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Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

#121

Post by nfriedly »

Yeah, fiverr isn't going to pay well, that's right there in the name.

I have had some success with other freelancing sites in the past, where I initially set my rates to $50/hour and raised it to over $150/hour by the time I stopped. More than once, I lost a job in the initial bidding, but was later contacted and hired by the client after issues cropped up with the cheaper hires.

And, yes, as others have said, networking and marketing. I also wrote a technical blog and got other jobs through my network. Over time, that became the primary source of clients. But, when I was just starting, the freelancer sites were very helpful.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

#122

Post by the-alchemist »

* The monthly Hacker News "freelancers" posts

* Slack groups (geographical or programming language based)

* craigslist software section

My tips:

* Have a portfolio / resume handy

* Expected rate and weekly availability

  - \* And your flexibility in both areas
* Citizenship

* Timezone

* Reason for looking

  - Want to get experience in X

  - I run a software consultancy

  - Need a challenge

  - Looking for experience
As someone who has looked for someone part-time multiple times, it's been a frustrating experience overall.

* Under-qualified

  - I wish I did, as I love mentoring, but I don't have the time to take someone under my wing right now.  Hence the need for a portfolio / resume / Github.
* Overqualified

  - I can't afford you right now ;)
* People who already have 40 hour jobs and who _think_ they have enough time but they don't

  - Not under the person's control all the time, I understand.  Life gets in the way

Re: Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

#123

Post by sph »

leviathan wrote: post #52
sph wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be prepared to have to do off-screen and later screen-shared, timed leetcode challenges. Fail one, it's an automatic disqualification.

I'm not sure where you got that info from, but unless you completely tank everything, there isn't an automatic disqualification. Even if you fail two out of three questions, you'll still get a chance to meet with the screener.

Source: myself.

I did all tests in half the required time, 100% success rate, had a bug during the interview with the screener, in the last of 5 overall I've done, I probably could've fixed it with 2 more minutes but no, I failed and was asked to practice leetcode puzzles and apply again one month later.

Yeah, I don't think I will.

The thing that bugs me the most is it was obvious the interviewer wasn't an engineer. There weren't able to tell how close I was to the solution. I dunno, that method might work in some cases, but I've been doing software engineering for 16 years. I guess I'm not good enough.

Also fuck having to solve puzzles with a timer with someone looking over your shoulder. I have done emergency "servers are on fire" maintenance in the middle of the night for big customers and it's less stressful than that.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

#124

Post by sokoloff »

giantg2 wrote: post #25
sirsinsalot wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making a value judgement on someones financial ambition is a little ... weak. Does it really matter? I'm on £200k gross in the UK, outside London ... but i'm not done climbing that mountain. Of course £200k is "enough" for anyone, but that doesn't mean you can't aim higher. Ambition should be celebrated

"Ambition should be celebrated" I might agree with this depending on what the specific goal is. But why should ambition be generally celebrated? There is certainly ambition that has brought about improvement in life. There has also been ambition applied to the wrong ends or failing that has brought suffering. I'm not sold on the idea that the goal of continually increasing comp above an already luxurious level is mea…

From 168 hours that we all start with in a week, if someone wants to spend 20 of them making their and their family's lives better, why wouldn't we generally encourage that? I certainly wouldn't discourage it and I could be neutral on it, but if I think about, I'd rather they work on a side gig than watch Netflix, doom-scroll, or watch TikToks.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

#125

Post by sokoloff »

xwdv wrote: post #36
sirsinsalot wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making a value judgement on someones financial ambition is a little ... weak. Does it really matter? I'm on £200k gross in the UK, outside London ... but i'm not done climbing that mountain. Of course £200k is "enough" for anyone, but that doesn't mean you can't aim higher. Ambition should be celebrated

Ambition is the enemy of consistency.

10s of thousands of years of integrated ambition have helped ensure that we are not consistently living outdoors.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

#126

Post by donatj »

My website has a number of self-services tools on it that are helpful but you have to have a decent idea of what you're doing to begin with to make use of them.

Under the tools I've got a link to my contact form for people who need more help.

I used to get quite a decent bit of work through this to the point I was turning people away. It's kind of dried up in the last couple years though.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

#127

Post by castlecrasher2 »

Joeboy wrote: post #71
sirsinsalot wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making a value judgement on someones financial ambition is a little ... weak. Does it really matter? I'm on £200k gross in the UK, outside London ... but i'm not done climbing that mountain. Of course £200k is "enough" for anyone, but that doesn't mean you can't aim higher. Ambition should be celebrated

I'm just genuinely intrigued as to why someone on £200k would want to work more. maybe there's a good reason, like they're an "earn to give" person, or some actual ambition the money will help fulfill, or some expensive health need etc. Maybe they'd like to spend less time with their family. Just wanting to exchange more of your life for more money seems weird to me, if you're already in a position to be able to live…

>I'm just genuinely intrigued as to why someone on £200k would want to work more.

The money outcome isn't a zero-sum game. If someone works more, they can put that towards their children's education fund, retirement or other investments, or anything else at all.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

#128

Post by ghaff »

jinglejangley wrote: post #116
mywittyname wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're chasing pennies with a side-gig. If you're already at the top of market in terms of pay, it's unlikely a side-gig is going bring in enough to satisfy your ambitions. Why not start your own business? The upside is much better. Yeah, it might fail, but you can decide to start another one what you learned.

Yeah, it seems like I had an idealistic view of what a side gig would be, whereas it's a lot more work than I wish to spend on it. I'm happy in my day job; it's secure, I'm paid well and I get a lot of time with my family. Starting my own business would put family time in jeopardy which isn't an option, especially as I'd have to give up my main income.

I think you're probably right. Every now and then I've had something fall in my lap from someone I knew. I've done a few focus groups (though those are during the day.) And so forth.

But, perhaps not unsurprisingly, there really isn't a general source for short side gigs paying a few hundred dollars an hour--especially for asynchronous tasks you can do nights or weekends.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

#129

Post by mrelectric »

jcadam wrote: post #90
dominotw wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea 200-250k is starting base of seniors now. Options, RSUs, bonus on top of it.

Depends where in the US. 200k is not typical for anyone working outside of a FAANG in SV. I've got almost 17 years exp and not making $200k base, and recruiters who contact me balk when I ask for something in that range - to include someone who contacted me on this very site and put me through a multi-week interview process only to offer me considerably less than 200 (or even my current pay). And considering the way…

Why do you think work is going to dry up soon?

Re: Ask HN: How do you get side gigs?

#130

Post by yolo3000 »

jinglejangley wrote: post #116
mywittyname wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're chasing pennies with a side-gig. If you're already at the top of market in terms of pay, it's unlikely a side-gig is going bring in enough to satisfy your ambitions. Why not start your own business? The upside is much better. Yeah, it might fail, but you can decide to start another one what you learned.

Yeah, it seems like I had an idealistic view of what a side gig would be, whereas it's a lot more work than I wish to spend on it. I'm happy in my day job; it's secure, I'm paid well and I get a lot of time with my family. Starting my own business would put family time in jeopardy which isn't an option, especially as I'd have to give up my main income.

I did this last year. I work full time for ~100/hr, and someone I've worked with before, recommended me to an early stage startup in the US. They paid me ~130/hr just to be part of the meetings with their EU based dev team. Monthly I was making 2-3k extra but the context switching, startup rollercoaster, dev team not performing turned out to be stressful. In the end they secured funding and assembled an in house dev team, so they didn't need me anymore. I suggest you try it, but not for the extra money because the extra stress is not sustainable long term, do it for the learning experience and maybe that will help you in the future.
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