What Do People in the IT Field Do for Side Jobs?

Flagg0204 asks: "Growing up in a primarily white collar household I wasn't exposed to 'side-jobs' until I met my girlfriend whose family was mostly blue collar. This got me to thinking. What do people in the IT field do for side jobs? Electricians, plumbers, HVAC, mechanic, these fields have many opportunities for a little extra cash on the side. What are some IT/IS side jobs that Slashdot readers do for extra money?"

tutoring

[Anonymous Coward]

Any brainy IT person can end up drowining in side high school maths tutoring jobs

Photography

[sejanus]

Being reasonably technical it was kind of a natural progression to get stuck into digital cameras a couple of years ago.

I now work Mon-Friday as a Network Engineer for a ISP (as I have done for quite a few years now), and do wedding photography on weekends.

I tell ya, we complain about putting up with "lusers" and stuff like that but let me assure you that ;

1) Hell hath no fury like a bride and her mother on a wedding day

2) To do a wedding properly is serious work. On Saturdays wedding I was up at 6am, out of the house by 7am - a 1hr drive to my business partners house where we check all the gear, load all the studio lighting, reflectors, ladder, camera bags, laptops, 30" LCD (for showing photos at the reception) into the car. We then go to the brides house at 10:30am, do the photos there and then drive over 1hr to the actual wedding venue, do the stuff there and then go to the reception which was only 10mins away thankfully. The reception finished 11pm, and I was back home at about 1:30am. A long day, and on top of all that it was extremely hot, about 35c (Australia). And I then had to get up at 7am to photograph a christening.

It makes my IT job seem fairly cosy in comparison :) But I like the results after a wedding.

Re:I've never been able to make this work.

[Grishnakh]

If you're not making enough money, it might be a better use of your time to continue your education. Many universities cater to people who work a 9-5, and a lot of employers will help pay for you to go. The payoff isn't as immediate, but in many situations it's a far better plan overall.

I'm at a loss. What could you get an education in that pays better than IT? At first, I thought of medicine, but 1) somehow I doubt your IT employer will want to pay for your med courses, 2) it'll take 20 years if you're not doing it full-time, 3) I don't think you can go to med school part-time, and 4) doctors are facing a very bad situation in the near future between cost-cutting HMOs and insanely high malpractice insurance premiums.

My next thought was law school, but 1) again, I have a hard time imagining IT employers footing the bill for another line of coursework which has absolutlely nothing to do with their business, and 2) I'm not evil or a scum-sucking bottom-dweller, so I'd never do well in law.

I hear this "get an education" crap all the time, but no one ever says what to get an education in, which has a decent salary and decent stability, and especially which is feasible on a part-time basis since most working people can't exactly afford to take 4 years off.

Free Software

[GrouchoMarx]

That's how a lot of Free Software gets written. Go home, code up something useful, stick it on SourceForge, put it on your resume. You get a line on your resume, the world gets (hopefully) good code. Or help out on some existing project as a bug fixer, documentation person, fringe features (or mainline features if you're that good), etc.

Just because you don't get an immediate paycheck for it doesn't mean it's not worthwhile.

Re:what I do on my day job

[Anonymous Coward]

You get PAID to read Slashdot!?! Where do I apply?

Re:Gray Market

[TykeClone]

Some companies will 1099 you and report what they paid you, some companies won't. It is illegal, AFAIK, to receive money for work and not report it as income.

It's only illegal if you don't report it. Keep good records, keep track of your mileage, pay your tax estimates and expense everything that you ethically can to your business and you'll be fine.

Re:Consulting

[SquadBoy]

You don't really. Most people do something similar to what I did. The husband of a person I work for is the head of the service dept. for a small auto dealership. Basically when the wanted somebody to build and install a firewall for them she recommended me. I now get a few hours a month out of them and a few more from other places he has told about me. Basically they are willing to put up with you only being weekends/evenings in exchange for paying less than they would for a real conslutant. It's not a lot of money but it pays the cable bill and buys me the odd toy now and then. So the answer is to do some of the other kind of networking locally.

Re:Blacksmith

[bladesjester]

It will take quite a while before you have the skill to start working on blades. You start out with simple things like hooks, tools, etc.

The simple things teach you hammer control, curves, and let you get used to learning how the metal responds. from there you increase the difficulty of the things that you make both in forms and materials.

Re:I've never been able to make this work.

[mypoints]

I have to agree. I have tried several times to find side work that pays immediately, fits my schedule, and provides me with something that is challenging (or at least fun); if it's not fun or challenging I find that I stop almost as soon as I start.

It's darn near impossible and for most of the reasons listed in the original post. You can always find a job that satisifies one of the needs; but, rarely two, and hardly ever all of them.

The closest thing I have found is working on my own OpenSource projects (no shameless plugs here). Working on my own projects is fun, challenging, and fits my schedule. It just won't pay immediately. If I keep at, though, other avenues will open; just look at Kent Beck.

The only way to get ahead in this business is to work really hard by devoting a lot of blood, sweat, and tears; which really sounds like a day job.

If you want easy money in IT, you'll need to generate demand in a market that you create yourself (which is not easy).

Re:What do I do? POKER!

[Skeezix]

It's actually difficult to learn to play decent poker online for free. There are plenty of sites that offer free games and tournaments, but the problem is that when there is no money being risked people don't play as well. You'll see people betting their whole stack on bad hands and 4 people (at a 10 person table) calling with mediocre hands. This really isn't good practice. Also it's hard to learn in a format where it's mostly beginners playing. The good players generally don't waste their time on the free games (with some exceptions of course), so you're mostly playing against other beginners which isn't all that great of training. :)

My advice is to play home games with other poker players, go to local tournaments. There may even be free ones available in your area at local bars. Once you feel like you have a decent grasp of the game, deposit $100 or so to your poker site of choice (usually you'll get a deposit bonus too) and start playing. My favourite format for the value is the single table no-limit tournaments. For $10 + $1 you have a decent shot at winning $50 and the tournaments only take an hour or so.

Re:Blacksmith

[John Whitley]

Come now, Google on "anvils" brings up some basic hits, the first one of which (http://www.oldworldanvils.com/) looks fairly interesting. ;-) Dig around online for info on hunting up new/used anvils and other forge equipment.

But first things first: 1) dig up books on the subject. Check out Jim Hrisoulas' bladesmithing books. The first has a wealth of good basic material. That and later books also move quickly into Jim's specialty of advanced pattern welding techniques (See his website at http://atar.com/). 2) Nothing beats practical mentoring in a discipline such as smith-work. See if you can arrange to get classes/apprenticeship time with a smith in your area.

Enjoy!

Side Jobs for IT geeks

[zenofjazz]

We do IT for our side jobs. We antivirus people's computers. We write software for hire. We setup networks. We do websites. We administer servers for small companies that can't afford to hire full time IT people.
The lucky one's (me included) find a couple paying customers who need help when their porn won't download properly. *grin* All for $80/hour, or better.

Re:What do I do? POKER!

[Best ID Ever!]

All of the major online poker sites have play money games. Play money games are useful for familiarization with the site's software and general poker rules, but not useful at all for learning good poker strategy. People don't take it seriously enough.

I'd recommend picking up Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big With Expert Play by Ed Miller et al. or Winning Low Limit Hold 'em by Lee Jones. They will easily pay for themselves.

For poker discussion, I'd recommend the forums at
twoplustwo.com [twoplustwo.com], unitedpokerforum.com [unitedpokerforum.com], bet-the-pot.com [bet-the-pot.com], and remmy.net [remmy.net].

Re:Nothing

[Anonymous Coward]

"Because the company I work for owns everything I think and do..."

Not if you work in California, where such abusive contract stipulations are automatically null and void, according to recent case law.

Re:What do I do? POKER!

[kcornell]

The thought processes behind solid poker players pertaining to most games (especially the most popular craze, Texas Hold Em) are exactly the opposite of solid computer minds.

Computer systems at the core are designed to be deterministic; under the same conditions using the same process we expect the same result. The vigilant IT worker breaks down the workings of each individual system and almost (sometimes literally) mathematically deduces a problem and a course of action to fix it. Generally they are trained for X, do Y.

With the exception of limit Hold Em (the argument continues whether or not a computer could play winning limit hold em - it's very possible), poker players often explore many different "correct" plays for the same situation. Sometimes folding is just as good as raising (but it certainly increases the variance of your bottom line).

Also, often poker requires one to play counter-intuitively (ie, raising when you have nothing because there remains a significant chance that you will when all is said and done). While there probably are a few counter-examples, most computer systems are designed to be used and maintained intuitively (such that you are required to do what you will probably do on your first try, without help). The success of software packages in that area is debatable.

Overall, unless you're playing limit hold em, playing poker deterministically is usually a formula for failure, or at the very last, mediocrity, and even if you are, most players will figure you out in no time.

Successful approaches to IT and poker are not similar.

Re:I've never been able to make this work.

[Anonymous Coward]

You have to work a lot more than 3 hours to teach 3 hours a week. Prep work, marking, meetings, etc. consume more time than teaching.

Re:Isn't it obvious

[robyannetta]

Problem solved:

(All the "I will not fix your computer" stuff)

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/frustrations/38 8b /
http://www.thinkgeek.com/cubegoodies/stickers/3 803 /
http://www.thinkgeek.com/cubegoodies/mugs/58c0/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/ladies/38e8/

IT _is_ blue collar

[kahei]

Get used to it.

Re:SIDE JOB: Volunteering for Human Rights

[Anonymous Coward]

The speaker was, for the first time in his pathetic life, speechless. No one had ever challenged him on the issue of Tibet.

Given that it was the Communists who invaded Tibet in 1950, not the Nationalists, I'm not bloody surprised. Tibet declared its independence from China in 1913, and the newly formed Nationalist Government did nothing in response.

Of course, you wouldn't have even been allowed near a PRC diplomat, so I guess you tend to fight your battles where you can, against the people who are -- let's face it -- totally irrelevant to the matter at hand. Wake me up when the Nationalists take over in mainland China. Then you can start whinging about their treatment of Tibet.

Re:The last thing I want to do when I go home is..

[Xavic]

to be honest, i could probably live happily without touching a box at all outside of my 9-5. i do however do a great deal of side work, mainly web scripting for people that want dynamic sites to do whatever. i also do onsite computer/networking work for $50/hr using only word of mouth for advertising. my side work yearly income is somewhere around 15k so far this year, so im not doing too bad. and no, i was smart enough to NOT sign any non-competes...

Re:Off-Hours Plumbing

[Ellis D. Tripp]

Improper plumbing (not installing a backflow preventer where required, for example) can result in waste/sewage entering the municipal water supply system, potentially endangering MANY lives.

Most plumbers also install gas/oil fired heating systems, for which the hazards of improper installation should be obvious. Even an improperly vented gas water heater could kill via CO poisoning....

Re:IT Consulting

[CheeseTroll]

FWIW, there have been a few discussions about similar topics in the past which I happened to bookmark because I was considering going that route myself last year. Grant Barrett wrote a couple of interesting articles about starting up your own tech consulting business. They have been re-published at http://www.koozie.org/2004/10/freelance_tech_.html .

I don't have the link to that Slashdot discussion, but it basically fell along the lines of "good advice!" and "no way it'll work."

A discussion about how to set up your consultancy was at http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/12/19/205022 0&mode=thread

That one's a little more informative.

There, now I feel somewhat justified for actually bookmarking that stuff. Good luck!

Re:SIDE JOB: Volunteering for Human Rights

[windlord]

Of course he is speechless. You should at least get your international facts right before going out and embrassing yourself.

It is China who is contesting over Tibet... NOT Taiwan.

Re:Blacksmith

[shepmaster]

Wow, I never thought that I'd have the opportunity to pimp this particular site I manage on Slashdot, but check out http://www.abana.org [abana.org]

ABANA (The Artist-Blacksmiths Association of North America) is a international community for artist-blacksmiths (as opposed to farriers). They have some awesome magazines that come out quarterly, one of which is dedicated to teaching the trade. The website also has some discussion forums, and some knowledgeable people hang around.

I've hit the iron a few times myself, but I don't have the passion required. It is awfully fun though!

Build LEGO sculptures

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not only a hobby, but sometimes it even pays for Xmas presents :) I wish I could do it full time, but it would require a substantial amount of contract work to build life-size sculptures and mosiacs.

Eric Harshbarger is one lucky dude.

Re:SIDE JOB: Volunteering for Human Rights

[Anonymous Coward]

Ummm... I think he was pointing out that as many in taiwan want independence it is a bit of a double standard to say tibet can't have it too.

But I mean, don't just ask him what he meant... start dissing him out. Stupid myopic american "put-down" culture.

Re:I'm an adult literacy tutor ...

[Draoi]

Do you actually setup the server(s) and/or networking yourself or do you just resell?

We have a single server in a co-location house in London - just a 2U box - running our own distro. We pay a fixed rate per annum & the hosting company have been very good to us. The server box belongs to us. I look after all the sys op stuff while the co-lo folks do the hardware/networking support.

Care to share how many clients you have on your hosting project

We're running about 30 domains with one or two biggies (it's all relative, mind!). Sometimes I view it more as a co-operative scheme. The fact that we have complete control allows to write custom solutions for our customers. Postgres back-end with C++ cgis.

and the sort of revenue you're earning

Very little, trust me. We're not making the effort we could be to attract business but at least the whole setup pays for itself each year.