Being a professional was once an all-or-nothing proposition. Companies offering highly-paid jobs in law, medicine, marketing, technology, accounting and dozens of other fields, would gobble up ambitious college graduates. But these fields also would spit out workers the moment they wanted flexible or part-time professional work.
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That’s changed dramatically. There now are plenty of opportunities for part-time professionals. Just ask Jessica Stamm.
Stamm was a newly-minted Registered Dietitian when she had her first child. Like many young moms, she wanted to stay home for at least a few years. But she also didn’t want her hard-won credentials to get stale. The burgeoning freelance economy gave her a third option — finding part-time professional work with flexible hours.
She now works about 4 hours a week counseling kids on healthy eating strategies for a company that found her through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. That allows Stamm, who also runs an independent nutrition consulting business, to work around her two toddlers.
“I can work as many hours as I’d like,” she says.
Part-time professionals
Her experience is reflective of a corporate-wide shift to flexible work. Even staid industries, such as accounting and law, now offer part-time and remote positions. Dozens of websites can help you find these jobs, including many that are offered through industry trade groups for free.
“We have seen significant growth in the depth and variety of opportunities for professional, part-time jobs over the past few years,” says Kathy Gardner, a spokeswoman for FlexJobs, a currated job board for flexible, remote and part-time positions. “Some employers even offer benefits to part-time employees, such as health insurance coverage, paid time off and education stipends.”
Where can you find part-time professional work?
There are a handful of sites that can help you find professional positions in almost any industry, both full- and part-time. These general-purpose professional work sites include FlexProfessionals, FlexJobs, FreeeUp and SkiptheDrive. However, the vast majority of job sites catering to professionals specialize in a single industry or related industry groups.
Accounting
AccountantList is a job search site for bookkeepers, CPAs and Enrolled Agents. The site provides detailed job listings and connects job-seekers directly to the sites that are hiring, without requiring you to register or pay a fee for access. If you have more than two years of experience in accounting, you can apply to join the site’s network of job-seekers, which would presumably open up additional options.
AccountingDepartment is an all-remote accounting firm that mainly seeks accounting professionals who are available to work full-time from home. The pay is a bit less than traditional accounting work, but you get benefits and don’t need to spend money on commuting or a professional wardrobe.
Work at Home Vintage Experts, a.k.a. WAHVE, finds work-at-home positions for accountants, insurance and human resources professionals.
Architecture
The American Institute of Architecture offers a career board that lists hundreds of architecture, drafting and project management positions. Likewise, the Association of Licensed Architechts has a career board that lists both professional and teaching positions in architecture and design.
Communications/PR
The International Association of Business Communicators offers a free job board that lists positions from around the world. Job listings are relatively sparse, but it’s free to search and post your resume.
Communications professionals can also look for jobs at the National Communications Association website, which appears to be heavy on college and teaching positions that require a communications background.
Public relations specialists can search via TalentZoo.
Engineering
The National Society of Professional Engineers hosts a job board that not only lists jobs, but discloses when they were posted so you know whether the listing is current.
Human Resources
WAHVE, short for Work-at-Home Vintage Experts, finds remote and part-time positions for human resources professionals, insurance experts and accountants. Meanwhile, HRCrossing purports to have the largest listing of human resources jobs on earth. (We have not surveyed the entire earth, but they do have a lot of job listings.)
Law
The American Bar Association maintains an active job board, and also provides advice to young lawyers and those who want to switch specialties mid-career.
GoInHouse provides job listings for people who want to work as an in-house counsel for major corporations.
LawCrossing (like sister site HRCrossing) compiles job listings from across the nation in the hope of being the one-stop shop for your legal job search.
Legal Administrators can find jobs through the Association of Legal Administrators.
Marketing & Sales
The Sales Management Association hosts a comprehensive job board, while Sales and Marketing Executives International offers a more limited one.
WorkingNotWorking connects creatives — writers, marketers, illustrators, web designers — with companies that need them.
Science
PhysicsToday offers a job board for physical scientists.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science offers a broad-based job board that can help you find positions in research facilities, universities and hospitals.
Technology
Those with mad technological skills have a nearly endless array of flexible and, often, lucrative potential job opportunities.
WorkingNotWorking offers to connect digital creatives with companies looking for websites, game development and other tasks that combine art and tech. FreeeUp and Belay connect web developers and programmers with companies looking for help. Reedsy, a site catering to self-published authors, seeks experts to design author websites.
It’s worth noting that there’s such demand for “new-collar” workers — people with technological skills, who may or may not have a college degree — that many companies will train you. For more on that, check out our post, New-collar work: High-pay, no degree required.
Other stories that may be of interest:
Recession-resistant side hustles to survive a slow-down
Earn $13 to $30 per hour working for the Census Bureau
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