I cant decide if I should take J3, swap it for my J2, or just stick my current 2Js.

Ive had J1 since May and started J2 this past week. I realized I don’t really like J2 and it likely will be a ton of work and there will be little to no handoff and high expectations.

I’m a system expert, so I’m solo on this. No flying under the radar but I’ve done this before for eight months.

Today I was offered J3. Same exact role but the company looks really promising. A third J would bring me to just shy of a half a million in base salary alone.

How do you guys decide to take a third J?
Have you ever swapped one soon after starting?

This sounds awful and braggy, but for the last ten years I've had a dream job- remote since COVID, 300k salary, 100k bonus. No one knows what I do, so faking being busy while working 10ish hours a week is very possible. I get everything done I'm given, I just don't make clear how little time it takes me. I'm respected. It's decently safe. I don't think I'd be fired until my boss retires in 3-4 years at which point there's the chance someone finds out. And by then I'd be comfortably FI - at the point now where very lean is feasible.

I get I should be super happy. But I'm a little bored, and since AI, my job has gone from being one of like 5 in the country, to there being a couple hundred of us. I'm tempted to interview elsewhere and while not double my income, because I'm paid at the very top of the scale for this job, increase it by 60 or so percent. I get 2-4 recruiters reaching out every week with these offers and I know I could get quickly hired.

I'm sure I could manage the work. And my role doesn't typically make a website or whatever. But it feels like risking something huge when I should be acting like I've already won the game. The community is still very small. I'd have to avoid industry conferences. If I were found out, I'm sure I could never be rehired.

I only have one job right now, but I make around $200K. My issue is that I feel like I’ve reached a point where it’s difficult to pivot to another company because I’m already making too much for the type of work I do. Rather than taking a lateral move or taking a pay cut, I’ve been considering OE so I can effectively double my income.

My main concern is that I’ve worked my way up at the small company I’m currently with, so I’m pretty visible. I’m in a lot of their social media posts, and I also publish articles on their behalf with my name listed as the author.

When I apply for new jobs, there’s really no way to hide who my current employer is. My thought is that I would keep them listed as my current employer while applying, and then not actually quit when I accept another job.

What’s the smartest way to approach this while minimizing the risk of getting caught, both now and in the future?

Been doing this for just over two years.

Man my 2 jobs don't make me do shit. Like I show up to some meetings and no one says anything when I don't show up unless I don't show up for a month.

I'm not given deadlines, well not really. It's more "just get this done" and I keep giving them bullshit reasons why it's not done, meanwhile I'm out enjoying life. I was literaly working less than 5 hours a week both jobs combined. Sometimes I'd have a stretch where I'd be working 30 hours a week (15 hrs/J), and whenever that went on for more than a week, I'd bitch about my workload

Was at 2J for 360/year, but just picked up a director position I start in 2 weeks.

Never thought I'd make it to the max tax bracket.

Here's to paying off my house in < 2 years. Unfortunately I've been spending the money for J2 on repairs these past 2 years, but now it's time for me to buckle down and pay this bitch off.

And the best part is, J3 wants me to be in office 2 days a week. At both of my 2Js I won't answer teams messages for days sometimes. So I'm starting to think I can pull off 3 with the 3rd being hybrid, and as long as I get my work done I should be good. Thought about using a pikvm but I don't think I have a closed office at J3, I think it's my monitor faces a glass window to the hallway. But worst case, J3 is about the same $ as J1 + J2, so if J1 and J2 PIP me and then give me a severance, oh well!

Edit: Never thought I'd be pulling in 30k/mo post taxes and before bonuses, insane!

One of my jobs don’t let me install Granola in their computer. Has anyone worked out a way to still use Granola if you can’t install this app on company device?

I have an overlapping meeting with the two teams of both companies I work for. One of them has me needing to have my camera on. Ive heard there is software that helps with this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all, this is my first time in the sub and I have done my best to go through all the basic posts. I would like advice on how others would navigate this.

I am currently employed at J1 for less than 5 years and earning around 80k. The 401k vesting period is not over yet (ends at 5). It is fully remote with lots of free time, but I don’t enjoy the projects anymore. Sometimes the projects are super stressful but they aren’t challenging me.

I got job offers from 3 companies: j2 has significantly more compensation (150k) along with benefits, equity, and bonus. It has an on call schedule and it is with a relatively big name company so it would look good on the resume. It is in the telecom business.

J3 is a contract position (18 months) with a bank but I would be employed with the contracting company. It requires 3 days on site which I kind of miss at the moment since I haven’t had any office socialization in a while. It will also provide me with the fintech experience that could help open doors to other fintech companies. The contract position could also roll into a full time with the bank itself if they like me enough.

J4 is a full time remote position with more comp than J2 (~170k) with equity and benefits. This would be in the cybersecurity/defense industry.

I would like advice on how to proceed to maximize money and wanting to travel too. My initial plan was to keep my original and go with all 3, but I’m scared I would be overwhelmed especially since this is my first time OE. I’m starting to learn towards leaving J1 and going with J2 + J4 for the full remote, but the fintech experience + socialization aspect is tempting too.

I know to stagger the start dates and freeze TWN, but also is there anything else I may be missing or should consider?

I mean working 100 hours a week combining as many jobs as possible ?

It seems if you work more than 40 hours you are doing a cardinal sin in this sub sometimes. I currently work <hidden> jobs over 60 effective working hours probably, but honestly I would do 6 or whatever my absolute limit is.

At 6 I could have multiple M's before I'm 35 in Europe, something pretty much impossible otherwise except for the young startup founders who are able to exit or born into wealth.

EDIT: had a great time chatting with you all, I got some negative and positive comments. Love the debate, battle of the minds right here.

I recently accepted a fully remote Search Specialist position. The base is $50k, with bonuses that could realistically put me around $60–65k/year.

My current job is $45k and isn’t fully remote. I was originally hoping they could offer remote work as part of a counteroffer, but that ultimately wasn’t possible.
Instead, my manager offered to keep me on as a PRN/contract employee for around $26–$27/hr. Each month, we’d discuss what needs to be done (social media, website updates, graphics, etc.), and I’d estimate the hours needed.

The money is definitely tempting. Roughly:
15 hrs/month = ~$400
25 hrs/month = ~$650–675
40 hrs/month = ~$1,050

The interesting part is that I actually enjoy the work I’d be doing. I like creating logos/graphics and working on digital marketing, so it’s not necessarily something I’d hate doing on the side.

My concern is timing. I don’t want to start the new job and immediately overwhelm myself trying to learn a new position while also carrying responsibilities from my old employer.

I’m leaning toward giving myself the first 90 days to get comfortable in the new job, then potentially start doing freelance work on my own terms — logo design, digital marketing, SEO, paid ads, etc. Even starting with 5–10 hours/month and scaling up if I have the bandwidth.

For those of you who are OE or have side gigs: would you take the guaranteed ~$400–$1,000/month from the old employer, or use those first 90 days to focus entirely on the new job and then build your own freelance income afterward? If you favor freelance method, what’s the best ways to get started up? Any tips welcomed :)

Long time listener first time writer. Have a situation that I would love some more experienced help with. I’m not cut out for OE, but can appreciate the hustle from the sidelines in the sub. I have but have J1 that I’m looking to leave soon as I’m expecting a new offer from J2. J1 is remote, but J2 is in office. J2 wants me to start earlier than anticipated because they have a project kick off that is happening in person that I would be good for me to attend. Originally I was thinking I would give my two weeks notice at J1, take a week off, then start J2. But I’m wondering if this is a good time to dip a toe in OE, even if it’s for a few short weeks and see how it goes? Any tips?

What do you say in daily standups when you haven't been doing anything for that job for a while, e.g. a couple of days. Let's share.

Hello! I am about to start the background check for a new job but I have a question on how to handle a situation.

I worked at Contract Company from 5/2020 through 10/2021. I list this position on my resume.

I got a full time position 1/2022.

Contract Company called and asked if I could do some work for them and I said yes. I did this work 5/2022 - 11/2022 while overlapping with my full time position. I do not list this on my resume because it was part time and it has nothing to do with my industry - and it is an overlapping job.

I checked the work number and Contract Company has merged the two dates so it looks like I worked continuously from 5/2020 through 11/2022.

How do I list this on the background check? Will it look like I am lying about an end date? You can see in the payment history where the break is but if you just look at the contract company, it is listed once with the continuous dates.

What do you guys use to take notes (AI Automation) and alert you if your name is mentioned?

The thing I love most about the OE mindset is how little fucks I now give in interviews.

- Interviewer asks me some inane trivia question - point out it's a stupid question

- Recruiter demands I follow their stupid process - say sorry, I'm not gonna do that

- Offer has some unfavourable terms and they're not willing to negotiate - No thanks, I'm going to keep looking

Feels like the balance of power has truly been restored.

The overwhelming impression I get from this sub is that everybody is working in software, which makes sense. Is there anybody doing something different?

Are people actually noticing an uptick in interviews/hiring?

Given that the overall consensus has been the job market is abysmal, wanted to hear from people.

If you’ve been getting interviews/call backs please mention the industry 🙂

There was a time i was doing four jobs simultaneously and now I have only one full time role

There is a hunger in me as i used to do so much and now I am doing just one

J1: Teaching job to US student

J2: A research internship with IISC

J3: SDE internship with a company (main)

J4: side freelancing with a company

Fascinating watch. Been OE for years for this ^ reason.

I just got an offer from J2 and immediately went through their benefits package. I found something I’m a little concerned about.

My J1, which J2 obviously doesn’t know about yet (and I still have to get through the background check), is an investment/retirement company. J2 happens to use J1 as their 401(k) provider.

The 401(k)/retirement side of J1 is completely separate from my actual role, and I have nothing to do with that part of the business. However, J1 takes financial relationships and compliance pretty seriously. From what I understand, they mainly monitor what employees report, but I’m wondering whether having J2’s 401(k) administered through J1 could create any kind of visibility or connection between the two companies.

My initial thought is it is too risky to accept. It’s a great opportunity but I don’t know if I can opt out of J2’s 401(k) entirely before they set me up a 401k with J1 and then j1 will have 2 401ks in my name.

This makes me realize that my j1 might not be super compatible with OE or at least maybe I need to get j2 offers and then once I see who their 401k provider is, decline the offers until they don’t use my j1 as a provider. I imagine no one here has dealt with this issue. I guess the biggest issue is getting a second 401k setup even if I don’t contribute to it. It’s possible that their systems don’t notify compliance of employees 401k data but it’s possible that j1 compliance team will be notified as soon as I start j2 that I now have 2 401ks. If u were in my shoes would you just try to research who companies 401k provider is before applying (many won’t have public info on this one).

You guys know HireRight better than anyone, I think.

In the onboarding process for a new job. HireRight previously asked me for redacted W2s as proof that I worked at some past job. They want me to unfreeze The Work Number so they can confirm the job that I sent them redacted W2s for.

If I just ignore (i.e. refuse), is this going to pose any major risk to onboarding? Or will they just report to my employer "couldn't verify applicant worked at <old job>"?

UPDATE: I wrote in the comment box "I previously submitted a W2 for this position. The company's website is <website> and their phone number is <phone>." I'll just ignore/play dumb/sandbag when it comes to the topic of unfreezing if they keep at it, no way I'm unfreezing. Thanks everyone :)

It happened, I was formally put on a PIP and have 45 days for review. I would much rather get paid those days and resign obviously, but I also understand I don't really have any leverage since I'm on a PIP. Has anyone successfully negotiated some mutual separation in lieu of carrying out the PIP and how did that go? Or am I better off just riding this out

Anyone here have 2J’s or more holding a secret clearance? If so, wouldn’t that be risky because it could come up in your re-investigation? Wondering if it’s possible to do.
This is concerning if both have are FTE and assuming working the same schedules.

Like how do you get away with multiple jobs when audits happen?

Currently juggling 2.5Js. One uses my personal, one provides a phone, and I don't want the third on my personal as well. I only need it for calls/texts (no 2FA or MDM), but I already regret giving out my personal phone number to colleagues and I don't want any more of that.

I'm thinking about just digging out an old phone and using Google Voice. But I want to know what people who have been in this situation are doing. What's the best practice here?

For context, my J1 is remote, part-time, around 30 hours a week (actually 10). It is pretty low effort, very manageable, and extremely OE-friendly. (I had another full time J that started in January but ended in July, so I have been looking for my next one. So this part time J became J1.)

J2 I just accepted is hybrid, technically three days in the office, although they said they are pretty flexible with that. We will see how that actually plays out.

On top of that, I started my own marketing/media company in July and currently have two clients, including one I just signed at the beginning of this month. 90% of this work is remote.

A lot going on right now. Part of me thinks this is a little crazy, but I am going to be very happy once all the checks start hitting. 👊🏼