I got caught working 2 remote jobs

My setup:

When the pandemic hit everyone was forced to work from home. I set up my home office and got to work. I work as a User Experience (UX) designer at a tech company.

When you work from home you realize that you have a lot more time to get your work done. You're not being distracted by people in the office trying to talk to you or long lunches with co-workers or time spent commuting.

I used my extra time to do freelance and contractor work. I realized that instead of the inconsistent work and downtime between projects I could get another full time remote job and double my income. For jobs like UX, product management and web development (coding, engineering), the job depends on the work, not on meetings or anything else. If I could get my work done then both companies would be happy and I could make a lot more money.

Well I pulled it off and worked two jobs for 8 months. I was able to pay off debt, pay off both of our cars, dabble in crypto and NFTs and put some money away.

If you have questions about working two remote jobs they have some great resources. There is also a discord group where you can chat with people that are currently doing it.

#overemployed

**YOU MIGHT GET FIRED IF YOU WORK TWO REMOTE JOBS.**

[viceverse]

I will never understand why companies care. As long as the deliverables are on time and quality, let me do my thing. Glad to hear it all worked out.

[thebrunoserge]

Despite all this, NEVER TELL ANYONE IN ONE OF YOUR COMPANIES THAT YOU HAVE ANOTHER JOB. You can get very lucky and be like Jake if you have a SUPER cool boss - but most times even if the boss claims it's "cool" that will give them EXTRA REASONS TO RETALIATE AND DEMAND MORE WORK FROM YOU. Simply don't even think about it

[indiarodgers]

I worked for two jobs, and when my first job wanted me to come back into the office, I thought I would be honest. They insisted that I quit my second job and that I was lucky they weren't asking for any money back despite being happy with the quality of my work. And their words, 'we just want you to work for us, we don't want you to work anywhere else'. So I told them I quit my second job under duress, and months later I am still doing the two jobs. I have just worked it that I manage to get into the office too. It's a lot but as a consequence, I have managed to get out of debt, clear credit cards and accumulate a five-figure savings fund. I have no idea how people manage to have more than 2FT jobs. I have heard of people that have 4-5. I work in tech.

[PaddyFullyRandom]

It's actually relatively straight forward. The higher quality of an employee you are, and the more that's known in your company, the more things you get away with. That is, if the employer itself is also of a certain quality.

[benj]

*I don't want to scare anyone but....millions of people do this all the time. Its call being a consultant. You deal with multiple clients across multiple states or countries. The fact is that many companies simply want to control your freedom - how you dress, your time, your behavior, when you can eat, etc.*

[TheLemon]

My uncle always says “if you act like you know what you’re doing, nobody will question you”. He was talking about using golf carts at a country club without renting them but I think it shows how little people pay attention to you, so do what you want.

[jimcab]

Glad it all worked out. I've worked two remote development jobs for more than 2 years now, Early 2020 I was working three and they all knew about each other and could care less as long as the work that I've dedicated to is done, done well, and productivity hasn't been effected. If you are cool with having no life and more money, it's easy to get a job as a web developer : better yet, multiple jobs lol

[CoachSeamus]

Jake, this video was extremely entertaining. I went through various difference emotions just listening to you. Fear, anxiety, giddiness, happiness and finally I learned something from you about the spotlight effect.

I think you should continue to pursue YouTube. Im subscribed and looking forward to seeing more from you

[xTwisteDx]

Dude! A similar thing happened with me. I'm a Mobile App Developer, and I was in the process of looking for an additional job, except that I was approaching it from the perspective that I'd hold two jobs. I was interviewing, and blatantly telling the hiring manager, "Look here's the deal, I prefer to work in a flex role because I have another job." They would ask me why I needed it to be flex so bad, and I'd simply tell them. "I can't work both of my jobs if they interfere with one another. My intentions are to give 100% to your company but I also intend to give the other company 100% to them." Surprisingly, even telling them, I received several offers. I told my first company about the new job at the second one, they were also "Just happy I'm not leaving, but if performance decreased then I'd have to decide what to do." My performance never decreased, they never noticed a difference and in fact I got a promotion. My second company was happy and they also promoted me within 6 months. Both parties knew, both parties were happy, I got paid.

[ATIWatchReviews]

As far as I'm concerned, all restrictions on workers post employment and during employment for things like exclusivity, should be made illegal. If you can definitely conduct both jobs adequately, they should not be allowed to stop it. Contracts that state you must only work for 1 employer should be illegal.

[lostconciousness]

I'm 100% remote (since 2020) but my 2nd "job" is caring for my kids. So while doing my job I do things for my kids instead of the idle work chatter. even go on breaks and go for walks. Sometimes I grab my laptop and go to the park...it's...amazing. I still do my job (probably better) AND I get to be with my kids/family. They could fire me for doing this because they do take some time away that I could -wasting time at my desk- working and in yesteryear plenty people had lost their job because they had family obligations. If you are still doing good work, it would be absolutely stupid for a company to fire you for greasing the wheels. It would be the ultimate "I own you" move and I wouldn't want to work anywhere that does that.

[Justwantpeacelove]

Man these have to be the coolest bosses ever man. I been trying for months to land a job in the IT world starting out as a freelance/self employed with many years of experiance, but haven't had luck getting accepted anywhere remotely or locally. Aside from that this is definitely one of the coolest stories i ever heard & man is it great to hear when a company truly cares about their employees. Positive vibes all day man thank you for sharing!

[brithomas.]

This is so spot on. Knowing that literally NO ONE ELSE is thinking about us the way we think they are, is the most liberating feeling. Your energy is everything <3

[carieyoung]

I got caught working two jobs years ago…totally could have done it just fine- yet one found out about the other and I had to fess up. I was on speaker on a meeting and got caught 😂🙈 felt like an idiot but at the time I was a struggling single mom and I did whatever I had to do to make ends meet! Don’t regret it!!

[notednuance]

Tech jobs seem to have such a hard time finding folk they can rely on/get work done I'm honestly not surprised by your boss's response. If you can handle the workload why care? I guess the only real concern would be if both jobs were direct competitors AND you have a non-compete clause but eh.

[zacharyford]

Dude this video is awesome. I attempted the same thing recently and only got away with it for 2 months before quitting the new job. The second one being wayyy to demanding of my time. Really cool to see someone else perspective on this but we shared a lot of the same opinions. When you have a family to feed you’ll do whatever it takes even if it means breaking the rules

[tommydukes]

If a company doesn't want you to work a 2nd job, and they want to keep you, then they should pay more. Problem solved.

[alexsalas]

Rule 1 of being over employed. Don’t talk about being over employed.

[thepenthusiast]

I am so glad someone else finally out into words what I’ve experienced my entire life, I have this overinflated view of authority as well. I was raised in catholic school so I think this might’ve been where that was instilled. Great video and great life lesson!

[Dremekeks]

Just goes to show you the benefits you get from giving out high quality work! Obviously your original company valued you very much! Great stuff!