yankeeyosh
10-16-2008, 05:33 PM
Given the state of the economy, the fact that I am idle most of the day, and the fact that I am usually pretty bored without much to do in the evenings, I felt that I might want to get a second job to supplement my income. The other day, I had an interview at a tutoring company to be a part-time tutor. I was offered the job, but I haven't accepted it yet. At first, I felt like this would be a great way to make more money without having to work too many hours (I could tutor just 3-4 hours a week...at the offered rate, $25/hr, I could make up to $100/week for just a few hours). But today, I've started to have second thoughts about it.
Here's the deal...I would go to people's houses and tutor their children. Most of these people are from well-to-do families so their kids can get into "elite" private schools (not exactly the most altruistic of situations). Many of these people live 15-25 miles away, and I might have to make the trip two or three times a week, even if I just do it a few hours (I won't get reimbursed for gas). The subject matter will generally be at a somewhat lower level than I would rather teach (mostly middle school level), and even though there is flexibility, it isn't guaranteed that if I want to take a week off that I could (I would have to contact all my clients). Also, there's lesson planning, grading, reviewing the material, etc. which will take a lot of time in itself (through QLC, I realized that a teacher's job isn't easy).
Really, the only upsides are just that the pay is very good, and it is only a few hours a week...if I did something like wait tables or work retail part time, it would require 15-20 hours a week, which would be very rough. I know a lot of young professionals in this town do that...I have no idea how, but they do. Also, given my job situation and the economy, if I get laid off, at least I'll have some income to help me get by with the unemployment benefits.
In reality, I don't think I need this job. I am not rich by any stretch, and in this part of the country for my demographic, I'm probably not even above average, but I have very low expenses right now (no car payment, low rent, very low student loan payments). I save a lot of money most months. I more or less nixed the idea of buying a condo for the time being...I probably would need the extra money if I was serious about it, but I'm not right now. The thing is, I just want to make sure my job is safe before I turn this down.
I do have a review next Friday...which is more or less the deadline the tutoring company has for me to make a decision. I figure that if I have a good review/get a good raise, this is moot. Another possible option is that I get to internally transfer to another position that I interviewed for Tuesday. If I get that, then again, this is a non-issue. If neither happens, however, I might be more inclined to go forward with this.
Any advice would be helpful...thanks!
Here's the deal...I would go to people's houses and tutor their children. Most of these people are from well-to-do families so their kids can get into "elite" private schools (not exactly the most altruistic of situations). Many of these people live 15-25 miles away, and I might have to make the trip two or three times a week, even if I just do it a few hours (I won't get reimbursed for gas). The subject matter will generally be at a somewhat lower level than I would rather teach (mostly middle school level), and even though there is flexibility, it isn't guaranteed that if I want to take a week off that I could (I would have to contact all my clients). Also, there's lesson planning, grading, reviewing the material, etc. which will take a lot of time in itself (through QLC, I realized that a teacher's job isn't easy).
Really, the only upsides are just that the pay is very good, and it is only a few hours a week...if I did something like wait tables or work retail part time, it would require 15-20 hours a week, which would be very rough. I know a lot of young professionals in this town do that...I have no idea how, but they do. Also, given my job situation and the economy, if I get laid off, at least I'll have some income to help me get by with the unemployment benefits.
In reality, I don't think I need this job. I am not rich by any stretch, and in this part of the country for my demographic, I'm probably not even above average, but I have very low expenses right now (no car payment, low rent, very low student loan payments). I save a lot of money most months. I more or less nixed the idea of buying a condo for the time being...I probably would need the extra money if I was serious about it, but I'm not right now. The thing is, I just want to make sure my job is safe before I turn this down.
I do have a review next Friday...which is more or less the deadline the tutoring company has for me to make a decision. I figure that if I have a good review/get a good raise, this is moot. Another possible option is that I get to internally transfer to another position that I interviewed for Tuesday. If I get that, then again, this is a non-issue. If neither happens, however, I might be more inclined to go forward with this.
Any advice would be helpful...thanks!