How can a programmer find a job with a non-standard schedule?

Boris2012-05-20 19:00:40

PHP

Boris, 2012-05-20 19:00:40

I live in Moscow, and formally I have no problems with work. I have been developing using PHP and related technologies for 8 years, I have an idea about databases, frameworks, workloads, security, caching, etc. I worked as a team leader in a small team, interviewed programmers, set tasks, did code reviews. Without problems, I pass every 2 out of 3 interviews for a full-time developer vacancy in the office for a salary of around 100 thousand rubles.
Problems begin when I start wanting some non-standard conditions. Specifically, I would like to work not a full week for 100 thousand, but, for example, two-thirds for 60 thousand (conditionally). And the remaining time to devote to hobbies, family, my projects - but you never know what ... It turns out that no one needs me like that anymore.
Serious offices, in which I used to work, most often do not need developers at all, who want to work differently from everyone else. If you do not fit into the corporate standard, normalized working day (even with a variation in the time of arrival and departure of a couple of hours) and 28 calendar days of vacation, then you cause complete misunderstanding on the part of colleagues and management.
At first I thought that for 40-60 thousand I could easily find such a free job. But it turned out that it is no easier to work for 50 thousand than for 100 :). Even harder. They still want a lot from you, and more than that, when you start working efficiently, as you used to work for 100, neither your colleagues who are used to writing spaghetti code, nor your bosses understand you (why it takes so long and why show off at all).
Perhaps many will advise freelancing ... But somehow I didn’t work out with it all my life. I tried to work in this mode for several months, but I earned mere pennies doing uninteresting work. In addition, in the market of freelancers who rivet business card sites and template stores, I am not competitive, because I do not do layout and do not use engines like Drupal and Joomla. And once I tried Symfony, I realized that only Symfony 2 can be better :)

There are probably serious teams of freelance programmers working somewhere. Indeed, in theory, solid open-source projects are often made by just such people. But I haven't had a chance to meet them yet. And in general, I understand well the policy of companies that want only programmers in the office: after all, whatever one may say, when a dozen developers sit side by side and work on one project, constantly communicating and sharing experience, the process goes more efficiently.

In general, I ask you to share your experience - how you can work remotely or part-time (or part-time) in the office, while solving interesting problems, having a free schedule and comparable to office wages.

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17 answer(s)

Vampiro, 2012-05-20
@Vampiro

A year and a half, and then I was able to convince the authorities that the time to the office and back was a waste of time. If I'm from home at the computer at 9 in the morning, and the "riders" only drive up to 10 with their eternal traffic jams. By the way, for the same reason, I do not change it.

Vitaly Yushkevich, 2012-05-21
@yushkevichv

Check out Odessa!
There it is quite realistic to sell yourself for a contract for adequate money, saying, for example, that you have 20 hours a week and you want $20 per hour. There further as agreed.
Freelancing is not always riveting sites on Joomla on your knee overnight :)
Good luck in your search :)

spmbt, 2012-05-20
@spmbt

From experience, we can say what to look for among teams that are not afraid to work with remote workers. For 4 years, I came across such only two out of about a dozen development ones (I didn’t work in manufacturing companies such as website developers and I don’t know them, nor in banks). In general, such firms are not typical, because working with remote workers is the most difficult for the organizers. Both cases are not well-established firms, startups with external financing, yet without income. There are probably no such relationships in manufacturing firms (except, perhaps, for a start-up under the wing of another firm). Here in such places a free schedule is possible, and, perhaps, a transition to part-time employment. However, if you are not a team leader or an architect there, then this is fraught with the loss of work in the forefront, probably. And, of course, you should not count on years, such projects are very flexible,

vimvim, 2012-05-21
@vimvim

Have you considered the option with oDesk? There are all sorts of projects, not necessarily business card sites. With a good reputation, you can always find a job. It is important that hourly billing is possible.

darzet, 2012-05-20
@darzet

I take a real example.
Work at Yandex for five years.
Open your own company and take several projects for outsourcing.
Leave for a part-time job.

Chii, 2012-05-20
@Chii

Try to contact any adequate web studio. In fact, this is the same freelance, but they will provide orders and take care of marketing.

Alexey Prokhorov, 2012-05-21
@megahertz

On freelance exchanges, it is quite possible to find work with such requirements. Of course, there are many times fewer offers than for business cards, but there is much less competition there, you can’t quickly find good specialists. There are a lot of projects on Odessa where a developer is needed for 20+ hours a week. To make it comfortable to work, it is better to take projects with an hourly / monthly rate and at least a month, so as not to be distracted by all sorts of formalities that are not directly related to development.

DIHALT, 2012-05-23
@DIHALT

No suitable job? Do it yourself. I'm not a programmer, I'm an electronics engineer. Here, it would seem, the remote control does not roll at all. Working with iron, concrete installations, everything is so solid and material.
However, I solved the problem of going to work and allocating free time in a couple of months. Freelancing first, then your own business.

Vlad Zhivotnev, 2012-05-20
@inkvizitor68sl

C PHP is hard.
If you know how to type in XML (especially for xscript), or if you really know how to cook janga, go to Yandex.
As practice shows, it is quite possible to work 6 hours a day, if you do not chase bonuses. That is, you really fulfill the plan (it can be both quantity and quality - there are different tasks) in 6 hours and calmly go home.
Yandex is just an example, there are enough such companies.
In general, I sent a link to your article to representatives of regional studios - they write that they want it dearly.
So I would say that European studios are ideal for you, or you should lower the requirements for wages. Moscow studios on such conditions are unlikely to take.

neuromotor, 2012-05-21
@neuromotor

Symfony 2… Try knplabs!

Alexey Sundukov, 2012-05-21
@alekciy

You can find it if you want. You just need to start looking. On the vskidka on the move: " ... It is possible to work several days a week ... ".

demark, 2012-05-21
@demark

how you can work remotely or work part-time (or part-time) in the office, while solving interesting problems, having a free schedule and comparable to office wages.

It is practically unrealistic for a Muscovite. As already mentioned, this is not cost-effective in comparison with remote workers from the regions, even from the nearby suburbs, from where the remote worker can come a couple of times a week. Harsh truth.
However, you can try your luck - look for overseas customers - it is quite possible to find a permanent one there, but this, again, is a long way - you need to gain a reputation as a good developer.
Although there is another option (also not a quick one): make yourself an individual entrepreneur and start working with a small business. He (MB) cannot afford to hire a full-time pro, but buying 5-10 hours a month of a subscriber is quite. But here you also need to understand that the tasks will be mainly from the category of “make/configure the site || cms || Internet advertising”, but you can devote your free (!) time to your projects, where you can use your prof. skills and experience.

egorinsk, 2012-05-20
@egorinsk

I think you can find freelancing with a free schedule, but there the payment will be lower, since they are guided by regional or Ukrainian developers. You can try to find some startups who have received money and are looking for good developers.
Otherwise, you need your own company.

Leonid Sopov, 2012-05-20
@leonidas

I had the experience of replacing the environment with Saturday, in general it was positive, but it lasted for six months, then they asked me to return it back, because. there were not enough intersections in the office with other colleagues. Work on Saturdays was more productive, there were fewer people in the metro, rest on Wednesdays was more convenient (fewer people in all sorts of museums, parks, etc.)

Roman, 2012-06-16
@KirEv

Freelancing is not an option? Your own boss [well, almost =)]
With a competent approach and self-organization of working time, you can get the desired 50-60k rubles / month by working 4 days a week.

gladkikh01, 2015-09-17
@gladkikh01

More and more people are looking towards remote work. Maybe this will be the best option for you?
Try sending your resume to the list of employers here:
talentboard.me/candidate
In your cover letter, you can specify your work schedule preferences.

ChangellengeTeam, 2015-12-07
@ChangellengeTeam

You can try to apply for an internship program: changellenge.com/raiffeisen-evolve-pm - for students, the schedule is from 20 hours a week