grunt research work which I could have done my freshman year of college If it's just research, there shouldn't be a problem with outsourcing it, whether you te

grunt research work which I could have done my freshman year of college If it's just research, there shouldn't be a problem with outsourcing it, whether you tell your boss or not. I would think that your boss would want you to get the project done in the most efficient way possible, and if outsourcing is the most efficient way to do it, why wouldn't you do it. As an example, at a previous job I was assigned the task of doing a cost/benefits analysis for switching our office phones (20 extensions) from a regular PBX to VoIP using RingCentral and Angel.com. I could have spend a few business days doing it, but instead I farmed it out to an MBA in India I found on Elance. It took him 4 hours at $12/hour and my bosses (who all had MBAs) were very impressed. Of course I fessed up immediately, and they were even more impressed that I didn't waste 3 business days doing it myself (at a cost of $250/day). It's just smart business.