Making Extra Cash at the End of the Year

December 7, 2017 8:21 AM

A dear friend of mine lost her job today, she was running multiple R&D labs for a paper giant where they tested prototypes of diapers and other similar products. She won't have trouble finding another job but given that it's a few weeks from the holidays- what type of side job could she quickly pick up to keep her busy?

Retail is probably not the best fit for her because she is more of a scientist/engineer (INFJ-T if that helps). She is very driven and I know that it would drive her crazy to feel like she doesn't have a "purpose" even for a short period of time.

posted by robadobdob to Human Relations (10 answers total)

It sounds like making money isn't the driver here so perhaps finding a place to volunteer or do political activism would be a good fit?
posted by mcduff at 8:25 AM on December 7, 2017 [4 favorites]

I know you said no retail, but maybe a call center would work better for her? Major retailers still do a surprising amount of business the old-fashioned catalog and telephone route. I’m sure they are still hiring seasonally this time of year.
posted by pintapicasso at 8:49 AM on December 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

I know you said not retail but there are often plenty of positions at Target this time of year (worked there for 6 months) that are not on the floor or cashier positions that have to do with moving and sorting the incoming shipments. It is a different team and they don't do customer-facing.
posted by fairlynearlyready at 9:08 AM on December 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

UPS?
posted by exogenous at 9:14 AM on December 7, 2017

I had a seasonal job creating party platters at a grocery store once. It was great fun (to me, an INFJ). Not a ton of hours or money, but it kept me busy for a handful of evenings around the holidays.
posted by figgy_finicky at 9:21 AM on December 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Is she located near Pittsburgh or looking for remote work? Is she interested in working with data? I need help processing some end-of-year data releases and I probably pay better than retail. I'll even teach her how to write database scripts if she wants to learn. Mefi mail me?
posted by Alison at 9:25 AM on December 7, 2017 [6 favorites]

If it's just about having something to do, Uber and its ilk are easy to pick up. Similarly, upwork might have something she's suited enough for.

At the end of the day, though, she doesn't "not have a purpose" - her work is just job hunting for now. I know it's not the easiest time of year to intensely network but surely that's good for at least a few hours a day of work.
posted by mosst at 12:28 PM on December 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

If she lives near a university, there might be some students with winter exams in need of emergency tutoring. Depending on her network, it's possible she knows someone who already does this kind of thing who has notes she could borrow or buy.
posted by rollick at 5:07 PM on December 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

This is a great time to keep the job search going, many people aren't looking just before the holidays, so unless it's a higher priority to earn some short term cash looking for a job is what she should be busy doing.
posted by yohko at 8:32 PM on December 7, 2017

If she's into animals, maybe dogsitting or catsitting? People are traveling for the holidays and leaving pets at home that may need feeding/walking/check-ins, so she could make some cash that way. Craigslist gigs section!
posted by blackcatcuriouser at 10:52 PM on December 7, 2017 [1 favorite]