Having Multiple Remote Jobs (IT job, consulting, reputation, paycheck)

[Morpheuss]

Hello all,

So a few of my buddies have said that the trend in the tech field during this COVID era is for people to have multiple remote jobs. He said some even have up to three different jobs, and that is a well-known thing now. So I'm missing the bus on this one it seems.

To the question - If somebody does want to explore this practice what is the recommended combination/configuration/type of tech roles that you can choose to successfully work multiple remote jobs.

[LakeLifePA]

I'm not surprised by this at all (especially in tech), because very few people "working" remotely are putting in 8 hours of work. When I first started working in IT, I knew a guy that had one full-time IT gig and another that was part-time. He'd take off in the middle of the work day to do his side job hoping the boss wouldn't notice that he was gone.

BTW, I'm not interested in helping you cheat the system with your full-time gig.

[AKA Bubbleup]

I had worked for a software company (1995) where a sales guy was hired at, full salary/ commission to sell our products. Worked remotely due to client visits, maybe one day/ week in office. He also arranged this kind of job this with two other companies, so he was pulling 3 full time paychecks and commission simultaneously on whatever he sold and none of the 3 companies were wiser.

[Morpheuss]

interesting.

[HDWill1]

Originally Posted by AKA Bubbleup

I had worked for a software company (1995) where a sales guy was hired at, full salary/ commission to sell our products. Worked remotely due to client visits, maybe one day/ week in office. He also arranged this kind of job this with two other companies, so he was pulling 3 full time paychecks and commission simultaneously on whatever he sold and none of the 3 companies were wiser.

Well that just sounds like he was awesome at time management and a really good salesman, if he was able to get enough sales for each company to justify his base salary.

[Florida2014]

I see no issues as long as the firms aren't competing against one another. I'm sure each company likely has a policy against working elsewhere (or that you must disclose it).

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by Morpheuss

Hello all,

So a few of my buddies have said that the trend in the tech field during this COVID era is for people to have multiple remote jobs. He said some even have up to three different jobs, and that is a well-known thing now. So I'm missing the bus on this one it seems.

To the question - If somebody does want to explore this practice what is the recommended combination/configuration/type of tech roles that you can choose to successfully work multiple remote jobs.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "multiple remote jobs"?

A contract worker/consultant could be working on multiple different kinds of jobs for various clients, while living remotely.

Or someone could have multiple part-time jobs working on different IT jobs at the same time.

Now working 2 or 3 "full-time" jobs while remote, seems crazy, but I guess doable, I'm not in IT.

IT is such a broad term, are people writing code and programs, designing websites, doing web security, the possibilities are endless with the IT term.

I have a cousin, who just turned 53 and has taught IT/computer science/business at one of the regional Penn State campuses for 25+ years now. The last school year was completely remote, from his house, he also has had a web design consulting business on the side for 25+ years and he also does a YouTube channel/podcast on the side as well, so I guess in a way he has 3 different jobs, but his teaching is really the only full-time one, and even that one he has the summers off!

The point I am getting at, is that there are countless ways someone in IT could be working/managing multiple different jobs or gigs at the same time, I need more info from your buddy about these "multiple remote jobs".

[ccm123]

I knew a territory sales manager (IT, worked from a remote office) who held two sales positions simultaneously. He managed to juggle this for a few months, but was discovered.

He was terminated from the company I worked with him at.

[macroy]

Originally Posted by Morpheuss

Hello all,

So a few of my buddies have said that the trend in the tech field during this COVID era is for people to have multiple remote jobs. He said some even have up to three different jobs, and that is a well-known thing now. So I'm missing the bus on this one it seems.

To the question - If somebody does want to explore this practice what is the recommended combination/configuration/type of tech roles that you can choose to successfully work multiple remote jobs.

There is absolutely no perfect/one answer to this. There are so many factors.

Also - many companies will have policies against this. So while it may only be an issue if you get caught, getting caught may mean being sued or if your world is small enough, have you reputation affected.

That said - outside of covid, there has been a proliferation of freelancing/crowdsourcing going on. Especially with freelancing sites, etc. So there are legitimates ways to do this. Albeit this can be a double-edged sword. While most are still hiring FTEs today. Down the road, freelancing/crowdsourcing may be more the norm. But you'll be paid by the job. While it may not be 100% this way, it will certainly further separate those that can/do and those that can't.

[modest]

If I could do it in less than 40 hours per week and they were flexible with my hours, I'd consider it. I have plenty of down time during the week that I could put to use to make more money rather than play video games or browse the web.