When a wedding, student loan payments and economic anxiety mean it’s time for a second job

Andie Corban May 31, 2023
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In addition to her full-time job, April Oliver is working as an adjunct faculty member at a nearby university leading chemistry labs. Thibault Savary/AFP via Getty Images

When a wedding, student loan payments and economic anxiety mean it’s time for a second job

Andie Corban May 31, 2023
Heard on:
In addition to her full-time job, April Oliver is working as an adjunct faculty member at a nearby university leading chemistry labs. Thibault Savary/AFP via Getty Images
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After about three years in environmental consulting, April Oliver of Bozeman, Montana, has spent about a year as a chemist.

“The pay is about the same, if not better, especially with benefits added in,” she said. “I feel pretty confident and secure in the long-term stability of my position. I just feel so much more relaxed.”

Oliver has also taken on a second job instructing organic and biochemistry labs at a nearby university. Part of her motivation for taking on the extra job is the upcoming end of the student loan payment pause.

“I wanted to have something that I could easily add on to my current workload with my full-time job in order to help my fiance pay for those [loan payments,]” she said. “We are also getting married, and weddings are not very cheap” — another reason for taking on the additional work.

Oliver is also concerned about prices continuing to rise and the prospect of a potential recession.

“I fall into one of those millennial hustle mindsets where any waking moment that I don’t spend trying to make money is a wasted moment,” she said. “I’m trying to unlearn that and enjoy my free time a little bit more, and I’m hoping to do that in this coming summer.”

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