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Old 08-15-2014, 08:25 PM
 
32 posts, read 44,200 times
Reputation: 13

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Issues:
I can't work 40 hours a week. I can work 30 hours max.
I don't have a car to go somewhere and live in a suburban place where ride-sharing is impossible.

Skills I have:
PHP, WordPress, ASP.NET MVC, C#.NET, SQL Server, MySQL, JavaScript, jQuery


Getting a part-time job in programming is extremely difficult. I tried to be a freelancer, but sites like elance.com etc are crowded with people who are all willing to work for $2/hour.

How do I get programming projects or a part-time programming job where I get to work from home?

I don't have any friends or relatives that could pass my name around.

No hope for me?
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Old 08-15-2014, 08:33 PM
 
7,912 posts, read 7,756,723 times
Reputation: 4147
Contact a local Score office some of them are in chambers of commerce. You'd be surprised how many businesses either have bad websites or no site at all.

What makes over 30 hours hard? Ride sharing isn't exactly impossible. Lyft covers a fair amount of the country.
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Old 08-15-2014, 08:36 PM
 
6,345 posts, read 8,073,389 times
Reputation: 8784
Why drive at all? Just find job that has remote access. That's how programmers that don't like to drive do it.
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Old 08-15-2014, 08:57 PM
 
2,696 posts, read 3,756,058 times
Reputation: 3080
Someone like you could "sell" your skills online, using Linkedin if you have not done this already. It does take time, but you will need to build a strong online presence if you do not know people at all in your immediate area. You would not only have a Linkedin profile, but also a website showcasing your skills and your resume. You could add to it by blogging about programming.

Also if you live in a medium to larger city, find out if there are networking groups that you can attend with other computer people. Work from home jobs are considered privileges at many companies and are just harder to get.
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Old 08-16-2014, 02:25 AM
 
32 posts, read 44,200 times
Reputation: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdovell View Post
Contact a local Score office some of them are in chambers of commerce. You'd be surprised how many businesses either have bad websites or no site at all.

What makes over 30 hours hard? Ride sharing isn't exactly impossible. Lyft covers a fair amount of the country.
I was able to find the Score office website. Do I contact them or set up a meeting? Meeting is probably for the business-owners, so maybe I should just contact? Please advise.

It's a health limitation that I can't work more than 30 hours.

Lyft requires smartphone. I don't have a cellphone - I'm that broke.
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Old 08-16-2014, 02:28 AM
 
32 posts, read 44,200 times
Reputation: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by move4ward View Post
Why drive at all? Just find job that has remote access. That's how programmers that don't like to drive do it.
Where do they find such jobs? Please tell me the names of the websites. (Not being sarcastic at all! I really need help with this.) Even finding work-from-home programming full-time jobs is difficult but finding work-from-home part-time programming jobs is extremely hard or maybe I'm having a bad luck or my resume sucks.

I'm not the only one with this trouble though:
job market - Why are part-time jobs in programming an anomaly? - Programmers Stack Exchange
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Old 08-16-2014, 06:02 AM
 
7 posts, read 7,888 times
Reputation: 64
Being realistic here -

If you cannot work more than 30 hours and do not have the ability to commute or move, you are very likely permanently competing with outsource work. In programming? That is one of the worst fields to compete against.

A few thoughts - you may need to be expand your skills to include other areas. Stuff like administrative assistant (virtual) could be a possibility. But your industry doesn't pay part-timers well unless they are really specialized/consultants, which still doesn't fix the lack of transportation.

Personally, I suggest a major change, I don't see this panning out.
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Old 08-16-2014, 06:43 AM
 
16,376 posts, read 22,388,840 times
Reputation: 14396
Almost all places want 40 hrs week. Even contract jobs.

Folks that get part time work usually get side jobs through networking(e.g. your former employer asks you to do a small project because you are familiar with their systems already, or a former co-worker at their new job needs another person on their team for a few months because of a tight due date and because they know you are a good worker already, they will allow you to work remotely/odd hours). These side jobs are usually short-term/small tasks.

If you cannot work more than 30 hrs a week, then you might want to switch careers.
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Old 08-16-2014, 06:48 AM
 
Location: Holland
788 posts, read 1,245,238 times
Reputation: 1362
Am I the only one who thinks that his skillset might also be a problem? I see lots of Microsoft based software skills, but not a lot of general skills that are in demand.

Where's Java? Phyton? Ruby? C? C++?
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Old 08-16-2014, 08:01 AM
eok
 
6,684 posts, read 4,221,377 times
Reputation: 8520
Good programmers are very creative. It's hard for creative people to get and keep jobs, because managers like to build organization hierarchies, and creative people don't fit well in those. The most valuable skill from the point of view of the person doing the hiring is that you can suck up to the manager and help build the organization hierarchy. The steeper it gets, the higher the manager, which is the goal. So most of the programmers that get hired are better at other activities than programming. And that's why most software is low quality.

One way to earn a living as a good programmer should be to do your own work, and sell the results. But that doesn't usually work either, because good programmers usually don't have the sales and business talents needed for that. It's rare that a perfect team can be put together. One where the programmer can be creative and still fit in, and the other talents can fit in without causing organization strife. The best odds are when the whole company is just a few people who know each other well and work together well, and all are equal partners with no need for anyone to suck up to anyone else.

In the past, before the whole country was saturated with H1B programmers, there was a lot more demand for programmers than supply. That made it easy for all of them to get jobs, including the most creative ones. A lot of those programmers are now retired, with retirement income based on the higher earnings from those times. A lot of those retired programmers continue to program as a hobby. That's part of the reason why a lot of the best software is free open source.
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