Search for interim job calls for different tactics

What do you do when your job search isn't working and your money is running out? The best answer is also the most aggravating: Get a job. If your life were a Laurel and Hardy film, now's about the time Ollie would start pummeling Stan while sputtering, "What do you think I've been doing?!"

Of course you've been looking for work already, and of course you've been using multiple strategies and following all the advice. Sometimes it just doesn't work, at least in the time frame in which you need it to. At this point, many people will switch strategies and look for interim jobs to hold them over until the market improves for their "real" job goals.

One excellent alternative during this period is to work for a temporary firm or contract house. Some agencies even specialize in placing high-level executives into short-term positions. If the temp option doesn't work for you, however, your next step is to conduct your own interim job search — generally for jobs that require fewer skills and that pay less than those in your field.

Follow these steps to pick up interim work:

1. Choose a geographic area. Stay close to home for this job; if you're going to be paid less, you also want to commute less.

2. Create a list of companies in the target area. Drive around with a clipboard if you have to, but don't leave any off. Gas stations, schools, manufacturers . . . Every company is a prospect at this stage. When you get to 50, stop.

3. Analyze the list. Which places might pay the most? At which ones do you have contacts? If you have experience in something such as customer service or bookkeeping, you might choose the ones that could use those skills. The criteria don't matter, but rank them so that you have someplace to start.

4. Make a new résumé. Suppose your "real" work is as an electrical engineer. You'll be making a mistake if you give an electrical engineer résumé to someone who runs a bank or grocery store. Instead, analyze what most of the employers on your list will need, and highlight those skills on your résumé. These could include the ability to work well with people, basic bookkeeping, computer use, phone sales — even physical stamina.

Next, put any work experience that relates directly to these jobs near the top in a category titled "related experience." Put the higher-level experience near the bottom in an "other experience" category, and limit those descriptions to one line per job.

5. Hit the pavement. At each place, ask to speak with the hiring manager. If that person is not available, ask for his or her name and a better time to come back. The reason to go in person is so that you don't have to persuade someone to make an appointment to see you. If you're already standing there, the manager is more likely to meet with you.

You might say something like: "Ms. Jackson, thank you for taking a minute to talk with me. My name is Kim Jones, and I live down the street. I've been wanting to stop in to see if you might need some help here. I'm good with computers, and I have strong phone skills."

6. Follow up and keep trying. It would be surprising to get something the first day, but it also would be surprising not to get something by the time you get to No. 50. Try to hit five per day, and go out at least every other day.

By now several questions have occurred to you: What will you say when they ask about your other profession? Will taking this work hurt your reputation in your field? What if your other job search heats up while you're working here?

Try not to make yourself crazy with the what-ifs. If you need the money, you need to do this. Be honest but optimistic with the prospective interim employer: "It could be a year or longer before something opens up in my field, and there will be a lot of competition when it does. I'd like to make a contribution here and maybe even work my way up, if there are openings. If another opportunity did come up, I'd want to talk it over with you, in case I could stay on here part time."

Then, take the job and do your very best for this employer, just as you would in your "real" field.

Stay in contact with your profession through association meetings and business lunches, and take classes, when possible, to stay up-to-date.

- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.