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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?

#81
A good number of people are making quite a fortune tutoring coding online if that's something you are interested in. I assume you are good with kids if you have one. What hourly rate are you looking for? I may be interested in in giving you some extra work as we have a couple families at Modulo looking for coding tutoring. Feel free to reach out. Very easy to find me from my bio.

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

#82

Unless you already have top of market compensation, I'd focus on interviewing for a higher paying job rather than do more work on the side. Going by the ££ signs I'm assuming you can get a job in London, where you can make >£200k total compensation as a good software engineer.

I'm already earning near that compensation, was just looking for something on the side as well :)

If you are already earning near that, then unless you have a pressing need to earn more money, I'd do something else with your free time.

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

#84
post #73
post #48

Maybe talk to your wife? Friends, family? Keeping physically healthy and healthy relationships allows you to keep working your 9-5. Otherwise I'd learn new skills, if not tech maybe management? I did an OU MBA online which was fun, I didn't want to be a manager but helped me work more effectively in the organization.

Depending on the type of work that you wish to get into (for getting side paid), i would caution this approach...Because when i did my side hustle, i reached to family and friends, and they only ended up connecting me to the typical bagel showps who "wanted a website". you can imagine where engagements went from there. Either the clients want Google/Facebook-level engineering for pennies, or they conduct massive scop…

Ha. I actually meant as a social context, in a way to hang out and have fun. But now you mention it going into business (or charity) with friends could either be great or disastrous, but is worth checking.

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

#85

Toptal.com. Pain in the ass evaluation process, but it's worthwhile to get through.

I interviewed there and they gave me a big project that would have taken several days to complete. Call me arrogant, but I couldn't work for free like that. Additionally all the interviewers were from extremely low cost of living countries, whereas I live in one of the highest cost of living areas in the US.

I had the impression that you have to bid yourself down to catch work over there due to that discrepancy. There are people in Eastern Europe more qualified than me, willing to work harder than me, at 1/3 the cost of me. Thus I preferred local contract hunting.

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

#86
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I'm just genuinely intrigued as to why someone on £200k would want to work more. maybe there's a good reason, like they're an "earn to give" person, or some actual ambition the money will help fulfill, or some expensive health need etc. Maybe they'd like to spend less time with their family. Just wanting to exchange more of your life for more money seems weird to me, if you're already in a position to be able to live…

In the neighborhood of New York City I live in, buying a 2 bedroom apartment requires you to have a higher yearly income than $250k (~= £200k). The simple desires of (a) wanting space for family and (b) wanting to live in a specific place, can push you to want to earn higher salaries.

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

#87
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can get behind celebrating ambition, but only if it doesn't as a side effect involve widening wage inequality in the society.

I'm reminded of Margaret Thatcher's response to this: "He'd rather the poor were poorer, as long as the rich were less rich."[1] Every ethical dollar earned is a byproduct of value creation. Maybe you meant something more like "as long as he's not ripping off his customers," but otherwise that's an odd thing to say in response to someone who makes good money but is still looking for side jobs. [1] https://www.youtube…

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

#88

I've lucked into some great places being cool with part-time work. That said, just yesterday I spoke with a recruiter for a 40hr gig and they had deep concerns that I've had work overlap (my part-time business + 40hr contract work) on my resume. I've pulled out of consideration for that role because of it but am thinking of adjusting my resume to not show overlap. I would've thought it showed drive but I guess - at l…

Keep it if the work was interesting and you feel like it bolsters your experience. Sometimes I remove dates from my resume as they’ll always be doing the mental math of assembling your timeline and notice all the concurrent items. Duration is a happy medium for me. That frees you from the linearity that resumes often follow, so maybe consider adding a section entitled “Recent Projects” or something similar with the o…

I find this extremely helpful, thank you. Presenting the situation the way you mentioned in the last paragraph is honest and presents it in a very positive way. I also like the idea of project/employment sections. Much appreciated!

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

#89
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just genuinely intrigued as to why someone on £200k would want to work more. maybe there's a good reason, like they're an "earn to give" person, or some actual ambition the money will help fulfill, or some expensive health need etc. Maybe they'd like to spend less time with their family. Just wanting to exchange more of your life for more money seems weird to me, if you're already in a position to be able to live…

In the neighborhood of New York City I live in, buying a 2 bedroom apartment requires you to have a higher yearly income than $250k (~= £200k). The simple desires of (a) wanting space for family and (b) wanting to live in a specific place, can push you to want to earn higher salaries.

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.

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

#90
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FANGs? startups? contracts? It's been a while since I looked, is 200k the norm now? Asking for a friend...

Yea 200-250k is starting base of seniors now. Options, RSUs, bonus on top of it.

Depends where in the US. 200k is not typical for anyone working outside of a FAANG in SV. I've got almost 17 years exp and not making $200k base, and recruiters who contact me balk when I ask for something in that range - to include someone who contacted me on this very site and put me through a multi-week interview process only to offer me considerably less than 200 (or even my current pay).

And considering the way the economy is going (at least in the West), it's probably smart to work a side gig and make as much money as you can, while you can, because work is going to dry up soon.

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