2 . Some of us take on second jobs to make ends meet. Some do it for a chance to do the work they actually enjoy. And some of us create our own second jobs to build a business or create our own projects. No matter what the reason, though, juggling more than one job is guaranteed to be a “crash” course in time management.

We all know that we’ll have to figure out a time management system when we take on a second job. Equally obvious is the fact that what works for one person (and their jobs) probably won’t work for anyone else.     1    . There are a few tricks, though, that can help.

    2    . Even if you are the boss on your second job — you’re working for yourself — you have an obligation to keep that work separate from your day job. Focus on what’s in front of you. There’s actually a benefit to punching a clock when you work for more than one supervisor. When you’re on the clock for Company A, you know exactly which projects you should be working on. If Company A is paying for this time, you should be theirs, heart and soul, at least until you clock out.

Good records can also help. I’m not just talking about the calendars and task lists most of us rely on. Making sure that you have any contact information available whether you’re at Job A, Job B or home can take some extra effort, but it’s worth it.     3    .

I know plenty of people who bring their work to their primary job. It seems to be a favorite tactic of folks starting up a freelancing career or small business. I don’t think that’s the best way to manage a packed schedule. If you don’t have your primary employer’s permission, the arrangement is secret at best. That said, these situations do happen. If you’re in one of them, the best advice is to just keep things quiet.

Some companies don’t want to work anywhere else. They want to put in your eight hours, go home, sleep well and come back rested. Others consider employees who go looking for other projects as its benefits --such employees have a jump start on networking and have a wider variety of experiences.

Unfortunately, most supervisors do not come with a label describing which variety they belong to.     4    . So the general rule seems to be that you keep quiet on your extracurricular activities. I wouldn’t talk about Job A at Job B, although, if my boss was to bring up the matter, I’d be entirely truthful.

3 . An employee whose personality traits closely match the traits that are ideal for his or her job is likely to earn more than an employee whose traits are less congruent (一致的), according to new research.

Findings from previous research have shown that some personality traits are generally beneficial when it comes to a work environment. Being highly conscientious (勤勉认真的), lead researcher Jaap J.A. Denissen notes, is connected with being hard-working and well-organized, qualities that are typically prized in employees. But Denissen questioned the idea that there is an ideal personality type. The researchers thought that the match, or mismatch, between a person's traits and job requirements, might be important when it comes to important outcomes like income.

The researchers developed a new way of directly comparing the fit between a given employee and a given job, using the well-established Big Five personality traits to quantify (量化) the traits that a job requires. The researchers examined personality, yearly income, and jobs of 8,458 persons living in Germany.

The results showed that fit really does matter, at least when it comes to extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experiences. For these three traits, greater congruence between an employee's own personality and a job's requirements was connected with higher income. Importantly, the data also showed that employees who were more agreeable, more conscientious, or more open to experiences than their jobs required actually earned less than people who had congruent levels of those traits.

The researchers note that additional studies will be required to understand how job experiences, job satisfaction, and job performance might influence the association between the individual job personality fit and income. The results of the present study do suggest that achieving the right fit requires a special approach to knowing both personal traits and job-related traits. Paying attention to the approach could have important implications for both employees and employers.

5 . What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster?

Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrion, an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream — as well as for developing over 75 flavors (味道).

Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No — there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this “cool” field.

In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains, “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup.”

While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. “Tasting begins with the eyes,” he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?” Next it’s time to taste!

Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy — working at one cool job.

6 . Millions of people pass through the gates of Disney’s entertainment parks in California, Florida and Japan each year. What makes these places an almost universal attraction? What makes foreign kings and queens and other important people want to visit these Disney parks? Well, one reason is the way they’re treated once they get there. The people at Disney go out of their way to serve their “guests”, as they prefer to call them, and to see that they enjoy themselves.

All new employees, from vice presidents to part-time workers, begin their employment by attending Disney University and taking “Traditions I”. Here, they learn about the company’s history, how it is managed, and why it is successful. They are shown how each department relates to the whole. All employees are shown how their part is important in making the park a success.

After passing “Traditions I”, the employees go on to do more specialized training for their specific jobs. No detail is missed. A simple job like taking tickets requires four eight-hour days of training. When one ticket taker was asked why it took so much training for such a simple, ordinary job, he replied, “What happens if someone wants to know where the restrooms are, when the parade starts or what bus to take back to the campgrounds? We need to know the answers or where to get them quickly. Our constant aim is to helps our guests enjoy the party.”

Even Disney’s managers get involved in the daily management of the park. Every year, the mangers leave their desks and business suits and put on special service clothes. For a full week, the bosses sell hot dogs or ice cream, take tickets or drive the monorail (单轨车), and take up any of the 100 jobs that make the entertainment park come alive. The managers agree that this week helps them to see the company’s goals more clearly.

All these efforts to serve the public well have made Walt Disney Productions famous. Disney is considered by many as the best mass service provider in America or the world. As one longtime business observer once said, “How Disney treats people, communicates with them, rewards them, is in my view the very reason for his fifty years of success… I have watched, very carefully and with great respect and admiration, the theory and with great respect and admiration, the theory and practice of selling satisfaction and serving millions of people on a daily basis, successfully. It is what Disney does best.”

8 . I don’t ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it’s like to work in a field dominated by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space-time and the nature of black holes. 

At 19, when I began studying astrophysics (天体物理学), it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as 3 post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement — jobs, research papers, awards — was viewed through the lens of gender politics. So were my failures. Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus right brain, or nature versus nurture, I would instantly fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind. 

Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all annoyance: I don’t talk about that anymore. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn’t want to deal with gender issues. Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I don’t study sociology or political theory. 

Today I research and teach at Barnard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer: 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t dismiss those concerns. Still, I don’t tell them “war” stories. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about.

9 . Smokejumpers

Smokejumpers are a special type of firefighter.     1     They parachute (跳伞) in as the first line of defense to fight the fire.

    2     Their main goal is to stop a fire from spreading or to slow its progress until full, ground-based firefighters arrive. Using basic equipment, smokejumpers clear land of burnable material, like dry grass and dead trees. They carry water with them, too, but only a limited amount.

To get hired as a smokejumper, one must already have experience fighting wildfires on the ground. Green hands need to already know how to use wildfire-fighting tools, be in peak physical condition, and be able to stay calm under severe stress. Although the majority of smokejumpers are men, more women are joining now.     3     Smokejumpers employed in the United States, for example, must be between 54 and 91 kilograms so they don’t get blown away by the strong winds or get hurt when they land. Smokejumpers must also be capable of surviving in the wilderness. In Russia, many smokejumpers know how to find food in the forest and can even make simple furniture from trees.

The work is dangerous, and the hours are long.     4     They love being able to jump out of planes, fight fires, and live in the forest. As Alexi, a 28-year-old Russian smokejumper, says, “This is the best job for tough guys.”