I've nearly finished my degree. Help me work out my future. [more inside]
posted by b33j on Sep 28, 2009 - 5 answers

Sometimes I get small job requests that come from outside my fulltime job. They don't pay much (barely over 1k this year) but it's enough to require me to report myself as a business. Does that mean it's a second job?
posted by mallow005 on Sep 10, 2009 - 11 answers

Do you work less than 5 days/week (9am-5pm)? and/or do you work from home? If so, what is your job, and how did you obtain it? [more inside]
posted by Jason and Laszlo on Aug 5, 2009 - 28 answers

I want to start to do freelance programming in Ruby on Rails. Although I have experiences, in programming, architectures, rails, I would like to get good sources for finding orders. Can you give me advices, how to do it well? [more inside]
posted by fifigyuri on Aug 3, 2009 - 4 answers

I am a recent college graduate and I also suffer a good deal of wanderlust. There is the inevitable problem of combining work and play. At my university, the only career advice I received was graduate school or working the traditional 9-5 job. I'm wondering if it's possible to travel and earn money? [more inside]
posted by bodywithoutorgans on Jan 27, 2009 - 22 answers

I'm a highschool kid, good with computers, looking for an online job regarding computers? [more inside]
posted by ptsampras14 on Sep 28, 2008 - 7 answers

I am currently a freelance film/video editor slash motion graphic designer. One of the companies I freelance for is in the process of making me a job offer. I'm trying to figure out what a fair salary/wage is compared to what I pull in as freelance. [more inside]
posted by conigs on Apr 15, 2008 - 4 answers

How much should I quote for a daily rate working freelance as a web content editor? [more inside]
posted by electriccynic on Jan 11, 2008 - 6 answers

I'm planning to do some on-the-side freelance photography in the next year. I'd like some advice on how to play the tax game most effectively. [more inside]
posted by sprocket87 on Sep 28, 2007 - 8 answers

I love my 9-5 editing job, but as a certain hobby becomes viable as a (very small) part-time job, I need a much more flexible schedule. How can I quit while guaranteeing that my fellow editors then hire me as their writers? [more inside]
posted by nevers on Dec 5, 2006 - 7 answers

Turducken said it concisely: "When (most) freelance writers want to have a family or buy a house, they get jobs as... editors." I am wondering just how they (we) do that! [more inside]
posted by Eater on Oct 30, 2006 - 7 answers

What are good, easy part-time jobs? [more inside]
posted by clairezulkey on Jul 13, 2006 - 26 answers

I am giving serious consideration to setting up as an IT consultant. I'm well proficient in Windows and Mac, Office suites; applications and web technology. In addition, I enjoy talking and fixing computers. I've done some such already, but on a small scale and for people I already knew. My question is: what kind of things should an IT consultant be able to do, what are common requests, what should I charge and how (per job/per hour?). Are there any potential pitfalls? Is it a good idea? Thanks a bunch.
posted by dance on Apr 4, 2006 - 13 answers

What kind of freelance work is right for me? [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Nov 21, 2005 - 3 answers

ResumeFilter: Applying to a Fortune 500 company. How do I show the last two years of freelance experience without coming off as a maverick? [MI] [more inside]
posted by parma on Jul 13, 2005 - 10 answers

So you're self-employed, and you sign a contract for a moderate-sized, long-term gig (worth $5,000 or so/year), and...you lose your copy of the contract. Your relations with this company over the years have been overwhelmingly friendly and positive. What do you do? Just ask them nicely for a copy?
posted by anonymous on Jan 22, 2005 - 12 answers

I work partly as IT/network support for a company whose focus isn't specifically IT. As such, most of the employees are not very knowledgeable in this area and come to me for help on fixing issues on their home computers. I'm not really into this, but I'm not sure how best to decline to help. I don't mind advising people on things, but when they ask me to go their house to fix their home computers I balk. Today, someone asked how much I charged to "reformat" their hard drive, which I suppose is better than just asking if I can fix something, but what if I don't want to run a half-assed consultancy?

On the flipside -- if I did want to start charging, what do you think would be a normal rate for this kind of stuff? Should I bother setting up a business name? I had thought about such a business before I got this job, but now that I'm a full-timer, I'm not sure I have the interest in doing this as a sidejob.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon on Dec 29, 2004 - 17 answers