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Download This Topic Previous topic Next topic	Taking on a second job?
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Grayson Mendenhall

Visual Guru

Joined: 17 Dec 2006

Posts: 59

Location: The Durham Herald-Sun, Durham, NC

Posted:
Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:59 pm

good lord! 80-90 a week seems pretty brutal to me.
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Mike Braun

Contributing editor

Joined: 10 Jul 2004

Posts: 193

Location: Fort Myers News-Press

Posted:
Tue Aug 28, 2007 6:21 pm

At my former paper, I did 55-60 hours a week (management) and for a couple years I taught PT at the local college (strictly auxiliary instructor, like feature writing and so on), but it did bring in extra bucks. Freelance jobs also help, since you can basically set your own times.
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Clif Page

Maestro

Joined: 09 Mar 2004

Posts: 875

Location: Beaver County Times, Beaver, PA

Posted:
Tue Aug 28, 2007 11:33 pm

A couple who started their own business a few years back told me that beyond 55-60 hours a week, you should be working for yourself.
Not that I listened.
At some point, someone is being unrealistic, and when the employee feels that more than 50 hours a week should be normal, he should at least be a partner or owner.
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FredMatamoros

Secret Agent

Joined: 06 Aug 2004

Posts: 79

Location: Washington state

Posted:
Wed Aug 29, 2007 10:43 am

That's way too many hours! Especially if you're not getting compensated for it. Dear lord!

I've always freelanced since getting into newspapers. Getting a good list of clients and hiring an agent will keep you plenty busy and the money is far better than mere overtime (which you're not even getting!). I've been married 17 years now and my freelance income meant my wife could focus on the kids, which she wanted to do, and is only recently working full-time teaching again.

No other part-time job would be the same for me. It wouldn't be what I was meant to do, not satisfying creatively, etc.

I hope that helps! Always get 50% deposit! -FRED

Andrea Smithson

Tiki Lounger

Joined: 21 Dec 2005

Posts: 8

Location: Indiana

Posted:
Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:43 pm

Go for the obvious night job: Bartending or serving. I work 12-20 hours a week bartending for a flexible manager at a chill bar. I put in a 10ish hour desk shift, then go for another 4 or 5 at the bar two or three days a week. It's not a ton of money, but the tips do add up and it's actually quite soothing. After a day of wracking my brain on headlines and teasers, it's good to go somewhere where people just want to talk about beer and music. Plus, the hours are good together.
I've also done quite a bit of freelancing, both design and editing.
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Yuri Victor

Contributing editor

Joined: 27 Oct 2004

Posts: 248

Location: Times of Northwest Indiana

Posted:
Wed Aug 29, 2007 6:04 pm

Thanks everyone!

You've been a big help.

Grant Hamilton

Juke Box Hero

Joined: 14 Mar 2006

Posts: 42

Location: Brandon, Manitoba

Posted:
Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:45 pm

80-90 hours a week and looking for another job is unbelievable. I'm sure I'm not alone in being curious as to what those hours are ... I mean, 90 hours over seven days is almost 13 hours a day. Every single day.

Our night desk works 5p-2a, four days a week. It'd be fairly easy to work a second job around that.

But your schedule sounds insane.

I hold out some hope that you meant 80-90 hours per paycheque.

David Hedley

Tiki Lounger

Joined: 17 Aug 2005

Posts: 8

Location: Calgary Herald

Posted:
Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:43 pm

I do a paper route! To help keep things afloat while my wife attends university, I started delivering the Herald about three years ago.

I work til 10 or 11 at night, sleep for three hours, then get up and deliver about 140 copies of the paper for the next two and a half hours. My route is close to home so there's little driving. Then it's back to bed for another four hours of sleep.

It sounds chaotic, but my body got used to sleeping shifts. My kids are grown now, so usually nobody misses me if I sleep until 10:30 in the morning.

I've come to like it, as a way to make extra $$$. It's mindless so it doesn't suck energy from my main job. I've lost weight and I'm in better physical condition. I no longer ache in my arms and shoulders from working at a computer, and I think it's because of the upper-body exercise I get delivering the paper.

Four days a week I design the front page, then deliver it to subscriber's doorsteps. Neat.

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