Wish! Ykphil, what sweet gig did you get? Please share.
My part time gig is really fantastic and I am really lucky to have found it through a friend who works for that outfit. I am a residential support worker (weekends, sleep shifts, whenever I am free), which involves taking care of one to three adults who are developmentally-challenged but who live on their own in autonomous group homes, pretty much like college kids sharing a house. These people are very sweet and easy to deal with, and have varying degrees of autonomy; they can take care of everything by themselves (cleaning, laundry, washing, cooking, eating, etc. with varying degrees of supervision). So I essentially hang out with them, watch TV, run errands, go for coffee at the local coffee shop, various appointments, drive them to swimming practice (some are training for the Special Olympics), I even take them see my friends, which they really enjoy because they feel part of the gang and the community...whatever I would normally do on my time off, I do it with them, and since I do not own a car in this city, I can even do some of my groceries while on the job. Waking shift hours are paid $25/hour to start, but the best is really the sleep shift where I get paid $10ish to sleep (in a real bed, in a separate bedroom, in my pj's) from 11 pm to 8 am, then one hour at regular pay to get them up and ready for the next shift worker, and after a quick shower, I'm off to work at my regular job...Credentials are basically to have empathy, be reliable, have a clean criminal record, and a valid drivers license. If I can do the sleep shift at least 2-3 times a week, I'll make an extra $10-15,000 a year just to sleep! Some of my colleagues have been doing sleep shifts full time for years, while keeping a regular full time job. I love this part-time job, not only for the extra cash, but for the enjoyment factor.
