Rob McCollum starts most days off waiting tables at Fenian’s Pub, then heads to his full-time job as an aircraft electrician.

That’s the routine he’s followed since November, but through the years he’s most always had multiple jobs.

“I average $20 to $30 in tips a day,” he said. “It’s good for an extra $100 a week.”

McCollum is among an estimated 16.7 percent or 57,838, adults in Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties who work more than one job, according to a 2007 Clarion-Ledger study that polled 2,515 adults.

Many people take a second job for extra income, so they can get out of debt or improve their cash flow. Some happen upon a hobby that turns into a small business. Still others view a side job as a creative outlet — or a way to try a new career.

Ann Homer Cook, a Jackson consultant, said most people who need extra money turn to credit cards first and then ask family members for money before considering second jobs.

“Trying to get a second job isn’t always the first thing they think of,” Cook said.

Bob Allsbrook, chief economist at Regions Bank, believes some consumers take second jobs to gain power over their economic conditions.

“Higher housing prices have squeezed consumers with higher property insurance and property taxes due to home values that went up. Consumers have to pay that if they want to stay in their homes ... add higher gasoline prices on top of that. Then we have the problem where consumers feel something bad is going to happen. I call it general malaise.

“Put it all together and they think, ’I better get Plan B going,”’ Allsbrook said.

Keith Manning, 41, of Clinton works three jobs because he’s motivated by the economics of the future: Retirement.

“I’m not counting on Social Security to be here, so I’m trying to plan for retirement,” he said.

Plus, he has another mortgage on a home he purchased shortly after Katrina. Manning fixed it up, but has not been able to sell it.

Manning works as a team leader in the flooring department at Lowe’s in Madison. He also has his own business, Manning Distributing, and stocks boiled peanuts and pigskins in convenience stores and grocery stores from Clarksdale to Fayette and west to Monroe and parts of southeast Arkansas.

Some weekends, Manning installs flooring in homes being rebuilt on the Gulf Coast.