In a message dated 11/19/98 12:12:19 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote: >Maybe I am ranting, ok so I am ranting, but its hard to swallow someone who >has a good job, telling me to work harder and get another job just so i can >do the job I love, in the first place. Let me be clear. I am not telling anyone to "work harder." I merely suggested moonlighting as ONE possible solution to a low-wage job. It is something that has worked for me (see below). I moonlighted many times during my career, hoping that the next job would be the big one. And it's not just the underpaid who are pulling double duty: A lot of well-paid professionals have second careers. When I finished school, the first opening in a museum that I was qualified to fill paid a salary of $12,000 annually. This was $4,000 less than I was making at the time (working at a retail card store!); nevertheless I applied for the position because I was prepared then to do whatever it would take to get the experience I needed to start a career that used my art history degree. Sadly, I didn't get that museum job. And as the years passed and I continued working and making more money in another field, those entry-level museum jobs and their ridiculously low salaries became less and less appealing. When I moved to Washington, DC, I once again tried to "break in" to the museum field. At one point I was simultaneously: (1) working in a museum gift shop (so I could already be "in the door" for the next opening); (2) working for no pay at an arts publication (for the experience, and it did help lead to a better job outside the arts); and (3) working at night as a proofreader at a law firm to pay the bills. When I got tired of working so much, I figured out how much money I needed to live and got a job in publishing that supplied it. I know that the lack of jobs that pay a reasonable salary is frustrating, but I don't understand some of the comments that I received because of my suggestion to get a second job. Whether you like it or not, it IS an option. Because of the experience I received in a NON-PAYING, moonlighting position, I was able to move on to another field: publishing, where I gained other valuable experience. Four years later, I was offered a job in publishing at an arts musuem. The salary was $10,000 LESS than what I had been earning. So I had a decision to make: follow my heart or follow the money. At this point I had been out of school for ten years and had a higher standard of living, so I stayed with the money. But before I made that decision, I looked at my expenses and really, really tried to make it work. The only way I could have made it work was to get a second job. By that time, I was past the age of 35 and just didn't have the heart to work 12- and 14-hour days. So, that's what I meant when I said it's easier to moonlight when you are young. I speak from much experience, and if I had it to do all over again, I would work my ass off to get some low-level museum job that paid crap from the get-go because all you need is that first one to get started. If that first opportunity comes too late, it may be impossible financially to even consider taking it.