Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

These prices seem very low.

20-40 will certainly round up to a full time role, just with less pay and benefits than a regular job.

I'm curious to know the business model. I assume you charge the companies, but I couldn't find the pricing model on the website.

Are you able say something about this?

Totally agree! We've featured a number of Fractional CISO roles.

Same. I hate the 9-5. It's soul-crushing for me. This is right up my alley!

Yes. For someone who’s already financially comfortable, it’s nice to be able to stay in the game, keep working with great people, and make some money without having to deal with burnout.

Lots of people in tech like their jobs; they just like other things too. Personally I don’t know why I would want to stop working completely. It sounds boring. I love to build. Why ever stop?

Yup, I see these examples all the time. You're spot on.

I'm personally not a huge fan of the over-employment trend, although I do see some arguments for it. A lot of the companies that are looking to hire on fractional jobs are quite explicit that they don't want folks that have full-time jobs (aka are over-employed) because of the negative connotations and consequences.

I'm familiar with Higher Fraction. I believe that the core difference is just that they're an agency that takes a percent markup on your hourly rate, so typically it's 20%.

I think the best software engineers don't need to do this, though, and they can find clients directly through their network or even through places like Fractional Jobs where we connect you directly with clients, and it's your relationship to own.

They don't pay much. $5k-$6k/mo for half time.

Fair, but I find, and I think this thread is evident, that a lot of folks are actually proactively seeking part-time work for one reason or another. If done correctly, you can actually make more money than an equivalent full-time role.

I see way more full-time engineering jobs than part time

I'd love the opportunity to work 10-15 hours per week for a couple years as a sort of "semi-sabbatical". That could give me enough to pay for enough of my expenses to keep my savings going for long enough to make it worth it.

Screw full time, I have a life and I want to enjoy more than 30% of it.

The problem isn't part-time hours, which are ideal and actually more in-line with workers' actual labor time. The problem is that companies refuse (and workers refuse to make them) pay high-enough wages.

Part time work is a godsend for those of us with kids, it might not fit in with your life situation, but for lots of us it does.

Maybe times are different now (I’m not freelancing anymore) but I was the happiest when I was a freelancer. I made more than I could have as a full time employee, because I could ask more often for more (vs jumping jobs every 2-4 years). I could write off a ton of expenses. I could put away more for retirement (self-employment gives you higher limits). I didn’t have to do stupid whiteboard interviews. I could work whenever and wherever I wanted. And I could ultimately choose when I took time off and for however long.

It’s not ideal for everyone, especially if you need the security of a predictable salary and good benefits

You may not and I don't really but I'm tired of people telling other people they don't really want what they ask for.

How hard is it to believe that some people like gig work, even if they have to pay for their own insurance.

I’m probably never going to retire, unless I cannot find part time work in my dotage. We are the only first world country where benefits are as big an issue as you’re making it. That’s an “us problem”.

> Screw part time. The whole economy is moving towards part time, gig work, etc and it's terrible for most employees who need good wages and benefits.

People want different things. And you normally get either good wages or benefits. This is erring on the side of wages.

The wages listed there are pretty reasonable. Someone who wants more could work more hours/jobs. Life a little more on your own terms.

There are simply no more jobs available for the massive population we have right now. Part time economy increases employment.

ActiveSupport still has a wonderfully readable implementation:

https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/b0c813bc7b61c71dd21ee3a6...

Though I don't really use Rails that often any more, I still miss some of the niceties.

If something was less than 24 hours ago, there's a good chance that it was actually be "yesterday" rather than "today".

The peer post linking to someone else's solution that uses size appropriate scales seems better.

Fractional sales and GTM is huge right now

Here's the thing, and I'm open to thoughts here. But I've found that candidate A can be a great fit for company B, but a terrible fit for company C. I think a match is way more subjective than folks tend to give it credit for, and a rating system (like Uber) makes it seem more objective than it actually is. It works for things like Uber, where you can have hundreds of ratings very quickly, and so it converges on a natural truth. But with fractional clients, I think the N is so small that there's might just be too much noise.

Thoughts?

Thanks! Most of the clients hiring engineers tend to be non-technical, especially those hiring Fractional CTOs of course. But sometimes we'll work with CTOs to hire a contractor for their team too.

I think the devs that have the most success have the following qualities: - They can clearly show their work history (Linkedin, Resume, Github, custom site, etc.) - They have some baseline level of knowledge/experience in relationship management, i.e. they can talk the talk. You do have to do a bit of "selling", especially when looking for contract work.

Which ad blocker? I will test this.

Does any job board do this?

huh? that's what freelancing always has been. what's wrong with that?

It's the form USA employers report employee earnings on for calculating income tax.

I think OP is using it to mean "regular full time employee".

"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Are you trying to insult my design skills or my Webflow skills?

view-source says Webflow

> Fuck you very deeply.

You can't comment like this on Hacker News, no matter what you're replying to. Criticism is fine, but personal attacks like this are not. Please make an effort to observe the guidelines if you want to participate here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I agree that the term 'Engineer' has lost all meaning in the software/IT world. I studied CS at a UK uni which was a subject in the engineering school. I then worked with engineers on multidisciplinary projects (mechanical, electrical, chemical) and am a qualified CAD engineer.

When people start advertising for roles my 'mobile engineer' for someone who makes iphone apps it just makes me feel a bit sad. It genuinely cheapens the term.

I imagine 'architects' also get p1ssed off for the same reason tbh. There's probably loads of real architects who see an 'architect' and say 'he's not a bloody architect! I went to architecture school for SEVEN YEARS!!! He's an idiot with a 1 month AWS certificate!'

Why is IT so bad at trying to steal others' glory!?

I expect an employer can escape that by asking for a professional engineer whow can sign and stamp for their work, and has some malpractice insurance.