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  • Neil: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute

  • English. I'm Neil.

  • This is the programme where in just

  • six minutes we discuss an interesting

  • topic and teach some related

  • English vocabulary.

  • Joining me to do this is Rob.

  • Rob: Hello.

  • Neil: Now Rob,

  • we know your main job

  • is to work here at BBC Learning English

  • but do you have a second job?

  • Rob: There's no time for two jobs Neil,

  • but if there was,

  • I think I'd take photographs and sell them.

  • I do love photography

  • so I might as well make some money from it.

  • Neil: Good thinking, Rob!

  • And having a second job,

  • particularly one that involves using

  • your skills and allows you to follow your

  • interests, is called a side hustle.

  • Rob: Yes, a side hustle.

  • It's something more and more of us are

  • involved with these days.

  • And that's what we'll be talking about shortly.

  • Neil: Well, my side hustle should be quiz master,

  • because I'm always asking questions

  • and today is no exception.

  • According to the employee ratings website Glassdoor,

  • which job is thought to be the best to have

  • in the UK this year?

  • Is it a) a software engineer,

  • b) a teacher,

  • or c) an audit manager?

  • Rob: Hmm, well, I suspect b) a teacher.

  • Neil: Well, you'll just have to wait until the end

  • of the programme to find out.

  • But let's talk more about side hustles - or a second job.

  • For some people having two jobs is a necessity

  • - a way to make ends meet.

  • That means 'having just enough money to pay for

  • the things you need'.

  • Rob: That's true but it now seems that

  • more people want to put their skills and passions

  • into practice to make extra money.

  • Neil: According to research by Henley Business School,

  • around one in four workers

  • run at least one side-hustle business,

  • half of which were started in the past two years.

  • Those aged 25 to 34 are most likely to be involved

  • with 37% thought to run a sideline of some kind.

  • A sideline also describes an extra job

  • you do alongside your main job.

  • BBC Radio 5 Live spoke to someone whose side hustle

  • was so satisfying that that it turned into her day job.

  • Here is Elspeth Jackson, founder of Ragged Life,

  • to explain why.

  • Elspeth Jackson: It's a different environment

  • entirely because you're leaving essentially

  • a very regular wage that you'd get the same amount

  • in month after month, you can

  • put aside savings, the same amount every month

  • and you have that certain amount of security

  • But now I don't think I could go back to one

  • of these big companies because

  • you'd essentially be sacrificing the flexibility,

  • which is something I've become

  • very accustomed to now.

  • Neil: Things have worked out well for Elspeth.

  • But there were risks - for example,

  • leaving behind the security - the safety -

  • of a regular job and of course, a regular income.

  • Rob: Elspeth liked making rag rugs.

  • This has given her flexibility in her life

  • and returning to work at a big company

  • would be sacrificing that.

  • That means 'giving something up or going without it'.

  • Neil: And for Elspeth, her side hustle has become

  • a full-time job

  • and she's become accustomed to her lifestyle.

  • It's become familiar or normal.

  • Rob: The BBC also spoke to Becci Mae Ford,

  • who works some of the time for a telecommunications

  • company to pay the bills,

  • but spends the rest of her time developing

  • her own crafting company Ellbie Co.

  • How did she find having two jobs?

  • Becci Mae Ford: I think it just gives me creative balance,

  • and obviously working for the telecoms firm,

  • it gets me out the house and gets me to meet people

  • in a social environment.

  • It can be difficult to juggle the two though definitely.

  • It's definitely a grind. It's a lot harder than people think

  • it's going to be.

  • Neil: So Becci implies that it's not always

  • easy to have a side hustle.

  • The benefit for her is the creative balance

  • - a good mix of doing office-based work,

  • regular tasks and a routine with working creatively,

  • making things and getting pleasure from it.

  • Rob: But juggling

  • - or balancing these two things is difficult

  • and she described her side hustle as sometimes

  • being a grind -

  • hard work, tiring and occasionally boring.

  • But overall, it does make her happy.

  • Neil: Now something that would make me happy

  • is to give you the answer to today's quiz question.

  • Earlier I asked you,

  • according to the employee ratings website Glassdoor,

  • which job is thought to be the best to have in the UK

  • this year?

  • Is it...

  • a) a software engineer,

  • b) a teacher,

  • or c) an audit manager?

  • Rob: Yes and I said b) a teacher

  • - always the best job in the world!

  • Neil: Sadly not, Rob.

  • Apparently, it is c) an audit manager

  • that is considered to be the best job to have this year.

  • Audit managers are responsible for organising

  • and overseeing internal audits.

  • The result was based on three factors:

  • average annual base salary,

  • the current number of job openings,

  • and job satisfaction,

  • according to ratings shared by employees

  • on the website over the past 12 months.

  • Rob: So sounds like an interesting job for a side hustle,

  • but before I head off for a career change,

  • let's remind ourselves of the main vocabulary we've

  • discussed,

  • starting with to 'make ends meet'.

  • Neil: When we make ends meet,

  • we have just enough money to pay

  • for the things we need.

  • Rob: Next, we mentioned a sideline,

  • which describes an extra job you do

  • alongside your main job.

  • Neil: Then we had sacrificing.

  • That means 'giving up something important'

  • or 'going without something'.

  • Rob: Accustomed is a word to mean 'usual or normal'.

  • If you get accustomed to doing something,

  • it becomes the normal way of doing it -

  • it becomes familiar.

  • Neil: We also talked about the expression

  • 'creative balance'.

  • That describes getting the best mix of doing creative

  • and uncreative tasks.

  • Rob: And finally, 'grind' describes doing something that

  • is tiring, difficult, sometimes boring

  • and involves lots of effort.

  • Neil: Well this programme has not been a grind, Rob.

  • It's been six minutes of pleasure.

  • Don't forget you can learn more English with us on our website

  • bbclearningenglish.com.

  • Rob: Bye for now.

  • Neil: Bye.

Neil: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute

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