Hot Tip -- by Shane Clements

As the on-line career advisor, I often get a lot of questions this time of year about finding jobs that:

(A) aren't in retail/restaurant
(B) don't involve surly customers
(C) work around a school schedule and
(D) can be obtained pretty quickly.

A position with a cleaning service can fit the above criteria, and while it may not be as glamorous as "CEO of a multi-national corporation", being an Office Cleaner has its own advantages. Most of the hours are after five and you get to work mainly by yourself. No sales or deep fryers either.

If you think this might be a good fit, you won't have to look far for job postings. Check out Jobsville for listings. Also remember that many companies don't advertise so don't hesitate to try out some of those Hidden Job Market Skills and make some cold calls.

Not working in the industry myself, I decided to speak with a friend who is a contract carpet cleaner. He is really happy with his job for a number of reasons. I was surprised by his enthusiasm, never having considered cleaning as a potential career. My friend is university educated but was disillusioned with the options that were available to someone with his degree. He finally realized that starting his own business was a more appealing prospect.

Once while between jobs, he was hired on as a "helper" with a carpet cleaning company and paid a salary. He hadn't really planned to stay with the company, but dicovered something interesting about the work. Namely, that you can start a pretty good little business.

After he had "proven that he was reliable" he was offered contracts of his own from the company. He began leasing his own equipment and making a percentage of what the business took in. "Once I started with my own equipment," he said (more excitedly than anyone really should be about cleaning carpets), "that's when I started making real money."

I asked if it was difficult to find contracts on his own and was surprised to learn that the company he works for finds them for him. "Yeah, I work as much as I want. The company just presents me with the contracts and I take the ones I want." Nice. It's now to the point where he has a couple of steady contracts and any others he considers "extra money" if he wants it.

My fiend's advice for people looking to get into carpet cleaning:
"Get some information about the company before you apply. Find out what you can about the pay scale. Some companies allow for contract work while others just pay a salary. But he warns, "Salaried jobs in this industry don't pay as well." He says that the best way to get started is to apply frequently (like once a month) and in-person.

"Persistance and meeting the boss in person let them know you are serious about working."

Good advice for any job, really.