By Joyce Lain Kennedy

Dear Joyce: I was downsized but happy to take the severance pay and run. My husband's job appears to be secure, so I want to go back to college, complete my degree and upgrade my skills. A part-time job would make things a bit easier. I want to earn at least $10 an hour. Do you have suggestions of how to find a job with short hours? -- S.S.N.

Dear S.S.N.: Right after you finish cruising the classified help wanted ads in your daily and weekly newspapers, check a new Web resource, ePartTimeJobs.com.

But don't count on an immediate lead from this ambitious site -- it still has a lot of blanks to fill. When I searched on occupations and locales at random, the site returned a dozen straight results of "no listing." With time, www.ePartTimeJobs.com could grow into a valuable resource.

Meanwhile, here is a sampling of ideas to pursue. If you need to upgrade your skills, high-tech assignments are probably out, but try nonprofit organizations -- universities, museums, human-service agencies. They can't pay with corporate dollars but may compensate with flexible or part-time hours.

Small or growing businesses with trim budgets are good bets, too. For help in locating potential small-business employers, see if bankers and www.score.org counselors can provide leads. If you haven't heard of www.score.org, it's a Web site made up of counselors who are experienced business owners who volunteer their services to help young companies.

Federal, state and local government agencies usually offer some part-time positions. College and university career centers often post part-time job openings, as do counseling centers for women or seniors.

Don't overlook part-time gigs in service and entertainment establishments: fitness clubs, movie theaters, banks, retail stores, restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets and health facilities. Sales and teaching are also popular part-time pursuits.

Stumped? Go back to the future. Remember those quaint yellow page telephone directories? They're wonderful idea generators.

Cheers to you for using your time off to retool for a better job while your spouse covers the basic expenses.

Dear Joyce: Our 12-year-old daughter is absolutely enthralled with the idea of working with animals, particularly in a zoo or wildlife park. Where can we find career facts, not fairytales? -- D.J.

Dear D.J.: The spring edition of the "Occupational Outlook Quarterly" leads with a marvelous 13-page story, "Wild Jobs With Wildlife," that every young animal advocate will delight in seeing. Read it free online at the Labor Department Web site.

Dear Joyce: My brother-in-law is moving to Los Angeles from London. He asked me to find out about the corporate job market. Where do I start? Where can he go on the Internet to apply for employment? -- P.U.G.

Dear P.U.G.: One resource not to miss is the new "Corporate Career Market" database. That's where The Conference Board's member companies post mid- to senior-level job openings. The Conference Board is a not-for-profit business organization of more than 3,000 companies in 67 countries. Job seekers can search the jobs by title, company, location and other criteria at the www.conference-board.org.

Another good bet is www.JobOptions.com. I'll write more about the executive market in a future column -- mergers, acquisitions, re-alignments, partnering and aggregation of recruiting sites continue at hyperspeed.

Dear Joyce: I'm an ex-com (former dot-com employee), and rather than look for another job at this time, I'm thinking about going to business school for my MBA. Which graduate schools of business should I be thinking about? -- J.S.

Dear J.S.: Several organizations and publications track B-schools, none more dedicated than Business Week. In fact, the "Tools" section discusses which is the right business school for you and your needs.

One problem: B-school profs are becoming as sought after as hot high-tech talent. That's because the Ph.D. production in business and management has been flat for too long. Deans are being pushed to fill in with practicing business professionals or Ph.D.s from social sciences and other nonbusiness fields. Ask questions about the faculty to be sure you're getting the instruction you want.

Send career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007, or e-mail her at jlk@sunfeatures.com. Sorry, the volume of mail makes personal replies impossible.

© 2000, Los Angeles Times Syndicate