Temporary and Part Time Employment Opportunities That Led to Career Changes

Sometimes temporary and part time employment opportunities can lead to a great full time career change. Learn how others have turned temporary and contract work into rewarding opportunities.

Temporary Work Created a Great Opportunity

I always loved doing temporary work. I also loved teaching, particularly adult education. With a teaching certificate, graduating in a recession, the only jobs I was getting as a music teacher were jobs that were part time, temporary and with no benefits.

I was teaching at four different schools and doing temporary office work Fridays. Well, one of these temporary places, a local college, offered me a job as a staff assistant. Computers were just coming into offices and I realized this was an opportunity because the college offered tuition to staff.

I gained great computer skills, and two master's degrees, and ultimately a career working in a small college and a major university.

Now this sort of thing is common, popular, acceptable and even necessary.

You can do more than one thing. I do adult ed teaching with doesn't pay much, I have a great job with benefits that pays the bills and allows me to be continuously learning. And that's the key to remember - very few people will be doing the same job at the same place, so continue learning. Even if you have a very specific skill, such as nursing, enhance that skills continuously.

I'll also mention that Toastmasters is key in my continuing development, not just professionally, but personally too. Networking has always been important and is more so and more mainstream now.

Lisa's Response

Wow, your story sounds so much like my own. I also started my career as a music teacher in a terrible economy doing supply work and teaching music and adult education and combining two jobs in order to work full time hours.

My adult education job, as well as some additional training in career counseling led naturally into a job as a Job Club facilitator, and later I became a vocational rehabilitation specialist.

Your comment about continual learning is so important. My current job, which I love, is running my online business. This type of business barely existed when I graduated from university, so I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to build the knowledge and skills needed to do this job.

When I was 18 and studying music and education at university, I never would have guessed that 15 years later, this is what I'd be doing, but I'm thrilled with the work I do. It's a great fit for me and my family.

Making a Career Change When You are Forced To!

by Starr
(Middletown, OH)

A career change can be a painful thing and many of us will never face it willingly. However, there often comes a time in life when you are forced to make a career change whether you want to or not.

That happened to me some years ago when I faced a mid-life divorce that I was not expecting. Suddenly I was thrust back into the work world that had gone on without me for more than twenty years and I had a lot of catching up to do!

My first action was to get registered with a local temporary employment agency. Lots of businesses need occasional help or they may prefer to try out future employees with temporary assignments. Being sent out to one of these jobs is a whole lot more productive way of getting your foot in the door than reading and answering the classified ads. So, if you need work, apply at your local temp agency. It can lead to regular part-time work or even a full-time position if you are adequately qualified.