r/overemployed Feb 12 '25

Running FAQ

449 Upvotes

I wanted to create a running FAQ to help cut down on the number of times we have to discuss the same topics and make sure people are getting the proper answers / advice. I will edit this post with additional questions and answers as they come up.

  1. What are the best jobs to OE?

People can and do OE in any Job where you can work remote or hybrid is a potential target. The ideal job is one that isn't meeting heavy or one where you can control the meetings. Being senior enough to delegate out some of the busy work is also helpful. You generally want to make sure you are good enough at your first job that you can meet/exceed expectations on less than 15 hours per week of actual real work. It's also better to OE on a large team / large company. When there is a busy season or a large project the increase in work is more evenly spread across a large number of people so you're less likely to have to deal with large peaks and valleys in level of effort.

  1. What jobs should be avoided?

Anything requiring any sort of clearance from the government or other regulatory body. Don't OE a federal clearance job or anything requiring a FINRA clearance. Good Rule is "If any part of your paycheck comes from public funds don't OE that job". Public sector work pays shit anyway and you're better than that. Go find a solid private sector role and reduce the risk.

  1. W2 or Contract?

A lot of people prefer the stability of having at least one W2 for the benefits but I (secretrecipe) personally prefer to go all contract (on Corp to Corp or C2C) terms. You make significantly more money and get far better tax treatment and the increase in net income more than makes up for having to cover your own benefits. There's more detail here if you are interested.

  1. Will the sub go private?

No. At least not for the foreseeable future. Every CEO and HR department already knows about OE and has for well over a decade. This isn't a new thing. It's all the quiet quitters out there who slack off and deliver nothing of value while working remote that are causing problems. Not the folks who are delivering as expected at multiple jobs.

  1. How do I manage a required office visit?

OE in the office isn't terribly difficult if you go in prepared. Have a mobile hotspot for your J2+. keep J2+ zoom or teams active on your phone so you can reply to IMs quickly. Find some nice quiet disused conference room or other space in the office you can utilize for meetings or work that pops up. Don't be afraid to take a call from the lobby or parking lot. People take personal calls all the time. If you don't act nervous then you won't look suspicious. Try and control your meetings towards the beginning or end of the day so you can minimize the amount of running back and forth you need to do.

  1. LinkedIn

There are a number of ways to handle this.
Obfuscation - Create multiple accounts with your name and various details. Don't upload a photo etc.. Create noise around the search and any time someone asks you about LI just mention that you don't use it.
Abandonment - Remove any recent work history and make it look like you just haven't done anything to update your profile. If anyone asks or pushes the issue tell them that you used an old work email to register the account and you have no access to it anymore so you just don't use LI any longer.
Restructure - (this is what I personally do) Nothing says your LI profile needs to be your online resume. Remove any work history or affiliation with any company and restructure the profile to discuss your talents, your aspirations and career goals.

If you work at a place or in a role that demands you have a Linkedin profile with them then go ahead and opt for the first option. Use a shortened name or a nickname and leave it as sparse as possible.

  1. How do I find a Job/J2 / Job hunting questions

This isnt a job hunting sub. that is a skill that you need to figure out as a prerequisite to being OE. Knowing how to fairly easily land remote / hybrid jobs is something most of the true OE community has become quite good at and tends to gatekeep for obvious reasons.

  1. Tax season

Unless you have an incredibly simple return, no kids, no property, no real assets, just a couple W2s and that's it I would recommend getting an accountant. A few thoughts beyond that. On withholdings, underwitholding penalties. They're small. You'll get a much larger return on your money over the span of a year even if you just park it in a HYSA than the underpayment penalty will cost. You can go to a simple calculator input your info and get a directionally correct estimate of how much you'll owe and adjust your withholdings accordingly.
On Security, the IRS / your accountant don't give a shit if you have more than one W2. Nobody is going to tell on you. No need to be paranoid about this.
On tax strategy. Advice on this is best asked to your CPA. Everyones situation is different so any advice given here may be awesome for some people and not work at all for others. I personally only work on C2C terms and have a moderately aggressive tax strategy and get my effective tax down to about 15% each year which is less than half of what I would end up paying were I working fully on W2 terms.

  1. W2? Contract? Mix?

If you're particularly concerned about stability then keeping one W2 job is great, gives you better protections, better benefits etc.. I'm of the opinion that J2+ is better on contract than W2. Lower risk, higher pay, less background scrutiny, no need for the additional benefits etc... I personally work all my jobs on contract (C2C) and here's my rationale. Quick disclaimer your personal situation may be unique. This is a one size fits most approach.

  1. Don't start new jobs close to one another.
    Keeping some distance between your J1 and J2+ isn't just a bit of good advice geographically but is also good advice on start dates. You never want to find yourself starting two jobs on the same day, week, month if you can avoid it. You need to figure out the lay of the land and your capacity for addtional work before you commit to additional jobs. Onboarding two jobs at once is a recipe for disaster.

  2. Is there anyone OE in _________.

Yes, if it's a white collar field that has the opportunity for remote or hybrid work there someone OEing it. If you want to find those people join the discord and ask around.

  1. OE isn't for everyone.

OE is difficult to pull off and even more difficult to manage long term. It isn't for people just starting out, people looking for a career change, people who aren't already at the top of their game or people that have to ask really simple questions that they could figure out with a google search. If you're not skilled enough to pull this off you could end up screwing up your career. Don't try this before you're ready. If you have to ask questions like "How do I find a second job?" or "how do I get a remote job" you're not ready.

  1. Is it worth the risk? Should I...? What's the best..."

These are all subjective questions that no internet stranger can answer for you. Everyone has a different skill set, different set of innate talents, different set of goals and different risk tolerance. If you were directed here after asking a question like this then it's because only you can answer this for yourself.

  1. J1 and J2 use the same payroll, insurance provider, 401k provider etc... Is this a problem?

No. The only scenario where this may be a problem is if they're using the same PEO like Insperity because they aren't just a payroll provider, they're an outsourced HR / Risk management team as well who has a remit to protect the business from liability.

  1. Will my bank, mortgage broker, loan underwriter, accountant etc... rat me out

No.

I'll dig around our past posts for some other frequently asked questions and keep adding here. If you have any you recommend be added please comment below.


r/overemployed Dec 08 '25

Posts asking for the sub to be shutdown will result in a ban.

138 Upvotes

This sub will not shut down. Period. Anyone that creates a post asking for it will be banned. If you don't want this sub around, you don't get to participate either.


r/overemployed 13h ago

Why should you OE

60 Upvotes

Had a gig in tech for over a year now. It's my stable shelter, joined another late last year (very surprised but if you're in demand they bring you on). J2 pays 60% more than J1. I run 1099 so no info and TWN/LI frozen from couple of years thanks to this forum. Helped onboard a staff level resource in Q1 who I def. know is OE. VP said you need another resource to add to the good work and that I'm beating expectations.

Anyhoo, the stable J1 mgr wants a 15 mins extra after our scheduled regular meet. Thought something was off and sure enough they cutting down a few roles by end of Q3 including mine. At least there's ample of time, already ramped up reaching out to a few senior folks for new J1. Was planning a 5 day trip in Oct to beat the crowds in EU but now it's going to have to wait. Putting all of J2 in SGOV/SCHD etfs. Will need to knock it out the park for a few more at J2 and new J1.

I told off hand I might need 2/3 days off in Oct while planning while ago. Don't know if he knows this is coming already or management just dumped it. Firms gonna do firm shit and they don't give one flying f about you. You better be prepared. There's no cavalry coming to save you.


r/overemployed 20h ago

I don’t want to be “unethical”, I just want to do the thing I’m good at and enjoy and make money

177 Upvotes

in tech. my niche I’m good at. every job for the last 5 years has been a cake walk due to my experience. I’m left with only 2hr of real work a day if that.

I don’t want to be “unethical”. I’m “loyal” to my company and do stellar job.

i just want to use my skillset, and do more, and make more money so my wife can stay at home with our baby. im not wanting to scam anyone. my work will be better than anyone on the team. im literally wanting to work. the opposite of “a lazy generation”

god forbid I want to provide for my family while doing the thing I love to do and providing great work


r/overemployed 12h ago

J2 layoff coming soon I can feel it

16 Upvotes

I have a good run, collected almost 100K net income.

In the lay off call, what would you suggest I do to give them the best “Fuck you” in a professional passive aggressive way? What to say? How to act? Etc.

Contractor type so not sure if there is severance. However agreement does say that if they let me go, it is 4 weeks notice. Does that make me automatically eligible for payment in lieu of notice?

Edit: this sub is full of weirdos. Look at people who commented “grow beyond xyz” “dont burn bridges” “…” all I say to you is do your good and get burned by corporate lol


r/overemployed 8h ago

How do you guys manage the onboarding / ramp up period?

6 Upvotes

Usually when I start a new J, the busiest and most intense part of it is the first few months during the onboarding and ramp up period. Learning the tools, acronyms, getting permissions, etc, etc. How do you guys juggle your roles when one is demanding a ton of time?


r/overemployed 10h ago

Seeking J2 after J1 goes remote

5 Upvotes

My new job is going fully remote. This is a career job and they track everything and need me throughout the day/week but it has slow periods and if not on a deadline is pretty smooth most days.

I will have the choice to move soon when remote kicks in this year but not sure what to do next for more money outside of moving somewhere cheaper or a J2.

I work in CS and used to do entertainment coordination.

I was thinking J2 could be more CS for like a different time zone and also remote or contractual and I just need to meet a quota.

I do fully online work and assisting customers while also drafting contracts, managing expense reports, and accounts.

Is a J2 in my experience level available or worth hunting for or should I just focus on moving somewhere cheaper and enjoy the main role?


r/overemployed 5h ago

How to evaluate which option to choose for J2 before joining?

1 Upvotes

Brief intro: Never did OE, was on this sub for couple of years always inspired by it, Couldn't find time for OE due to busy personal life and wanted some time to travel. Now i am in a place where i have time and want to try OE. My current job of 4 years is very chill, remote, startup with not too much pressure, i have my area of ownership (that what allowed me to take time for travel). Now i started to look for J2 and I'm curious how to evaluate them.

I got 2 options for J2
option 1: Pays same as J1, hybrid work, start up -> so i believe it has less management but more hands on work which i can do. only hybrid is the concern.
option 2: Pays a bit less than J1, remote, bigger company -> not sure what to expect here, glassdoor reviews are not too good.

I had couple of rounds interviews done for these and i believe only the HR or the final interview is left. Curious about what kind of questions i can ask to see what the life would look like after joining.
I understand it depends on manager and project, but given my current situation is there something i can ask/try to figure out stuff that would help me decide which one to go for?


r/overemployed 6h ago

How are you investing your OR money

1 Upvotes

Just like the title says- I have some sitting in bank and some thinking to invest safely in index.


r/overemployed 1d ago

What do I do?

28 Upvotes

UK - Just got off the call with a recruiter. The job ticks off all my requirements but it’s most definitely breaking OE rules.

This would be a J4 (£60k, seems a mid role. Manager wants someone willing to learn aka not senior but also wearing a few hats), BUT it’s:

  1. A competitor to J1 (£51k. Low effort)
  2. They will go through SC. SC is my golden ticket for contracting. I’d happily drop J1 for this as SC = niche contract roles paying stupid rates.

The questions are:

  1. Do I keep it as J4 and go through SC, declaring all my other jobs?
  2. Do I drop J1 and take this new job?

r/overemployed 15h ago

Background check

2 Upvotes

My J1 with company 1 started sometime in 2020, started J2 in 2022 with comapny 2 that eneded in 2024, and then started another J2 with company 3 that started in 2024 and eneded recently. Now i found another J2 and in Background check with Sterling. In my resume, i have listed J1 eneded in 2022. My TWN ia frozen. Today they sent me an email asking to unfreeze TWN to verify J1, they did not gave me option to upload w2 or paystub. I submitted my paystib and W2 for all three roles as per resume wile sumbitting initial application for background check. Seem they are having issue with my J1 ans orher two are cleared. I talked called their cuatomer care, pretend I dont know about the freeze and may be my bank did it for idenity theft. The customer care guy said there are no other options and i should contact the hiring company directly and check if they are okay with W2 verification. Not sure how to approach this. Anyone had suggestion how to handle this, did not had issue in the previous background check. How to navigate this and not sabotage at this point; I am supposed to start in two weeks. I am on the side of not doing anything and let them reach back to me, but i am also worried if that would jeopardize. I think unfreezing twn is not an option. I would appreciate any suggeation.


r/overemployed 1d ago

Teams Call Spillover

81 Upvotes

Hi all, I currently have J1, J2 and J3 and today I had a Teams incident that I'm yet to know if it will be a problem.

Just to give a context, all Js are reasonably separate from each other, J1 is in a VM, J2 is on Citrix and J3 on the company laptop that I don't use for anything else, so its unlikely to share something that shouldn't be shared between all Js and I'm very careful while on calls and specially while screen sharing.

Today I had a problem, I was on a Teams Call with a colleague (not a boss or manager) from J1 and suddenly I got a call from the PMO on J2. I kinda panicked and answered before muting the call on J1.

I was pissed because I hate when people just call without messaging first but also how dumb I was from answering the call instead of dismissing and the by fact that I panicked.

After thinking about what happened and how should I do to mitigate this I decided to change the ringtone on all teams to the non default so its not instantly obvious that I'm getting a teams call from somewhere else, I also changed the notification sound as well.

So, how do you handle multiple teams from different J?


r/overemployed 8h ago

Is this OE compatible?

0 Upvotes

I been fully remote at a large company for almost 4 years and we have a lot of slow months, even my day to day is slow. It’s in marketing. Probably 2 meetings a week. I felt like we might have layoffs soon, so I applied to new places.

I just got a job offer for another remote role but it’s a marketing agency. Are agencies even OE compatible? Any experience?


r/overemployed 11h ago

Leaving a J

0 Upvotes

Leaving a remote J after 1 month. When you leave so soon, do you exchange contact info with colleagues, manager, etc.?


r/overemployed 1d ago

Forgot to freeze TWN

92 Upvotes

I got hired on by a contracting firm and I guess I forgot to freeze my TWN. Both jobs haven’t noticed but I did a check and boom they are both on there. If I freeze my work number, will companies be able to see everything up until it was frozen or nothing?


r/overemployed 13h ago

Recommendations for J2

0 Upvotes

Hi,

Just getting my feet wet with all this overemployed lore.

I am currently holding down J1 as an Learning Management System analyst, which is in-office.

If you don’t know about LMS work, it is pretty cozy. So cozy that I feel like I could do two of them without necessarily breaking a sweat

I currently have a lot of downtime in J1, meetings are minimal, and I am probably overachieving.

Could anyone in this helpful community guide me a little bit in the right direction in terms of how to approach J2 and what to look for?

Much appreciated,


r/overemployed 11h ago

J2 is getting everyone to use ro.am, how does this affect J1, can they see what I'm doing?

0 Upvotes

I work both off the same laptop and switch between tabs. I'm always online on slack and generally respond pretty quickly.

Now j2 wants everyone to download ro.am and use it. From the sounds of it, it tells them when I'm online and what I'm doing, but I can't find any info on their website or Gemini specifically what that means?

They also didn't announce it to us or explain it to us, I just got an email notification to download it

Can it tell if I have a mouse jiggler?

Has anyone used this before?


r/overemployed 1d ago

Most remote job listings require a LinkedIn

41 Upvotes

Not sure why I never see this discussed, unless I work in an industry where this is unusually common? Doesnt matter if I apply on a company website or a different job board completely. Theres always a required field on the application for a LinkedIn URL. As if finding a remote job in this market wasn’t hard enough.


r/overemployed 1d ago

Help with question on OE?

3 Upvotes

Hi guys, first time poster here. I am not OE but a chance has come up where I might be. My current J1 is a contract until December with the possibility of extension to April 2027. Finance integration work , 20h tops a week but getting payed handsomely, full remote. I have an interview next week for a tech firm for a junior Investments role (my main line of work is M&A), this will also be full remote. Now, it's too early to say whether I'll be getting this job but just thinking beforehand about my situation. In case they offer me the position, I would be joining by September.

Should I tell them I am contracted as a retainer and will be doing like 5h/week for J1 until Dec or April next year, which will not be far from the truth? Or should I just not disclose anything?

I do not know how the hours will be at J2 but am expecting at least 40h-50h a week.

Both J1 and possible J2 are/will be on B2B contract basis with me, so legally I am not really liable for anything if they find out and J1 does not really care since they are very pleased with my work till now.


r/overemployed 20h ago

J3

0 Upvotes

I started J3 this week and I’m considering suspending my linkedin account for a while, would be that a good idea?


r/overemployed 20h ago

ID Check During Interview

0 Upvotes

Searched the sub and found other posts where interviewer asked for last 4 + ID Check. My interviewer didn’t ask for last 4. They were not Indian. I held up an ID but it was pretty quick. Applied through the main company website. In beginning of interview had me do a few camera checks too, very subtly lol. Those few details make me think it wasn’t a scam like the other posts and that it was a legit verification check. Curious if others have had to do similar in the job market nowadays.


r/overemployed 1d ago

Unique challenges with first interview with recruiter

4 Upvotes

In my professional career, I have only moved up, sales to analyst to manager. I’m currently in manager’s role with a lot of autonomy and although my career (commercial risk management) isn’t the best for over employed I am giving it a shot by applying to analyst roles that I know I can do with minimal effort.

When I’ve interviewed for jobs in the past, I know all the right things to say for someone who was looking to progress in their professional career but now that, in J2 eyes, I’m going from manager down to analyst role I’m unsure how I should frame my reason for job hunting.

Does anyone have experience applying for a role that is lower/less responsibilities than your current role?


r/overemployed 1d ago

Hardware Nerds lets talk KVM best practices

12 Upvotes

I don't even mean IP KVM, just like a kvm switch sitting on your desk.

This is what I've had a while https://www.tesmart.com/products/hdk404-p23?srsltid=AfmBOorPFZfViZgB87TRy6a5lOlTpl2BGgKV8PRa0hl1BrERvqtyqXke

And its awesome, keyboard hotkey and I can switch devices on the fly, it goes to a dual 45" ultrawide setup split down the middle as PIP so 4x 2560x1440

I have a split ergo keyboard with trackball and an ergo logitech. Love the setup very convenient. trackball is the daily driver and switch to the ergo mouse for finer motions.

How dumb am I and how obvious am I to IT and what can I do to be less obvious to IT?

If y'all have any tips for IP KVM too that would be nice.


r/overemployed 21h ago

interviewing for J3 while holding J1 and J2 is a part time job nobody warns you about

0 Upvotes

The actual work of OE is fine. It's the interview loops that eat you alive. Recruiter screens wedged into lunch. A systems design round at 2pm scheduled against [your real standup situation]. And the whole time you're context switching between codebases, so when someone asks "tell me about a conflict with a coworker" your brain serves up absolutely nothing.

Stuff that actually moved the needle for me:

Reading the JD like a question bank. Every bullet in requirements becomes a question. "Fast-paced environment" means they'll ask how you handle chaos. Every tool they name gets a depth probe. You can predict most of a loop from the posting alone.

Voice noting my stories once and replaying them before screens. Way better retention than rereading notes.

Full disclosure since this sub can smell a shill from orbit: I got annoyed enough at the 2pm panic problem that I built a tool for it (GhostPilotAI). Overlay that screen share doesn't see, catches the question while your brain is still buffering. Not linking it, it's googleable, and honestly the JD decode method above is free and gets you most of the way.

What's everyone else's loop stacking setup? The calendar tetris alone deserves its own thread.


r/overemployed 2d ago

Strategy: gain trust in 1-3 months then relax

133 Upvotes

Hey OEs

Currently in 3js

Started 3rd one 10 days ago. First I was so excited about it I couldnt even sleep enough for the adrenaline of all.

This has cool down a bit. Starting to dislike some of thw collegues lol.

So, wondering if some of you do this strategy or what do you think.

Slightly over perform first 1-3 months, to gain trust and prove value. Then slowly decelerate, and start just little underperforming such that I cannot be fired.

Example this three months

Give 110% to new J and 50% to the other two.

Then go back to give a 60% to each one.

4th J seems possible but would not be able to handle long term.

Or perform avg since the beginning?

Cheerz all

Cant wait for the 1st triple check

Sorry for the typos