
Ask HN: Are there many opportunities for part-time remote work in software? - arryotspur
I&#x27;m currently employed by a very flexible small company as a developer. I am also starting a vegetable farm which is requiring more and more of my attention, so I need to limit my hours behind a computer to 20-25 hrs&#x2F;week, and it has to be remote. My employer is great because they will let me do that, however I don&#x27;t enjoy the work and I feel stagnated. I want to look for another employer but I don&#x27;t ever see part-time job listings. Are there many part-time remote software jobs, or is it hard to find?
======
itamarst
Basically you need to negotiate for these. It's much easier if you've already
done it at your current job, because you have proof it can work. And it's
easier to negotiate with remote companies, because they're not in a "seat in
butt is all that matters" mindset. Ideally you get a job offer, and _then_
tell them you want to work fewer hours.

Lowest I've gone is 28 hours: started as contractor, got hired as employee.
Later jobs have been 32-35 hours.

I interviewed someone who has been doing this for 15 years with 4-day week
(also never advertised): [https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/01/08/part-time-
programmer...](https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/01/08/part-time-programmer/)
and I'm working on book on how to negotiate a 3-day weekend (i.e. 4-day
workweek - 20-25 hours is harder):
[https://codewithoutrules.com/3dayweekend/](https://codewithoutrules.com/3dayweekend/)

------
JamesBarney
Imagine putting yourself in the employers shoes. You have two devs who
applied, and you're going to have to vet and train them, as well as risk
they're a bad hire. And the reward for one is half the other. Which dev do you
take a chance on?

The only time they might agree to it is if they already know you, you possess
a unique skill set, or they're budget constrained. Both are rare and the
second will probably be a stingier employer.

I would stay with the same employer and focus on how the is a means to
achieving your dream of a vegetable farm.

~~~
itamarst
Why is budget constrained a problem? E.g. if you can go to a bootstrapped
company and credibly say "I am valuable enough you can't afford me, but—maybe
we can work something out" that seems worth trying.

~~~
JamesBarney
It's only a problem because budget constrained means they don't have very much
money, so in addition to wanting to pay for fewer hours they probably want to
pay for less per hour.

There probably aren't a lot of shops that can't afford a full time dev, but
can afford a nice rate of 60-90/hr.

------
fiiv
It's entirely possible to get this going. There are the occasional posting for
one of these kinds of jobs on the remote job boards. But also you could try
working with them for a while and then say you want to go down to part time.

It's a lot easier to do this once they're already aware of your value, not to
mention that you might be able to turn them into a more freelance-type client
as well.

~~~
itamarst
It's much easier to reduce your hours at an existing job, yeah.

------
anoncoward111
This is a pretty non-standard spec and has to be negotiated for and networked
for.

The only places that routinely hire for 20-25 hours a week are small
restaurants with razor thin margins that need to skirt health care regulations
that force an employer to offer health care to anyone working 30 or more hours
per week (above a certain headcount).

------
cimmanom
You can probably find this on a contract basis.

------
sharemywin
What is your skill sets?

~~~
arryotspur
I'm a full-stack web application developer. Strongest technologies are React,
Redux, Ruby on Rails, Java/JEE, JBoss, Postgres, MySQL, Unix administration.
Proficient with lots of other technologies and devops tools.

~~~
itamarst
When you're selling yourself, don't just focus on technologies.

E.g. if you're experienced enough to not just solve problems, but also
identify problems in the first place, that's hugely valuable, but you need to
make sure to convey that to potential employers. (Specifically I'm thinking of
the difference between "Solver" and "Finder" in
[https://rkoutnik.com/2016/04/21/implementers-solvers-and-
fin...](https://rkoutnik.com/2016/04/21/implementers-solvers-and-
finders.html)).

