Ask HN: Are there any companies friendly to developers seeking part time work?
I asked this once here before and had some positive responses, it's now been 7 years so I hope it's ok to ask once again as things have changed a lot since then.
I'm a developer and also a writer. I'm trying to consistently carve out more time in my weeks for writing (which unfortunately is not very high revenue!) by looking for part time development work. Are there any companies openly friendly to part time development work? Specifically I'm looking for 80-100ish hours a month as a fullstack or frontend developer but welcome any topical replies so that this can be a useful resource to others as well.
19 comments
[ 413 ms ] story [ 1032 ms ] threadFreelancing/contracting/consulting is statistically the only way to part time work in professional fields.
One reason is that the basis of a freelance/contracting/consulting relationship is that the freelancer/contractor/consultant is solving the company's problems. But the reason people seek part time professional work is focused on solving their own problems.
I mean it's great that the OP wants to set up their life for writing. But it's hard to expect a software company with no personal relationship with the author to absorb the overhead for that dream...
...the people to ask to support the writer's dream are the writer's readers.
Working as a consultant/etc. means the author absorbs the overhead for their day job. Those costs can be built into the rate.
And of course, 80-100 hours of billable work as a freelance software developer usually entails an equal amounts of billable and unbillable work.
Rates are higher than direct salaries to make consulting/etc. viable.
If you are already freelancing, there’s even less of an obvious benefit to a company since it can contract with you without the liabilities that come with employing you.
To me talking to your clients about part time employment seems like a good way to gain relevant information.
Part time professional positions mostly come from personal relationships.
Good luck.
No.
> 80-100 hours a week
Huh? I think this is the opposite of "part-time."
Here is what I'd do if I were you:
Build a list of all the companies you could/want to work for
Build a list of all the linkedin profiles of their HR/recruiters/talents or (co)founders for small startups(you can use phantombuster or a custom puppeteer scraper)
Find all their emails using wiza, dropcontact or a similar tool
Use a mailbox warmer for a few days/weeks to prepare your mail address to send lots of mails without getting flagged as spam
BCC all of them asking if they'd be open to hiring part-time (or use lemlist)
you can also send automated linkedin invites/messages to them
Automated cold email is done by 99% of companies and recruiters, it works if its done well
I was offered dozens of interviews that way, it works
Job hop until you find a chill job that allows a hybrid schedule, or start one and move away, asking to go remote.
Work very hard 4-5 hours a day, and the rest of the time is yours. You might actually work harder than most people staring vacantly at their monitors and sitting in meetings.