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Jobs for Moonlighting Geeks?
BreadWinner asks: "My wife and I are adopting a baby in 2003 and it's very expensive. I work for a non-profit that can't pay me what I feel I'm worth. However, I really like my job, my boss, the time off, and my co-workers. So I'm considering moonlighting. I've done private contracting, but I don't think I can do my private clients justice when I'm working full-time. So what kind of job can I find that: I can leave at the job; maximize my $/hour? Anybody done commission-based electronics sales? I'm not an uber-geek, but I'm interested in whatever you folks at Slashdot can suggest."
Best Buy might be an option. The money isn't the best (about $7 to start), but they get 90% of the stuff in the store at 5% over cost. Which means a cheap plasma TV...
Glen
Track your fuel economy
in college my friends and i would periodically make sperm donations. that paid well enough to pay my rent.
You could do consulting, but not for development. You could do something that takes lots of time, but not lots of hours, such as HCI (Human-computer Interaction) analasys. Consult for owners of websites and/or small application developers to perform various levels of HCI evaluation, such as analysis and testing. Some clients may want just a detail of obvious (to an HCI designer) problem areas, others will want results obtainable by user testing, and some of them will want designs.
The first suggestion, simple evaluations, can take you only a few hours at a time to do, and then another couple hours writing a report of suggestions to the client. User testing can be a bit more hairy, but the rule of thumb is for each round of user testing, you'll find all the snags with 4 test subjects, and tests should be 30 minutes or less per subject. Then you use about the same amount of time analyzing the results as the above option. The design-work can take many, many hours of designing, prototyping, and testing, but not every client wants immediate results. Some actually feel better if it takes you a couple months; they feel as if you'd been spending all that time musing over it and tweaking it.
Lex orandi, lex credendi.
Share the secret of how you have a full time job...
No, I mean wait tables. I do this now, but only on Friday night and Saturdays. I get a little gas money from the hourly wage of $2.13/hour, but I also make between $60-$150 in cash.
This leaves me Sundays off, and Mon-Thur evenings for time at home, and in your case with Wife and baby.
Sig? What's a Sig?
That's the ticket. Grab a Console Operator's position for the mid-night shift.
When you can cyberbeg?
YMMV.
Hey -- I just noticed that the preview time is slow by 15:46 hours..
Cruising the internet on my TI-99/4A @ a whopping 300 baud!
Here's a service that could be useful. Keep yourself abreast of the latest version of OSS packages and build a database containing what your customers have installed and what version they're using. Whenever something significant comes up, e.g. security hole patched up in product X version Y, you can send mails to your customers who are effected, keeping them up to date. You really could save your customers some money if they're not big enough to have they're own technical staff. Call it technical insurance.
I hear the money is good, and.... oh wait, you are a geek. Nevermind.
I used to work in retail and I can tell you it is good money to have on the side. Usually, the people who do the schedule are flexible and will let you work whenever you would like.
However commission based sales are a tricky business. Several years ago, I worked at a well-known department store that paid you a base hourly rate and commission. The thing is, if your commission did not meet or exceed what you would have been paid at your hourly rate, you only got your hourly rate and on the next pay schedule, you had to make up the difference before you could start counting the commission you earned toward your next paycheck.
Some people who work at these stores are also very aggressive and will do nearly anything to get their commission, even if it means sometimes taking credit for a sale you made. Trust no one at first. Handle all of your transactions yourself. Find out what items on the floor pay the most in commissions. Sell the extended warranties.
I had some internal conflicts before. There was a particular camera that paid $10 for each one you sold by the manufacturer. The thing is, it was a piece of junk that I think was designed to break in 6 months. I sold the daylights out of those but I hated myself for it.
Finally, it's a little late in the holiday season to be thinking about a retail job. Most department stores are going to start laying off their holiday help in the next week or so. And with retailers reporting less than impressive profits, it will be hard to find work there about now.
GOBACK.
You could always try your hand at making a useful software product. Note that I said useful. If you can increase productivity with your software then you have a much larger chance of a business buying it, and they tend to be much more scrupulous than the general populous. To make it less risky and intrusive into your life, make it something you will use at work, or your co-workers will use (that way, your life is made easier, and you also get brownie points at work). Obviously, you need to be reasonable in your expectations, I would not expect to earn more than a thousand bucks for each application you release. A variation on this is to use the Microsoft model and create knockoffs of current very popular software- especially software that has gotten ridiculously bloated over time (*coughcough* Word). IE, Implement wordpad with a table of contents feature, page numbering, slightly more advanced formatting, etc. and keep the size small. Market it as a cheaper version of whatever software. There are alot of people looking for legit copies of cheap productivity software that gives them the best features of huge programs w/out the bloat. Most likely, you will make very little money, but mebbe enough to buy a new TV. But, you also have that one chance in hell that your software will catch on, and you could make a considerable amount of money. And programming in the comfort of your home is alot better than working at Best Buy on the weekends.
This not only benefits your wallet, but it also improves your professional skills (which is a great bonus if your employer gives you flack about moonlighting).
This is #1 from a top ten list of ways to make money with your computer:
#1) Get a nice solid all steel serve case. Hide in a dark alley. As people move through the dark alley hit them with the case. While they are outcold take their money and other items of value. Wash, Rinse, repeat.
Somewhere near #5 was:
Find a not-too-ugly exhibitionist [female] and a web cam. Start collecting the checks and mailing out the once-worn panties at $20 a pop.
There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
You could advertise your pc tinkering/fixing skills in the local newspaper. Plenty of people buy computers and do not have a clue - the going rate in the UK is 10-15UKP an hour or part of, approx 15-22 USD. Some of it's going to be routine and mundane ("I can't find my Bonzi Buddy...") but you get to meet loads of people and cut loose from the house for an hour at a time and i'd suspect most customers would come back again if you were good - i've never met anybody yet who only had an hours worth of questions about their computer...
And as we're coming up to Christmas, just think of all those computers that have been bought as presents and therefore the amount of stumped newbies on the 25th. You might be busy...
By the way, good luck with the new addition to the family, too!
seany
I was considering this for a while, the only problem being
Hiyas!
Not sure if that helps or not since I couldnt find what exact area you would like to work in, but here it is:
Rent A Coder
The main site has problems right now, but I can get to specific subsites by bookmarked URL so it should be back soon.
With an account you can bid for small scale software dev projects.
A says "I want an TCP Stack for my microwave oven"
B says "I've done 10 projects so far and to implement your project I want 100 bucks!"
C says "I've done 1 project so far and to do your stuff I want 75 bucks!"
No a gets to choose if he wants to contract B or C.
I've created an account but due to lack of time didnt land a contract yet, but I've heard some quite positive things about this site.
I stumbled accross that site when people where talking about making some money in their freetime on some bulletin board - if you're good you can make like 1000$ a month with that.
Hope this helps!
Good luck to you & your family!
Before you email me, remember: "There is no god!"
Has always been bartending, if you are good.
;-)
Night job, so it won't interfere with your "real" job.
Cash tips.... sure, I report them ALL to the IRS
we're adopting... I'll let you figure it out ;-)
You won't have time for anything else. You won't be permitted to sleep for a while either.
"God is dead." - Frederik Nietzsche
Another thing to consider is how much stress this second job will cause especially now with a very needy addition to your family.
Think about working smarter rather than harder.
A year ago I sold almost everything I owned to move back to my hometown where I now work for the library at about half my former pay. At first I took the job as a stepping stone until something better came along. Like you I found that I really love the job and to my surprise I don't really miss the pay or the stress.
My life is more stripped down than it was but (now that I'm used to it) I don't feel the least bit deprived. In fact I am actually saving a bit of dough where I used to live nearly check to check before. I still travel and indulge in the arts and geeky hobbies and spend time and have fun. Mostly I just drive a payed for car and don't pay full price for stuff or eat out as much. Oh, and I won't be too extravagant about the Holidays although I never really was.
Think not about what you can do without, but what you could be free of. The quality time with the wife and kid are worth a lot more than any part-time job will pay.
If you had a large trunk full of cash (or something appearing to be one), you could solicit folks in a foreign country (France, or Nigeria perhaps) to send you cash.
This cash would be used to assist you in moving said trunk from one country to another.
A hitman is the perfect job for you. You go, shoot someone. When they ask where you were, say you were at work! :)
-
ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only
Have you thought about going on the game? It's the worlds oldest profession after all.
It actually fits in with a geek lifestyle fairly well too, you do most of the 'work' at night, and it's all about networking...
I used to work a part-time job as a sound reinforcement/monitor tech for a small (me and the owner) outfit. We specialized in acoustic performances and smaller festivals so there wasn't a lot of show-biz phlegm.
I only worked once a month or so and though it was intermittently hard work, it always seemed like a vacation from my day job because it was a totally different, fun and layed back atmosphere. Plus I learned a bunch, met some great people and got to indulge my geeky and artsy aspects as well.
How I lucked into this job? I volunteered as a stage hand at a festival ONCE (to stalk^H^H^H^H^H see Mary Chapin-Carpenter) and my future employer liked my work ethic and started calling me with offers. Neat how that works sometimes.
Anyways, don't restrict yourself to mainstream jobs that suck. Look between the cracks. Follow your bliss, etc. etc. etc.
Dear Slashdot. A few weeks ago I submitted a story about how to setup my own cable company and rake in lots of $$$ without having to do things like "infrastructure" and "work". All I got were a lot of smart ass comments. So I thought I would more or less ask the same question again about how to make a lot of money without having to work. Can you help? Also, do you have a serial number for half-life? plz.
Programmers ought to contact graphic designers or even "web designers" who are light in the pants when it comes to coding, server side work, etc.
With the WYSIWYG boom, lately, it's becoming easier and easier for non-pros to emulate pro work... any graphic designer who changed 47 style sheets on a few hundred pages by hand because they forgot to put the text in Paragraph tags will tell you that they wish they had the skill and knowhow to efficiently do the programmy stuff based off of their illustrator or photoshop spreads.
I can get a web job for $3,000 as a designer. I can come up with the design (paper prototypes) for about 1/3rd of that. The other 2/3rds is spent hacking through code, when a "pro" would take not even 1/2 that time. . . it is then, obviously, profitable for me to hire a freelance programmer (repeatedly)
-- The truth is the only thing that nobody will believe.
Before we had kids, my wife and I both spent long hours working and I could not really understand people who weren't "committed to their jobs". After kids, our hours aren't as long because of other commitments (ballet, bowling, music lessons, play dates, etc) and I'm a bit more sympathetic to those people. It's changed our lives a lot and there's no way we could have seen the whole impact except to live through it.
Anyway, you've both decided that you want kids badly enough to adopt them. I assume you want to spend some time with them, but you're planning on taking a second job. When will you spend time with the kids? Instead of increasing revenue, can you maybe reduce expenses? I'm not trying to be mean or judgemental here, just want to make sure that you realize the tradeoff you are making.
Become a bartender. Your mind will wind down after work, you'll get a little exercise from being on your feet for hours at a time, you'll meet interesting people, get free drinks, and earn tips. Such a fun job...
That's United Parcel Service. I worked there in college, and there operation revolves around 3-5 hour shifts - Day, evening, night, and twilight
Advantages:
- Best benefits of a part time job you will ever find - full health, savings plans, etc.
- $8 to start, at least when I was there
- No brainwork, and you definitely leave the job at the plant when you go home.
- Good job security - It's the Teamsters, remember?
Disadvantages:
- Can require physical effort - not a classical Geek strong point
- No brainwork - can be crushingly dull (I viewed it as soothingly monotonous)
- May not be hiring now with slowdown in economy.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
I work security at a night club on Friday and Saturday nights.
I have to tell you, it is a lot of fun. In a way it is like being able to live out the BOFH fantasy. I work at a pretty swanky place, and I get no end of catharsis through getting in the faces of executive-types.
I guess what I am saying is that variety is the spice of life. It is great that you are doing something that you enjoy doing during the day, but there might be something else you can do that you'd like just as much at night.
Good luck!
-Peter
I heard a good idea from a letter read on NPR this morning. Identify a home or business you intend to burglarize and send them a letting giving them the opportunity to opt-out of burglary proper by a certain date. If they don't opt-out, well, there you go. It's perfect.
If it works out well, you could even expand and get more babies. This is great, because your revenues will scale linearly with the number of babies (at least until you start to reach market saturation), but some of your expenses will scale up at a lower rate (that first baby is the most expensive, doesn't have any hand-me-downs, etc).
Another good thing about a massive baby rental business, from a geek point of view, is that you can handle some of the issues in innovative ways. For example, suppose the couple on the street behind you wants a baby for the evening, and they have a special request for Little Joey. But here's the problem: do you have Little Joey in stock right now, or is he still rented out to the Finkelstein family? You go out to the baby stockade where all the cribs are, but it looks like the cubicle complex in Tron (which you recoginize due to being a geek). Fortunately, you've planned ahead: every time a baby gets back, you use your CueCat to scan the barcode that is tattooed on the back of each baby's neck. This updates your MySQL or PostgreSQL database so you you always know which babies are available. When the family on the street behind you asks you on the phone if Little Joey is available, you have an instant answer.
But that's not all! Put a web-based front end on the database, and they can look up the availability themselves, without you having to man the phones. Now do you see how well this whole adoption thing can work out? Well, we're still not done. You see, that other family wants you to take the baby over to their house or get a large discount if they have to pick up Little Joey themselves. But as a geek, you can come up with all sorts of clever ways to handle the transportation. There's solar-powered rovers with robot drivers (fun to design!!), pheumatic tubes, etc. And it can all be automated and run at a profit. The sky is the limit!
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
I work high tech here in Colorado and right now, there is very little chance to improve my pay with a down job market. I thought of getting a weekend job working the ski slopes and besides, I can get some free skiing in ;)
I didn't move to Colorado just to work, I moved here to enjoy the recreation it has to offer. Another job I have considered is working in a 4x4 shop. Totally different from being a Unix Admin.
That's what open source is all about, right? There are complete ecommerce systems for free. Might not be any good, but they don't cost any cash, just configuration time.
creation science book
Instead of investing the time in a second job, why not invest it in your child? The first few years are *unbelievably* important in the bonding process and you can never have them back.
Never.
No amount of money can ever make up for lost time with a child.
So forego all of the latest and greatest Barbie/Furby/Who knows what and just concentrate on being a father.
Cut some corners: eat more at home, shop Salvation Army and Goodwill stores, dollar stores, see second-run movies, hold off on the X-Box games or that spiffy MP3 player you've been wanting. The investment in a human being is more important.
The biggest problem I see in America today is the government picking up the slack of the average parent. And, from what I can tell, the government is doing a piss-poor job trying to make up for the screwed-up priorities of an entire generation.
So, forego the second job until your child gets to know you better. Then ease in a few hours at another job later.
A new human life is nothing to take lightly.
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid. --John Wayne
Well, if you're really strapped for cash and can't find anything that would utilize your skills, put your application in at Wal~Mart. They started me at 7, I heard in larger cities they start you at 9. After 90 days you get a review and a 4 percent raise. I've been working there fri/sat/sun and going to school for the last 7 months. The management at my store has been very accommodating. Just an idea.
Here is your answer
With little training (which I will provide for only $899.95), and one dollar, you too can invest $$$ with my plan!! You too can make to up $280 million! Let me repeat that, you can make up to $280 million or more! (The actual reward depends on the number of investors.)
They will pay up to $10,000 to help with the adoption of a child. Probably have to be there for a year first.
It's unfortunate there's a stigma against blue collar work. Sometimes it pays pretty well, much better than you think. But the biggest advantage is that it's amenable to making your own hours, and it's much easier to get a business going. Everyone nowadays is trying to be a freelance web designer, programmer, graphic artist, technical writer, etc. It's a crowded field, and with the economy being a little slow there just isn't enough work to go around. Not to mention that any bright high school kid these days can/will do this stuff for pocket change, and the opportunities are slim.
However, with everyone trying to land a glam white collar gig, there's still plenty of gritty work to be done, and it pays pretty well. You could easily clean pools, wash windows, do landscaping, property management, handyman stuff, paint, etc. The demand for this stuff never goes away, even when the economy is slow. And the people left doing it are often incompetent and flaky. If you have your shit together, you already have a huge advantage. All you have to do is show up for work, because chances are the other guy didn't.
The "good" $/hr figures being quoted in this thread seem like a total joke to me in comparison. My window washer in Irvine, CA, for example, charges around $40/hr, and has almost zero overhead. Pool men make almost that much too. So do carpet cleaners. Most painters are complete flakes, but the ones who aren't are booked all the time.
So get off your fat ass, do some honest work, and collect a real paycheck. Part time anyway, it will be a nice change of pace, just good exercise. Your time is valuable to yourself and your family -- don't give it away. Anyone who would take a job at Best Buy for $7/hr is a moron. Jobs like that are for kids who don't know any better. Anyone over 19 should have figured out by now what else is out there for them.
I worried about where the money was going to come from when my kids were born. It turned out that I didn't really need to be that concerned. You probably already have the money in disposable income. You just don't know it yet. Don't go moonlighting right away. Caring for a new kid is something you don't want to leave to your spouse.
You may briefly go in to debt while you reorganize your priorities, but you will probably come out of it in better financial shape than you thought. But if you go moonlighting, you'll never know what you've missed...
Congratulations and Good Luck!
Nearly fifty percent of all graduates come from the bottom half of the class!