8 ms·
Ask HN: Ways to make side income as a SWE?
* Assuming your company allows.
I want to earn some side income. Are there any platforms that pay reasonable amounts for short-term contract or gig work for SWEs?
- zefron1209 3y ago[dead]
- AlchemistCamp 3y agoIt depends on what you can do and what you consider "reasonable amounts".
- whoomp12341 3y agoI can yodel, but no one wants to hear it.
- mhb 3y agoHow much will they pay for you to stop?
- selimthegrim 3y agoHave you considered tax or municipal code enforcement?
- mikrl 3y agoOnlyfans (For bug bounties!)
- ralfhn 3y agoI'd work on a side project. Freelancing platforms like upwork are very competitive and if you're in the U.S you'll never be able to compete on price.
- CoastalCoder 3y agoWe can probably be more helpful if you can give some more details. E.g.: - Are you currently working as an SWE during your day job? - Do you just need more money in general, or do you specifically want/need for it to be via an SWE-side-job ? - Are you located within a short commute of businesses that might need a part-time SWE, or would this need to be hybrid/remote? - What skills (SWE-related or other) do you have to offer for this side-work? - What duration(s) are you interested in committing to for a given side-job? - Are you looking to work as a contractor or as a regular employee? - Do you have a professional network that you could draw on, or do you need to find opportunities entirely on your own?
- solumos 3y agoIt's really hard to find good contracts. You have to know people building stuff that understand the value that you're providing. With platforms like Upwork it's really hard to compete with lower-cost devs. I have a client that I'm trying to fire right now, who, rather than hire me for a longer-term contract, has hired an offshore team of interns that are really struggling. What would have been a long weekend project for me has stretched out into 3 months for them.
- freedomben 3y agoI've had clients try to save money by off-shoring, and 5 out of 6 times it actually ended up more expensive and super late. If you can find the rare gem in a low-cost area then it can be a good strategy, but the odds are very much against you.
- distalshores 3y agoSpend the time it takes for you to hunt and kill meaningful contract work looking for a better paying F/T job, then use your nights for hobbies, cooking, exercise and socialization like (lowercase g)od intended.
- pyrrhotech 3y agowhat if you desire 7 figure income? very few full time jobs in this field would cut it. Only options are to either give up dreams and accept mediocrity, start a successful side business, or possibly work 100 hour weeks stacking multiple full time jobs
- cocoa19 3y agoVery few side businesses would cut it as well. I wonder if growing a successful 7 figure income is easier than becoming a 7 figure exec.
- jokethrowaway 3y agoI think there are more 1M per year small businesses than execs making 1M in salary Besides, by being a 1M small business you're solving problems for society, by being a 1M per year top exec you're probably at the level you're bribing politicians, brainwashing people with ads and woke marketing and generally making the world a worse place.
- isbvhodnvemrwvn 3y agoLooking at the startup world, I would not be as confident about "solving problems for society", lol.
- reactordev 3y agoIf you want 7 figures you need to learn how to grow it from 5. Either start your own business (which would come from this side hustle) or invest every penny you earn across a diverse portfolio and do that for a couple years. You may get lucky and end up with 7 figures. If you just saved your money, over time, you will absolutely have 7 figures.
- ActorNightly 3y agoIf you are just after making money, these are the best in terms of (hours spent)/(money earned) 1. Job hop into higher salary. For any level, you essentially spend time up front to get the job, then get more money while spending the same time working. 2. Get into real estate. Chances are you make enough money to be able to afford multiple properties, and you can start doing airbnb or straight rentals and earn passive side income without much effort. Otherwise, if you want to code, the more enjoyable way to make money is to pursue something that you already like doing, so it doesn't feel like work, and monetize it.
- theteapot 3y ago[flagged]
- reactordev 3y agoBeing a slumlord is side income for many people.
- ActorNightly 3y agoSince this isn't reddit, instead of accusing you of being a dumb tankie, allow me to explain. Renting is financially beneficial for the large majority of people. If you don't understand this, you don't understand how APR works, or you think that houses always are going to appreciate (a belief that was proven VERY false in 2007)
- theteapot 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking
- whalesalad 3y agoThe best way would be to leverage your existing network and see if there is a way you can help someone near you in an hourly fashion. An alternative approach might be a marketplace like https://www.moonlightwork.com https://www.moonlightwork.com which I used a handful of years ago but not recently.
- Eumenes 3y agoI've: bartended, resold crap on ebay, flipped cars, participated in Gartner surveys, plowed snow, returned bottles.
- b8 3y agoKaggle is good. If you learn vulnerability research and development, then you can earn some bounties via HackerOne and Zerodium.
- maxisaurus 3y agoHave you considered mentoring with platforms like codementor or superprof? Not sure it fits the "reasonable amounts" but it sure is a nice exp.
- throwaway1492 3y agoIn 2018 I was working low effort job at a insurance/finance type company that was having layoffs. So I started interviewing for a new job, and landed a remote job and took it. I didn't quit my old job. So I worked two jobs for about a year and went and got a third remote job (these were software dev jobs, w2). I did this through part of the pandemic. Working three jobs was doable when it was just me at home, but with the family home during lockdown it was too stressful so I quit two. I made A LOT of money during this time. But if I had it to do over, I'd focus on getting one high paying FAANG job instead. Apparently this became common at some point, "over employment" is a thing now, with a subreddit and everything.
- VoodooJuJu 3y agoUnfortunately, the overemployment subreddit is mostly just fan fiction, but for a time, it was a reality for some, and for a lucky few, still is.
- dilyevsky 3y agoMaybe the subreddit is fanfic but the phenomenon itself is definitely not - I’ve been told by multiple founders they had experienced it with remote employees.
- UncleOxidant 3y agoI know someone who had 2 FT remote engineering jobs for a bit last year. It only lasted about 4 months before the plate-spinning got to be too much and he ended up with just one of the jobs. And then because his performance had been kind of spotty while juggling the two jobs his review wasn't great and he lost that one too.
- freedomben 3y agoThis is the more common outcome than the successful ones, but people are often embarrassed to share so they are much less reported. I've seen great engineers end up falling flat on their ass because of trying to do this. The majority of people just don't have the ability/capacity to be good at two jobs, and once people notice that you're meh or worse, it's very difficult to change that. Most people are better off just kicking ass at one job, than being acceptable at two.
- WestCoastJustin 3y agoRelated posted here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37150862 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37150862 and has some useful ideas. My suggestion would be to get a second remote job. You know how to have a job.. just get a second remote one. Even if it's for 3-6 months and then you quite. A full second income is amazing. I'd strongly recommend forgetting about the gig economy. It's a race to the bottom unless you're willing ti put in multi-year effort to build a portfolio so you can stand out and land larger consulting gigs. This is the reason I say if you need fast cash a second job is the fastest path.
- jrockway 3y agoStick your cash in a high-yield savings account. Now that's passive income!
- sgjohnson 3y agoYou mistyped “put it in SPY on 4x leverage”
- jrockway 3y agoWhy risk it when you can write a risk-free loan to the federal government at 5.35%? (Maybe it's not risk-free if Congress forces them to default, but the Fed has some plans for that, and the stock market is unlikely to have a great day if we default.) Margin rates are something like 13% right now. You might get lucky and see SPY do better than 13% a year, but you are risking a lot. People would not buy a primary residence at that rate, for example, and you can live inside that while you pay off the loan.
- arcticbull 3y agoNot to say I recommend turbo-longing SPY on margin, but a few notes for the less conservative: If you want to trade on margin, IBKR offers 5.83-6.83% [1] going down as you borrow more. They also pay 4.83% on idle cash. With that said, you'd probably be better off with UPRO or SPXL for longer-duration holds (since your losses cannot exceed your investment) - and /ES or /MES for short-term holding since futures contracts are 60% long term capital gains treatment no matter how long you hold them. > People would not buy a primary residence at that rate, for example, and you can live inside that while you pay off the loan. If that's your benchmark we know people are paying more than 5.83% for 30-year fixed ;) [1] https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/margin-rates.php https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/margin-rates.p...
- Bostonian 3y agoIf you want a leveraged position in the S&P 500 (either long or short), you can buy/sell S&P 500 futures with an implied financing rate that is approximately the risk-free rate. That's better than using margin. If you did use margin, Interactive Brokers offers lower margin rates than most retail brokers.
- btbuildem 3y agoI think it would be easier to get another full-time job and just exploit them both for as long as you can.
- atlasunshrugged 3y ago[dead]
- Shatnerz 3y agoTry overemployment. Get an easy second job that you allows you to meet expectations with minimal work.
- amelius 3y agoIf only there was some kind of service for finding good side gigs ...
- didip 3y agoWhy side income? Why not focused on maximizing the salary of your primary job?
- gazelle21 3y agoThere are lots of meme answers here, having spent the last couple of years trying I can tell you, it's really really hard. Companies don't want a weekend or off-hours devs. Upwork and the such are a race to the bottom. Other platforms that claim to be a better version of upwork, are much more dry. What did work? Craigslist and X. I have found two legit clients, both of whom have had me busy with return work. Both are small business owners. Small tech work, one wanted a small site that ended up morphing into a bigger project. The other I ended up setting up some python scripts to automate some ERP stuff.
- lacoolj 3y agoDepending on your experience level, I would fully recommend https://codementor.io https://codementor.io You will need to qualify (there's a couple small tests and I think a short interview) but then you'll be able to one-on-one live code with someone, there are full "freelance projects" available, code reviews, etc. You set your hourly rate (by the 15 minute interval) and the free lance ones are lump sum ($100's - $1000's) One downside: it has gotten a bit more popular over the years, so if you want to be selected for a gig you'll need to be quick and/or convincing. It's not nearly as bad as something like fiverr or freelancer but I have a tough time getting in on requests even with a 5-star rating (good ones fill up with many offers quickly).
- jventura 3y agoThe competition is similar to Upwork and other freelancing websites. The few times I bid for a mentorship, it was me and a dozen other guys.. I've given up on websites like these and focus instead on local connections. I've tried to build webapps, websites with content, lots of other things, but I always ended up demotivated by the lack of feedback and interaction. The internet is a very crowded place and there's too much competition. You're either very very good, or lucky (or know how to play the algorithm's games). My realization is that one should either find a (quite) smaller niche, or it's better to focus in the people around you, where you can engage personally (i.e., in person or email/phone/chat/whatever).
- JCharante 3y agoDon't do upwork. Even with US only positions it's become super competitive after 2020
- irrational 3y agoBecome an online instructor for a university. The pay isn’t great, but it is fairly easy (though, this probably depends on the school). The only caveat is they usually require at least a Master’s degree.
- pomatic 3y agoAlgorithmic trading. Especially in markets that offer leverage. It plays to SWE software strengths, the likelihood of having capital reserves, and is also great fun!
- breakds 3y agoI am curious which market you are talking about and how do you get or pay for the data? Thanks!
- philomath_mn 3y agoMost day traders lose money each year. I doubt very many have sustained gains over a decade. Some do, and they do all the talking and marketing in the space. Might as well save the time and play the lotto
- fxtentacle 3y agoLearn marketing and sales! Afterwards, you will have a network of acquaintances who know you, they can roughly estimate what you can help them with, and some might be waiting for you to have some free time to help them solve their company's problems. And then you just pick an interesting problem and solve that. Rinse and repeat. It's not a direct path to profits, but over time it will lead to great work opportunities in areas that you enjoy working in.
- ternaus 3y agoQuite serious now: In SF Bay Area - sperm donation. I do not personally know any SWEs who do this, but a couple of my friends (and me) who work on their startup ideas do. Link to an example of how much you will get paid. https://ibb.co/5jD9Hfx https://ibb.co/5jD9Hfx Here is the math, assuming you are in great health: one 15 minute visit => 6+ vial Yield => $175 You cannot do it every day. There should be a 2-5 days abstinence period. => best case scenario => 3 times a week. => 4 weeks * 3 times per week * $175 per donation = $2100 As you can see in that link, there is a $1000 bonus if you make 12 monthly visits. => $3300 per month. This is good for ethical reasons as well -> you help women with an ultra-important personal problem - how to become a mother. In a time when the population is aging, you help to mitigate this problem with your own hands. If everything is so good, what is the catch? Such programs are picky about who they accept, claiming the acceptance rate is 1%. I do not know what is the quality of the initial pool of candidates, so hard to tell what percent would be for the pool of SWEs that need side income. P.S. I am quite serious about all of it, as I am part of this program as well, and the link with how much you get paid is for November in the company that I am donating to. P.P.S. I wish I had known about such an option when I was a graduate student making $1600 / month for teaching. An extra $3k would make a huge difference in the quality of living and how much I could send home.
- wklm 3y agowhat's the reason for the abstinence period?
- ternaus 3y agoThere is a set of requirements for the quality of the semen, including overall quantity and concentration. There are many knobs one can tweak to increase the quality and abstinence of proper length (not too small and not too long is the most impactful and most straightforward) One day, and for most people, two days, is not enough to pass the threshold to consider donation successful. And for donation, it is actually not one threshold, but many. As you may see in the image with compensation per visit, there is a thing called vile. Ideally, one vial is one pregnancy. In practice, I was told that due to possible complications, it requires 9-12 vials to get a woman pregnant. => They do not allow donations more often than two days between visits, and if your physical and mental health is not ideal (level of stress affects the number of vials per visit as well), it may take 3-4 days.
- hbcondo714 3y agoCatalant has a marketplace platform for independent consultants, including SWEs: https://catalant.com/for-independent-consultants/ https://catalant.com/for-independent-consultants/
- markcollin 3y agoSWE pays well. I would rather improve my skills, grow in my career and switch jobs to bump my salary than juggle a side income
- whiteluna 3y ago[dead]
- philomath_mn 3y agoI've done part time contract gigs on nights and weekends over the years. Latest rate was $95 / hr, did ~15 hrs / week. I don't really have too much advice since I got lucky and found some great people to work with who provided a chill stream of work when I needed it. But what I did was: - Contact a lot of small tech companies who had open roles - Make a pitch that I could help them out part time on a trial basis - When I got a chance, I made sure to exceed expectations by delivering good work with excellent communication (this led to them giving me more work) I did try out the Upwork route and really didn't like the kinds of jobs or the level of competition. But now that I have kids I think that time for contracting is behind me -- I tried doing ~15 hrs a week this year and it was just too much for the family. Fortunately I was able to leverage those contract contacts to get a decent primary job in fintech.