7 ms·
For sale: 8 hours/week of my time
I have a full time job as a software engineer that I enjoy. I work 4 10-hour days and have Fridays off. High inflation and increased expenses are driving me back into the job market looking for ways to supplement my income, but I don't want to fight for gigs on freelance platforms like Upwork.
Ideally I want a reliable project where I can invest 8-12 hours per week. One idea I had was to offer my services to companies looking to fill full time roles as a 'bridge' employee until they find their full time candidate (I could even participate in the interview process).
I guess I'm looking for a 'long term gig'. Am I nuts? Or is there a job board out there for companies/startups that need just a bit of extra help?
- kfk 4y agoWe hire people like this in dyvenia to help train and mentor our devops employees. If you have experience and knowledge that can be a good path for a part time.
- geniusgeek 4y ago[dead]
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- IceMetalPunk 4y agoI believe that's called contract work.
- gbruins 4y agoYour belief is correct! The contract work I see seems to fall into 2 buckets: short term gig, or temporary 40/hr per week. I'm looking for a some kind of middle ground: long term 8/hr week.
- IceMetalPunk 4y agoGood luck finding that, but I don't see many employers being good with a schedule like that for a contractor or employee. At best, you might be able to get a paid internship with those hours, but (a) it won't be much of a paycheck, and (b) they'll probably expect you to become a full-time employee at some point, and won't likely hire you even for an internship without that possibility.
- adrianmsmith 4y agoI think you'd need to be a specialist and advisor in something that a company needs and currently isn't good at. I mean, if you're a company and you want some development done, you probably don't want it taking 5 times as long as it need be. You'd rather hire someone 5 days a week (even for a short period of time) rather than someone 1 day a week. But for advising the teams companies already have about something they don't know about but you do, it could still make sense for the company. E.g. for a while I helped quite a few companies do MySQL 4 to MySQL 5 transitions (a while ago now obviously!) It was something I became quite good at but companies didn't want to build up the internal knowledge because they only needed to do it once. I would come in and discuss their situation, advise them, come back a bit later to see how they were getting on and review what they'd done, etc. Focus on things you're good at that other companies might not have knowledge of. Particular programming languages, particular tasks such as optimization or software design, particular databases, particular clouds perhaps. Or migrations and transitions where it doesn't make sense for the company to build up knowledge as they only do it once.
- IceMetalPunk 4y agoYep, this. Consulting is probably the only option. Though that said, in my experience, consultants are short-term positions at any given company, not long-term. You come in, consult, advise, and then ensure the changes take hold -- then your contract is up. Although my experience is rather limited in this regard, so maybe there's a long-term opportunity hidden in that industry somewhere.
- leros 4y agoThis sounds like contracting. It's a world I'm looking to get into as well. A friend recently suggested I try this service which has contracts as low as 10 hours a week. http://gigster.com http://gigster.com
- devKnight 4y agopost in this and next months, "Freelancer" HN post, you might get some bites there
- hnaccount2001 4y agoI’m not sure about 8 hours but I’ve had some success with ~15hrs distributed throughout a week so the employer knows they can get in touch with me most days. Unfortunately I think this that finding these sorts of gigs requires a lot of up-front networking or grinding away on freelance sites until you hook something medium-term, like a half-year contract or whatever.
- gbruins 4y agoYes I think you are right on. Thank you
- jddil 4y agoYou're not nuts but you're viewing this the wrong way. You will be significantly happier if instead of working more to keep up on the hedonistic treadmill you do one of 2 things. 1) Get a raise. There should be 0 reason for a software engineer to need a second job. 2) Spend less. You will never make enough money if your expenses keep increasing
- gbruins 4y ago#1 is too idealistic. Things happen in life. Markets crash. College savings, previously adequate, is cut in half. Maybe other things. #2 I'm trying but the current administration just wont have it. Like for example, the price of caviar DOUBLED at Whole Foods. Ridiculous! Also, the gas pump just stops at $150 when I try to fill up my Mercedes SUV.
- shyn3 4y ago#3 earn more is the only way to avoid it. Smart idea, I'm looking for the same myself. Reducing spending never works and multiple sources provide safety. I was thinking maybe a podcast explaining the tools I use.
- javajosh 4y agoYou could sign up on fiverr. Despite the name, you can charge whatever you want.
- svnpenn 4y ago> I have a full time job as a software engineer > looking for ways to supplement my income what? Dont Software Engineers generally have huge salaries? Maybe the issue is not on the income side, but the spending side
- gbruins 4y agoOK thanks for the advice. Dad is that you?
- bdcravens 4y agoLook at Codementor.
- dayvid 4y agoIt may be time to start interviewing for other positions to see if you're not maximizing your salary potential for your position.
- samsquire 4y agoDo you know C programming?
- bdiouih 4y agoI am an experienced multi platform C++/C developer. Do you offer such projects?
- samsquire 4y agoI'm thinking of sponsoring someone to do a deep dive into the Luajit codebase and try explain to me how it works.
- gbruins 4y agoYou are also looking for an 8hr/week gig? Hmmmmm... something is wrong. You should spend less. There is ZERO reason for a C++ developer to need a second job.
- mywittyname 4y agoHobbies that pay for themselves are fun. Get a laser engraver and learn to design cool tchotchkes to sell online. It won't pay nearly what a side-gig will, but it also won't feel like "work" as much. My partner sells organization plans/charts on Etsy and makes more than beer money off of it. She just does it for fun and throws whatever she makes online. Sometimes it doesn't sell, other times it sells like 3-4 units, and rarely she'll have a hit that sells hundreds. It's actually pretty cool that every few days, Etsy throws a two figure check in our bank account.
- marcinzm 4y agoI sell on Etsy and while the design/idea phase is fun the rest is just menial labor and customer service. I'd call it an interesting life experience more than fun.
- blep_ 4y agoWhat do you mean by "organization plans/charts"? I'm imagining someone drawing org charts for imaginary companies and selling them to... I don't know who the customers for that sort of thing would be.
- valbaca 4y agolol you're off the mark Think weekly planners and calendars or whiteboard kanban boards.
- mywittyname 4y agoShe is a nurse, so she mostly makes printouts that are useful for nurses to help them organize their work in some capacity or another.
- tagami 4y agowhat is your expertise specifically
- FollowingTheDao 4y agoWhen a full time software engineers are looking for ways to supplement their income we should all be worried. Whether it is inflation, consumerism, or just greed, something is wrong.
- gbruins 4y agoNot necessarily. I have one child in college and one entering college next year. Things get expensive real fast in this life stage.
- FollowingTheDao 4y agoYour kids don’t have to go to college.
- nxmnxm99 4y agoHow much are you looking to charge? And what skills do you have?
- mdcds 4y agooff topic: how did you negotiate 4x10 work schedule?
- gbruins 4y agoProbably a confluence of many things, but the list is: * Ive been at the company for over 15 years * The local job market (Bay Area) is (was?) quite hot, and the company is not a sexy silicon valley destination that attracts talent. * The company could not match the FAANG companies, and some folks had already jumped ship * The raise from my annual view was less than desired. When it was clear that more salary was not an option, a got creative and asked for an equally valuable asset... my own time. * Top it off, my boss is fantastic
- toomuchtodo 4y agoUnicorn role. Absolutely don’t leave, generate more income elsewhere.
- gbruins 4y agoI have a hunch you're right. BTW, I didn't come here to do this, but the company is great, quite large, and has lots of open roles world wide. Also open to fully remote software engineers. I won't share the company unless someone asks though.
- quickthrower2 4y agojust ask. i am doing 3x6.5
- mdcds 4y agowhat kind of company are you at? BigTech, non-tech BigCo, mid-sized non-tech? I cannot see how a manager/director at a BigCo would be able approve something like this since everything is standardized (like base pay at each level)
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- marmot777 4y agoUpwork would be a good place to look.