I’m approaching the time of the year with my software company where things are slowing down and I’m just supporting existing users. So, I would like to earn additional money working from home. My background is in IT, with over 15 years working with Oracle PL/SQL and Oracle Forms and Reports.
I could easily work 20-30 hours a week, or more, as long as there is flexibility in the time that I work. I would be happy with any number of hours and would just like to earn some additional income.
Would I be wasting my time contacting employment agencies looking for this type of employment situation? Any tips or advice on how to approach them or what to request?
As long as I can work remotely and with flexible hours, I would be willing to work for less than the going rate. Would mentioning that up front hurt or help me?
I’m not a head hunter, but I’ll say that they have been entirely uninterested in my inquiries along the same line. They get paid to place a full time person. This rigid thinking by all parties makes it really hard to propose a contract or part time arrangement. It just isn’t in their head space even though it makes a lot of sense. You have to cultivate these relationships yourself but I would be glad to be proven wrong.
I’m not a head hunter, but I’ll say that they have been entirely uninterested in my inquiries along the same line. They get paid to place a full time person. This rigid thinking by all parties makes it really hard to propose a contract or part time arrangement. It just isn’t in their head space even though it makes a lot of sense. You have to cultivate these relationships yourself but I would be glad to be proven wrong.
This.
I work with contract recruiters 50% of the time and it’s how they are measured/comped so Rick above is correct. It’s going to take a little time/thinking but I would suggest you identify a handful of companies that you’d like to do this for and contact the recruiters at the companies themselves. Internal recruiters (sometimes) are comped on placements but by large are driven to fulfill the companies talent needs, be it full or part time.
You’re in a good spot. Most of my clients cant find folks like you fast enough (though in a full time environment).
** Do not mention you’d be open to doing it for less than the going rate. First off it will not matter to contract recruiters for the reason above, and secondly to companies direct simple supply/demand is heavily in favor of you and your skill set.
Oh god, no. If you make a respectable wage in the United States you are competing with people who can earn 10x less than you or are willing to work for peanuts to build a resume. It is a buyers market. I’ve tried elance where I’ve made bids on projects that were up my ally in very specific terms. I’m no stranger to making a good proposal and justifying my rate, but there was no way for me to win bids there. I would make a reasonable $3-$5k bid on a project that should take somewhere between 2-3 weeks and someone from Romania would offer $500 and claim they could do it in 48 hours.
If there are real living wages being paid through elance I’ve never heard of it. I’ve also heard plenty of disappointment from colleagues who have put projects out to bid, so the world desperately needs an IT-based project bidding service that pairs serious actors.
Oh god, no. If you make a respectable wage in the United States you are competing with people who can earn 10x less than you or are willing to work for peanuts to build a resume. It is a buyers market. I’ve tried elance where I’ve made bids on projects that were up my ally in very specific terms. I’m no stranger to making a good proposal and justifying my rate, but there was no way for me to win bids there. I would make a reasonable $3-$5k bid on a project that should take somewhere between 2-3 weeks and someone from Romania would offer $500 and claim they could do it in 48 hours.
If there are real living wages being paid through elance I’ve never heard of it. I’ve also heard plenty of disappointment from colleagues who have put projects out to bid, so the world desperately needs an IT-based project bidding service that pairs serious actors.
Oh god, no. If you make a respectable wage in the United States you are competing with people who can earn 10x less than you or are willing to work for peanuts to build a resume. It is a buyers market. I’ve tried elance where I’ve made bids on projects that were up my ally in very specific terms. I’m no stranger to making a good proposal and justifying my rate, but there was no way for me to win bids there. I would make a reasonable $3-$5k bid on a project that should take somewhere between 2-3 weeks and someone from Romania would offer $500 and claim they could do it in 48 hours.
If there are real living wages being paid through elance I’ve never heard of it. I’ve also heard plenty of disappointment from colleagues who have put projects out to bid, so the world desperately needs an IT-based project bidding service that pairs serious actors.
I bet there would be a market for that.
Put a bid for such a project on elance.com; you should get a cheap and fast bid in no time.
Not short term but you might want to consider learning a BI tool like Hyperion, Business Objects or Cognos. The guys I know who do this, work when they want to.