Good temporary jobs until grad school

[brush]

So I'm already graduated and I applied for graduate schools this season. Even if I get accepted I won't be starting until the fall, so I basically have 8 months to kill. I double majored in physics and philosophy, but it seems kind of dishonest to apply for a serious job if I only plan on quitting later. So what should I do? Any good temporary job ideas I should look into? I don't really want to work at some crappy fast food place or something like that. I'm living at my parents so I don't have to get a job, but I don't really want to be a moocher.

[TakeruK]

Here are some ideas:

1. Private tutor, especially for students in first year physics/math courses, or students looking to prep for MCAT etc. You can make pretty decent money this way too, with a BSc, I'd charge something like $30/hr and when I was really busy tutoring, I easily found 6-10 hours of work per week (more asked but I didn't have time to do more than this while also in school), but it took me awhile to build up the reputation to get referrals.

2. Tutor for a tutoring agency is a pretty good temp position. They usually pay you something like $15-$20/hr and charge the students $40-$50 per hour. I don't like working for the for-profit tutoring agencies because I feel that they prey on student insecurities. Instead, I worked with one run by my school's student union (free for students, paid tutors $13/hr). 

3. Offices on campus are often looking for temp workers just to help with the administrative work. You could check your school's human resources page / job listings to see if there is anything listed. I know that my current school often hires people at this point because of the extra load due to applications, campus tours, etc. Other offices also hire in the summer to help with paperwork processing new admissions etc.

4. Offices off-campus, e.g businesses and such, might also hire temporary workers but they are usually looking for people who will eventually transition to full-time. However, since maternity leave is about 3 months, a lot of time, they want to hire someone for just 3 months while their regular person is on leave and most people want something more permanent, so the fact you're open to a 3 month position might make you more desirable.

[rising_star]

I'm just popping in to say that I find it really disrespectful and immature when fast food places get labeled as crappy and their jobs as beneath someone. But, I'm biased because I spent 7 summers and winters working in fast food. It's hard work that really forces you to get better at your people skills, gets you used to being on your feet all day, and can teach you a lot about the world. Not that you'll likely care, OP, but I figured I'd say it anyway.

To answer your question, I would look at local temp agencies and see if you can get a job through any of them. The local universities might use those temp agencies or have their own, which is another option. If you just want side money, you could try babysitting, nannying, or tutoring. If you can get yourself set up doing afterschool homework help a few days a week with a family, you could make some decent money. Another option might be to contact the local home schooling group to see if there are any parents who might be interested in having you come in for special topics lessons every so often. If you have language skills, those are definitely marketable to parents in general and home schooling parents in particular. A friend of mine teaches weekly foreign language lessons to little kids (5-8 years old) in their homes for extra cash and likes it a lot.

[brush]

2 hours ago, rising_star said:

I'm just popping in to say that I find it really disrespectful and immature when fast food places get labeled as crappy and their jobs as beneath someone. But, I'm biased because I spent 7 summers and winters working in fast food. It's hard work that really forces you to get better at your people skills, gets you used to being on your feet all day, and can teach you a lot about the world. Not that you'll likely care, OP, but I figured I'd say it anyway.

I never said those jobs weren't hard. In fact, them being hard just makes my point even stronger--you're doing hard work for little pay. Sounds "crappy" to me. Moreover they are "crappy" insofar as they're undesirable jobs (by almost everyone's account) that any high schooler could do with a little training. If that offends you, well, welcome to reality.

That said, I see your point. I'll try to be more considerate next time.

Edited January 2, 2016 by brush

[GeoDUDE!]

you know what is also crappy. being hungry. 

[rising_star]

1 hour ago, brush said:

I never said those jobs weren't hard. In fact, them being hard just makes my point even stronger--you're doing hard work for little pay. Sounds "crappy" to me. Moreover they are "crappy" insofar as they're undesirable jobs (by almost everyone's account) that any high schooler could do with a little training. If that offends you, well, welcome to reality.

That said, I see your point. I'll try to be more considerate next time.

If this is your effort at being more considerate, you may want to keep working on it. There's actually a reason fast food workers are rarely high school employees anymore. The job isn't as easy as it looks. If your goal is to make a lot of money without having to work hard, maybe you should go play the lottery or something. 

Also, if you're going to look down on people and their work, make sure you also don't require their work for your life. That means no more eating fast food or anywhere else where the workers make minimum wage, no shopping at grocery stores because the stockers likely make minimum wage and, to use your words, have a job that "any high schooler could do with a little training", etc. I think you'll need to start growing and cooking your own food, brush. Good luck with that! 

Edit: In all seriousness, @brush, I hope your recognize how lucky you are to be able to live with your parents and not need any income. There are many people here who take a gap year before applying who are struggling to make ends meet, find work that enables them to pay rent and put food on the table, etc. I do hope you're appreciative of your privileged position, especially since it's clear that you look down on the work done by others.

[brush]

@rising_star

You sure love making baseless assumptions about me.

• "There's actually a reason fast food workers are rarely high school employees anymore."

Irrelevant. And I never made any claims about how many fast food workers are in high school.

• "The job isn't as easy as it looks."

Irrelevant. Also I never said it was easy.

• "If your goal is to make a lot of money without having to work hard"

That's not my goal.

• "maybe you should go play the lottery or something. "

Even if that was my goal this is terrible advice.

• "Also, if you're going to look down on people and their work"

I'm not "looking down" on anyone. A job being crappy is separate from the person working that job being crappy.

• "make sure you also don't require their work for your life."

Even if I did look down on such workers it doesn't follow that I shouldn't use their work.

• "I hope your recognize how lucky you are to be able to live with your parents and not need any income."

You don't have to worry about what I recognize.

Edited January 2, 2016 by brush

[Oshawott]

I'm going to give @brush the benefit of the doubt and assume their reason for not wanting to work fast-food is precisely because its hard and under-appreciated work. I worked in an office and you didn't need more education than high school (and the relevant training they provide)--in fact, the majority of middle management don't have education past high school yet I hear these people derogating service workers as if their work was any more physically or cognitively demanding.

With that said, going back to the original question, @brush: Do you want a job or do you just not want to be a moocher?

If your primary reason is you want a job:

You don't want to apply for a permanent full-time job since you're planning to quit down the line, but what's precluding you from applying for temporary full-time contract work in these companies? A lot of companies now prefer to higher people on a contractual basis anyway since they don't have to pay benefits that full employees receive. That's what I did (worked the 40 hours a week), and I still quit before my term ended.

I'm also wondering what the apprehension is to taking the permanent full-time positions? Companies deal with attrition all the time, and in the event that you aren't accepted into graduate school, your interim plans are already laid out. Then there's also the fact that you may find that you actually *like* your job and that there are opportunities for advancement that you find attainable with your skill level. There's really no reason for you not to apply for these positions given that you don't want to work in fast-food or "be a moocher"

If your primary reason is to not be a moocher:

If you get a job, are you planning to live on your own or pay your parents rent? Simply having a job but living with your parents anyway and saving all the money yourself doesn't really make you any less of a moocher since they're still providing a place to live and food to eat. If this is your primary concern and you can't find a job that fit your criteria, you could also just do more work around the house (e.g., cook for everyone, do everyone's laundry, clean the house/bathrooms...unless you do this already)--this way even if you aren't employed, you're contributing to the household and thus are not "mooching" off of your parent's resources. I had a cousin do this when he was living at home rent-free and his parents loved it since they no longer had to do house work.

 

Edited January 2, 2016 by Oshawott

[St Andrews Lynx]

I was in a similar position to the OP. I ended up taking a minimum wage, casual contract job that gave me enough cash to be independent (...just). 

My experience with a job search was that it took at least a month to find something, that was with me sending out lots of applications in a broad search. The benefit of the casual contract job was that when I got it the employer was pretty much "...and you can start at the end of this week, yeah?" With more formal jobs it could take longer to (i) get something (ii) actually get started and earning money. 

 

[MarineBluePsy]

Other posters have given you some great ideas and if I were in your shoes and didn't have to worry about supporting myself I'd probably do something a little different just because I may not ever have another opportunity to.  Something random like being a summer camp counselor or working at an amusement park (or other seasonal gig) because it might be fun, you'd meet weird people, and have a little pocket change to save up for the school year.  

[TenaciousBushLeaper]

On 1/2/2016 at 10:51 PM, brush said:

@rising_star

You sure love making baseless assumptions about me.

• "There's actually a reason fast food workers are rarely high school employees anymore."

Irrelevant. And I never made any claims about how many fast food workers are in high school.

• "The job isn't as easy as it looks."

Irrelevant. Also I never said it was easy.

• "If your goal is to make a lot of money without having to work hard"

That's not my goal.

• "maybe you should go play the lottery or something. "

Even if that was my goal this is terrible advice.

• "Also, if you're going to look down on people and their work"

I'm not "looking down" on anyone. A job being crappy is separate from the person working that job being crappy.

• "make sure you also don't require their work for your life."

Even if I did look down on such workers it doesn't follow that I shouldn't use their work.

• "I hope your recognize how lucky you are to be able to live with your parents and not need any income."

You don't have to worry about what I recognize.

Humans don't work as logical deducers (like for example computers)...so it doesn't matter if you didn't type out the exact sentence "I feel a fast food job is below me" or anything producing it's equivalence in meaning. Per your original post, even if in fact you did not mean to convey that message, that's what you did, and what anyone who cares about that statement will take away from it. 

Edited January 3, 2016 by TenaciousBushLeaper

[sjoh197]

^^^ I didn't really take this away from the original post. I've worked fast food and it sucked... So I would describe said jobs as crappy. Not because they are beneath me, but because they typically suck to work at. Crappy hours, crappy pay, crappy recognition of work = crappy job.

 

Honestly, if these jobs weren't crappy, many of us wouldn't need or want to go to college to begin with.

[TenaciousBushLeaper]

22 minutes ago, sjoh197 said:

^^^ I didn't really take this away from the original post. I've worked fast food and it sucked... So I would describe said jobs as crappy. Not because they are beneath me, but because they typically suck to work at. Crappy hours, crappy pay, crappy recognition of work = crappy job.

 

Honestly, if these jobs weren't crappy, many of us wouldn't need or want to go to college to begin with.

Oh fine, I will quantify my statement, that is what some people will take away. 

[sjoh197]

I think you are being rather abrasive now, as was the original poster later on. I had many of these types of jobs when I lived in poverty, and many of my coworkers also lived in poverty, and no one that I ever worked with wanted to work at these places. They were thankful to be employed, but it wasn't a job that many people would ever want if they had options.

 

The original poster isn't in a bind to need to take a demanding/stressful/unappreciated job that he is overqualified for. So long as something bizarre doesn't happen, I can say that I would never take another burger flipping or dishwashing job ever again unless it was absolutely necessary for my survival. That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate or respect the people that do.

[shadowclaw]

The suggestion of a summer camp or park is a good one... those jobs expect you to to be done at the end of the season. You would probably make less at a camp because they would be providing you with housing and food as well as a paycheck (unless it was a day camp). Check out amusement parks, water parks, minigolf places... even places like these that are open year-round will need more people in the summer. Check out concert venues, too - they need people for security, parking, clean up, and selling booze. The work obviously won't be regular, but you can still earn some cash. If you don't mind hard labor, temp agencies are usually looking for people to work in warehouses and factories. They don't often pay well, though (usually only a dollar or two over federal minimum wage), but you can sometimes find higher paying ones.

I think the whole "fast food work is crappy" discussion got a little out of hand. The OP's original post didn't sound at all demeaning to fast food workers, so I'm not sure why people were jumping down his throat. Perhaps it was the attitude that he doesn't have to work, so he's not going to make himself suffer in a fast food job? I guess you could take that as being too good for fast food, but I personally saw it as fast food is terrible work and he'd like to avoid it. Fast food work really is pretty lousy to do. You get sweaty and greasy, your clothes (and you) smell weird, customers are abusive, Friday nights are hell on earth, and you get paid peanuts for your misery. What's even worse is being a shift manager in fast food - you make a dollar or so more and have to put up with way more crap than the raise is worth. Personally, I'd have to be threatened with living in a box to return to frying fish and hush puppies. 

[Demeter]

I looked so hard for a job. Finding one was actually a nightmare. I applied for anything I could, even in my field. Still, I needed a job at home, back with my family. 

I actually ended up finding office work a few days a week at a social service agency who needed someone to update some client resource lists and answer the phones, that sort of thing. 

You might also check out social service agencies in your area. Because of grant funding, they sometimes have temporary or part-time positions. I've found agencies to be pretty open to most applicants, or at least to hearing people out if they take the time to make a phone call and follow up. That's how I got my job. I called and said I had applied, etc. I got an interview the day after. 

 Generally, it seems don't typically care what you've majored in as long as you're willing to maintain confidentiality, etc. This is, of course, talking about answering phones, office work, manning the front desk, and not actual work with clients. That requires a lot of education and training. 

But I like it, so far. My training is in the liberal arts and biomedical agriculture, basically. All I'm really using right now are basic word processing skills, phone skills, and interpersonal interaction. I sometimes feel like I'm not using my degrees, but it is a good part time solution that I'm happy to recommend.