So I built Fractional Jobs.
The goal is to help more people break out of W2 life and into their own independent careers by helping them find great clients to work with.
We find and vet the clients, and then engineers can request intros to any that seem like a good fit. We'll make the intro assuming the client opts in after seeing your profile.
We have 9 open engineering roles right now: - 2x Fractional CTO - 2x AI engineers - 3x full-stack - 1x staff frontend - 1x mobile
Fractional CTO @ A Consumer Healthtech Marketplace 20 - 40 hrs | $175 - $200 / hr | Remote (USA only) https://www.fractionaljobs.io/jobs/chief-technology-officer-...
Senior AI Engineer @ A European Insurtech Startup 20 - 40 hrs / week | €85 - €100 / hr | Remote (CET +/- 6hrs) https://www.fractionaljobs.io/jobs/senior-ai-engineer-at-a-e...
Senior Full-stack Engineer @ A Consumer Social Startup 20 - 40 hrs / week | $125 - $150 / hr | Remote (EST +/- 5 hrs) https://www.fractionaljobs.io/jobs/senior-full-stack-enginee...
Staff Frontend Engineer @ An HR-tech Analytics Platform 20 - 40 hrs / week | $120 - $180 / hr | Remote (USA / Canada only) https://www.fractionaljobs.io/jobs/staff-frontend-engineer-a...
AI Engineer @ A Creator-focused AI Startup 10 - 15 hrs / week | $100 - $125 / hr | Remote (USA / Canada / Europe only) https://www.fractionaljobs.io/jobs/ai-engineer-at-a-creator-...
For those just getting started, my piece of advice is to be OK taking a lower rate initially, and just keep pushing it higher until you find resistance. If you're good at what you do, you will quickly find that you will get referrals (make sure to ask!) and can charge a ton more. It's a lot easier as a freelancer/contractor than a salaried employee since the market is much more liquid (you spend less time at one gig) and therefore you can test the waters with a higher rate much more often.
Regardless, what these companies list as what they will pay hourly isn't necessarily what you have to ask for. If you think about it from a negotiation perspective (and you have the ability to sell yourself), these are simply just the lower bound of what you can ask for.
Additionally, the going rate for an interim CTO was about $50K/month last time I checked, which doesn’t get you 40 hrs / week, so is north of $600/hr.
Fractional CTO | $368k - $420k
Senior AI Engineer | €179k - €210k
Senior Full-stack Engineer | $263k - $315k
Staff Frontend Engineer | $252k - $378k
AI Engineer | $210k - $263k
Given that the rates are decent. Not the best out there but decent. I'd consider this before Upwork where contract rates are criminally low.
Not "CTO". Is anyone is a role of lead or higher (or AI engineers in general) having that bad a time finding work?
The higher rates come through trusted referrals. If you arrive at a company via referral from someone they trust, they will usually pay a lot more than hiring random people who apply.
Are you able say something about this?
CISO is famously a "sacrificial lamb" sort of job, and it's certainly never one I would take on on a fractional basis (all of the risk but a lot less of the reward). I could understand having a fractional "security advisor" or "security lead", so maybe I'm just arguing about semantics, but again I'm primarily just interested in hearing about real world experiences with this sort of arrangement.
I'm also aware of someone who made a lot of money in tech and doesn't really need to work but wants to stay in the game. They have told me they'd take a lot less money than they were making for a low salary and some equity if there weren't crazy high expectations for hours worked.
I don't think you could build a team of only part timers, but it really could be a solid way to round out a less experienced team without breaking the bank.
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?
For people who want some more freedom with their time, part time is ideal. I want to have more time to experiment and learn. Currently there is just no time for it.
I've noticed they market 'overemployment' as a benefit, is this platform similar?
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.
Why shouldn’t I as a client get 10 hours a week from an architect and 5 hours a week from a security expert instead of paying for a whole one? We should be comparing notes with our consulting house colleagues on design problems and interpersonal dynamics, but we never have. Only when they project is going badly does anything like this happen, and then it’s done begrudgingly.
I think trying to do gig work from the states unless it is Defense contracting you're quickly going to find someone buying that might not care what geography they're drawing from which puts USA based workers at a massive disadvantage.
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.
It’s not ideal for everyone, especially if you need the security of a predictable salary and good benefits
I’ve had some freelance clients I’ve loved and some that made me regret ever leaving full-time work.
How hard is it to believe that some people like gig work, even if they have to pay for their own insurance.
People want different things. And you normally get either good wages or benefits. This is erring on the side of wages.
https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-une...
I like the idea of part time but feel like just keeping up with technology is already such a lot of work you can't ever be useful working 2 or 3 days per week for the rest of your career.
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.
The peer post linking to someone else's solution that uses size appropriate scales seems better.
Thoughts?
Do your jobs tend to be for technical or non-technical customers? What are the characteristics of developers who succeed on your site?
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.
I think OP is using it to mean "regular full time employee".
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44855157#44860128
It's about time that there should be a distinguished difference between an engineer who went through engineering school and another who went to a bootcamp/computer science/etc. Not only is it confusing for people like me whenever I see the word engineering - the first thing that comes to my mind are engineering topics, only to find it's just full stack, JavaScript, prompt "engineering" jobs- but it also disturbs the market for both seekers and employers. When an employer posts a "systems engineering" job and gets bombarded with people who had some JS and DevOps work, meanwhile the employer is after systems with hardware and the like, you are making it worse for both sides. And this kind of "relaxed" approach is only in engineering professions for some reason; even as a plumber you need an apprenticeship, let alone being a lawyer, nurse, or doctor.
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!?
