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Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

fractionaljobs.io

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Re: Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

#61

Post by giantg2 »

tbird24 wrote: post #22
giantg2 wrote: post #14

Screw part time. The whole economy is moving towards part time, gig work, etc and it's terrible for most employees who need good wages and benefits.

Fair, but I find, and I think this thread is evident, that a lot of folks are actually proactively seeking part-time work for one reason or another. If done correctly, you can actually make more money than an equivalent full-time role.

Even if workers were choosing more paprt time hours, it's only because they were able to make enough money in full-time employment (ususally) to build up enough money to only need part time work.

Re: Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

#62

Post by giantg2 »

apwell23 wrote: post #42
mothballed wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more likely to work if you move to Micronesia or Mexico or something like that, easy places for citizens to move to with low cost of living so you can bid on par with the other gig workers in Pakistan/India/Romania etc. I think trying to do gig work from the states unless it is Defense contracting you're quickly going to find someone buying that might not care what geography they're drawing from which puts USA b…

then you are competing with the whole world for those jobs

With the outsourcing I'm seeing, we already are. I feel this is and even bigger factor than AI in the terrible tech market right now, only really behind zirp.

Re: Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

#63

Post by 8note »

tamimio wrote: post #45

I will just reiterate what I posted before about using the term "engineering." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44855157#44860128 It's about time that there should be a distinguished difference between an engineer who went through engineering school and another who went to a bootcamp/computer science/etc. Not only is it confusing for people like me whenever I see the word engineering - the first thing that comes…

I expect an employer can escape that by asking for a professional engineer whow can sign and stamp for their work, and has some malpractice insurance.

Re: Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

#64

Post by giantg2 »

thot_experiment wrote: post #39
giantg2 wrote: post #14

Screw part time. The whole economy is moving towards part time, gig work, etc and it's terrible for most employees who need good wages and benefits.

Screw full time, I have a life and I want to enjoy more than 30% of it.

Sure, but how do you pay for it?

Re: Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

#65

Post by giantg2 »

jameslk wrote: post #41
giantg2 wrote: post #14

Screw part time. The whole economy is moving towards part time, gig work, etc and it's terrible for most employees who need good wages and benefits.

Maybe times are different now (I’m not freelancing anymore) but I was the happiest when I was a freelancer. I made more than I could have as a full time employee, because I could ask more often for more (vs jumping jobs every 2-4 years). I could write off a ton of expenses. I could put away more for retirement (self-employment gives you higher limits). I didn’t have to do stupid whiteboard interviews. I could work wh…

This sounds kind of crazy for me. How can you get over the extra 8% or so from Social Security and Medicare tax and still make more with while paying for benefits and not getting a 401k match? Maybe you're an outlier? I get that expenses get written off, bit that still means they were an expense from your profits.

Re: Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

#66

Post by kovac »

giantg2 wrote: post #14

Screw part time. The whole economy is moving towards part time, gig work, etc and it's terrible for most employees who need good wages and benefits.

The wages listed there are pretty reasonable. Someone who wants more could work more hours/jobs. Life a little more on your own terms.

Re: Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

#68

Post by tomhow »

baxter001 wrote: post #40

[flagged]

> Fuck you very deeply.

You can't comment like this on Hacker News, no matter what you're replying to. Criticism is fine, but personal attacks like this are not. Please make an effort to observe the guidelines if you want to participate here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

#69

Post by jameslk »

giantg2 wrote: post #65
jameslk wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe times are different now (I’m not freelancing anymore) but I was the happiest when I was a freelancer. I made more than I could have as a full time employee, because I could ask more often for more (vs jumping jobs every 2-4 years). I could write off a ton of expenses. I could put away more for retirement (self-employment gives you higher limits). I didn’t have to do stupid whiteboard interviews. I could work wh…

This sounds kind of crazy for me. How can you get over the extra 8% or so from Social Security and Medicare tax and still make more with while paying for benefits and not getting a 401k match? Maybe you're an outlier? I get that expenses get written off, bit that still means they were an expense from your profits.

1. Part of your negotiation should be explaining that independent contractors have ~30% less overhead than a salaried employee due to the savings on payroll taxes as well as unemployment insurance, recruiting, benefits, vacation time, etc and therefore require a higher rate than salaried employees

2. If your time is in demand because you’re being referred enough, your leverage is higher

3. You can jump ship as often as you want for a higher rate without having to explain it on a resume

4. Building a brand around yourself lowers your perceived risk for businesses and gives you additional leverage

5. Write off as much as possible, and if you make enough, there’s additional things you can do on the tax savings front beyond just writing off expenses (S-corp salary + draw taxed as capital gains)

6. Specialize in something (e.g. specific ecommerce platforms, web performance optimization, accessibility remediation) and you will become more trusted in that something, get more referred to others for it, and gain more leverage

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