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Ask HN: How can you make quick money?

16 points by handsandwhich ↗ HN
Hi HN.

I'm in between jobs currently and am wanting to make some extra cash. I'm a full stack engineer with about 6 years of professional experience. Very confident in my craft, and just beginning to apply to jobs at mid-large companies.

Thing about mid-large companies is their hiring processes can be SLOW and I could use the cashflow sooner rather than later.

So I'm curious if anyone here has ideas on how to make quick cash within a week/month. Would love to leverage my engineering skillset (web development-react,typescript,node,postgres) but am open to any and all ideas folks may have.

Currently residing in the US.

14 comments

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rantallion
How to start earning money within a week: apply to start-ups.

I'm not sure if the landscape is different in the US. Here in the UK, start-ups will snap your hand off to get you through the door. When I last went through a round of interviews, I was getting from my initial chat with a recruiter to the final interview in a matter of days, and most of the offers would have allowed an immediate start had I been available.

handsandwhich
This is actually something I'm trying to avoid given the emotional/morally questionable aspect to using a start up temporarily while I find a better job.

I know ultimately a start up will choose what's best for them (and would lay me off at a moments notice), but the emotional investment just sounds not appealing...

FYI It's about the same here in the US, especially given my YOE. I'm pretty sure I could get a gig at a start up rather quickly.

webmaven
> This is actually something I'm trying to avoid given the emotional/morally questionable aspect to using a start up temporarily while I find a better job.

No need to fear misleading them, just say you're only looking for contracting opportunities at present. Whether they take you up on it is up to them.

ericmay
Not sure where you live in the US, but I see a lot of job postings for contract work, especially on startup-oriented slack channels. If you can afford to not be picky I'm sure you'd find some companies very eager to have you build some predefined piece of technology (website, database, w/e) for $25/hour or so or for a fixed bid.
handsandwhich
Happen to know where to find those job postings?
ericmay
LinkedIn, Slack channels and groups, staffing agencies in your area (just reach out and tell them what you’re looking for) etc.

Best of luck!

minhaz23
Any slack channels you’d recommend?
ericmay
If you live in Columbus, sure!
gcheong
Contracting - I don't know the status of this company, and never personally used them, but I thought they seemed interesting: https://www.moonlightwork.com, or see if anyone in your network needs some contracting work done.

Uber/Lyft driver

Door-dashing

f0e4c2f7
Do you have a LinkedIn account? Login and start talking to recruiters. Ask for contracts / consulting. Consider offering 1 off services that can be executed especially quickly.

Though any method like this works better with time.

It is annoying that there's a slight lag on being able to monetize software skills. Especially with the amount of demand. I've never really heard of anyone having good luck with marketplaces like Upwork. Seems like a lot of low paying gigs and scams.

b20000
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fakeElonMusk
I freelance full time. Sign up for TopTal or Gun.io - if you're good you'll get work immediately. The rate is up to you but likely somewhere between $50-$100/hr. I'm on both platforms and see jobs every week for React. Some are full time, others are 10-20hrs / week. You can even continue on the side once you get a full time job. I get LinkedIn recruiter messages every week and most of the time the rates are terrible, so haven't had much luck there. HN seeking freelancer also has contract / part time gigs occasionally.