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Software development part time

Lotso

Do part time software development jobs exist? How difficult is it to pick up freelance software dev work? Bit of background I have over 12 years experience development in java and most recently angular typescript node etc.

However I also have 2 very young kids and i am struggling a bit with finding the balance. Ideally Id like to stay home with them but also want to keep my skills up and some money (even a small amount) coming in.
Currently working as a full time senior developer for a large multinational and have the option to work from home. This does not help as much as you would think. At the moment as the kids are very small I cant have them home while I am working and can end up easily doing long hours whether at home or in the evenings after coming back from the office.

There is the option of taking parental leave but there isn't really the culture of it in my company, at most the few women who do it take one day a week and end up working very hard the remaining 4 to keep up.

I guess I basically want to have it all, time to raise my kids over the next few years and still have a career to go back to full time at some point in the future.

Is it possible or am I asking too much?

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OMM 0000

It exists. We hire multiple part-time guys who work from home.

Your best bet is to have a look at freelancer.com and see which jobs you can win.

Cordell

I did try my hand to that kind of sites, the experience was horrible. Dealing with people that "can do the job themselves but don't have time so here is how you need to do it", getting payed peanuts or even nothing for hours spent or research and planning, it can be frustrating and even humiliating for a senior person (which I assume it means that you are the kind that expects to be trusted and involved in all stages of development).

Maybe others do better, this was my experience, fyi to avoid disappointment

OMM 0000

Don't take the jobs which offer peanuts...

colm_c

Not many companies looking for part time developers, simply due to timescales involved.

Doing freelance can work, but really you need the network for that to work.

I would think about having a chat with your manager/hr about moving to 3 or 4 days per week. Unlikely to be a runner, but you never know.

Other option is to do some short term contracts with decent breaks in between. E.g 3 months on, 3 months off.

And you're right, working from home and minding the kids isn't a viable option.

Cordell

OMM 0000 wrote: »

Don't take the jobs which offer peanuts...

Yeah, but you need to build a rating. On those sites my (quite impressive if I may) real life CV seemed to be good for nothing. The last one I did brought me 40E after more that 10 hours spent researching and coding and debugging remotely - it was some sort of industrial networked equipment. I am ashamed of the design I was forced to implement and I will forever be. That was a process with multiple threads exchanging data through named pipes, "this is the recommended way, I read it on stackoverflow"

In any case, YMMV.

beauf

Some of the contractors I know don't work a full week. They might work a 3 day week for example.

When I was contracted I negotiated with one contact that I work 3 days on site and 2 at home. That was a really nice balance. Especially coding it gave me two days free of interruptions. Moved all meetings to specific days.

That said when at home, I had to shut myself off from family. They are also distraction if working from home. You have to be disciplined.

beauf

OMM 0000 wrote: »

...Your best bet is to have a look at freelancer.com and see which jobs you can win...

Those sites all seem to pay pittance. Too many over qualified people competing for scraps it seems to me. But perhaps I have the wrong impression of it it.

jester77

Can you not just cut your hours at your current company? Finding a part time position is not so easy.

50/60/70/80/90% depending on how much time you want is pretty standard where I am, employer's are fine with it. I've never heard of anyone being refused.

beauf

Based on the comments about parental leave I assume that's not workable.

I've only found it doable as a contractor or working in the public sector. Which is very family friendly. Software development in the private sector always seems to encourage putting a lot of hours in. Regardless how productive it actually is.

OMM 0000

beauf wrote: »

Those sites all seem to pay pittance. Too many over qualified people competing for scraps it seems to me. But perhaps I have the wrong impression of it it.

Employers who have experience using freelancer.com won't choose those pittance programmers. You get what you pay for.

Berserker

I'm looking for part time work in the sector myself but it's proving to be very difficult.

Lotso wrote: »

There is the option of taking parental leave but there isn't really the culture of it in my company, at most the few women who do it take one day a week and end up working very hard the remaining 4 to keep up.

Approach a shorter working week, in a full time role, with extreme caution. I worked in organisations which used to allow people to work a three day a week and they ended up having to cram a full weeks work into the three days. I used to get code reviews submitted at crazy hours.

beauf

Same here. Agreed a 4 day week ended up working 5 days for 4 days wages.

That's as an employee. As a contractor I've only even stuck to the agreed hours.