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Getting Started With Part-Time Development Work?
fortapocalypse writes "I'm getting paid a good salary as a Java developer and the hours are great. It is also very stable, which means something in today's economy, especially with a family to feed. However, I'm very unmotivated both because of the work that I do, which is boring, and because the organization I work for is highly political, disorganized, and lacks accountability. I've done what I could to try to change things at work and have pretty much given up on that. I want to go out on my own, either starting my own company or just working as a contractor doing Java development, but I'm not sure of the best way to get started, and my family needs the stability of my current job. I'd really like to start out part-time at 5-15 hours a week to use it as supplemental income (which my family could really use at the moment), but I really don't know where to start. I doubt many contracting agencies would be interested in a part-time worker. What would you suggest for someone in my position?"
First: keep your day job: it provides the cash your family needs. Second: forget about traditional part-time work, it usually either pays really low hourly rates, or the work consumes much more than the 5-15 hours you say you have.
Instead, look at fairsoftware.net (hey, if I invented it, I can brag about it). You won't earn immediate cash, instead you'll be getting equity into whatever fun software project you find. Or start your own and get more geeks to join you, also for revenue share, not upfront cash.
Financially, it's the right thing to do: have most of your base covered with salary, and an upside based on equity so that the sky's the limit. Plus it's fun.
Good luck & you can't have my clients.
Have you checked out Craigslist? Look at both the jobs and the "gigs" sections. I see ads for single-project development all the time as well as some ongoing stuff. I know a few people who do this sort of thing freelance full time and make a pretty penny too.
I live in one of the more tech-active areas in the country (Boulder, CO) so this may or may not apply...
My company needs Java developers. We're looking to build a list of available contractors to do work over the next year as demand for our services grows. If you want to work in S. Florida, e-mail me.
I'm sure there are similar opportunities elsewhere. You just have to find them. A recruiter might be a good place to start.
I'm not sure what part-time work is available in the IT industry: contracting would probably be the most representative of what you're requiring.
Failing that, try and get qualifications and see if your current employer will support you financially (training, certification, degree?). If you're improving your CV, they may be more inclined to give you different work.
ilovegeorgebush
First, rentacoder.com. Go, frolick about, have fun. Second, your question is equally applicable to the profession I'm jumping into -- graphic design. I'll make a long story short for you: Keep your day job. Part time work doesn't pay the bills unless you're getting more than about $35 an hour. The only area in which I've seen someone earn a living on part time work is as a field technician doing laptop repairs. And at that, only barely (and he is making $36/hr). Just so we're clear, his job is located in one of the top 10 major metropolitan areas in the country.
I'll say it again: Don't give up your day job. And don't expect to make much money. If you want a more realistic moonlighting job, consider medical transcription. It's also a work-at-home job and involves arcane technical crap, but there's always work there. Two semesters. And you won't have to argue with other people about the best implimentation, or this algorithm or that...
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Just don't.
What you're saying pretty much translates into 'I want to work more and get paid less.'
If that is exactly what you're looking for, then be my guest.
Otherwise... like I said, don't. If you're tired, get a vacation, for chrissake.
Well, for starters, be thankful you have a good-paying, secure job in the tech sector right now. Then start developing apps for one of the for pay app stores. The Apple, Google, and Xbox app and game stores aren't that bad.
.. I'm very unmotivated both because of the work that I do, which is boring, and because the organization I work for is highly political, disorganized, and lacks accountability.
You've just described every job I ever had.
That's one big problem with Java in a nutshell. Coding Java (or dotnet) at the application level is boring and does little to inspire the best engineers.
How can we create and maintain a great design? Doesn't matter, just start with the IDE design patterns-wizard and fix the code until the bugs from QE and early customers have been worked through.
As you said, today's economy is not at its best.
Its not the best time to try something which might fail.
- rentacoder - find a software product you like and offer your services - start your own software project (check balancer, budget maker, car maintenance helper - whatever, just do something that eliminates something very mundane that you do) - attend a local inventor's conference to inspire ideas - indentify a local business and walk in to ask them if they would like a customized solution: I had a farmer talk to me once about getting a database together of his cows so he could track them better (feed, growth, price when sold, injuries, sicknesses, etc)
Firstly, this has been covered many times before in AskSlashdot articles; try search the site.
Secondly, striking out on your own is tough. Trying to do this whilst maintaining an existing job can be tougher - your quality of life will go down drastically (if you can find decent paying hourly work).
I'd say either find a more fulfilling job out there, or get a hobby to make life more interesting in general (non computer) if you really don't want to go job hunting.
I think you should ask yourself: what's more valuable, time or money? Because 5-15 hours a week doesn't sounds like much, but you're really killing a lot of your personal time.
visit odesk.com
Unless you're in Austin, and then stay the fuck out of my territory and keep your day job.
In all seriousness, I started, and continue to run, a moderately successful dev company on my own via 100% Craigslist clients. I began by building up a small, but consistent client base while still at my 9-5, and then, when the time was right, I struck out on my own.
I would advise against places like rentacoder and getafreelancer and elance, etc... More often than not, with those joints, you're competing against Eastern European or Indian programming companies that charge like $8/hr, and the client base on those sites is more cost-conscious than quality-conscious. You'll waste a ton of time.
Also, for what it's worth, _never_ utilize the services of a site that makes you pay for it. More often than not, they're not worth the money you spend on them.
the organization I work for is highly political, disorganized, and lacks accountability.
You work for the Republican Party?
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
You might try oDesk. I don't know much about them, but the site's been around for at least a year or so, and you seem to be able to choose whatever work suits you. Might be a good starting point, at least.
not only is time travel possible, it's irrelevant.
We're at the beginning of the Second Great Depression. If you have a job that you think will survive the depression, keep it. Even if it sucks. Ten years ago, you could have moved to a hot job at a fun dot-com in a week. Not now. Google just had a layoff. Microsoft is rumored to be laying off 17,000 people.
US manufacturing activity is now down to its lowest level since 1948. That's right, we've lost 60 years of growth. It's going to be a long recession. Japan's housing bubble popped in 1989, and twenty years later, Japan still hasn't recovered. The Nikkei index is around a quarter of its peak in the 1980s. That's what a crash in housing looks like. Japan also has a better "safety net" than the US does in the post-Reagan era.
If you're bored, code something in your spare time. Read books on dealing with dysfunctional organizations; over time, you might be able to improve the place.
Though I've never messed with any of them, there are plenty of freelance, contractor type sites out there.
Also, and I know it must sound seedy, but sitting around in a (fairly upscale) bar that has frequent business travelers works pretty well. I know it is kind of "red-lighting" it, but I've scored a few software jobs just from sitting in front of a beer and chatting it up with complete strangers on Wed or Thurs nights (often, their free night before their flight the next day).
Like a previous poster said, don't quit your day job. It isn't worth losing your insurance because of boredom.
All the independent work I've ever done has been because someone knew someone who knew someone. It started with a helping a friend out with some trouble they were having at their work, which lead to helping out more friends of friends, and then other businesses who heard friends of friends talking.
But trying to work a full time job and make time for my side work was sucking the life out of me. I don't like to leave work unfinished, which makes me a hell of a work horse, but only by pulling time away from every else. And once there was no time left to cut I just started sleeping less. So after only a few months I left my steady and well paying job to go solo for awhile.
If I were more motivated, I might still be trying to fly solo, but I really didn't like all the extra work. Not the extra development work, which I loved. It was all the other work. As a corporate drone I spent a lot of my time in development. Working for myself, I also had to be the salesdroid, and the accountant, and the business manager, and health care consultant, and all the rest of the hats that needed wearing. I also could never really enjoy my 'time off' since I was never sure where or when my next paycheck might be coming.
So after a few years I went back to a steady and well paying job. Which, right now, I'm pretty thankful to have. And these days I just actively work to fix some of those annoying bureaucratic problems. Which can certainly involve wearing a few of those extra hats I didn't like... but we all learn to pick and choose which battles are worth fighting. And I guess for me, it's in the corporate trenches.
A steaming cup of soykaf would be real wiz right now.
I tried for years to pick up side jobs, but here's what I discovered.
The people who are paying for the side projects, are looking for people to work for nothing. I currently make the equivalent of $70 an hour ($140k per year), I get to keep only 58% of that after taxes. Most of the people balk at paying $20 an hour, in their mind software developers already get paid an outrageous amount of money so making a few extra bucks must be a windfall, it's not. My time and sanity is worth far more than $11.60 an hour. And it's not even that clear cut, you can give these people an honest estimate and they act like you've padded the hours, then even if they accept it, they'll constantly change the requirements and pretend like that should just be part of the original agreement. When you stand firm as any one in their right mind should, they act like they were doing you a favor and pull out.
The only real way to make the jump from corporate slavery is to start your own project, and hence your own business. Otherwise you are moving from one headache to another type of headache, and you'll find yourself yearning for the corporate environment you left. With a product in hand you can develop a "need" in the market place, and you'll find that once they "need" you they can and will pay the kind of money you are looking for.
Before anyone speaks up, yes I know successful independent consultants. But guess what? I make more money then them even though they make a higher hourly wage, take for example a database admin friend of mine, he makes $85 an hour, but he has to pay his own health care, no 401(k) matching, no holiday's, no vacations, he also has a lot of paperwork to do and pays an accountant. With all of his overhead, and paying his own half of the employment tax, I'm ahead by $20k a year. Oh and I only work a max of 45 hours a week, he gets woken at 2am randomly any day of the week, and instead of racking in the overtime they ask him to leave early on the days he has to fix an emergency in the middle of the night. Some consultants might make the $125+ an hour that it takes to be worth it, but most do not.
You can try Elance.com.
You can make bids for contract work, or people can contact you directly. Work at your own pace, set your own schedule. Just make sure not to do the contract work at your company.
Make sure you don't have a "no moonlighting" clause. I used to work for a company that had one and vigorously enforced it. And I mean Security goon standing next to your desk with a box for your stuff and a quick frog march out the door style enforcement. It's a real bad time to be trashing a steady paycheck.
I have not done this myself because some of my friends have. When I saw what they were going through I decided to avoid the idea altogether for several reasons.
First of all, if your job is stable you may want to read the contract or the NDA that the company had you sign when you became employed. Many companies forbid you from working for profit or working at all. Wanna risk your well paid job? Be my guest.
Another good reason for not accepting the second job is because it is not going to be a second job for you. In the eyes of your client, your second job is going to be his primary or the only job. This means the client will not expect less from you by any means. Calls at work during business hours, meeting during weekends and weekdays, etc. Are you ready for it? And if you for some reason manage your time well and actually get both of the jobs done then say good-bye to your free time.
I have observed a friend of mine who made a good hourly rate at his part time job. No time to relax led to constant family troubles which are NOT worth anything in the long run. The extra money that he had made on the side essentially went to family therapy of the 21st century: Shopping sprees, vacations one can barely afford, etc. The net income was zero if you don't count the lost nerve cells. That's why I recommend you to look the other way and if you do need to save some money review your family budget.
Finally somewhere in your post you mentioned that your current organization is not the best fit for you. Are you sure you want to get a part-time gig? It sounds like you are bored and you'd like a new job. Why not get a new position that pays more? I know that we are in a recession but if you're any good I am sure there will be a job opening. If anything, I'd consider doing some Open Source development work and that way you can put something on your resume later on. At least that way you will have to work on your schedule without having to answer to a pissed off client.
Spend as much time as you can on your current job trying to improve your skill set in valuable areas and this will improve your lot at current employ in addition to making you stronger for your next gig. Read and do as much technical stuff offline from your job as you can (setup linux, dns, etc.). You may find that your lot at your current gig has improved and you don't need to leave. Then again it may be time to go and you'll be in a better position to do it.
This is NOT a very good time to take risks with your employment.
Get a divorce!
Ok, sorry: No real input from me.
When you shoot a mime, do you use a silencer?
However, I'm very unmotivated both because of the work that I do, which is boring, and because the organization I work for is highly political, disorganized, and lacks accountability. I've done what I could to try to change things at work and have pretty much given up on that.
Well, that pretty much sums it up for the rest of us.
Anything new here?
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
and, I fire developers who I find moonlighting. The issue is that, although the work week is 40h/week, I want 40h when your brains are on, not 40h after you've spent 16-24h on your own projects. Chances are your IP contract means your employer owns everything that is even remotely related to work -- done on your "own time" or on your "own equipment" it doesn't matter if you're an exempt employee. If they don't have a contact like that -- they should.
If you don't find your work fulfilling, engage in an open source project that's interesting to you (and let your boss know about it). Learn, take classes, work out more , er... get a "well balanced life"
You are absolutely right to keep your day job for now, and kudos to you for getting motivated to make a change before you go postal.
Two vital warnings: do not quit your day job until you have so much other work that you can't possibly do both. It will take a while to build up enough of a network to do that. And you should also have at least six months expenses in cash. There will be ups and downs, and you and your family must be financially and emotionally prepared to ride them out.
As far as finding work, start with your social network, especially friends and family. There is somebody out there who needs something simple built. As long as the job is of modest size and the money is more than pocket lint, take it. You'll need to build up a portfolio, collect references, and learn how to run your own business. Practice all that on small, easy jobs.
The way you get more business after that? When somebody needs you, you must be the person they hear about. The best way to do that is by doing great work for people socially connected to them. And that's great on their terms, not on yours. So study what people really want, and practice setting aside your personal taste in technology. Also study how they are interconnected, and how they decide whom to trust. Being in a service business is all about people, even if you're using technology to provide a service.
Personally, I love being independent; it doesn't mean you can do as you please around the clock, but being able to tell any one client that they're too crazy to work with is a pearl beyond price.
"However, I'm very unmotivated both because of the work that I do, which is boring, and because the organization I work for is highly political, disorganized, and lacks accountability."
Big reasons I no longer do it.
The other reason is maintenance. Most "software development" is dealing with crap laid down by others who moved on years prior. If not within the company, then mentally.
Frankly, software development is severely overrated. Getting a CS degree and going off to do it is sort of like watching some episode of Nova dealing with some science topic lending some interest to whatever scientific branch that is involved but then when you get that chemistry degree you realize a monkey could work at a lab eventually (think Darwin).
Likewise, creating some "neato" web page isn't exactly indicative of what software development is like in the real world. Sure web development is not the only kind of software development but it sure is the majority nowadays.
-M
If you want more money you can work more or you can work better. Think about the future because years pass quickly. Everyone can use some extra cash, but once you get them, it's hard to turn back.
This will help you out in many ways...after all, this is a business. With incorporation, you can protect your private assets legally. And if you are wanting to 1099 contract, well most places for tax purposes, are very nervous about doing that to an individual, but are more protected by corp-2-corp contracting. This came about largely from an old MS case, where contractors came back and successfully sued for employment benefits..etc.
Another reason...TAXES...with a corporation, you get to write off many, many, many things. For example...I have an "S" corp. With this set up, I pay myself a "reasonable" salary according to IRS guidelines. I only have to pay employment taxes (SS and medicare) on this portion of the money I bring in, the rest falls through at EOY to my personal income. This can save you a great deal of money. For example...say I bill out and collect $100K a year. I pay myself a reasonable salary of say, $40K (some go lower than this). Now, I only have to pay SS and medicare on that $40K....the rest of the $60K is only subject to state/federal taxes.
You also get to write off mileage driving to/from jobsites...and many many other things lowering your 'profit' and lowering your tax rate overall.
You can also do some neat things like for health insurance...get a private policy...if you get one with a high deductible ($1200 this year?)...you can set up a Health Savings Account...and this year, you can sock away $2900 PRE-tax...pay your normal every day medical needs with this money...and what you don't use...can be invested to grow, and it is not use or lose...this money keeps going for you, and can be accessed even for non-health related expenses at retirement.
And get a CPA you trust....they can show you how to do the paperwork...it is a PITA the first couple times, but, once you get it down...no big deal. Just use something like Quickbooks pro....and do your own entries...at EOY...just send a copy of your QB stuff to your CPA...and let them deal with it (you get to write off their fees too).
Anyway....that should be the first thing you look into. Do it now if you are just considering going indie...set it up now, you don't have to use it right away...my company sat essentially dormant for 3-4 years before I started seriously using it...and all the time, I took tax breaks (quite legally) for losses in those years without income from it.
The other thing...well, get contacts....networking is your best friend. Start NOW getting in good with people. You need to have people skills.
You might also look into being a contract employee first. This will give you the taste of both worlds...and with this if you are a US citzen, you might can get into govt/DoD contracting, which is gravy. You can get LONG term contracts this way...starting out with an established place as a contract employee (make sure you get paid hourly, not salary)..they often will pick up the price of getting you a clearance. THAT can help you later on for jobs, and pay.
Anyway, good luck. ONe thing...before you make the total leap to inde...save, save, save money! You need to have some serious "Fuck You" money put back...and keep it back while contracting, not only for dry periods....but, for times when you just wanna take off 2-4 months, to do fun things or be with your kids if you like.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
go to http://www.craigslist.org/ (select your city) I live in NY and find loads of part time gigs when I search the jobs for "part-time" or I search "gigs" Good Luck
>... his statement "the organization I work for is highly political, disorganized, and lacks accountability" suggests to me that he is working for a non-profit, not-for-profit, or similar organization.
Unfortunately, that quote could easily apply to a major share of American (if not worldwide) businesses. One legacy of the pyramid scheme that Wall Street has become is that many nice, profitable small businesses have been bought up by idiots whose only skills are to concoct a 'business plan' that makes sense to the bigger idiots that buy them.
Profit? Who needs it as long as the next great thing is always in development and just around the corner... and the company gets sold before the lies are uncovered.
Eventually you realize that you've been a bit of an idiot too - believing that rational arguments and good technology can win the day in what are essentially mergers and acquisitions firms, not software houses.
The company I work for has gone through this literally 6 times since I've been there. If it weren't for liking the day-to-day work, and the salary, I'd have been out of there years ago. But then, where would I have gone...
What remains to be seen is whether the current global economic collapse will topple these houses of cards too.
Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
As someone who has done freelance development for a few years, I can honestly say that it ALWAYS consumes more time than you expect and it is NEVER worth the money. My two cents.
Jason-Palmer.com
For mobile development. You choose your own hours, and how much you want to work on the project. I know it sounds "too good to be true", but it's not. I've been working on it for 3 years now and we have a lot of developers who are working with us. Contact me at my user's email address for more information.
Speaking from experience. Get another non-IT related job. Pet sitting. Working at Radio Shack. Washing dishes. You'll make more money and it may be a good way to blow off stress from IT/programming work. It will also have better defined work hours and working conditions. Once you punch that time clock, you're done for the day and can go home.
Also, consider the fact that if your employer catches programming you they may fire you for competing with them or conflict of interest. If the boss finds you working at the local Radio Shack or book store, it looks a a bit better, you can say "I'm just paying off a few Xmas bills. Hey! Check out this signed first edition we just received!"
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
At any rate I understand your position completely and would recommend to you that you check out guru.com . They post requests for freelance development work and you can post your qualifications as a freelancer there as well. They also help with setting things up to make it more likely you will actually get paid, which is always a good thing when you are doing freelance development. They have varying levels including a free account which is all I have ever needed to use.
Hope this helps, happy hunting.
The Matrix is real... but I'm only visiting!
We're at the beginning of the Second Great Depression.
The situation is actually a lot worse than you realize, although I don't want to go that far off-topic.
But even though the glass is half-empty, it's also half-full.
The greatest return on investment is always made from starting small, at the very bottom of an economic slump, just as the economy kicks in and begins to grow again.
And if you remember any of your college calculus, the economy actually starts to accelerate again after passing through that inflection point on the way down - which inflection point is probably not such a bad time to be starting a new venture.
What you don't want to do is invest a ton of money into some project right at the peak of the good times - that's what all the fools do [i.e. buy high and, ultimately, sell low].
I attend them occasionally to hear something interesting (not just for the free pizza). Headhunters swarm them all the time offering about three times as many jobs as there are attendees.
Check out freelance.com they always have work out there just be cautious who its for :)
While I like the idea of RentACoder or Guru, the people posting jobs on those sites are mindbogglingly cheap rubes. For example:
You have been invited by the buyer to participate in a project on http://www.rentacoder.com/ for the following bid request:
Title:Java web application, jdbc, jsp, payment integration.
Description:Type: Web app.; Using: Java, J2EE, JDBC, JSP, MySql, Javascripts, all browsers.
Requires completing a non-disclosure agreement, NDA, to obtain full project details and percentage of deposit held in escrow to hedge against and minimize project risk.
Some of the project deliverables are:
* Integration of live/real-time payment processing
* Multi-Account registration
* Various user groups with varying access levels
* Site navigation hyperlinks
* Region specific clock and news updates
* Content management interface
* Administrator console/panel
* Dynamically generated pages and panels with scrolling content
* Password reset utility/Account lockout security feature
* Directories
* Newsletter feature
* Triggers, Auto-notification, Stored procedures
* Built in Node-aware sniffer and product licensing
* Software update-deploy utility
* Packaged executable interfacing with web application
* Search, sorts, queries and data manipulation utilities
* Consistent page design and theme
* Database design normalized for optimal performance
* Language conversion utility
* Thorough documentation
Categories:Web, Microsoft Windows, Database, Language Specific, Java, Requirements, Operating Systems / Platforms, UNIX, Internet Browser, Security, Web Services, Linux, MySQL, Java Server Pages (JSP), Search Engine Optimization, Javascript, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Software Related (Includes Websites)
Max Bid:$250
Like hell. That's a representative sample. Don't even get me started on the requests for clone sites.
Yes, I am a smart ass; it's better than the alternative.
.. of course I haven't got a family or an evil mortgage company to drain my income. What I did was save up enough cash to see me through three months of expenses (you might get redundancy!) and then I went freelance. Lots of time off, spend a lot of time with friends and relatives and going to music festivals, and really enjoy my work when I get it. Basically I've retired early. ;)
Sounds like you're as p****ed off with employers as I was - now I'm happy and free.
With any luck your employers will be looking to lay some people off and offering severance.
Your family? Well your wife can work and your kids can get paper rounds (if they're old enough). Why should you be the only one putting up will all the crap?
Read 4 Hour Work Week and Covey's Seven Habits - not as life changing as the authors would have you believe but do let you into a few secrets.
If you do this then I'll buy you a beer at Glastonbury this year
1. I'm sure you can find lots of gigs on Craigslist or through a recruiter. Through a recruiter, you'll probably find more jobs that want you onsite during the day, which will interfere with your real job.
2. Which leaves you with looking for freelance gigs via Craigslist and such. The majority of those projects will be from people with little understanding of what they really need, and even less money. As a result, you should be picky about the jobs you take. You need to understand their business model, not just their programming needs.
3. I recommend against making fixed-price bids on freelance projects. Hourly is much easier for you to manage, and keeps the client from feature-creeping you. It's fine to give estimates, meet their budgets, but don't fall into the trap of fix-price bidding on an undefined project! Yes, it is harder to negotiate and win an hourly contract vs fixed-price, but it is worth it. (You will get burned on a fixed price project: it will happen to you, as it does to all new freelancers, so here's my "I-told-you-so" in advance!)
4. Collections. Collecting payment needs to be easy, and often isn't. Do not deliver source code until you are paid. Have a contract stating that payment indicates acceptance. Show them frequent builds and let them see and use the software frequently so that invoices are not a surprise. When you don't get paid, stop working.
I also advise taking on an easy project to start. Make sure it is a slam dunk for you and get a taste for whether or not you want to keep doing freelance projects. Good luck!
douchebags sitting in a bar will get jobs...
people with educations and years of experience 'dont look right' or 'dont fit in'.
hope you enjoy the future of IT unions, because that is what assholes like you and your 'clients' are creating.
Firstly, family commitment trumps personal contentment, so no matter how much you dislike your current position, you have an obligation to hang onto it until you have a clear cut opportunity.
I've had poor experiences contracting for an agency. They charged 300% of my rate, which would be ok (I guess) if they provide commiserate value. But at that time I was finding my own work (the agency didn't know how to sell my services) and the only benefit I was getting from the agency was withholding and insurance. (Contract to hire is different -- I don't mind being represented by an agency during the contract portion.)
Finally I got fed up and created an LLC (it's cheap to do in my state) and handled all the paperwork myself, since I was doing most of it anyway. I could split the difference between my former rate and the rate the agency was charging, and still significantly undercut the competition.
If you go this route, you have to be willing to aggressively go after new contracts -- you can't usually wait for work to come to you. But it's a good step towards owning your own small company, if that's the direction you want to go.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I want to go out on my own, either starting my own company or just working as a contractor doing Java development
Are Java developers actually still being hired? I thought that language was only taught at school, and then never more.
-- Chaos, panic, pandemonium... My job here is done!
You can easily fill a few idle hours off the coding sites, though not necessarily at the hourly rate you want. But to make a full-time go of it you will likely spend a lot of your time marketing yourself. Lots of us techie types either can't sell, or can but hate it.
If you don't like the idea of doing a good bit of sales and marketing, you are better off either making the best of your current job, or looking for a different one.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
Just because your day job is Java development doesn't mean your second job has to be. To me the most ideal would be the IT guy for a few small businesses. In most cases they don't need and can't afford a full time employee. This also gives you the chance to network and make a lot of connections.
If you get to know their business, you can find opportunities to improve some of their processes. Maybe a simple webapp can allow their customers to do something on the web or a simple application will help them do something a little easier. This leads into support of the product you made.
There are several things you can do to get started and there are plenty of places where you can make very good money working part-time. Here are some of the important points I've found working both as a contractor as well as an employer who hires contractors.
#1 Learn the business as well as the development.
You can be a great developer and not make money (see any of the previous "Contracting sucks" posts). Improve your networking skills and just start talking to people, be willing to fail occasionally in order to succeed.
#2 Start with online sites.
It sounds like you're not ready to make a move from your current job (see #3), so you may want to start with some online sites. I use ODesk to look for potential contractors and have considered using it for jobs. There are plenty of sites out there which help facilitate matching developer skills with company needs.
#3 Be willing to move when the time is right. :-)
Most of my clients came from full-time contracts or previous employers I had worked with. If you're good, you just need ways for people to see that and you'll never go hungry again
#4 Don't be afraid to raise your rate.
This is actually a two-way street. If you set a low rate, I assume you suck. You are also not happy b/c after a while you realize 15 hours probably *is* worth more than $150 (before taxes). If you don't know what others are charging, do some research and ask questions. Don't be a jerk, but don't be afraid of the social faux pas of asking money questions. Ask employers what they pay an average Java developer with your experience. Generally, I charge an 80% to 100% premium over a salary for hourly work (i.e., 100,000 / yr = $48/hr. $100,000 salary would instead charge an $86 - $96 hourly rate). YMMV
And finally, try to spend less time reading our posts (loosely known as "advice") and more time building your clientele! ;-)
-geis
P.S. This advice is not for developers who suck. If you suck, unsuck (read, learn, do, repeat) first.
There have been a lot of good comments; but if I can offer some unsolicited (well; maybe it is solicited) is to start slow, taking on 1-2 clients in the beginning to gauge how the extra work is going to affect your family and other parts of your life. I'm a PT Adjunct Instructor for a technical school here, totally psyched to do 25hr/wk for 20-30 grand more a year, but quickly found that it took so much of my time, that it really isn't worth it to me. I had very little time with my wife, very little time to exercsise (not to mention another 25 hrs with very little physical activity), very little time to pursue other hobbies. The bad news is anything with consistency is going to be just that, consistent. Good for the bank roll, bad when you want some time off from your day job and the second gig just can't accomodate that schedule.
I don't know if it is what you are looking for, but I have found some success doing small informal websites for local businesses; mostly from refferals for a reasonable price. (Usually $300-$500 for a 5 page site + $100/year hosting) The nice part is that it is fairly simple work, and opens the door for higher-wage projects if they decide to do anything more advanced such as CRM or online sales from the site. The other advantage is that the customers are local; so if they screw you, you aren't trying to get money from a voice over the phone you've never met states away, and can often settle a dispute in the local small claims court.
The great part is its usually 1 sit down session where you give the speil, usually during my lunch hour, maybe a second to get all the facutal/content information you need and the rest of the time I send design proposals on a "beta" site for them to approve/disapprove. I get to control how much time I put into it by taking on as many clients as I want (and am willing to service), and for the remainder of the time, I just let the site chug along. It has been really nice where teaching was 25hr/wk or nothing, and was very inflexible, and made it almost impossible to take vacation.
All that being said, don't box yourself into a corner where the second job will be a black mark on your work performance if you decide the second gig is just too much and are tempted to quit at a bad place in the project or when they won't give you vacation times that line up with your 9-5 (or give you less time than your 9-5). Be wary of burnout, and I'd say start small on a contract basis for a short term contract and see if you are willing (and even able) to keep your life in check. For me, 25 was way too much to still enjoy living.
Forgive my spelling from time to time. I'm often posting during short breaks.
I do this. Haven't left my day job, but have the Fuck You money, and a bunch of clients, a company and more work than I can handle.
You need people skills. Writing skills. Knowing how to write a Craigslist post and reply to one will keep you working any time you want. You need a corporation. Run the money through it and write off your gear.
You will be seen by clients. Get a regular haircut, and dress appropriately. Pay attention to this shit. Grooming and social skills will do everything, and with good technical abilities you will make money.
You need a decent late model car. Basically, do not look like you need work. Ever. Look like the client needs you, not vice versa. Force yourself to make a car payment with work. It pays off in more work.
Do not subcontract unless the money is what you expect as a primary contractor. You'll probably need to learn this yourself, but jobs get subbed because they suck. No one subs out an easy ten hour, thousand dollar gig.
Life is long. Spend it doing stuff that excites and interests you. Fuck working at a place you don't like. Ignore people who say you need to stay somewhere.
You get one day like today. Start setting things up. It is a process, but it is wonderful to know that the things you do are for yourself.
In this industry, there are not enough people who know their stuff. There weren't after dotcom, and there aren't now.
You're good at java? You'll be fine. Have a plan, be yourself, and do kick ass stuff for your clients. Guys who make stuff work do amazingly. Good luck.
Do what I did, line up a new job, resign your full-time position then offer to consult for an hourly basis or stay on retainer while they find someone else. You have to take a risk if you want to go into business for yourself, if you keep avoiding the risk you will never do it.
Claiming that programming in Java or .NET (or any other language) is inherently "boring and does little to inspire the best engineers" shows that you have no idea what you're talking about.
The best engineers are not bored by the implementation language - they're bored by poor ideas. Give them a great idea, and they'll do it in Java, .NET, C++, Perl, Haskell, or assembly if they have to, and it will be good, because the best engineers are challenged by great ideas, not languages.
Disclaimer: I'm sort of anti-Java (though that's what my job is going to focus on, shortly), and I prefer C++ to C#, so my defense of Java and .NET is unbiased. Besides, my comments apply to every language.
"because the organization I work for is highly political, disorganized, and lacks accountability"
Nearly all hi tech companies fit this profile.
The guy is right. Losing $80K/year in order to earn $12/year is not smart at all...
I want to go out on my own, ...starting my own company ... doing Java development, but I'm not sure of the best way to get started, and my family needs the stability of my current job. I'd really like to start out part-time at 5-15 hours a week to use it as supplemental income (which my family could really use at the moment), but I really don't know where to start.
You say this yet most of the people focus on the part-time moonlighting consulting part. I agree with them that moonlighting can affect your present position negatively, kill your free time and make your family time and social life lessened and more stressful, and will likely not really give you much of an income supplement. On the other hand, it is a way to make contacts and improve your technical skills, so it's all what you want.
When the dot-com boom was happening, I had a server stored at a colo facility for free. In 1998-1999 I saw so many idiots getting $10-20 million VC I started a dot com site which nowadays would be called a "Web 2.0" site. I started to get a lot of traffic, and in early 2000 I was even scoping out disk arrays for the site (it used a lot of disk space). But then in spring of 2000 the dot com market crashed, and I gave up the idea - a few months later I stopped taking new users, and I closed the site up in late 2001. I am not a programmer yet I did all the programming on the site, so that's the main thing I gained from the experience.
Nowadays I have a side business as well. Unlike the earlier one, you see a lot more cash upfront. I sell things online. Not the sexiest thing in the world, but it makes money. I haven't tallied up revenues for last year but I know I ordered over $10k of stuff from one of my suppliers. One reason I don't have more revenue is I do not want more revenue at this point. An important point which I will go into. But anyhow, on the technical end I have an osCommerce (PHP) web site which I modify when I need or want to. Right now I sell everything off of it. I was selling off of FeeBay as well, but they raised their rates too high for me. My web site is registered on Google Base/Shopping and right now I am getting 99% of my hits from that, which is free. Via it, (looking now at my osCommerce screen I see) I have had 25 separate orders from December 10th to today, with an average price of about $50 (price and shipping). I used Google Ads previously, and still like them, but I am not trying to grow revenue currently. I also wrote a suite of screen scraper stuff in PERL so as to get me advantageous information. They are helpful, but they can be a pain to maintain by myself.
Anyhow - at the beginning of this year, I called my main supplier and asked for a good price on the item we sell the most of. He gave me a price and I ordered 70 of it, and 6 each of five similar items (100 in all). I called back a month later and said I was selling more of the five similar items and could I have a break on those prices as well. I got a break on all six. I promised I would order at least 100 every quarter (he had wanted me to commit to 100 every month but I said I couldn't do that). He also said if the manufacturer started charging more they'd raise the price. I was selling about $1500 a month on eBay, plus more from Google Ads and Shopping/Base on the web site. I was often shipping out 2 to 3 items a day. Between work, night school, and everything else, this shipping got to be a pain. Also I was only making one or two dollars on each shipment, and margins got tighter as time went on. In the summer, the supplier raised their prices on everything including this stuff. I used that as a point to stop ordering at the 100-a-quarter pace, as I didn't want to keep going at that rate, and it was a good excuse to end the deal we had. I learned that shipping is time-consuming and something I didn't want to spend time on. I was considering hiring a part-time person to do shipping for maybe an hour or two 5 times a
Small businesses are a pain in the ass even if you are your own boss. There are plenty of things to do and worry about and since you will likely be looking to more than 5-15 hours a week I would recommend taking that extra 5 hours and spending it with your kids. Infact, don't kid yourself, most clients expect a great deal of work for as little as possible. What happens when a client needs to contact you during 'normal' working hours? Your current employer won't be happy when they figure out what you are doing. I had a part time contract with a full time employer and even though the technology between the two was completely different I ended up loosing the job with the full time employer because they thought I was cutting their company. Be prepared to be overwhelmed. I couldn't imagine doing this work with a family. If you are looking for something to do then why not get a hobby or build a useful application and sell it for $30-40. How much work can you really do in 5 hours? Clients want 50 hours a week not 5!
Just my 2 cents.
Your problem is that your work is boring and unfulfilling. The solution is not necessarily to go it alone, which has lots of problems as pointed out elsewhere. You might want to consider just looking for a different, also well paid, job.
A good start would be to learn something other than Java, and get experience in it, perhaps doing hobbyist/open source development. I hate to be blunt but Java is the language of choice for large, stagnant companies which are resistant to change, because it's a tool that is also stagnant and resistant to change. Learn something like C++ then go work on game engines, or search engines, or raytracers for the movie industry, or operating systems, or ....
Um, based on your own stated criteria, does this show that you don't know what you're talking about?
At least, try to be a little more consistent.
I didn't imply that language X is inherently boring, like the OP did; I simply stated that I prefer some languages over others (without giving reasons). That is completely irrelevant to my point, which is that the statement "good engineers find language X boring" is ridiculous. I only mentioned that last bit to show that I'm not being biased :P
Sorry for p1ssing on your chips, but this is an awful idea. There could not be a worse time to go contract. You won't be earning any more money, probably a lot less. Contracting affords little job security, but this is so much worse at the minute, and even if you end up on a contract you have a short termination clause and could be severed at short notice any time. The likelihood of getting a contract is vastly reduced right now as compared to 1-2yrs ago. You would be closing your options down dramatically by going part-time, as most hirers would not be interested (I certainly wouldn't be). They have projects with a deadlines, and would rather hire someone who will work a full week. Projects are harder to plan with mixed resource availability, and its just a management overhead, and maybe even a morale issue for the other staff to have a PTer on the team. Think of it from your prospective employers perspective - if it costs the same per hour why not have someone who can realise vastly more effort in a working week? I think you are being a bit greedy, because you think you are in a good position right now. I would seriously consider taking stock, getting a "reality check" (i hate that phrase) and looking at what you do have. I have to say that dark times are ahead, and you need to make hay whilst the sun shines. Get your head down, pay your mortgage, get through it. DON'T try to be too clever. The one exception I would have to this is learn new stuff, don't rely on any one tech to pay the bills. I am a architect/team-lead and I plan to spend 2009 diversifying into new techs, grabbing with both hands any opportunities that arise at work, getting a ton of certs in (my company relies on that, I don't although it can decorate the CV a bit), looking out for me and my family and working my ass off. Not the time to be taking the foot off the pedal.
Find yourself a local non-profit that needs some development work done, do it pro-bono, with the understanding that you can release the source under a open-source license. This way, you have something to show prospective clients, a chance to do some networking (the non-profit's board may know businesses that need your services, it you're good), and you'll have a shot at getting decent references, as well as doing some good in your community.
This isn't exactly what you specified, but you ought to look into development jobs in small trading or financial firms.
Many of them want C++ coders, but there is some demand for Java folks.
Why I suggest this: in my experience, the trading/financial industry pays more---potentially a lot more when bonuses are taken into consideration. If you find a small trading firm that is profitable, chances are they have little bureaucracy and at least semi-intelligent management (it's a competitive field, so stupidity dies quickly).
The other side of the coin is that you'll probably work many more hours than you're used to. But if you're willing to consider taking on part time work in addition to your full-time job, then presumably you are prepared to spend more hours working in general.
I'm working for a small but successful trading firm in Chicago. Even though I have a good thing going, I'm keeping my eyes open. My resume is out there, so I get a fair number of emails from recruiters looking for people with experience in this field. Based on this, my guess is that, even in these depressed times, the demand for competent developers is still high in the trading/financial sector.
Law School.
I think the previous poster is on target - it takes a long time to build a clientele where they keep coming back, so you're consistently busy instead of just occasionally busy.
But if you're good (or anyone else reading) we might be interested; we definitely mange independent part time remote developers, and I think we're going to be a bit shy in Java.
Let's say dev-slashjava@xig.net for this. Send what you can in terms of resume portfolio.
arete
Looking for freelance Actionscript (Flash/Flex) or ColdFusion work and/or freelance developers. Email me, put Slashdot
Most people look for opportune timing and weigh everything but most of them aren't entrepreneurs. You're responsible for creating the reality too. Most entrepreneuristic efforts aren't realized from a fixed guideline of safety rules and don't occur with appropriate timing. You either take the plunge or else you never will. There are many free entrepreneur guidelines out there to provide people realistic expectations of sacrifice and gain from such endeavours. For example: http://www.bdc.ca/en/business_tools/entrepreneurial_self-Assessment/selfassessment.htm?iNoC=1
I've worked on some pet projects during downtime (or after hours, or periods of boredom) and sold those to management after they were in a vaguely presentable state. E.g. tools that nobody else has the time or money to build/have built, something to improve workflow or management, etc. Right now I'm porting/converting a Wiki because there's been some grief about it.
That's something that gets you visibility and recognition, and maybe a raise one day - at least better job security than the guy in the next cubicle.
thegodmovie.com - watch it
Not all buyer on sites like RAC are looking for cheap programmers. Look for a project that is coming from an established company looking to maintain an application or move to new platform. There are many projects on RAC which will pay you 5K plus. The benefit of finding freelance work with a company is that the specs are clear and there is a potential to grow with the company and chance to get more projects with the same client outside RAC once you build the trust.
As you work on these projects, you can learn how to evolve business requirements into the product and contribute to ideas. There is no heavy management chain, like in your 9 - 5 job, you need to worry about to suggest product ideas, improvements. You can also learn how to deal with tough customers and bad assumptions by business people.
Finally, use that experience to build your own application, either related to the product domain that you have worked on or a new idea that you could come up with. Use all your experience on taking a project from its infancy to final roll out and free yourself from the project work or outsource it to India/Romania.
We started developing a lot of ebay related applications on RAC and learnt a lot about the ebay platform during that tenure. Now we are in a position and process of developing our own application which we couldn't have thought of building it 3 years ago. We will be rolling it out soon and that will be a start of the final phase towards my final step from leaving my day time job. The projects we did on RAC turned into permanent maintenance revenue for us giving us the funds to invest in R&D of the new app.
Of,course there is no strict recipe for success in business but you don't have to be a business genius to build one. Just jot down the steps and execute them, one at a time.
You keep discouraging people to jump in the pool with ya and soon enought the pool will be big enough for just you.
So, I've just reread my post, and I can't see where I even mentioned rape. But let's go with that, because I'm in such a trollbiting mood:
While this might be considered a legitimate reason to have an abortion, consider the statistics
So you admit that it might be a legitimate reason, except for some statistics. So let's look at them:
There are about 200 pregnancies due to rape [physiciansforlife.org] per year
In other words, you're going to tell those 200 women that they have to carry the baby to term,
So my question is: why is it okay to make abortion legal and freely available in all cases, just to make it available for the 0.00003% that may have legitimate reasons?
I don't know. Let's look at our other fundamental rights and see which ones we don't value, because they only apply to a minority.
Hell, there's only a tiny percentage of people in the US who aren't Christian, or at least Deist -- let's make it a legal requirement to believe in God!
Fuck no, the question is not one of statistics. We are about fundamental rights, in case you've forgotten. How many people in China are actually harmed by the inability to speak freely? Who gives a fuck? It's a fundamental, inalienable right.
So yeah, unless you're ready to tell those 200 women to go fuck themselves -- and very likely the other thousand or so women who don't want to admit they were raped -- I think we should let it stand.
By the way: All of that is following your assumption that only women who have been raped have a legitimate reason for getting an abortion. That seems moronic. Either abortion is baby-killing or it's not. If you're right, and it is baby-killing, then those 200 women should sit and suffer -- but I think you're an insensitive prick if you believe that. If it's not baby-killing, but fetus-aborting, then yes, every woman should have a right to it, whether she's been raped or not.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
it's obvious he's not using it in a technical sense but only literally.
(testing my time machine)
Don't risk your day job by moonlighting.
If you're looking for something rewarding and enlightening, I suggest you keep your day job and take up drinking.
It's a lot less risky and your boss already does it.
Are you trying to be funny? It's $250 for the whole job.
You're putting too much on the line if you transition into the patchwork quilt that is freelancing / 'contracting' for primary income. Freelancing / contracting is not the walk in the park, I do my own business thing everyone thinks it is. You -MUST- have clients, which means you -MUST- kiss ass at some point. There is _NO_ selectivity in the contractor world. You don't just pick who and who not to do business with.
1. You will experience the same beaurocratical mish mash from any and possibly all companies you work with
2. You have to attune yourself to the many ways of 'doing things' from other companies.
As said before, if you want to do it part time, don't expect anything to be done 'on time' because they're communication and beurocratical b.s. will slow everything down, which means you extra 'paychecks' on the side come in slower. In the end, the extra money may not be worth the time or stress of having to juggle the projects...
Remember, anytime you start contracting/freelancing, you're not your own boss - you have SEVERAL BOSSES (We call these clients to delude ourselves).
I see these type of ads all the time. I guess these bozos don't want to pay $2 an hour for an offshore worker, so they hope to get some naive developer to work for free.
I am in Denver Colorado, I can hire an experienced PHP developer, locally, for $15 an hour any day of the week. And your saying that $75 an hour to $125 an hour is common? I take it you're a recruiter?
Funny I don't recognize your writing style. I thought I knew everyone at my company.
I find it funny that people are recommending how to incorporate or what tools to use, etc... When the first question should, "are you legally allowed to do this?"
Many contracts forbid you from doing this, so that you can completely focus on the company. And many companies don't want competition from you.
So first figure out if you are even allowed to do this...
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
Sorry if this is already posted, I didn't see it though...
http://www.rentacoder.com/
As others said, keep your job, you need it in this economy. However, if you really do have some skills, go make some money on the side with them. You can get jobs that range from helping some kid setup his first perl IRC bot on a server for a few bucks to helping develop specific programs for a large business. You get to pick and choose, be your own boss kinda thing. It's like EBAY for a nerd, it's not a full time job, but it'll earn you money and experience.
Go to user groups and look around online, maybe even talk to some of the contractors your employer uses. Many contractors have more work than they can do. I employ several part time subcontractors. They mostly do bug fixes, but the code is interesting and very different from their day jobs. I do a straight pass through to them (I don't take a percentage), but many people do take a cut of work they pass on. This means not having to find the clients your self, keeping the billing simple and helps you keep the small number of hours you want.
Second Great Depression
We're no where near the Great Depression, not as far as unemployment is concerned. Economists expect unemployment will crest at 8%. However from 1932 to 1935, 4 years, unemployment was above 20%.
US manufacturing activity is now down to its lowest level since 1948.
Yea because manufacturing has been outsourced.
It's going to be a long recession.
Yea, recession not depression. Caused by as you say, the housing bubble. In the hopes house prices would continue to boom, too many people paid too much for homes. Then many got interest only or adjustable interest rate, ARM, mortgages. They hoped they could turn around in a few years and sell the house for more than they paid for it. Low down payments also hurt.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
If I were more motivated, I might still be trying to fly solo, but I really didn't like all the extra work.
If a person doesn't like or have the knowledge they could partner with others who do like and know how to run a business, do the accounting, and find clients. I'm not sure but I think that that is why many people fail on their own. They try to wear a bunch of hats, some they have no business doing. I'd like to start my own business but I'll want to find others who can help me.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
kdawson: The essence of my reply is "good luck" there is too much risk these days to be chucking stability for your family over personal fulfillment. I have been down that road before and I can say that there is fulfillment to be had but it has a tendency to be short term.
The comments about the taxes are spot-on. If you go down that road, make sure you have the cash ahead for taxes and CPAs. You have no idea how many people have a hand in your employer's pocked until you become the employer.
As far as the market climate goes? You couldnt pick a worse time to consider this. The tens of thousands that are getting layed of right now and over the next year are going to do the exact same thing that you are considering. They will be doing it out of necessity and they will be hungry.
-Cheers
Dave