An Insight into Side Hustles for Software Engineers

Today, we live in an era of innovation and technology. Information technology has been rooted in our daily lives and every aspect of our life is dependent on technology in one way or another. Software engineers play a prime role to further this tech wagon. Software development is a vast field with plenty of job opportunities all around the world and the freelance market makes up a major portion of the IT business. According to statistics, 37% of Americans are involved in some sort of side business one way or another. However, still, many engineers remain exclusive of the benefits that side hustles offer.

Diversity of Side Hustles

Software development is a vast field with many possibilities available depending on the route that you take. Each side hustle needs a different set of skills and each has its own pros and cons. We have sifted through the many available possible side hustles and have selected the best out of these. Let’s take a look at some of these side hustles for software engineers.

1. Take on the Freelance Market

According to a survey, there are 57 million freelancers in the world, 86% of whom work from home. Freelancing has been active in the tech sector for quite a while but saw the ultimate boom during the pandemic. The COVID pandemic led to a complete shutdown of office culture all over the world with employers telling their employees to work from home. Despite the initial shock, this situation answered a much-asked question, “Do we really need offices to work?”. Well as it turned out we don’t. Almost all the work shifted to online platforms with many people opting to work in the freelance market as a side hustle.

The freelance market lets you choose not only the type and scope of work you want to do, but also the time of work. These features along with competitive prices led to many software developers and engineers leaving their current jobs and shifting to freelance as a full-fledged career. Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of the freelance market to get a deeper insight.

Pros

• Flexible Scope of Work – You get to decide the type of project.
• Competitive Rates – Get better checkout rates than your market salary.
• Flexible Timings – Choose when you want to work, and where you want to work.

Cons

• Company Share – Freelance sites usually keep a certain percentage of your earnings.
• Finding Clients – Finding clients can be hectic for new users.
• Solo Commitments – You don’t get paid vacations and leaves.

Fiverr, Upwork and Guru are some of the most renowned freelance sites with millions of freelancers using these each day.

2. Try Bug Bounty Hunting

Bug hunting is termed the hunting sport of the software realm. Bug hunting involves going through the coding of software to find bugs and errors. This leads to refined code as software vulnerabilities and errors get weeded out. Many Fortune-400 tech companies like Facebook and Twitter host bug bounty events where they hire hundreds of software developers all around the world. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons associated with bug bounty hunting in order to fully assess this work as a suitable side hustle.

Pros

• Fortune Bugs – Chance to get higher payouts depending upon the severity of the bug.
• Ethical Hacking–You contribute to the market as a white hat hacker.
• Remote Work – All you need to get started is a laptop and internet connection.

Cons

• Unstable Profits – You don’t get paid unless you find bugs
• Competitive Market – Ethical bug hunting is a highly competitive work with many hackers working to find the same bug.
• Schedule of Work – Hacking competitions usually have fixed start and end dates.

BugCrowd and Cisco are some of the most used sites by software developers for bug bounty hunting. Many software companies also offer open bug-hunting invitations where users get paid for each bug reported.

3. Mentor other Developers

Software development is a skill that needs years to master. The tech market values individuals with unique skill sets. Software developers work to master their skills and practice until they gain profound knowledge of the field. However, there are many developers who are just starting their coding careers. These new developers need guidance as they climb the tech ladder and the experience and impact of a veteran coder with a unique set of skills may just be the much-needed light. Development mentoring has its own pros and cons that need to be discussed here.

Pros

• Flexible Timing – Choose when you want to work, and where you want to work.
• Flexible Rates – You get the price you ask.
• Stable Income – You get a continued source of income.

Cons

• Teaching Mindset – You cannot pursue a career in teaching if you don’t have the right mindset.
• Finding Clients – You need to find students to teach during the early days of your career.
• Learning Hiatus – You will teach the same thing over and over again.

Experts in the trade usually share their achievements and findings in the form of online portfolios to attract possible leads and students. Blogs and professional platforms are a great way to get started.

Final Words

If you’re a software engineer who is looking to invest his time in building multiple sources of income, these side hustles are a perfect start for you. However, each of these tasks requires a specific set of skills, and it is up to you to choose the one most compatible with your taste.

There are many other side hustles available in the market today other than these, so take your time, build your portfolio, and get started since the possibilities are endless.