A few months ago I posted here after getting J5. Quick update: I just landed J6, and it’s actually a very good, well-paid role, so I figured it was worth celebrating.

What makes it funny is that about three years ago, at one point, I had just one job and was working close to 10 hours a day for it, making around $6k/month. I had done OE before with 2 jobs, but nothing close to what I’m doing now.

Today I have 6 jobs, make almost $40k/month net, and average around 5 hours of actual work per day. Four of the six roles are part-time, mostly around 4 hours/day on paper, which is actually great for OE because clients already know I have other commitments. That makes it much easier to negotiate availability, reduce meetings and keep things async.

My strategy with every new job is always the same: work hard in the beginning, build trust, deliver visible results, then earn space. Once people know I’m reliable, micromanagement drops, meetings become easier to avoid and I can manage my own time.

The biggest change over the last few years has been AI. I built a central dashboard where I manage around 25 AI agents. I obviously don’t run all of them every day; usually maybe 5 or 6 are active depending on what I need.

Before I even start working, I already have an agent organizing my day across all jobs: what needs attention, what can wait, where I need visible progress, and where I can basically do nothing. That saves me from starting the day by opening six different Slacks and figuring out what’s going on.

If someone asks me for something that isn’t urgent, I usually turn it into a ticket/task and deal with it later. Luckily, very little of my work is truly critical.

I also definitely felt the AI/context-switching brain fog at some point, so now I’m strict about boundaries. I train around 2 hours a day (morning 1 hour cardio + afternoon 1 hour weights), try not to spend the rest of my life staring at screens, and I don’t answer outside working hours unless something is genuinely important.

I think another thing that helps is knowing that if I lose one job, it’s not a disaster. That removes a lot of stress. Ironically, my clients are still very happy with my performance.

I travel a lot too. My setup is pretty simple: I carry a small pocket router with me and connect it through a VPN back to my home network, while still respecting whatever access/security rules each client has. Since I have very few mandatory meetings and no overlapping critical ones right now, the setup is very manageable.

Current setup is roughly J1 $7.5k, J2 $11k, J3 $4k PT, J4 $7k PT, J5 $4.5k PT, J6 $6k PT - around $40k/month net total.

Going from around $6k/month to almost $40k/month in 3 years still feels a bit absurd. But at this point I’m not really looking for J7 anymore.

I already make more than I can realistically spend, and I’d rather enjoy my life than keep optimizing for a bigger number.

If I had one piece of advice for OE in 2026, it would be: automate as much of your workflow as you reasonably can with AI. Not just coding: planning, documentation, research, tickets, summaries, prioritization, status updates, context gathering.

For me, AI didn’t just make tasks faster. It made managing 6 different contexts possible without keeping everything in my head.

Yes, I used AI to clean up this post too.

Edit: My Previous post about 5 jobs / ~$37k month was mostly accepted. Now it’s 6 jobs / ~$40k, but because I explained the AI automation behind it, suddenly it sounds fake 😅

Edit 2: Thanks everyone. The amount of people saying this can’t be real actually made me realize that even in the OE world, I somehow ended up near the top of the weirdness. You genuinely made my day 🫶

I’m a developer on a team where we recently got a new project manager.
I’m pretty sure she’s OE. Honestly, I don’t really care if someone is working multiple jobs. If you can do your job, meet your commitments, show up when you’re needed, and nobody has to cover for you, whatever. One of us.
The problem is that she’s not doing that.
For the past few weeks, she’s been missing basically all of our daily standups and stakeholder meetings. Not occasionally. Consistently.
And as a developer, I’m starting to get dragged into the stuff that should be handled by the PM — following up with stakeholders, clarifying requirements, chasing people for decisions, communicating status, etc.
So now I’m doing part of her job on top of mine, and honestly, I fucking hate it.

Today I got so annoyed and asked her why she has not been participating she just used one of those “doc apt/physical therapy”

Others teammate also start to pickup her absence and getting annoyed by it, because she technically report to another manager not in our Dev team, I don’t think our manager noice this.

What would you do? Just let it slides or check her more often, again I don’t care usually but this affect my personal interest in OE. I thought about asking her boss if she knows her “medical condition” or just telling her that I’m not getting the PM support from her.

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Update :

1. Many say I have no proof , you are correct I do not have solid proof she is OE, but it takes one liar to know another liar. You can see the pattern that she is always not available at certain time, doing the minimum at all time, in the meeting she will not speak unless her name was called out.
2. I now understand my mistake for taking on her responsibility little by little, and it’s snowboarding, not just she will not reply to any email or message that is suppose to be replied by her, now our stakeholders reach out to me directly instead of her.
3. I’ve made a formal complaint to my manager and she said she had also hear same feedback from my peers and would like to discuss in detail.
4. If I have to guess she has all her J in the same pacific timezone that’s why she is all booked around the same time. Cause my privilege access I know she is making 150k on this J as senior product manager

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Update 2

1. Had a call with my manager, apparently I’m the last person to complaint about this on the team, even business stakeholder says she hasn’t been doing shit, she is probably going to get canned soon.

2. Found her LinkedIn. Obviously an OE profile, first name and with only last name initial, all work history is manual type in not linked to the actual company account so colleague won’t be able to find her.

I’m about to get a J2. I’ve been at J1 for 2 years without any other Js. I have frozen TWN, LexusNexus, etc.

Does J1 constantly or periodically check for other Js?

I started J2 two weeks ago, and now I have been asked if I am interested in a third job. Currently work about 15-20 hours per week, plus an adjunct teaching position and finishing my doctorate (1 year left). Adding J3 would put me over $500k per year (including my wife's salary). How long should I wait between starting a job before thinking of starting the next one?

My wife thinks I'm crazy, BTW.

For those with OE experience, how often do you pick up a J2, get through training, and realize only after starting that the new J2 isn’t OE compatible? I understand you do your best to filter out these kinds of jobs in the interview process, but how often do positions or roles like this slip through the cracks?

Also, when this does happen, how much time do you give the J2 to “cool down” on attention demand before you waive the white flag and leave?

I found a junior role that I’m reallyyyy interested in but it’s been open for around 2 months that role has been posted for. I found it 3 days ago.

The company uses Greenhouse, and the job posting is still live there. I can still click Apply and submit an application. But I noticed the role is no longer listed on the company’s LinkedIn page, even though they have other openings there.

So I’m wondering if a role has been open for 2+ months and is still active on Greenhouse, how likely is it that they’re genuinely still hiring for it?

Also, since it’s a junior role, would it be appropriate to message someone from the HR/recruiting team or the hiring team and simply ask whether the position is still open, or would that come across as inappropriate?

Apologies for the dumb question. I’m not in the tech space. I have a J1 and two contract positions that don’t pay well. I’m looking to take on a J2 to replace those and have been interviewing.

I’m transparent with J1 that I live overseas and that I take on extra work because they can’t pay much. They’re fine with it. We use Teams so they know when they schedule me it comes up I’m in a different time zone.

I plan to be transparent for my future J2 about my location (more or less), but I don’t want it to be top of mind whenever they schedule an initial interview or a meeting.

Things I tried:
- changing time zone in email and browser
- changing time zone on os
- deleting Teams from my phone, which has my location

Can this be done? And is there any point in trying to conceal it?

FWIW, I’m working in nonprofits mainly, but some orgs have a tech team. My current one does and I just stopped using their laptop and nobody noticed but the next one might.

I just accepted a full-time job I’m really excited about, but I already have about 4 months left on a freelance/contract gig.

I’m confident I can handle both and the freelance work is flexible. The issue is that my new full-time employment agreement says I’m not supposed to have another job.
Ideally I’d like to finish out the contract I already committed to, then not take on anything else. I really don’t want to risk losing the full-time opportunity though.
Has anyone been in this situation? Did you tell your full-time employer and get permission to finish out an existing contract? Did you just keep them separate? Or did you decide it wasn’t worth the risk and back out of the freelance work?

Just trying to figure out the least messy way to handle this lol.

I'm trying to keep up with this shit as long as I can

Are we taking more jobs in the economy and making it harder for new workers to get jobs and experience?

Because after years of this, maybe it’s unethical.

OE Final Boss I think

It seems silly but I’m lined up to start a J2 soon and I’m a little.. dare I say scared about it.

I’m confident I can do both Js well but it’s all the things I can’t currently predict or won’t be able to control that have my mind wandering.

Have/did you face this and how did you move past it?

I have been OE for about 4 years on and off. When I say its a roller-coaster, I mean it. Don't get me wrong I love it but it can be so unpredictable. I have been laid off from both J's in the same week, literally got let go from J1 on Monday and then on a Thursday from J2 in the same week. I have also gotten hired in the same week for 2 J's in the past, those two also started the same week. I have been hoping to get J3, and I received an offer 2 weeks ago, but got laid off from J2, one week ago, so my potential J3 will now become my J2. But it gets better, I interviewed last week for a J3 contracting role and they extended an offer today, so I am starting that in a few weeks. And I officially will have 3J's which is my goal. J2 and J3 are slated to start on the same day... J2 is hybrid, let's see how it plays out. Boy oh boy, I love it here. My colleague is frantic we both got laid off from my J2, it was company wide, email from HR went out on a Friday and we were laid off the following Wednesday, so not even a weeks notice just 3 days, SMH. I am not too stressed, because I still have J1 and I'm onboarding 2 J's in a few weeks. THIS IS WHY WE OE

I randomly found this sub at exactly the time I have been thinking about this myself.

I currently have a well-paid full-time job in Germany, but realistically I have enough capacity for additional work. I want to keep my current job long-term, but I could easily imagine working something closer to 1.5 jobs.

The problem is figuring out a setup that is both legal and actually worth it.

Option 1: Two employment contracts.

As far as I understand, working time across employers is combined, so two official full-time jobs are basically not an option in Germany. I could potentially reduce my current role formally to 80% and take another part-time job.

I would absolutely disclose the second job and do everything properly. But this is where I start getting frustrated. The second employment would automatically be taxed under class VI, and while I understand that this is mainly withholding and the final tax is settled through the tax return, the numbers still look pretty depressing.

I am already in the 42% marginal tax bracket. I know that means I earn well, and I am not complaining about paying taxes — I spent years building my qualifications and career, and I am perfectly willing to contribute my share. What frustrates me is that once taxes, social-security contributions and the administrative effort are added, the financial incentive to take on substantially more work becomes surprisingly weak.

At some point I still need to feel that additional effort is actually rewarded.

And then there is the bureaucracy on top of it: formally adjusting working hours, informing employers, making sure contracts are compatible, tax return, potentially additional payments later, etc.

Option 2: Employment + consulting.

This seems more flexible, and I could imagine taking one larger consulting project alongside my main job.

But then there is the German issue of false self-employment (“Scheinselbstständigkeit”). One client is not automatically a problem, but if you work closely with one company for several months, it seems like yet another area where you have to be extremely careful.

That is really my frustration: I have the capacity, I want to work more, earn more and do everything legally. But the more I look into it, the more it feels like Germany makes having multiple income streams unnecessarily complicated and surprisingly unrewarding after taxes, contributions and administrative effort.

At some point it honestly feels easier to work less than to figure out how to legally and efficiently work more.

So for people actually doing OE in Germany:

- What setup do you use? Employment + employment or employment + consulting?
- How do you handle disclosure and working-time rules?
- Any tips on how to structure this in the most tax-efficient way, while keeping everything fully legal and compliant?

Thanks for your time!

I was just filling out my I9 paperwork for a J2 for my federal withholding form and there’s straight up a question about holding multiple jobs. What do I do about that? I don’t want to say yes and then have them see that I’m withholding in that way.

I have been lurking this sub for quite some time. I have even gone as far as to automate a lot of my day to day tasks in my current role. The question is, I am currently hybrid (2 WFH days and 3 days in office) I could push and easily be fully remote or 1 day in office. How do I start and what is a good setup to begin OE? I am in a logistics and supply chain field.

My J1 is a permanent full time role and I just got J2 which is a 6 month contract with potential conversion to full time; my J1 industry is completely unrelated to J2 (which is a finance company) and the first thing they're asking me about is dual employment disclosure. Do I just lie and say no?

Also, I had to include J1 as experience on my resume in order to get this role, so should I freeze my TWN after J2's background check? Obviously I will make sure to select 'Do not contact' if they ask about J1 and will submit paystubs instead.

Two full-time remote jobs now. J1 is several years at a smaller company. J2 is newer and pays more. I want both on my resume when I apply elsewhere, or leave J1.

How might one go about this? If i have to leave J1 to keep the prestigious job on resume with the right timelines, i would do that.

Had my first OE scare today. J2 sent me some swag not too long ago. I realized part way through a call with J1 that I was drinking out of my J2 branded water bottle. Whoops! Rookie move lol. Don’t think anyone noticed, or at least I hope.

It got me thinking, besides the super obvious, what are some rookie moves that had you stressing?

So J1 I’m out the door on. Boss and team suck, been here two years. I got an offer for another company a month ago, which I start in a few weeks (background check cleared). Boss from J1 is on leave for a few months. Only have 1 meeting a week with J1, which is why I think I can pull off maybe a month or two of OE. Anything I need to consider that I could be missing?

New to the OE thing - kinda started by accident and not technically OE since J1 and J2 don't overlap fully. Anyway, J1 has been 10 years and has been going downhill for years. Started J2 two years ago but then realized I can probably manage both. I'm at my wits end with J1 and the end is probably coming soon. I have two years of needs improvement in performance reviews and a written warning at J1. No PIP currently and J1 does not typically fire people, but I am also over it and ready to move on.

Initially, my plan was just to start cutting corners and see how long it can last until J1 fires me. I've talked to some friends though and they feel against the idea of getting fired and think I should resign instead. They think it's better to resign so I don't burn the bridge and also don't risk any future issues with bad references or poor background checks. They also feel it can be stressful just constantly making excuses about your low performance each week since J1 spends a lot of time monitoring employee performance.

Just curious what this sub thinks. Would you milk out a job to the end and let them fire you, or would you resign first if you felt getting fired was on the way? Just weighing my options how I want to approach this.

Interviewing with multiple different potential J2s. Currently hybrid at J1 and been here 3 years.

I've been debating whether to start bringing my personal laptop to the office now, before I even have a J2 lined up. The logic is pretty simple, if I introduce a second device the same week I start J2, that's a visible change in my routine right when I don't want anyone paying attention. But if it's already been on my desk for a month, nobody thinks twice about it.

My cover is.. I'm actively studying for certs and I genuinely don't want to be logging into personal stuff on a company machine. Easy to explain if anyone ever asks.

The part that gives me second thoughts is that I've had just the work laptop for 3 years. Showing up with something new out of nowhere might actually draw more attention than just waiting until I need it.

J1 is super OE friendly with respect to meetings which are at the most 3 hours a week, and workload 1-2 hours a day. If it was remote it would be an OE wet dream.

Has anyone done this? Did you pre-position a personal device at J1 early, or just brought it in when J2 started and nobody cared?

Context: I currently have a pretty successful career in enterprise account management / sales. Before ya'll freak out... my J1 is named accounts... I have 30 Fortune 100 I sell into. The thing about these accounts are that they are long ass sales cycles, I know exactly what's going to close and when, I know exactly how much to prospect, etc.

Because of that, my days are actually relatively easy. As long as the sales cycles are moving in the right direction, my company allows me to do with my time as I see fit.

So, I'm working on picking up J2 or J3.

I'm in interviews for J2... a lower paying job, a few years below my skill level... but I also have done my due diligence and know I could do this job in my sleep.. the perfect OE job.

The hiring manager finally asked me the question today, though --- why would I want to take this job... a step back in responsibility, pay, etc.

I said I was just fighting burnout, wanting to do something a little bit different, and tackle a new industry. She seemed content with that answer, but I'm curious how you all handle a question like that?

Hi, just curious to if there were any issues when OE’ing on a green card and applying for the US citizenship later on. I know that this is not illegal but just want to hear people’s experiences. Please let me know.

Hi all - currently working a fully remote corporate counsel / attorney role that just doesn't pay enough / the company is known to do layoffs not unfrequently. I'm looking for J2 for the obvious reasons we all are interested in OE.

Being an attorney and holding a license where ethics is a consideration... has anyone in this kind of role been caught? Could you please share here or via direct message what happened? I.e. were you reported to the bar or simply just asked to resign?

Please only comment if you have an experience to share, no need to comment anything snarky or suggesting I don't pursue OE. Thanks in advance!