train your creative and entrepreneurial muscles
Some of us need our 9-to-5 jobs to pay the bills and provide for our families, but we would still appreciate the opportunity to flex our creative and entrepreneurial muscles out of the office. The internet is your gateway to a world of infinite possibilities. By taking on part-time or freelance gigs that allow you to hone and develop your creative and/or entrepreneurial skills, you are also adding to the value you contribute to your day job and employer. These additional achievements can only make your resume stronger, if you find yourself in the market for a new job at any point.
The future of work is clearly digital. With the gig economy continuing to develop and transform the way consumers live, work and play, it is no longer an unusual scenario for the average worker to have a part-time job after office hours, or to be an online business owner on the many popular e-commerce websites these days.
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