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Ask HN: What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?

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41–50 of 89 posts

Re: Ask HN: What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?

#41
post #26

why not a sys admin? its fairly easy work 95% of the time ...

given the up votes, I thought I'd elaborate.

I spend 3 days a week as a sys admin, and 2 days a week freelance/working on startup. (was freelance mostly, now mostly startup)

sys admin is good work - i'm particularly lucky - my company is very flexible, and Mac OS X.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?

#42
post #29

Well if you're in Europe, what about: 'unemployed'? 80% of your current paycheck for the first 6 months, then you really should start looking for something that resembles a job. I know people who travelled the world on 'unemployment'. If you're looking for quiet time, why don't you just skip the social obligation of 'having a job'?

Well, you generally are obliged to apply for any job for which they put you forward. Deliberately under-sell yourself and get caught and you can wave the money goodbye. I suspect it's quite a hassle if you're qualified and people are trying to hire you left right and centre.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?

#43
post #3

Trevor has always said that his dream job was to be a projectionist in a movie theater.

That actually kind of surprises me. I saw Trevor at CES and he looked like a proud parent over his robot.

Building robots seriously seems like it's incredibly fun and interesting.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?

#44
post #26

why not a sys admin? its fairly easy work 95% of the time ...

Totally depends on the company. Some admin jobs are basically NOC and some are more non-stop engineering. Make sure you know which one you're signing up for.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?

#45
post #31

I sell lift tickets at a ski resort. Some of our ticket windows are not at the main resort & get about 5 customers on a slow day. Last week I built this: www.feedstomper.com I also get to ski for free at 3 of the top resorts in the U.S. Pretty awesome so far.

voted up for building something i'll use and for having an awesome job

Re: Ask HN: What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?

#46
post #11

Actually I've had that situation several times in technology jobs. It's not so much the job itself as it is the company. I had a great gig at a company in Marin County (read: north of the Golden Gate, laid-back, hippies) where I was able to learn Perl, the WWW, and Unix. Find a non-critical role in a company that isn't audited heavily (non-public company, smaller division of a large company) and hack away. One option…

Seems like theft that isn't illegal. No thanks.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?

#48
post #43
post #3

Trevor has always said that his dream job was to be a projectionist in a movie theater.

That actually kind of surprises me. I saw Trevor at CES and he looked like a proud parent over his robot. Building robots seriously seems like it's incredibly fun and interesting.

That's my dream - robot building. I look forward to the day that "robot startups" are as trendy and commonplace as "web startups". :-/

Re: Ask HN: What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?

#49
post #43
post #3

Trevor has always said that his dream job was to be a projectionist in a movie theater.

That actually kind of surprises me. I saw Trevor at CES and he looked like a proud parent over his robot. Building robots seriously seems like it's incredibly fun and interesting.

He meant it more in the sense of a dream short term job to make money on the side in college. Building robots is definitely what he's always wanted to do, given the opportunity.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?

#50
post #45
post #31

I sell lift tickets at a ski resort. Some of our ticket windows are not at the main resort & get about 5 customers on a slow day. Last week I built this: www.feedstomper.com I also get to ski for free at 3 of the top resorts in the U.S. Pretty awesome so far.

voted up for building something i'll use and for having an awesome job

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