Multiple full time job

Posted by Sufficient_Dig207@reddit | ExperiencedDevs | View on Reddit | 29 comments

Is that a good idea or a bad idea?

The background of this ask is:

If you use AI tools well, you can get 10xProductivity, but 10xProductivity won't get you 10x pay and growth is very limited within your role.

If you can get your full time job done in a fraction of the full time, should you find another full time job?

Curious how people are thinking about this.

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ALAS_POOR_YORICK_LOL@reddit

It's called over employment, usually it has an air of deceit that I don't love.

The more honest version is just becoming a contractor

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03263@reddit

Freelancer, most of that work is now in shitty gig apps sadly

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If you can actually put this off, I'm betting in a year or two you are going to be crying about how AI took your job. Means there is zero knowledge moat or engineering judgement required to do these hypothetical two jobs you've lined up.

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Routine_Internal_771@reddit

Y'all don't study ethics in a CS degree?

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Dry_Bird1790@reddit

Actually no I don't think so

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necheffa@reddit

Part of my CS degree program required an ethics seminar. Then again, my degree is ABET accredited. I'm not sure how many CS degrees have ABET accreditation.

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Sufficient_Dig207@reddit (OP)

That is a real concern, but you have delivered for your role

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1One2Twenty2Two@reddit

If (and only if) you can do both jobs properly, is there an ethics issue?

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Bousha29@reddit

I don't think under-paying company managers study ethics in business school either.

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ForeverPrior2279@reddit

If your goal is money then yes. Anything else not too sure honestly

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Outside-Storage-1523@reddit

I don't complain if my colleagues do multiple jobs, as long as they can hold up a reasonably high quality on this one.

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greensodacan@reddit

There's usually a clause in the employment contract for FTEs that says you can't be employed by another entity. You're effectively "on retainer" for the duration of the work day.

Communication becomes an issue too. Like it or not, being an engineer involves a lot more than just code contribution, and your teammates need to be able to get in touch with you during core hours of the day. You might have to hop on a call, attend non-routine meetings, fix and issue, help someone debug, or someone might just need your input. Bottom line, you need to show up for work.

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Crafty_Independence@reddit

10x was a myth long before it got hitched to AI hype (which, by the way AI is not shown to consistently boost average productivity by very much anyway).

If you are relying on your prompting skills to engage in overemployment, you will almost certainly lose your skills and domain knowledge, and probably both jobs as well

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downshiftdata@reddit

At best, being overemployed is financial gain for the individual at the expense of the collective. Even if you're not caught, then you're still certainly performing inferior work in both cases than if you were 100% focused on either one of them. And, by the way, we can tell. We're probably not going to rat you out, but we can tell. And we're pissed about it. So, at best, your team suffers. So, at best, ethically, screw you.

At worst, you are indeed caught, and your long-term career is likely to suffer. As the hiring process collapses into a steaming pile of poo, the one remaining bastion is referrals and networking. And you've pissed all over that by getting caught. If I were your coworker and knew that's what happened to you, there's no way in hell I'm recommending you for another job. In fact, you're now radioactive, and I'm staying as far away from you as possible.

And getting caught means we're all now a suspect. Honestly, they don't need the excuse anymore - they can monitor us all they want with impunity. But you've just gift-wrapped one for them. So, again, speaking on behalf of the collective, screw you.

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NGTTwo@reddit

At best, being overemployed is financial gain for the individual at the expense of the collective.

Isn't that, like, all of American culture these days? "Fuck you, got mine"?

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obelix_dogmatix@reddit

Get over employed, and if I find out, get fired, and then go cry on Reddit about it.

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practical_absurdity@reddit

The problem is that with increased productivity you get increased expectations. What could easily take a week before now is expected to be done in a day or two.

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The_Real_Slim_Lemon@reddit

10x productivity is a myth unless you’re just pushing boilerplate all day. Or you’re a junior dev.

And even if you are working twice as fast - take care of your health, go for walks, take up hobbies, enjoy your life. Getting a second full time job can’t be worth it

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Sufficient_Dig207@reddit (OP)

10x only for some tasks, but 2x overall is pretty achievable.

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The_Real_Slim_Lemon@reddit

I stand by the rest of my statement

Plus, if everyone else at the company starts ramping up while you maintain your going rate you’ll probably get PIPd anyway and go back down to one job. Heck where I work doing what you’re describing is a breach of contract anyway, I’d just get fired lol

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Sufficient_Dig207@reddit (OP)

Sure there is legal concerns. But they are totally fine you get the work done in 3h and have fun the rest of the day.

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The_Real_Slim_Lemon@reddit

Where is this magical company and can I join lol - what dev company is happy with resources running at 40% capacity

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Stellariser@reddit

Studies say otherwise, even showing negative productivity improvements while you lose your ability to think in the process.

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YahenP@reddit

AI doesn't increase productivity tenfold. And the small efficiency gains that can sometimes be achieved have long been more than factored into the requirements.
But yes. If you have the opportunity to get a second job and the energy to work both, it's worth it. Many of us live that way. Although a second job is usually not full-time, but part-time. Or a contract. The bills won't pay themselves. Moreover, in these difficult times, a second job, although adding a lot of work, significantly reduces stress levels due to the fear of losing your job. So, from my perspective, two jobs and two sources of income are definitely better than one.
Offtopic. I recently came across a link on Reddit to some programmer's blog from the early--mid 2000, where he gave some pretty relevant advice for the time. God, what a wonderful time it was! How naive!

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drnullpointer@reddit

You will get caught, fired, and it is possible this information will follow you because the integration between sources of information from different companies is getting better and better. You might find yourself unable to find a job in the future and you won't even be told.

As to "10x productivity", if you really can be 10x more productive, why not just create your own company. If you can take multiple jobs, you can also live on one job and use the time to start your own company. Then you would reap the benefits of being 9x developer for yourself and leave 1x developer to pay your current bills.

I guess not.

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OkPush3638@reddit

Having 10x more output doesn't equate to bring 10x more productive. When you don't know what you're doing, you become a slop machine in multiple companies and don't have the time to understand business context or get a mental model. When shit inevitably hits the fan because your crappy PoC doesn't work, you get laid off and tank your reputation at multiple companies at the same time.

So it's a bad idea. It''s unethical and short-sighted.

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