Dear CareerBabe:

I am 46, going to school for a BS in information systems. I have 25+ years experience as a secretary. I am looking for part-time work until I graduate (10/98), no more than 30 hrs per week. I type quickly, have great organizational skills and am a fast learner. I have found it difficult to find part time work. What are some keywords I can use to sell myself for part-time work? Are there really jobs out there which are part-time? I don't need the benefits, have a teenager at home and can only work part-time. Would I be better off with an entry-level job in information systems, rather than secretarial?

Dear PT:

BACKGROUND INFO: First, I went to a search engine called Infoseek and searched on the words "part-time jobs". There are OVER 1 million hits! Then, within those, I searched on the word "secretarial" and found just about 1,000 hits. (If I knew your target geography, I would have narrowed it down even further by typing in a city or state.)

Then I revisited the first search on "part-time jobs". I narrowed that search with the term "information systems." This yielded over 17,000 hits, too many. I returned to the "part-time jobs" search and again, WITHIN THAT SEARCH, searched on the term "technical" jobs. This time, I got 7,718 hits, which I began to browse through.

Please understand that most people will change jobs and even careers MULTIPLE times in their lives, so please orient yourself now to the following principles and priorities:

First, You must create and use every possible opportunity to launch yourself in your new career. Doing secretarial work will only take you backwards, wasting the step forward you are trying to make.

Second, you are smart because you have already shown that you can learn.

You say you are "46," and therefore you will be competing with "younger" people. This also means that you must start working in this field as soon as you can so you understand the politics and ins and outs to get a good job. You also say that you don't need "the benefits", and based on the sheer numbers of technology opportunities, (due in part because computers have replaced many secretaries), I think you will find ample excellent part-time opportunities in the following fields which will also create a "learn while you earn" situation. Here are some ideas for you in the part-time technical professional arena:

1. telemarketing technical products
2. technical writing
3. technical recruiting
4. customer support hot lines/help desk
5. teaching/training

Just remember to go for the BEST possible opportunity where you will LEARN THE MOST so that you are creating a high leverage situation for yourself in this part-time job. I assure you the rest will come. Let us know what happens to you! Best of good luck!