11.6   Survival Job

What is a survival job? It is a part time position in food service that supports your job search. A survival job is a job that pays you a sustenance wage- just enough to get by and make do. You should not become comfortable with a survival job. Discomfort is one of the great motivators. You need to be highly motivated to do the things required to find an appropriate career position. It is also a job that does not consume all of the available time. It might be an off hour job- nights or weekends, leaving enough of the regular, standard daytime working hours to look for work. Because your primary objective is to get a great job, you do not want your survival job to overpower or undermine your search. A survival job just finances your search. It should not imped your search.

There are other ways to support your job search. Some people use savings. Other people have family, parents or spouses, that help support them during the job search. As I have said before, the average length of time you need to find a career position, if you are looking full time and using the right techniques, is three to six months.