Career Resource Center: Multiple Streams of Income
The burn-out rate in the helping professions is high. And some of the jobs are notoriously low-paid, especially for a graduate degree.
So how can you prevent burn-out and poverty at the same time?
Try developing multiple streams of income. (And remember, work smarter, not harder!)
You are a multi-faceted human being. You specialized in the field of psychology, but that is no reason to limit yourself to this field exclusively.
Furthermore, most people in the USA make major career changes 3-7 times or more during the course of their work life. So why not have more than one job or career simultaneously?
Many people in this field are doing precisely that. For instance, some professors have a private practice on the side, do consulting, and do research. Find people who are in the field and living the life of their dreams, then do Informational Interviews to see examples of how it’s done.
Create your own ideal life:
- What does your Ideal Life look like? Where does it happen? (Look at the Self-Discovery Tools for ideas)
- How much money do you need to support this lifestyle?
- How much variety do you need to be happy?
- Do a Job Search and list at least ten jobs you would be happy with. How may of them are you currently qualified for? What do you need to do to qualify for the others?
Now look outside your primary field:
- How many ways can you think of to earn money and have fun? List at least ten. (You can use your Fun Things List to see if you could make money with any of them)
- Get out of your head and do something physical (e.g., teach dance or skydiving, do home renovations or tutoring)
- Be a writer/ freelancer (print and/or online, fiction and/or nonfiction, ghostwriting, etc)
- Publish your artwork (prints, calendars, stationery, oracle/tarot cards, bookjackets, bookmarks, wrapping paper, wallpaper, textiles, etc)
- Teach a creative expression class at a local YMCA/YWCA or retirement home
- Open your own healing arts center (team up with colleagues in related professions and offer counseling, spiritual guidance, reiki, acupuncture, massage, facials, feng shui, New Age shop, etc)
- Offer life coaching and/or consulting
- Be a webmaster
- Learn about real estate or other investments
- Be an art or antiques dealer on the side
- Develop a niche and give workshops, in the area or around the world
- Take your artwork to fairs and set up a booth
- Pose as a model for a local art class
- Set up an online business . . . or two . . . or three
- Become a silent partner or angel investor in someone else’s business
- Do dog-walking and/or open a dog-walking business that hires walkers
- Teach driver’s education
- Be a tour guide (general or special interest, local or elsewhere)
- Open a bed and breakfast so you can meet interesting travelers
- Home-based businesses lots of how-to information
These ideas should get your own creative energies flowing. Allow your ideas to grow and evolve over time, and try not to limit yourself based on faulty or inadequate beliefs of your own or significant others in your life.
Finally, check here for salary information about different fields:
Salary.com Provides ZIP code-sensitive comparisons of annual income of various professions.
PaycheckCity.com Salary paycheck calculator and other tools.
America's CAREER InfoNET wage and employment trends, occupational requirements, state-by-state labor market conditions, millions of employer contacts nationwide, and extensive online career resource library.
