Software Engineer Side Hustle Ideas
Learn how to earn extra income on the side! Here’s how I made over $5,000 a month solely from the side gigs. 😎
Tried, Tested, Worked
Hey Pirates 🏴☠️ PK here. Today, I want to share some great side hustle ideas for software engineers. With the current wave of massive tech layoffs, having additional sources of income on the side is not a bad idea. Job security is a thing of the past, and we should know by now that our jobs are not secure just by being loyal to our employers. When companies have shown that we're all replaceable, consider ways to cushion ourselves from the uncertainties of the job market as insurance for your financial stability. 😉
Before we jump into the details, I want to make it clear that these are genuine ideas that I have personally tried and tested. I have been professionally involved in each of these side hustles for at least a year and will share how much money I made from each one. In fact, during my best month, I even made over $5,000 in extra income from these part-time gigs alone. And the best part? You can start them right away online with no upfront costs. All you need is a laptop 💻 and an internet connection 🌐. So, are you ready to boost your income? Let's get started. 😎
Software Engineering Mentor
One of my top side hustles for software engineers is to become a Software Engineering Mentor, specifically at a coding bootcamp. I'll use Springboard as an example, an online tech bootcamp, where I worked as a mentor for over a year. As a mentor, my duties included guiding my students at every stage of their learning journey, reviewing assignments, answering questions, providing practical feedback on the job market, and offering an insider's perspective on what it's like to work in the industry. Essentially, I served as an accountable partner in their path to becoming a successful software engineer.
One of the best things about this side hustle is that it can be done entirely online, with weekly 30-minute calls for each mentee. I did some prep work in advance, but that typically took less than half an hour. During my busiest month, I mentored six students, scheduling all of their calls on a single day from 7 to 10 PM so that I could complete them all in one go. How much was I paid? The pay structure for being a mentor is similar to my next side hustle, which I'll discuss in a moment. 🙈
Mock Interviews
Next up on my list is conducting mock interviews. If you already have experience conducting interviews at your current job, then this side hustle is a no-brainer. The best part? You get paid for it! 🤑 Let's take Pathrise as an example.
I worked as a Pathrise pro mentor for over a year, where I conducted online sessions with mentees for various purposes such as resume reviews, career and technical guidance, and mock interviews. Mock interviews were the most popular request, and it didn't take much preparation on my end since I had a bank of reusable problems. Just make sure to provide constructive feedback and be accountable for the mentee's experience.
Pay
Now, for the exciting part: the pay. Similar to Springboard, I only worked evenings and nights after completing my full-time job. I can’t disclose the exact amount due to non-disclosure agreement, but I can say that the pay range for these types of roles is between $50 to $80 per hour. Considering that the average salary for a software engineer is around $120k per year, $10k per month, $500 a day, or about $62.50 an hour, this is a decent amount. 👍
Taro
Speaking of career advancement, let me share a quick and effective way to get promotions using Taro. Taro is a startup backed by YCombinator and founded by ex-Meta software engineers, Alex and Rahul. Rahul’s also a computer science lecturer at Stanford University and a YouTuber. What makes Taro unique is that its members have access to insider advice on how to get promoted in their company, detailed compensation data, and invitations to exclusive networking events. Taro's focus is on the non-technical aspects of the job, with content on internal career acceleration, organized by level and company. Its goal is to expedite your career growth by helping you get promoted faster, and secure pay raises earlier, which isn’t something you learn in schools. If this piques your interest, join Taro today. Its annual membership costs $29 per month, but you can get it for $23 with my 20% discount code, PIRATEKING.
Private Lessons
The third item on my list is providing private lessons in computer science. A private lesson is actually the very first economic activity I ever did to earn income, and it’s a highly profitable and time-efficient job. In college, I taught math to high school students, and later, after moving to Seattle, I began teaching computer science and LeetCode to students at the University of Washington.
If you're considering offering private lessons, I suggest doing it in groups rather than one-on-one. If you’re a software engineer, anything below $50 per hour is probably not worth your time. However, students typically can't afford that rate. What I did instead was to create a class with at least three students and teach them LeetCode or computer science for 90 minutes every week. This translates to at least $150 per 90 minutes or $100 per hour. Of course, you will need to factor in the time spent preparing for each lesson, but once you have a system in place, it shouldn't be too much of a burden.
One of the best things about providing private lessons, particularly post-pandemic, is that you can conduct them online. Whether it's through Zoom, Microsoft 365, or Google Workspace, virtual conferencing only costs about $150 per year, which is easily recouped with the right business model.
YouTube
The final side hustle item on my list is YouTube. You all know the drill; upload a video, get views, and make money from the ads. Contrary to popular belief, starting a YouTube channel doesn't require a lot of money. I used my iPhone SE 2 to film my Day in the Life of a Software Engineer video, which has over 7.1 million views to date, and it's only been about a year and a half since I released it.
Do note that your channel needs at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours to get monetized. I’m aware that’s not something that’s easily achieved. However, once you break that barrier and your video goes viral, you start generating a nice passive income. For example, I created this video introducing my free coding curriculum about four months ago. It currently has over 500,000 views. It alone made $1,600 so far, but it’s only the fifth most popular video on my channel.
Another advantage of having a YouTube channel is that you can leverage it to create other income streams. While I offer my resume, coding curriculums, and LeetCode cheat sheet for free, it costs me money to keep them available online. To recoup the losses, I've placed ads on my website. Although it's not a significant amount, it’s how I’m able to offer these resources to you at no cost.
Final Thoughts
So, we’ve covered the four side hustle ideas that software engineers can begin immediately with just a laptop and an internet connection. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below. You can learn more about how I generated over $5,000 per month from this video. If you're interested in becoming a software engineer and would like to work with a mentor like me, consider Springboard's bootcamps. You can get $1000 off using my discount code PIRATE KING. If you want to enter the tech industry without extensive knowledge of coding, check out Careerist. You can get a $300 discount using my affiliate link. Pathrise offers career advancement strategies from professionals at top companies such as Google, Meta, and Uber. You can try their service for free for two weeks, and it's entirely free until you are hired. Don’t forget to visit Taro and Rahul’s YouTube channel for valuable career-related guidance. Lastly, these are affiliate links, meaning I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases, but at no extra cost to you. 😉 Remember to like and subscribe, and I’ll catch you in the next one. Bye. 👑
Related
🎖️ Springboard: $1000 OFF ANY Online Tech Bootcamps!
💻 Careerist: $300 DISCOUNT ANY online programs! Land a Tech Job with NO or little Coding! 100% Money-back guarantee!
⬆️ Pathrise: 100% FREE until you're hired! 1-on-1 career mentorship from top-notch professionals at FAANG!
⚡️ Turing: Get Elite REMOTE US software jobs from your HOME COUNTRY WITHOUT needing a VISA!
📄 PK’s FAANG Resume: This resume got me offers from Google, Microsoft, and Amazon!
📃 PK’s LeetCode CHEAT SHEET
📃 My Recommended Courses
📚 PK’s Free Coding Curriculum
▶️ A Day in the Life of a Software Engineer
