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Show HN: Side Quest – An aggregator for not full-time tech jobs

sidequestjobs.com

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Re: Show HN: Side Quest – An aggregator for not full-time tech jobs

#91

Post by _448 »

protomok wrote: post #49
xondono wrote: post #47

This type of site is what always has me considering moving “up” in the stack. Remote work on either hardware or systems level programming (embedded) is almost non existent. Remote and not full-time is even rarer.

SaaS could be a good transition, there are quite a few SaaS shops using C++ for example. Or possibly backend if you're willing to do some cloud based side projects. Embedded is a lot of fun but IMHO there is more opportunity and compensation up the stack.

> there are quite a few SaaS shops using C++...

Which one?

Re: Show HN: Side Quest – An aggregator for not full-time tech jobs

#92

Post by mgkimsal »

mrkurt wrote: post #74
tppiotrowski wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never hit 40 hours a week. Thirty seemed like a good balance between work/life. Eventually, working on a CRUD app didn't peak my interest anymore and I moved onto some other projects. Company was sold a few years later.

How did you track your time? I kind of love this idea but time tracking is a pain in the ass. Seems like maybe you could use "day" or "half day" granularity?

I typically use 15 or 30 minute granularity, and I remember to log stuff multiple times per day (not every few minutes, but at least a couple) Time trackers that watch what you're doing are handy, sometimes, until you take a call away from the computer. You just had a 30 minute meeting about something - you're not at a computer. Did it not happen because it wasn't logged by an app tracking your screen/windows? Of course it did - you just have to get used to doing it. Tracking down to a minute is generally pointless for some (most?) situations - people generally care about the results/outcome, and allocating time to various buckets shouldn't be overly important.

I HAVE been in situations where logging 19 minutes to project X and 37 minutes to project Y was 'crucial' because 'accuracy was vital' but... damnit - I don't stop thinking about your project just because I'm not sitting in front of some time tracking app. I avoid those situations wherever possible now (and it's quite possible).

Re: Show HN: Side Quest – An aggregator for not full-time tech jobs

#93

Post by throwawayboise »

mrkurt wrote: post #74
tppiotrowski wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never hit 40 hours a week. Thirty seemed like a good balance between work/life. Eventually, working on a CRUD app didn't peak my interest anymore and I moved onto some other projects. Company was sold a few years later.

How did you track your time? I kind of love this idea but time tracking is a pain in the ass. Seems like maybe you could use "day" or "half day" granularity?

> tracking is a pain in the ass

It becomes a lot easier when you need to do it to get paid.

I loathe time tracking for internal metrics, but if I need to do it to get paid the motivations change and it just becomes part of the workflow.

Re: Show HN: Side Quest – An aggregator for not full-time tech jobs

#94

Post by zzt123 »

tppiotrowski wrote: post #43

I worked for a company once that was very remote friendly. You could disappear for a month and then pop into Slack and ask, what’s next in the issues queue? Then work on issues for however long you wanted, billed hourly at a generous rate. Several times I disappeared for weeks to travel and climb and was always welcomed back. That company was minting money and wasn’t worried about deadlines. I wish more work was stru…

I had an analogous arrangement. I would pop in and out, identifying/building high impact projects, in a mix of web dev, PM, and analyzing data.

I was usually available for brainstorming/chats during my sometimes months of off cycle, including at non-regular hours. I'm hopelessly neural atypical with on/off cycles of productivity and haven't found a way to make myself more regular.

I was paid as a full time employee despite my schedule, with a mutually agreed upon below-market offer in exchange for that freedom. USD 130k/y with full benefits and a much smaller than normal equity grant.

That arrangement lasted 7 years before moving on to new opportunities.

Re: Show HN: Side Quest – An aggregator for not full-time tech jobs

#95

Post by jacobobryant »

One of my predictions/hopes is that part-time work becomes far more prevalent. In addition to the benefits already mentioned here, it would be great for people who want to be e.g. entrepreneurs or independent researchers. Wrote a bit about this here: https://jacobobryant.com/p/what-im-trying-to-do/#1-help-buil...

Also relevant: https://sahillavingia.com/work. I'd like to make a collection of part-time success stories like this.

Re: Show HN: Side Quest – An aggregator for not full-time tech jobs

#96

Post by jpindar »

faeyanpiraat wrote: post #76
mrkurt wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you track your time? I kind of love this idea but time tracking is a pain in the ass. Seems like maybe you could use "day" or "half day" granularity?

You need to get used to it. Use a kitchen timer, then every time you finish something input the time precisely.

There's an app and site called Toggl that makes this easier.

Re: Show HN: Side Quest – An aggregator for not full-time tech jobs

#99

Post by xondono »

jlokier wrote: post #66
xondono wrote: post #47

This type of site is what always has me considering moving “up” in the stack. Remote work on either hardware or systems level programming (embedded) is almost non existent. Remote and not full-time is even rarer.

> Remote work on either hardware or systems level programming (embedded) is almost non existent. Remote and not full-time is even rarer. The trick is to do such things as your own business, i.e. freelancing or consulting (t's all in how you present it), doing projects for clients. This can definitely work for hardware and systems level programming. Then you set your own schedule and your own rules, and clients don't…

Yes, I've started doing this, but living in Barcelona it's quite a challenge. There's not that many local opportunities and getting leads out of the country so far has yielded very little for me.

Re: Show HN: Side Quest – An aggregator for not full-time tech jobs

#100

Post by xondono »

_448 wrote: post #90
xondono wrote: post #47

This type of site is what always has me considering moving “up” in the stack. Remote work on either hardware or systems level programming (embedded) is almost non existent. Remote and not full-time is even rarer.

Big hardware companies provide "work from home" option. I use to work for a company many of whose employees worked remotely. Companies like Google, Facebook, Intel, Microsoft etc provide work from home option. And they do work on systems level programming.

I know, but in most places "remote" actually means "somewhere in US". I'd be willing to take a significant paycut to work at some of those companies remotely.
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