Moonlighting — moon·light·ing.
To work at an additional job after one’s regular, full-time employment, as at night.
Our team first came upon the moonlighting term when we posted a job ad on Authentic Jobs.
Working as a moonlighter means working at night and on the weekends. Sometimes moonlighting jobs are known as after-work jobs.
But a question remains: are you moonlighting material?
Types of moonlighting jobs
Regular workers
Often moonlighters are restricted to working in the evenings and weekends in order to fit their after-work schedule around their daylight activities. Regular moonlighting workers include:
- Bar tender
- Taxi driver
- Club bouncer
- Call center
- Fitness trainer
- Door-to-door salesman
- Cleaner
- Waiter
Skilled workers
Software developers, web designers, UX designers and SEO specialists, among others, can put their tech skills to good use outside their everyday career job.
Usually the skilled moonlighter is able to work remotely and, of course, the paychecks are a bit heavier compared to regular workers.
Pros
Earn some extra coin
One of the biggest reasons why folks take on extra work. Prices keep rising so an extra income is more than welcome.
Learn new skills
Considering a career switch but can’t risk quitting just yet? Becoming a moonlighter could be a way to boost your technical and soft skills.
Moonlight fun
Specialy if you’re working on a team, moonlighting can be specially fun as people are not stressed out (since it’s not their critical income job).
Safety net
Some professionals consider moonlighting opportunities because they might feel that their daylight job is not entirely safe.
Cons
Conflict of interest
Moonlighting for a direct (or even indirect) competitor can put you in a hard place. This situation could be particularly tricky if you’re working in the software industry, where you might end up using at least part of what you learned from your daylight employer.
Spread too thin…
You might end up burning out and not being 100% focused on both jobs. Really consider this risk before taking on a moonlighting job.
Tax issues
Keep in mind that work which generates cash must be added to your income declaration for tax purposes.
How do employers feel about moonlighters?
Some employers might include a strict moonlighting policy in the company’s rules.
Employers may have rights to your intellectual property that might be a barrier to moonlight working.
How to make moonlighting work
- Leave a two or three hour buffer between jobs… Just in case your big boss needs you to stay working late.
- Get as much sleep as possible.
- Never take on a moonlighting job that you won’t like.
- Never ever let your moonlighting job interfere with your principal work.
Our development team is currently working on a moonlighting basis.
We’re trying to mitigate the down’s of moonlighting by doing 5-minutes daily hangouts at 8pm (GMT+0) to keep everybody focused and aware of everybody’s progress.
Being organised, trying out new technologies and shipping out work to our beta-testers has kept our team rolling forward.
Cheers,
Pedro Carmo Oliveira
http://www.pcbo.me
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