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This is bonkers. Why do all the people in this article not just go become independent consultants? They could likely earn just as much money, but not have to ke

This is bonkers. Why do all the people in this article not just go become independent consultants? They could likely earn just as much money, but not have to keep up the pretense and shaky ethics of holding down multiple jobs.

MontyCarloHall 4y ago
Because the actual hourly rate of a salaried worker can be much higher than a consultant. It’s a fairly common trope in tech that there are only 2 to 4 hours of actual productivity in each day; at some jobs, due to an overabundance of dead time (e.g. bullshit meetings), this is much closer to 1 to 2 hours (or even less!) If you can manage to eke out your hour of productivity for one job during a bullshit meeting in another job, your effective hourly rate is much higher than what all but the very best consultants can bill.
- larrymyers 4y ago
  Sure, I get that. If your salaried rate is $75/hr, but you're only doing 4 actual hours of work, x3 ... you're up to $225/hr. If the article's premise is correct, that the people successfully juggling multiple jobs are rare and few are capable of doing so, it seems like it should be possible for them to be one of the few technologists that can charge exceptional consulting rates. The situation in the article still strikes me as crazy. How do they ever take a vacation? What happens if they are on-call at two jobs at once? Heck, how they do every do mundane things like spend time with family and friends, have a hobby, or just take some time learn new things?
  - MontyCarloHall 4y ago
    >it seems like it should be possible for them to be one of the few technologists that can charge exceptional consulting rates The skillsets of an exceptional consultant and a successful highly overemployed person can be quite different. The former likely commands their high rates because they work on very difficult, niche problems, and are one of only a few people in the world capable of solving such problems. The latter may just work on boring CRUD apps that anyone with a couple years of coding experience could do. Their skillset lies in having the grit to stay focused on said boring CRUD apps for >8 actual hours per day (and never take a vacation, spend time with friends/family, and all the other things you mention, which I agree is bonkers). They also likely have the social skills to convincingly hide the fact to each employer that they're massively overemployed.

MontyCarloHall 4y ago

Because the actual hourly rate of a salaried worker can be much higher than a consultant. It’s a fairly common trope in tech that there are only 2 to 4 hours of actual productivity in each day; at some jobs, due to an overabundance of dead time (e.g. bullshit meetings), this is much closer to 1 to 2 hours (or even less!) If you can manage to eke out your hour of productivity for one job during a bullshit meeting in another job, your effective hourly rate is much higher than what all but the very best consultants can bill.

larrymyers 4y ago
Sure, I get that. If your salaried rate is $75/hr, but you're only doing 4 actual hours of work, x3 ... you're up to $225/hr. If the article's premise is correct, that the people successfully juggling multiple jobs are rare and few are capable of doing so, it seems like it should be possible for them to be one of the few technologists that can charge exceptional consulting rates. The situation in the article still strikes me as crazy. How do they ever take a vacation? What happens if they are on-call at two jobs at once? Heck, how they do every do mundane things like spend time with family and friends, have a hobby, or just take some time learn new things?
- MontyCarloHall 4y ago
  >it seems like it should be possible for them to be one of the few technologists that can charge exceptional consulting rates The skillsets of an exceptional consultant and a successful highly overemployed person can be quite different. The former likely commands their high rates because they work on very difficult, niche problems, and are one of only a few people in the world capable of solving such problems. The latter may just work on boring CRUD apps that anyone with a couple years of coding experience could do. Their skillset lies in having the grit to stay focused on said boring CRUD apps for >8 actual hours per day (and never take a vacation, spend time with friends/family, and all the other things you mention, which I agree is bonkers). They also likely have the social skills to convincingly hide the fact to each employer that they're massively overemployed.