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Getting Started With Part-Time Development Work?

Posted by kdawson on from the stability-vs.-fulfillment dept.

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?"

6 of 262 comments (clear)

  1. Who is it? by cbiltcliffe · · Score: 5, Funny

    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......
  2. Check your employee manual first. by zorkmid · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

    1. Re:Check your employee manual first. by HeronBlademaster · · Score: 2, Funny

      They had problems with people watching the series during work hours. I mean really, who could resist? That argument almost worked, but it turns out the CEO got punched in the face by Bruce Willis when they were kids, so the ban on Moonlighting went through...

  3. Re:Don't. by spazdor · · Score: 3, Funny

    And let's not forget that Hitler would have given up and gone into bartending after the Kapp Putsch flopped. An ambitious, go-get-'em attitude could kill millions!

    YEAH I WENT THERE

    --
    DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
  4. Re:I need java developers. by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 5, Funny

    Our company can also use more Java developers, the ones we have are relatively unexperienced, have issues with our management structure, and like blaming everybody for everything. Also, they seem to spend too much of their time on tech sites, and we suspect them of looking elsewhere for work.
    ...
    ...Wait a second!!...Jim is that YOU!?

    --
    Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
  5. Re:Mix Fun and Fair by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    How does one get into medical transcription, asks the jobless and poverty stricken slashdotter?

    Stay up til 3AM and call in to the 1-800 number on TV when the woman's voice tells you that you can have a future in medical transcription. Shell out hundreds for the classes, get a flimsy certificate, and then realize that there isn't that much work out there. Manage to land a job, only to find that you're working for a doctor whose accent is so thick, Dragon rolled out a whole new line of products just for him: "Unnaturally Speaking". Learn amazing and wonderous new things about the human body that you wished you had never known, learn how to spell incredibly long disease names that differ by one letter from the opposite disease (you'll be a hit at parties!), and finally turn in your Word document for review and collect your 10 cents per page.