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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."
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 $10 for each one you sold by the manufacturer. The thing is, it was a piece of junk that I think was designed to break in 6 months. I sold the daylights out of those but I hated myself for it.
Finally, it's a little late in the holiday season to be thinking about a retail job. Most department stores are going to start laying off their holiday help in the next week or so. And with retailers reporting less than impressive profits, it will be hard to find work there about now.
GOBACK.
This not only benefits your wallet, but it also improves your professional skills (which is a great bonus if your employer gives you flack about moonlighting).
Hiyas!
Not sure if that helps or not since I couldnt find what exact area you would like to work in, but here it is:
Rent A Coder
The main site has problems right now, but I can get to specific subsites by bookmarked URL so it should be back soon.
With an account you can bid for small scale software dev projects.
A says "I want an TCP Stack for my microwave oven"
B says "I've done 10 projects so far and to implement your project I want 100 bucks!"
C says "I've done 1 project so far and to do your stuff I want 75 bucks!"
No a gets to choose if he wants to contract B or C.
I've created an account but due to lack of time didnt land a contract yet, but I've heard some quite positive things about this site.
I stumbled accross that site when people where talking about making some money in their freetime on some bulletin board - if you're good you can make like 1000$ a month with that.
Hope this helps!
Good luck to you & your family!
Before you email me, remember: "There is no god!"
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 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!
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