In any given week, an estimated 23 million Americans work part-time. One in four part-timers gets full health care benefits anyway. One in three counts on retirement benefits such as pension plans and 401Ks. It's not hard to find a career that balances quality of life and your basic needs. The trick is knowing where to look.
Flexible hours and life-friendly workweeks don't have to cost you critical benefits. Many employers are extending full-time benefits packages to workers who log as few as twenty hours per week. Banks, universities, hospitals, and the government are among the employers most likely to offer their part-time employees full-time support. Here's a look at the top careers for workers looking to earn full benefits in half the time.
Dental Hygienist
Dental hygienists enjoy some of the most enviable employment terms around: flexible scheduling, plentiful job opportunities, and full medical benefits. More than half of dental hygienists work part time. Nearly all of them--86 percent, according to the American Dental Association--receive hospital and medical benefits.
The overwhelming demand for dental hygienists may explain the favorable work conditions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts job growth of thirty percent in the decade from 2006 to 2016, making dental hygiene among the top twenty fastest growing occupations in the nation.
A dental hygienist career starts with a certificate or college degree from an accredited dental hygiene program. The associate's degree in dental hygiene is the most common qualification.
Salary In addition to guaranteed medical care and other benefits, dental hygienists earned a mean hourly wage of $31.21 in 2007- Physical Therapist
Medical benefits are a feature of many part-time health care jobs. A good proportion of the 20 percent of physical therapists who work part time enjoy the same benefits as their full-time colleagues. Physical therapists also top the Bureau of Labor's chart of fast-growing occupations, with 27 percent job growth expected through 2016.
A bachelor's degree in physical therapy is the minimum qualification for a career as a therapist. In addition, all fifty states require a license to practice. Physical therapy programs combine courses in anatomy and sciences with a clinical practicum in a hospital or clinic.
Earnings Besides benefits, physical therapists earn an estimated hourly wage of $34.39, according to the latest Department of Labor figures.
- Retail Sales Associate The right retail job can earn you a fu
ll spectrum of benefits in a fraction of the time. With customer service at a premium, many companies are willing to offer attractive benefits packages to retain qualified workers. Steve Nord, a benefits manager at UPS, explains: "Offering benefits to part-timers allows us to bring employees into the corporation and turn them into long-term employees--it's definitely a retention strategy."
Employers increasingly expect to see a college associate's or bachelor's degree on an applicant's resume. A business degree with coursework in retail merchandising and customer service offers excellent preparation for the job. The credential can also put you on the fast track to the best sales positions--including the ones with the best benefits packages.
Earnings Sales associate wages vary based on the retail segment. The national average in 2007 was $11.79. Insurance employers pay the most, at $22.57 an hour. Automobile salespersons also rank near the top, at $21.52.
- Kindergarten Teacher
Public school teachers are sometimes among the beneficiaries of the public sector's famed benefits packages, including generous pension plans. Government employers often offer better benefits packages than their private sector counterparts. According to the Department of Labor's August 2008 statistics, 40 percent of government jobs come with full retirement benefits, as compared with 32 percent across corporate America. Kindergarten teachers may even earn these benefits working less than forty hours a week.
A bachelor's degree and an approved teacher training program are the standard prerequisites for the state teaching license required by all public schools. An early childhood education degree can offer good preparation for a career teaching kindergarten.
Earnings Kindergarten teachers earned a mean salary of $47,750 in 2007.
- Bank Teller or Financial Manager
The banking and financial sector traditionally offers its part-time workers full-time benefits. Flexible and part-time schedules are widely available in bank branch positions such as bank teller. One in four tellers is a part-time worker.
An associate's or bachelor's degree in business offers a solid start to a career in banking. While a college degree is not required for part-time teller positions, the qualification is necessary for advancement into management positions.
Earnings Bank tellers earned a mean hourly wage of $11.36 in 2007. With a college degree, tellers can advance into managerial positions and earn significantly more--$51.06 per hour.
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