By day, Julie Kramer is a culture and education director for a nonprofit group catering to kids.

Come the weekend, though, she is a T-shirt designer, painter, accountant, shipping manager and anything else her online company requires. In all, she works more than 60 hours a week in an effort to pay her bills without compromising her artistic and creative interests.

"It's been very cathartic and a lot of fun. It's also helped me pay my rent and car payment," the 31-year-old Boston-area resident says. "But I'm at a point in my life when I can do this. I know I could not possibly maintain this lifestyle with a husband and two kids."

No doubt: leading a double life and working double duty can be challenging. But especially for people in early stages of their careers, it can be an irresistible lure — or an unavoidable reality.

"Maybe you try to branch out and go into areas which will test or try different competencies. Or it's the thrill of the chase. You're chasing a new opportunity," says John Slocum, a management professor at SMU's Cox School of Business. "For a lot people, though, it's financial."

Having a job on the side is not without its risks. Here are a few issues to consider:

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KNOW YOUR EMPLOYER'S RULES

Depending on what type of job you have or industry you're in, your employer may limit what type of outside work you do.

One common restriction: you may be unable to work for a competitor. That may seem fairly obvious, but be careful — what your employer considers a competitor may be broader than you'd expect. An accountant, for example, might be barred from taking on private-tax clients.

Beyond specific prohibitions, you really have to know your workplace.

"It's not the rules, as much as the culture. Rules don't dictate behavior, it's the values held by the firm and co-workers," says Slocum.

That may mean discussing your double life is OK in some offices, but in others you're better off keeping mum -- especially if competitive colleagues might use your outside endeavors to suggest you're not committed to your employer.

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WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?

Working more than one job will put a crimp on your social and family life. Sleep and TV time may also become luxuries.

So make sure it's worth it. Is that extra paycheck really going to put you ahead once you consider the cost of transportation, taxes and any meals eaten away from home?

Or maybe your side job is teaching you new skills that could come in handy in your next job or your next career. If you've always dreamed of owning a café, waiting tables a few nights a week could provide insight as well as a few extra dollars in your pocket. Perhaps designing Web sites on the side could help you enter a more technical field.

A side job can also help relieve stress, or fulfill creative or other needs.

"I like immediate gratification and was wanting to make things with my hands," says Cinnamon Cooper, a 35-year-old graphic artist for a textbook publisher in Chicago, who makes and sells handbags and purses on the side. "This is a business of love."

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CHURCH AND STATE SHOULD NEVER MIX

Ideally, you should keep your two jobs completely separate. In reality, that may be difficult. Sometimes you can't wait until the end of the regular workday to answer phone calls, place orders or respond to e-mails for your second job.

That's what a lunch break, cell phones and a personal laptop are for. Or, if you must use your employer's resources, make sure you won't get fired for it. And, even if it's OK, be discreet — so no one thinks you're shirking your responsibilities.

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HAVE AN ESCAPE PLAN

Working 60 or 70 hours a week might be palatable for a few months or a few years, but for most people, it won't work long term, especially when a spouse and children are part of the picture.

So make some goals and timelines for yourself. If your side job is for extra cash to pay the bills, try to figure out what lifestyle or career changes you need to make so you don't have to work so many hours.

If you're running your own business, maybe there's a way to make it your full-time job — or find a job that incorporates some of the same elements that you enjoy so much.

"I do not want to live the rest of my life this way with two jobs," Kramer, the part-time T-shirt designer, says. "Something is going to have to give at some point."

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asap columnist Lisa Singhania writes this column as a side job. Do you want to move ahead in your career? How has your employer helped or hurt you? E-mail This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it to discuss.

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