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Chapter 4: Cutting Spending and Boosting Income
Book I
Taking
Charge
of Your
Finances
Find a headhunter. Schedule an appointment with an employment
agency in your area or with an executive-recruitment firm (also known
as a headhunter) if you're looking for a mid- to upper-level management
position.
Employment agencies and executive-recruitment firms are paid a fee for
linking up employers and employees. Typically, employers pay the fees
of executive-search firms, but you may have to pay the fee if an employ-
ment agency finds you a job. Be clear about who will pay before you
sign an agreement with a business that says it will try to help you find
employment. If you'll be responsible for the fee, make sure you under-
stand the amount and the conditions of the fee you'll owe.
Getting (and surviving) a second job
Thinking about making more money by working at another job, otherwise
known as moonlighting? Join the crowd. According to the U.S. Department
of Labor, about 7.2 million Americans hold down more than one job. See the
job-hunting resources we suggest in the previous section.
Moonlighting can be a great way to make some extra bucks, as long as your
second job doesn't interfere with your ability to be effective at your primary
job. You also need to make sure you come out ahead financially after taking
into account any additional expenses you may incur by working two jobs:
transportation, childcare, food costs, and so on.
If you signed a contract with your current employer, read it before you take a
second job. The contract may prohibit you from working for specific types of
employers or from moonlighting at all.
If you feel like your life is already a juggling act, a second job will make keep-
ing all your balls in the air even more of a challenge. However, you can take
steps to alleviate some of the stress that working multiple jobs may create:
Ask your spouse or partner and older children to assume more day-to-
day chores if you're the one who is responsible for most of them.
Create a schedule of when things need to be done and post it on your
family's bulletin board or refrigerator.
Accept the fact that, for now, some things at home will fall through the
cracks, and everything may not get done according to your standards.
Make casseroles, soups, and other nutritious one-pot meals that you can
freeze and that will feed your family for several days.
