This is Why Everyone Should Have a Side Hustle
Even if we’re not quite sure what they are yet, we all have career goals, and sometimes it can be hard to see the clear path to where you want to be. When you're still in college, or fresh out of it, finding direction is difficult, and landing that dream job is even harder.
I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that there is a way to discover that direction and to build the experience you need. The bad news is that it's not easy. But that won’t stop you. You know how I know? Because you're reading this.
So, what is a side hustle? By popular definition a side hustle is a way to earn more money in addition to your main job, or it's your true passion (pursued alongside your lamer bill-paying job). For the lucky few, it's both.
Your ultimate goal in taking on a side job is to build your resume. That's it. And while you could add lines to a resume any number of ways that wouldn't be incredibly helpful to you, there are, for any given career interest, ways to give you the edge you'll need at your next big interview.
A good example of a side hustle is what I'm doing right now. This piece right here might take up only a few minutes of your time today, but for me it's another step closer to landing high-paying, high-profile writing gigs in the future.
The key to finding your side hustle is determining what things are advantageous to your particular career. See, interning at space camp wouldn't do me much good, but for someone interested in sciences, child development, astronomy, or anything else that that could be applied to, it's a resume builder.
Like I said before, having a side hustle isn't easy. For it to be truly effective you have to be consistent in pursuing it, which can be difficult when finals roll around or you're going through stressful transitions at your "real" job. You might have to volunteer in your free time, or schedule odd hours around your regular gig putting in time in the “little leagues” to pay your dues.
But remember that a few years from now, when you've got whatever it is that you've been dreaming of, whether it's a thriving business taking people on tours of the Grand Canyon or the corner office on the 20th floor of some skyscraper in Seattle, it will be the extra hours you put in every week that got you there, and that will be so worth it.
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