

How to find part time programming work - MrAppa

How do software developers find part-time work? I currently work 7-3 and would love to pick up some part-time work in the evenings, but it&#x27;s impossible to find any. Suggestions?
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garethsprice
You say impossible, where have you tried?

Find some larger firms in your area doing what you want and approach them for
overflow work - follow up a few times and they'll contact you when things get
crazy.

Let old employers, friends & family know that you're available for freelance.

Go to local meetups and make contacts (either peer groups who can refer work,
or groups with potential clients). Don't hard-sell your services, just become
known as a friendly person who knows your stuff and is available, and
referrals will come.

oDesk, Guru, eLance etc have lots of work but it mostly pays peanuts if you're
US based. May be OK to build relationships but I personally haven't had much
success here.

Craigslist can be a good source (posting and replying to posts), lots of "idea
guys" with no money and other garbage but I've found great clients there too.

Talk to local recruiters, they occasionally get freelance/part-time/remote
gigs.

Agency overflow & word of mouth were the best sources for me. Can take a while
to get started, but once you get a good reputation and ask for referrals then
the work will pour in - especially after a few years when people from your
first clients move jobs and contact you from their new gigs.

Keep at it, and remember that your reputation is the most important thing in
this industry. Treat people well, ask for reasonable compensation, do good
work and you can't go wrong.

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skorecky
I too am curious about this as I've been thinking about it as a option for the
future when I evolve my career. The best two options I have thought about so
far are:

1) Early stage startups - Especially in big cities there are new startups
every day and I bet most would like the option of paying someone part time to
help them get up and running.

2) Start freelancing and take on the amount of work you feel comfortable with.

There are probably a few other options so I'm curious what others have to say.

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Spoom
Freelance.

Usually firms will want full time employees and won't hire part timers (too
much hassle when they can just go for a contractor, hence my suggestion). They
don't care about where or when you work if you're a freelancer though, just
that you keep the communication up and meet deadlines.

Don't compete with the bottomfeeders when you're freelancing -- you can avoid
this by looking for bigger budget projects where the employer seems interested
in quality. I suggest Guru as a network.

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mrfusion
What do you like about Guru?

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Spoom
Escrow, reasonable terms once you're a member, they only take 5% (and only out
of money you actually are paid), and they have assisted me in obtaining
payment in the past from a deadbeat employer. There's also the general feeling
that not everything is slanted toward the employer, which is not the case on
some other networks.

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sejje
Depending on the shop, working for a software shop can do this for you. If the
work is not all urgent, it's perfectly reasonable to contract with them and do
some extra work in the evenings.

I've done this before with good results.

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MrAppa
I live out in TN and not many firms/companies will even allow part-time. I've
tried the usual job sites (monster, career builders, dice, and careeriverflow)
with little luck.

