By Chip Cutter, AP Business Writer
NEW YORK — Victoria Rimasse used to be a full-time marketing director at a New York accounting firm. Now, after being laid off a year ago, she's working as a freelance writer, copy editor, dog walker, house sitter and personal shopper. She even retiled part of a kitchen to make some extra cash.
A growing number of Americans like Rimasse are taking on multiple part-time jobs. Many can't find full-time work. Others want greater flexibility after losing a job. The ranks of part-time workers jumped by 475,000 last month to 8.7 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Career consultants say it can be difficult for people to juggle a variety of gigs, especially if they're used to full-time work. Part-timers must often put up with erratic schedules, inconsistent pay and a lack of work-life balance.
For those jumping from job to job, here are some tips:
EXPECT CHALLENGES
People who work at multiple jobs often have problems with scheduling, which makes their lives more stressful, said Cali Williams Yost, a consultant and the author of "Work&Life: Finding the Fit That's Right for You."
You can easily find yourself working back-to-back shifts. Or, if you're freelancing, doing multiple projects with overlapping deadlines. That can make it difficult to maintain your personal life.
Joy Wang, who works two part-time jobs — one at a university magazine and another at a public radio station — said she feels like work never ends.
"I've kind of come to terms with the fact that there's no way to compartmentalize things," she said.
FIND WAYS TO COPE
When you're juggling two or more jobs, you need to think about what's most important to you. Is it earning a specific amount of money, or spending time with family or friends? The answer will help you balance your schedule, Yost said.
"You have to have a sense of what it is you want to try to accomplish," she said.
People working several jobs or who are freelancers often find the pay is inconsistent, since a project can be canceled with little notice, said Ronald Katz, the president of Penguin Human Resource Consulting.
"Even the ones who are working multiple jobs, they're still not equaling their former, single salary," he said.
Therefore, it can be hard for people to turn down extra work. That can make that balance even more difficult to achieve.
Aaron Crowe, an editor and freelance writer based near San Francisco, has had to deal with a different issue: keeping a balance while working at home.
Crowe lost his full-time position as a newspaper editor about two years ago, and now primarily works out of his house. It's easy for family members to interrupt and distract him.
His advice: set up a separate work space, and train yourself to stick to a set schedule, so work won't bleed into personal time.
KEEP LOOKING FOR FULL-TIME WORK
Katz says it also helps to use each part-time gig as a networking opportunity.
He recalled a woman who took a job at the department store Lord & Taylor and used it to connect with people buying clothes for work. She eventually landed a new full-time position by "networking like crazy" with them, he said.
The lesson: "If you can, try to find a job where you will still interact with the type
of people who will help you," he said. That way, "you don't feel like the second job, the survival job, is only draining you."
But be honest with employers, too.
Tell them about your other jobs, and let them know that, if a full-time opportunity opens up, you'd be interested, said Lynn Wooten, a clinical associate professor of strategy, management and organization at the University of Michigan.
THINK OF THE BENEFITS
Realize, too, that having multiple part-time jobs can be a good thing.
Jim Davis, an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, said one of his friends now works three part-time jobs and loves the feeling of being an entrepreneur after previously working full-time at a company.
"In a sense, he's creating his own business," Davis said. "His companies are now his clients."
Wang, the magazine editor and radio staffer, sees another reason to be positive.
"I have two jobs during a time when so many people don't have a job at all," she said. "I'm lucky where I am."
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