3 ms·

I somewhat sympathise with people who are reluctant to hire part-timers. A lot of coders' time is lost to context switching, and working part time is likely to

by Joeboy 14y ago

I somewhat sympathise with people who are reluctant to hire part-timers. A lot of coders' time is lost to context switching, and working part time is likely to exacerbate that problem. Also there's a high chance that if you're doing something non-trivial you'll end up passing unfinished code between you and your colleagues, which may be painful and frustrating for both of you. That said, the number of part-time opportunities in tech seems ridiculously low, and even considering those issues I can't see how it makes sense given that tech largely seems like a seller's market at the moment. For the time being I'm happy doing full time contract stints, but one day I'd quite like to cut down my hours, and it would be nice if I didn't have to exit the IT industry to do so.

anthonyb 14y ago
Depends on how you structure your hours. Three days a week instead of 4 hours per day is usually better. In any case, everyone has to context switch when they go home and come back in the morning. The real reason, I think, is that it's weird, which makes managers uncomfortable enough that it puts you down the list. There are ways to arrange it though - it definitely helps if you talk directly to the employer rather than through a recruiter. It might also help if you have some contact with them first - perhaps think about segueing from either a full time role or a freelance contract into part-time work. Once they know you're good and get to know you, they'll be a bit happier to discuss it. I work three days a week for a government department, which works out pretty well, and then the other two I work with my wife on her business. So it is possible - you just have to look.
- malandrew 14y ago
  I was even flexible with the work saying that I could do 2 full days (morning to night) or 4 half days where I would be with the team the entire 4 days, but my day would be broken up into two 4 to 5-hour segments (I normally don't lunch, just snack at my desk and keep working). This latter arrangement would have at least would have helped keep me in sync with what the rest of the team was doing. I would also add that the context switching between working on one backbone.js project (my startup) and another (the client's work) really isn't all that bad compared to context switching from a non-programming activity to programming.
malandrew 14y ago
Yeah, I am aware of the context switching costs which is why I had explained that I was open to working in a way that minimizes context switching. What I'm not sure I agree on is the passing on of unfinished code with non-trivial tasks between colleagues. This is really a matter of professionalism and you are equally likely to find a full time person with a professional attitude as one who isn't.
- jarofgreen 14y ago
  No, it's nothing to do with professionalism, it's a matter of having to pass on work that must continue when your not there. Maybe you only work Mon & Tue and someone else needs to work on the same task all week, you have to pass it to them tues eve and pick it up mon morning again, both of which take time. Now the obvious answer is to the structure the work so that isn't required; but not all companies are willing or able to do that. I've had to leave tasks with people knowing they would be by themselves for several days, and hoping they'd have done it right when I got back. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't. I was half in charge of someone else while part-time - not the best situation. A badly organised company. I'm sympathetic to your plight, as said elsewhere I used to do part time (now I'm proper freelance) but in badly organised teams this can be a problem.

by Joeboy 14y ago

anthonyb 14y ago

Depends on how you structure your hours. Three days a week instead of 4 hours per day is usually better. In any case, everyone has to context switch when they go home and come back in the morning. The real reason, I think, is that it's weird, which makes managers uncomfortable enough that it puts you down the list. There are ways to arrange it though - it definitely helps if you talk directly to the employer rather than through a recruiter. It might also help if you have some contact with them first - perhaps think about segueing from either a full time role or a freelance contract into part-time work. Once they know you're good and get to know you, they'll be a bit happier to discuss it. I work three days a week for a government department, which works out pretty well, and then the other two I work with my wife on her business. So it is possible - you just have to look.

malandrew 14y ago
I was even flexible with the work saying that I could do 2 full days (morning to night) or 4 half days where I would be with the team the entire 4 days, but my day would be broken up into two 4 to 5-hour segments (I normally don't lunch, just snack at my desk and keep working). This latter arrangement would have at least would have helped keep me in sync with what the rest of the team was doing. I would also add that the context switching between working on one backbone.js project (my startup) and another (the client's work) really isn't all that bad compared to context switching from a non-programming activity to programming.

malandrew 14y ago

Yeah, I am aware of the context switching costs which is why I had explained that I was open to working in a way that minimizes context switching. What I'm not sure I agree on is the passing on of unfinished code with non-trivial tasks between colleagues. This is really a matter of professionalism and you are equally likely to find a full time person with a professional attitude as one who isn't.

jarofgreen 14y ago
No, it's nothing to do with professionalism, it's a matter of having to pass on work that must continue when your not there. Maybe you only work Mon & Tue and someone else needs to work on the same task all week, you have to pass it to them tues eve and pick it up mon morning again, both of which take time. Now the obvious answer is to the structure the work so that isn't required; but not all companies are willing or able to do that. I've had to leave tasks with people knowing they would be by themselves for several days, and hoping they'd have done it right when I got back. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't. I was half in charge of someone else while part-time - not the best situation. A badly organised company. I'm sympathetic to your plight, as said elsewhere I used to do part time (now I'm proper freelance) but in badly organised teams this can be a problem.