If you are considering part time freelancing, you could be wondering whether or not you really could support yourself and your family on a freelance income. Freelancing is actually one of the most profitable business opportunities for people who want to work at home. Here are a few of the reasons why freelance jobs working from home can be very profitable.

Employers pay freelancers a higher rate than a salaried employee.

Hiring freelancers allows an employer to pay only for the work that needs to be done, without the additional costs of National Insurance, Holiday Pay, Tax, Pension Contributions, and the other overhead costs involved in hiring an on-site worker. Thus, as a freelancer, you’ll be earning a higher hourly rate than you would if you did the same job as a full-time employee.

You can work on multiple freelance projects for many employers at once, which means multiple streams of income.

The more productive you are, the more you can earn. At your day job, you don’t get paid based on your productivity, but as a freelancer, you get paid once you get the job done. If you’re ambitious, work hard, and get things done right the first time as a freelancer, your reward is having more time to spend on more work. Your income is only limited by the amount of jobs you are able to complete.

You set your own rates.

As a freelancer, you have the ability to evaluate a project before you begin and offer a price quote you feel is fair for both you and the employer. If the employer is not willing to pay your rate, you can either lower your rate or spend your time looking for jobs that pay more. Most freelancers don’t have an hourly nor per-project rate that is set in stone. They profit by adjusting their rates based on the difficulty level of each project.

Work whenever you want.

As a freelancer, you control your schedule. You’re the one in charge of how much you work and when you work. Many freelancers thrive on the extra dollars they earn on weekends, or by working late a few nights per week. Others profit by working part time jobs and freelancing in the evenings.

Getting paid to play video games must be one of the more obscure part time jobs that I’ve come across and I have to admit I was pretty surprised when I stumbled across the Game Testing Ground website. This isn’t the kind of job you are likely to find down at your local job centre!

But it does kind of make sense, I read recently that the Games Industry is expected to be reasonably recession proof. The logic being that people are more likely to stay at home when money is tight and if they are at home they are going to be watching TV, playing video games and messing around on the Internet. 

The Game Testing Ground website states that the games industry is a $50  billion dollar industry, which is confirmed by an Informa report on the popular Games Industry Website GamesIndustry.biz . That’s a pretty staggering figure, but when you learn that Halo 3 grossed $300 Million in it’s first week  and these games can cost Millions to produce it puts it into perspective. You can certainly see why the big games companies are happy to pay an army of testers to make sure their next Blockbuster game is just right before they launch it. 

The announcement yesterday that Waitrose are creating 3,000 new jobs makes it a very opportune time to take a closer look at Part Time Supermarket Jobs.

Supermarkets employ a lot of staff, Tesco for example employ over 360,000 people in the UK, so there is always a good supply of part time jobs in supermarkets. Some recent sales figures would also suggest that the big supermarkets may be more resistant to the current echonomic downturn than many other sectors. After all, we’ve still got to eat!

Whilst supermarkets catering to the luxury end of the market may be feeling the pinch, just look at recent M&S announcements, the discount supermarkets seem to be doing very well at the moment.

I’ve actually worked part time for a couple of supermarkets over the years and they were pretty good companies to work for. My first supermarket job was as a student working evenings and weekends on the Deli counter of a local store. A few years later in my mid 20’s I worked on the night shift in a large store, stacking shelves. Both jobs were pretty good, I’ve had worse jobs before and since. Infact the nightshift job was very good, there was a great sense of camaradery in the night shift team and we had a good laugh. We did work hard, but it was a good atmosphere and one of the benefits of working strange hours was that wages were good.

So if you haven’t considered working in a supermarket before, here are a few reasons why you might want to:

• There will be quite a few supermarkets reasonably near your home that will frequently have part time positions available.
• There is a wide variety of jobs in the supermarket to suit different ages of employee and different skills and preferences.
• There are good opportunities for promotion once you get your foot in the door. You will find full time jobs and management trainee positions more accessible from within the company. I even got asked if I wanted to get put down for a night manager trainee position within 3 weeks at the store where I was working.
• The supermarkets are all pretty good employers. Being large companies they know the score when it comes to employees rights and generally look after their staff very well. 
• With supermarkets open from early in the morning until into the evening, or even 24 hours, you will be sure to find jobs that suit the times of day ot night that you want to work. If you are a student looking for something in the evenings or weekends, a mother looking for a few hours while the kids are at school or you don’t mind working night shiftsa supermarket could be a good place to start your part time job search.

The UK supermarkets all have careers sections on their websites but the jobs listed on them are generally for managerial, head office and specialist positions. Most of the UK supermarkets also run Graduate Recruitment programs and you’ll find details of these on the websites listed below. However, recruitment for part time in-store jobs is always handled at a local level, so the best plan of action is to visit your local stores and make enquiries there. Stores will often have a notice board displaying jobs in the store, failing that, seek out one of the managers or team leaders.

UK Supermarket Jobs Links:

• Tesco
• Asda
• Waitrose
• Sainsbury’s
• Morrisons
• Co-op
• Aldi
• Lidl
• Iceland
• InRetail – Retail Recruitement Agency

Have you ever thought of walking other people’s dogs as means of earning a bit of part time cash?

For those that like the great outdoors it can be an excellent way of getting some excersise and earning some money at the same time. There are a growing number of City based dog lovers who rely on professional dog walkers, and lets face it, where would you rather be on a glorious summer day, cooped up in an office with faulty air conditioning or getting paid to walk around the park with man’s best friend.

Dogs are fully dependant on humans, they need companionship and thrive with regular excercise. Ensuring a dog is well excercised can improve a dog’s health & prevent or relieve behavior problems caused by boredom and excess energy.

Can you really call Dog Walking a Part Time Job?

You might not think that Dog Walking looks like a proper part time job, but if you dig a bit deeper it does have quite a lot going for it.

•  There aren’t really any qualification or age limitations for a professional dog walker. As long as you are sufficiently mobile to walk for a few miles and are OK with dogs you are off to a good start. 
• You will be in control of the days and times that you want to work.
• You can take on as many or as few clients as you want, within reason.
• A wise entrepreneur once told me that the best businesses to get into were ones where you had repeat customers and this is certainly true for dog walking. The majority of dog owners won’t just be looking for you to walk their dog once, they will be looking for somebody on an ongoing basis, potentially for years.
• Another thing my entrepreneur friend shared with me is that when you are selling a mere commodity a consumer won’t value it very highly or have a particularly strong desire to purchase it. But, if you can appeal to their needs and desires on a more emotional level (e.g. Love, Money, Lust, Nurture, Family, Health) then they will value your product much more highly and often pay irrational sums of money for it. What makes a  Rolex watch better than a Timex, what makes a Marks & Spencers sandwich better than one from Greggs. The answer is not much but your purchase isn’t based on the intrinsic value of the commodity, the clever marketers have been messing with you and built an often enormous desire that resulted in you paying much more for their product.

  I don’t feel I’ve explained that very well but the point is… Dog owners love their dogs and treat them as a part of the family. They will spend irrational sums of money on them, you just need to look at the price of those crazy gourmet pet foods in the supermarket. Now I’m not suggesting you can charge crazy ammounts for your dog walking services but you should be able to manage a pretty respectable hourly rate. And if you feel you can walk a few dogs at the same time then you could earn a very nice hourly rate as a part time dog walker.

Getting started as a Professional Dog Walker

You will definately want to use the Internet to search for any dog owners who are actively looking for a professional dog walker. You will find adverts on some of the job and classifieds websites from individuals and agencies. You can also use the classifieds sites to post your own adverts promoting yourself as a professional dog walker. You might also want to post some adverts in local shop windows (newsagents, pet shops etc..). Before you do this though, have a think about the area you want to cover, you might want to advertise your services in areas where the residents are more affluent and more likely to be holding down well paid jobs with potentially long hours e.g. Kensington, Chelsea etc.. Here are a few links to websites where you can start your search. 

• UK Dog Walking Jobs
• Job Offers for a Dog Walker in London
• Dog Walker Jobs in London

Other things to consider.

• When you meet a prospective client for the first time you should remember that their dog is one of the family to them so your interview process could be as rigourous as if they were hiring a nanny to look after a child. Make sure you are well presented, have references available and be prepared to answer questions about dogs.
• In order to build trust with both the client and the dog you might offer to accompany them on one of their walks.
• If you get serious about dog walking you will want to look into Professional Insurance in case anything should happen to a dog whilst it is in your care.
• If you find you enjoy dog walking and are able to make a respectable hourly wage there is no reason why you can’t gradually build it into a full time job by working more hours, taking on more clients, more dogs and  potentially some helpers. 
• There is also good scope to expand into offering other services to you clients. You could consider
  
  • Dog Sitting
  • Dog Grooming
  • and even Dog Training

I hope you found this article helpful, please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions.

Returning to work can be daunting

Many women who take a break from their career to bring up a family are daunted by the prospect of going back to work. They are often highly qualified, experienced women yet they feel apprehnsive about going back to work and often struggle to find interesting family-friendly jobs.

Parents returning to work usually want flexible or part-time jobs that provide a good work life balance. The problem is often finding an employer who can see past the career gap in a C.V. or is prepared to offer genuine flexible working hours.

Finding Flexible Employemt

Fortunately, there are many employers who offer flexible work as they recognise that returning parents make skilled, loyal employees. Many employers offer freelance or project based work as well as full time jobs.

Knowing what type of Job to look for

For many returning mothers, the key is to establish what is important to you now. You need to consider what you value and what your needs are as these can change considerably due to the changes in your life.
e.g.

• Money could be the driver
• Regaining your identity
• Learning new skills
• Something to fill in the time while the kids are at school
• or finding a meaningful and fulfilling career

How to write a winning CV

Spend some time carefully thinking about your work skills as well as the experience you have gained during your career break looking after children. Think of the things you’ve done during this period that are relevant to the job you’re applying for. If you’ve been helping out at a playgroup, this demonstrates organisational skills. If you’ve been a member of a school committee which raised money for new computers this demonstrates fundraising skills and team work.

Your CV is not the place to be modest. State your achievements clearly and give examples of achievements or when your solved a problem.

Ideally a CV should be tailored to each job you apply for. It must be well laid out and easy to read. It should include contact details but does not need to include your age or marital status.

Here are a few links that will help you brush up your CV writing skills so you can land the job you want and get back to work.

• CV Tips for Mums returning to work
• Mums returning to work
• Advice for Mums returning to work

As a part time employee in the UK your employer is legally obliged to ensure you are paid at least the minimum wage. However, how much you are entitled to depends on how old you are.

As of 1 October 2008, the minimum wage rate for people over 21 is  £5.73 per hour. For 18 to 21 year olds it is £4.77 per hour. This lower rate also applies to some trainees. A new rate introduced on 1 Oct 2004 extends the minimum wage for the first time to 16-17 year olds, starting at £3.53 per hour.

For calculating what you’re owed, ‘pay’ in this case means gross pay and includes items such as overtime, bonus payments, commission and tips and gratuities which are paid through the payroll.

There are special cases for some workers. For example, Students doing higher education work placements are exempt. Those on standby or workers provided with accommodation have different regulations, and the minimum wage doesn’t apply at all to family members working in the family business, volunteers, or people working and living as part of a family.

For further advice, contact your union, see the DTI’s National Minimum Wage site or ring the Government’s National Minimum Wage helpline on 0845 6000 678 (charged at local rates).

London has a labour force of around 3.6 million people but there are always a wealth of part time jobs that are well suited to students and entry level workers. The thousands of shops, restaurants and bars in London are always a good place to start looking, but if you fancy something a little different you can be sure to find it in London due to the size and diverse cultural mix of the city.

Here’s a quick list of part time student job categories that you might want to consider:

• Part Time Retail Jobs
• Temporary Office Jobs
• Waitering Tables, Bar Jobs & Coffee Shops
• Fast Food restaurants
• Student Brand Managers
• Promotions Work
• Corporate Internships
• Internet / Home Worker – Article Writer, Completing Surveys, Data Entry
• Childminder / Babysitter
• Dog Walker
• Charity Fundraiser
• Customer Service Representative
• Cleaning Jobs
• Teaching Jobs
• Hotel Jobs
• Supermarket Jobs
• Rickshaw Riders

Some links to places with student jobs 

• JustJobs4Students
• E4s 
• JobCentrePlus
• HotRecruit
• JobisJob
• Gumtree
• StudentJobs
• FuseJobs