Consider also taking a data entry job. These can be automated a huge chunk of the time. Depending on the gig these can feel like free money. Doing a tricky bit of automation can be fun too.
Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?
211–220 of 1001 posts
Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?
#212usajobs.gov
Use your experience to negotiate a higher leave rate.
Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm surprised once again by the nice and helpful community on HN. I anticipated most comments would be people telling me to get my head out of my ass and get to work. I hope you find a way to chill through life.
I think you question is very sincere and VERY UNIQUE for this community because every other question is asking for the exact opposite. That's why there are a lot of interesting replies as well as a lot of interest in the question itself. Is your hobby/"passions (which are not monetizable)" expensive? And are you 100% certain they are not monetizable? In today's world, I have yet to see something which is not monetiza…
> In today's world, I have yet to see something which is not monetizable.
Plenty of artists out there who love making art, and yet their art is simply not sellable. For many people this would be a source of disappointment, but for a lucky few they may realize they just enjoy creating art for its own sake, and not to sell it.
Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?
#214One approach is to roll the dice founding a startup, work really hard for 3-10 years, and, if successful, retire.
I get the impression you want the lowest peak of work intensity, but trying to earn all of your life's money fast and up front may be total overall less work (averaged over a lifetime).
This doesn't fit your requirements, I know, but it might be something to think about: enabling laziness by being maximally un-lazy up front.
Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?
#215Look for something that’s not really development-oriented: something like handling a process or operation that is repetitive and involves computers. Then use your development skills to automate it so you don’t have to do much except press a button or run a program.
I was responsible for a process which involved looking some data up on a specific system, copy-pasting that into a document, and ticking a cell in a spreadsheet as “done”. Used to take about 3 minutes per item - which is not much. I scripted it all using python-mechanize and some APIs in the office suite, and now it takes 20 seconds of computer time per item - but crucially, zero seconds of my time.
Your investment up front is some time learning the manual process and a bit of work to write the automation, then you can coast along happily.
Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think they get a bad rap. Good scrum masters are worth their weight in gold at scale. The solve all inter-team comms, the bat away distractions, and they generally find the answers, or the people with the answers and get them solved and batted out. Bad scrum masters take up space with reporting meetings that aren't reporting - but who are we kidding. I've been privileged to work with both.
For 19 years of career I've never met this unicorn scrum master you are describing. Not a counter-argument, just sharing an anecdote.
That's the problem with anecdotes. Over my (longer, not that it matters) career I've had both. I've only had 2 of the unicorns however.
Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?
#217> devops/sysadmin While these certainly exist, you would need to know what your doing to not need to do much. And almost impossible to be remote.
> And almost impossible to be remote.
On the contrary, I find it quite easy. In the last year or so I've been to the empty office three times: twice to restart local VPN, once to sign a contract because I was switching companies.
I'm definitely going to be looking for remote positions in the future.
Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?
#218I suspect you might have gotten more specific responses if you put an email in your profile.
Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I agree with the Scrum Master suggestion, my Scrum Master pretty much just creates meeting invites for 40 hours a week. Same here! Scrum masters are secretaries on managers' salaries. They're the true winners of the corporate game.
I think they get a bad rap. Good scrum masters are worth their weight in gold at scale. The solve all inter-team comms, the bat away distractions, and they generally find the answers, or the people with the answers and get them solved and batted out. Bad scrum masters take up space with reporting meetings that aren't reporting - but who are we kidding. I've been privileged to work with both.
They are project managers then, really.
Re: Ask HN: What tech job would let me get away with the least real work possible?
#220I can think of two possible routes that would fulfil this criteria in different ways. The first is to get an IT job at a government organisation that isn't heavily IT focussed, but needs someone on staff "just in case". I once interviewed for a job at a National Library for a 35,000 GBP/year role (with 20% pension). They had a system where someone could book a room to read old manuscripts, and there was a C# program…
Can I ask how do you find those kind of contracts?