What do you do when you cannot find a full-time job? String together several jobs to make one full-time salary, at least according to a few executives who are finding creative ways to earn a living.

The economy is slowly coming back to life, but many companies cannot afford to hire full-time executives or managers. Enter the part-time executive, or the "on-demand chief financial officer", who used to be employed full-time but who cannot find full-time work. The part-time executive normally works on retainer without any health insurance, and makes more money than in the former full-time job. These on-demand executives find that they love the flexibility and variety of work they get by working for several companies.

For companies, the benefits are clear: They get access to an experienced expert whom they could not afford on a full-time basis otherwise. For the executive, they get to work on their mobile phones and laptops from anywhere they choose.

Monster.com reported a tripling of part-time executive postings last year. Some 824,000 are unemployed. People do what they can to pay the bills, even if they are not working at the same level they once were at.