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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?

#191

Post by LanceH »

yolo3000 wrote: post #160
LanceH wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm billing $100+/hr with Toptal. I'm currently 0 hours available and they check on my availability every week with possible contracts. Yes, the interview process is a bit long, but opportunities have been non-stop for several years in a row now. Never an issue with pay, although it can border on 6 weeks in arrears due to billing cycles with the client and bi-weekly deposits from Toptal.

As a dev or more on the ops side? How long are the contracts? When you get a client, do they place you in a team with internals, or is there another setup? I guess toptal is like an intermediary, global scale, and they screen/test their freelancers.

Programmer.

It has varied from me being the only person working on it to full time work.

It's been easy enough that I've always taken 2, 20 hour/week jobs so that I don't lose all my employment at once when one ends. It's never been a problem picking up the next contract.

I've never worked with anyone else from Toptal, though I have been the replacement.

I haven't been using them for a while, but it's been non-stop inquiries from them, even though I've set my availability to 0hr/wk.

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

#192

Post by julienchastang »

You can just work two jobs at once ;-) During the pandemic and the WFH era, some employees have taken on two positions at the same time keeping this secret from both employers. Here's a funny WSJ article about this https://archive.ph/DGQrA. Quote from that article:

“It’s 100% overwhelming, and my wife’s like, ‘How long can you do this?’ ” he says. But “every other Friday, when those paychecks drop, I am reinvigorated.”

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

#194

Post by goodpoint »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #178
goodpoint wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ambition should be celebrated Only if you mean skill growth and self improvement. But pure greed - no, we have more than enough of that.

I want to work hard at my axe throwing skills so I can hit targets more accurately. That will help me become a better axe murderer since people are less likely to see me. Still wanna celebrate my skill growth?

You are confusing skills vs intentions. They are, obviously, two completely different things.

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

#195

Post by itake »

keepquestioning wrote: post #155
itake wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I earn $10k/mo contracting 20 hours per week. Personally, this extra income helped me maximize my day job benefits (401k and ESPP) and provided liquidity during the home buying process.

Where did you find your gigs?

An ex-co-worker started a dev shop a 5+ years ago.

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

#196

Post by itake »

angarg12 wrote: post #163
itake wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I earn $10k/mo contracting 20 hours per week. Personally, this extra income helped me maximize my day job benefits (401k and ESPP) and provided liquidity during the home buying process.

Maybe you can answer a question that is nagging me. I recently moved to the US, and ever since I keep getting messages on LinkedIn offering contract/freelance jobs. However the hourly rate is so poor that it would pay less that my current job base pay (not counting stocks and bonuses). In Europe the rule of thumb is that contract job should pay 2x your full time job rate. This is based on the associated overhead plus…

I have a friend that has literally only done contracts for the last 8 years. To put bluntly, he is bad at coding and could never last in a full time job. He once bragged to me that he took a Microsoft Azure cert after failing the test 5x.

There are high paying contracting jobs, but they are only available to people that know people that offer good contracts. A friend of a friend has a 6mo contract with a Fintech company paying $500k.

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

#197

Post by oikawa_tooru_ »

itake wrote: post #196
angarg12 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you can answer a question that is nagging me. I recently moved to the US, and ever since I keep getting messages on LinkedIn offering contract/freelance jobs. However the hourly rate is so poor that it would pay less that my current job base pay (not counting stocks and bonuses). In Europe the rule of thumb is that contract job should pay 2x your full time job rate. This is based on the associated overhead plus…

I have a friend that has literally only done contracts for the last 8 years. To put bluntly, he is bad at coding and could never last in a full time job. He once bragged to me that he took a Microsoft Azure cert after failing the test 5x. There are high paying contracting jobs, but they are only available to people that know people that offer good contracts. A friend of a friend has a 6mo contract with a Fintech comp…

What does the guys stack look like?

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

#198

Post by porker »

sirsinsalot wrote: post #22
ChrisRR wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much more money do you need if you're on 200K? That's already like 3-4x the salary of a dev in the UK

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

Share the secret of "£200k gross in the UK, outside London" please because I've never found that outside London and I hate that city :)

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

#199

Post by porker »

eliseumds wrote: post #112
Joeboy wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah you're right actually, glancing at Rightmove (UK property site), and going by the standard 4.5x mortgage test, you're probably not going to get a decent family home in Central-ish London on £200k. Shit's fucked up. Edit: To be clear the repayments on a £1m mortgage would "only" be like £60k a year, you only need £>200k to initially buy the place.

Yep. And £200k/y is about £120k/y net. That'd be tough for a family with kids.

Rubbish. The average UK family with kids is on sub-£30k net. That's tough. 4x the average isn't.

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

#200

Post by angarg12 »

itake wrote: post #196
angarg12 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you can answer a question that is nagging me. I recently moved to the US, and ever since I keep getting messages on LinkedIn offering contract/freelance jobs. However the hourly rate is so poor that it would pay less that my current job base pay (not counting stocks and bonuses). In Europe the rule of thumb is that contract job should pay 2x your full time job rate. This is based on the associated overhead plus…

I have a friend that has literally only done contracts for the last 8 years. To put bluntly, he is bad at coding and could never last in a full time job. He once bragged to me that he took a Microsoft Azure cert after failing the test 5x. There are high paying contracting jobs, but they are only available to people that know people that offer good contracts. A friend of a friend has a 6mo contract with a Fintech comp…

What would you say is a good and a top hourly rate?
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