Freelance

[[Da...]]

Anyone out there have any experience doing freelance work? I am considering doing a little moonlighting and/or weekend work helping those out who don't have the budget for an on sight programmer. I know other businesses offer this service and with so many freelance sites such as Upwork, I feel like it would be an opportunity missed not to take advantage of a little side work. Not to mention helping another business up their game a bit.

I've given this some thought as far as what I would need from the client such as their probe data, blueprints, 3D Model, etc. The next question that comes into mind is pricing and if the payout would justify me purchasing the software for such an endeavor. I would consider myself between intermediate and advanced as far as programming skill is concerned and I think this would provide the opportunity to advance those skills based on exposure to new applications/requirements and so forth.

I am hungry for knowledge and seek constant improvement, any feedback is appreciated.

[[Me...]]

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A good start could be to charge for onsite programming help. With this you will be using their seat of calypso on their machine. Eventually you can buy the offline seat if you feel that its working out.

The question is... How much do you value your time that you could justify charging companies?

[[Ra...]]

I'm not the best/most experienced programmer out there, but I did this once for contract with a company that lost their QE - the guy that programmed their CMM. I estimated the number of hours I expected to spend and multiplied by $60/hr. I added $300 on top for my attorney to review the contract and another $50 to get my wife flowers for all the extra time spent at working - while home.

Things I accounted for regarding time:
Modeling - 6
Prints/mapping/evaluation of - 6
Planning - 4
Fixture design - 6
Programming - 20
Testing - 6
Misc. - 2
Travel - 10
Post-release Support - 15

Total $4850

Programming was on site. Part had 3 variants and was slightly complex. Most of the work was done in the comfort of home.

The first contract was a success, so they asked for another part under similar terms. The second contract went well also. I was then offered a job at a significant decrease in rate - which was to be expected. However, they went waaayyy too low. I won't work for them again.

But, I got my wife a car and some flowers. Success!

[[Ro...]]

I would love to get a little "Free Car" side gig.

[[To...]]

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Hey Randy, Did you use your own seat of Calypso? Can you spell Conflict of Interest? 😃 😃 😃 😃

[[Re...]]

I would check with your HR department first for approval, or you may need to do a lot of freelancing if you know what I mean.

[[Ro...]]

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Conflict of interest, you say that as if its a bad thing.
When you trap inquisitive people in a box for 60 hours a week, you have to expect they're going to Dawdle.
Some of us spend countless hours on the interwebs, the smarter ones get free cars.

[[Ra...]]

Hold on a minute!

I used the seat at the "other" company. Their QE quit - leaving them with a CMM and no programmer. In fact, the majority of the work was modeling and print evaluation. The programming was fairly straightforward. Additionally, I used the opportunity to get another employee with some technical ability at their company some hands-on with Calypso for future reference.

They are not our competition in any manner. I signed a limited NDA (also looked over by my attorney.) I was up front with my current company that I was doing this. I worked Saturdays and from home (3D, planning, print study, road map, etc.) for weeks.

I kept everything above-board with all involved.

I hope this clarifies some things and puts your minds at ease.

Side note: I won't do another contract job again because, if you see the mild conflicts that arise from an internet forum regarding contract work and misunderstandings, multiply that by 10 for the job in question.

[[Er...]]

I've done some work on the side, programming all kind of stuff. (ASP, AWK (omg!! ppl still use that!), Ruby and some Smalltalk recently (Didn't charge for that since I most of the time I scratched my head and screamed at the monitor), Maintained some old forth (That was a challenge, since it was the first time I saw that language.).) Not done any Calypso tough.. But I can't see why I wouldn't do it if I get paid for it.

What I do on my spare time is no ones business but mine. Current employer "owns" me 07:00-15:30, that's it.

How ever, I value my spare time very high. If it's not a fun and interesting project, or a friend asking, I'm so expensive that if I get the job, they are idiots!

[[To...]]

No worries Randy. I wasn't accusing you. I didn't mean to start anything. 😃

[[Ia...]]

Has anyone ever did contract work, totally offline? What did you charge, and by the hour or by part?

It would be their seat of calypso, if you were worried about that.

[[Cl...]]

I did some Calypso programming for a previous employer. Luckily it was close to home, I could work
weekends. I asked for $50.00 an hour and they were happy to pay it, they 1099'nd me. That short
term gig paid for a vacation to London.

[[Ma...]]

If you are considering doing free lance work make sure you get insurance and are bonded. It is not expensive. My $1m policy cost $35.00 a month. This will protect you in case you break anything or you verify that parts are good and they are not.

One thing I stipulate is I'm writing a program and not running production. Once I proof out the program and do a Gage R&R to prove the process the program belongs to them. What they do with it is their issue. Always keep a master copy.

You also have to stand by your work, that means support. But how much support? That is always a sticky question. Do you go in for free to fix something or are they messing with the program when you are not there? I've had this issue at one company and I can't tell you how many times my saved copy has saved me from an accusation that my program was wrong, at this particular company. One time I didn't have the backup on me but I had a USB in my pocket and this one guy, who was a machinist and trying to change the programs to show he made good parts, challenged me that the program was wrong. I pulled out the USB I had and told him I had the backup right here and do you want to run it in front of the boss to show him it was right. He then confessed he did make one little change. So now this became a call I could charge for.

It can be frustrating. I always find out what the expectation is, a program?, a program with PCM to cover a variety of that same style parts? Is mirroring okay for symmetrical opposite parts?, or do you what two separate programs? etc... Don't wait until you are there to find out what they need.

Mark