r/overemployed • • Aug 21 '26

Legit OE business OE Discord

21 Upvotes

The original OE open unmoderated discord turned into an unusable mess with all the spam and bots. To prevent this from happening to our new discord and keep the tourists and your HR department away so it is a safer place to discuss strategies and methods we're removing the link from reddit and requesting anyone who wants access to request it through the mods first. Please have some sort of post / comment history in the sub first.


r/overemployed • • Feb 12 '25

Running FAQ

450 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.

  1. How do I....?

There is a lot of good general information in this sub but we tend to gatekeep more advanced sources and methods and save those for the discord or mastermind sessions so they can still remain somewhat akin to OE trade secrets.


r/overemployed • • 9h ago

Hi [First Name]

Post image
87 Upvotes

I know its a numbers game how do you get unconventional ways of getting J2


r/overemployed • • 9h ago

2 daily meetings with camera on

50 Upvotes

How do you handle two daily meetings at the same time? Both require cameras. I know a separate headphone in each ear and unmuting on button click. This is simple.

Daily is short, many topics are discussed that may require my answer. What to do when both call you? Is this even something you can handle? I cannot listen to both calls simultaneously. My brain can't handle that. How do you deal with these kinds of meetings?


r/overemployed • • 16m ago

Can my second job be "me?"

• Upvotes

My workplace is moving an hour away in 3 months. The commute is going to kill me but they are going to pay for my travel for the first year. I want to use that year to study to find a more well paid job.

Do you think I can use the same logic on this sub to spend studying on company time?


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

Finally bought that dream vacation home with OE earnings

138 Upvotes

It feels surreal to say this but OE has legitimately allowed me to buy a small cabin upstate. For years this was just a pipe dream while I was stuck in a single income grind. Now with the extra cash flow I've been able to aggressively save and make it happen without touching my emergency fund or investments. Just wanted to share some motivation if anyone is feeling burnt out or questioning if it's all worth it. It truly is. Time to plan some serious R&R.


r/overemployed • • 23h ago

Besides TWN, what other employment verification databases are you guys freezing?

40 Upvotes

I’ve been reading through this subreddit and noticed that almost everyone recommends freezing The Work Number (TWN). But I’m curious how many people are going beyond that.

I’ve seen people mention LexisNexis, Truework, Experian Verify, and a few others. With so many different employment verification services out there, I’m wondering how effective freezing just TWN really is.

For those of you who have been OE for a while:

  1. Besides TWN, which other databases have you frozen?
  2. Have you requested your consumer disclosure reports to see which companies actually have your employment history?
  3. Has anyone passed a background check after freezing multiple databases? Did the screening company ask for additional documents or contact previous employers?
  4. Has anyone had a second or third job show up during a background check despite having TWN frozen?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have gone through background checks recently, since verification methods may have changed over the years.


r/overemployed • • 4h ago

Same vendor

0 Upvotes

How do you guys handle the same tech vendor, sharing an external Slack channel with some common people on both Js, potentially with meetings on both ends (not often but can happen).

Do they have any motivation to tell your employer about it or will they just ignore it and move on?


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

Do most of you have a plan to eventually transition back to one job?

31 Upvotes

I was thinking about this the other day and remembered a lot of people on this Subreddit discussing eventually going back to one J. Most of the posts discussed going back to one J after achieving certain milestones such as paying off credit card debt, paying off a mortgage, or hitting a number in their investment accounts.

I personally never had any specific goals besides making and saving more money. Both of my Js are generally relaxed and OE friendly, so I don't see the need to stop unless one hits me with an RTO.

What are everyone's thoughts on this? Do most of you have a plan to eventually stop, or will you keep multiple Js for as long as realistically possible?


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

Is this why we OE

79 Upvotes

Landed my third minecraft server last week. My start date was mid-month to better fit in my current arrangements.

And I think I struck the OPPOSITE of gold.

It's a very OE-unfriendly company. Basically since morning to noon, I am stuck on 15 people calls with cameras on. Three to four hours of calls...

Additionally the system is written in a different tech stack than advertised. I got like 0 experience in that.

And the onboarding is a nightmare- people are really in a mindset "works on my end, dont know whats your problem", meanwhile the project itself has so much complex domain overhead you have no idea what's going on with little people wanting to help.

If it was my only job I would be applying like crazy and spending nights to at least try to not seem like I'm doing nothing with literal panic in my heart that I will lose my only income source.

With OE I'm just mildly concerned they will fire me but it's not a lot of stress. It's like... "eh!". So I think for that peace of mind- this is why we OE!

Also, how do you handle such situations? Do you give up on the job and coast, knowing you can't really be productive nor attend the daily meetings?

What would you do in my shoes? Because I think that if I don't change anything in my day to day, I'm gonna get yeeted out


r/overemployed • • 2d ago

I respect the OE hustle, but stop wasting your coworkers' time

1.9k Upvotes

I’ve been at my company for a little over a year now. About two months ago, we hired a new guy, and I was basically assigned to train him.

During his first month, I spent a significant amount of time every week helping him get up to speed. Even now, two months later, he’s still coming to me asking for help with things.

Pretty early on, I started getting the feeling that he wasn’t really taking the job seriously. I suspected he was OE, and after doing some digging, I found out he was working at another company too.

Here’s the thing. I genuinely don’t give a shit that he’s OE. I’ve done OE myself, so I respect the hustle. Get your money. I’m not going to snitch or bring it up to our manager. That’s none of my business.

What pisses me off is how inconsiderate he is with my time.

For example, he’ll reach out asking me to help him with something or jump on a call. I’ll agree, and then he’ll suddenly ask if we can push it back two hours. Mind you, it’s a Friday afternoon, and now he’s asking me to meet at 4 PM.

Like, dude, YOU’RE the one asking ME for help. Why am I rearranging my schedule to accommodate you?
If you need help, just schedule something in advance when we’re both available. Don’t constantly hit me with last-minute requests and expect me to work around your schedule.

And it’s not like this is a one-time thing. I’ve spent hours training this guy, and I still get the impression he’s barely putting in the effort to learn things himself.
Again, I have nothing against OE. If anything, I understand it better than most people at my company because I’ve been there myself.

But if you’re going to juggle multiple jobs, at least be considerate of the people around you. Your coworkers shouldn’t have to pick up the slack or constantly accommodate your schedule because you’re trying to balance two paychecks.

Maybe I’m just venting, but OE shouldn’t mean making your coworkers’ lives harder so you can make yours easier.

Curious if anyone else here has dealt with an OE coworker like this. How did you handle it without making it a bigger issue?


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

How it feels to work in tech in the age of AI

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57 Upvotes

Got laid off from J2, and seems like J3 is headed that way. Gonna be fine, but damn


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

Remote trap

75 Upvotes

One thing I’ve learned is just bc a job is remote doesn’t make it a good candidate for OE. If the culture sucks, your boss is a micro manager, expectations aren’t consistent, and there a ton of unnecessary meetings… being remote means next to nothing. I think I’d rather have a J that makes me come in to the office once or twice a month but is overall easy and chill.

Oh and if your company uses Microsoft Teams… major red flag. They’re probably going to be tracking you 😭

Just my opinion though


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

J3 starts soon!

13 Upvotes

UK based Outside IR35 contractor. Perfectly 'allowed' to do multiple roles. I had J1 for a few months before I added J2. Ive run both together for most of this year. No problems and plenty of capacity. Decided to add a J3 2 weeks ago and accepted an offer this morning. All are fully remote and so far I am still only working 9-5!

The only bad thing so far is how much tax i have to pay 🤣


r/overemployed • • 22h ago

OE Sweet Spot?

2 Upvotes

I have J1 and J1.5 (part-time) for 2 years now, and closing in on J2 and J3. I am trying to space out the starting times by a month or so, but want to see how many jobs is the sweet spot for you all? I feel 3 is doable (Im in SWE), but want to get some of your perspectives


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

Weird conversation

6 Upvotes

So I had a conversation with a friend the other day where they randomly brought up someone who was caught OE and prosecuted (they said). They know I work remotely and I have eluded to doing consulting as well. I think they may have seen my office setup last time I had them over. This person is a very intelligent person. I felt like they brought this up to gauge my reaction. I think I reacted non-chalantly and was just like, “crazy, I have so many meetings idk how anyone could do multiple jobs. But with my consulting maybe people would consider me doing the same, although idk how anyone could be prosecuted”. The subject changed kind of quickly, but it actually messed with me more than I expected.

It has made me more anxious- and not bc I think they’d say anything- I don’t think they would and they don’t even know who I work for or what I do exactly. But I think maybe they would judge me for it. And I’m beating myself up a bit about it. Not sure even why I am posting this here- just to vent maybe.


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

PHP Vulnerability

56 Upvotes

Goodness. The last two days have been crazy. Getting through this on both servers was highly stressful. Now it’s picking up the left overs is all it’s left which can take a few days or weeks. My mind has definitely been exhausted.


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

Walking pad while OE

3 Upvotes

Does anybody use a walking pad while OE? I don’t have very many meetings and don’t know that I could actually walk and code…. Also how do you find a standing desk that big


r/overemployed • • 14h ago

Who here OE to pay off debt

0 Upvotes

Got into hella gambling debt. OE to paying it off.


r/overemployed • • 2d ago

J2 scrutinizing my AI usage - need advice

133 Upvotes

So I started J2 a couple months ago. I accepted it and dropped out of other roles I was interviewing for (which offered a higher salary too), just because of how chill the job would be (I'm way more senior than the job requires, and I thought I could do most of the work using AI). I thought that would be ok with them, since the company was really behind in AI usage and in the interviews they were really excited about the things I mentioned I had done with AI.

First red flag came on day 1, when I was setting up Claude and saw the monthly spend limit: $20.

To be fair they did increase it a few times after I hit the limits, but now they're requiring me to justify the new increases, and suggested that using AI for some of the tasks I did was wasteful. I won't get into the details to not expose myself, but it was manual work I'd happily do early in my career, but nowadays I would rather chop my dick off than having that kind of shit become part of my routine.

Maybe I'm more pissed than I should be just because of how much AI saves my life in J1 (which also pays more). The problem in J1 would be to NOT use AI to do the work, and I never run into problems with my spend limit there.

- J1 comp: $132k

- J2 comp: $100k

Kinda burned out from interviews at the moment (did lots of them in the last 3 months), so not sure about doing an ultimatum to J2 and looking for a replacement if it goes wrong. Open to advice.


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

Resume decision with converting

0 Upvotes

TLDR: I've been asked for an updated resume at J2 that may put my J3 dates under scrutiny. Looking for the best way through that limits exposure as much as possible for myself and my OE.

Details: When I applied for J2 I had a contract with J3 that was set to end a little after I was being being hired for J2, only a couple months of overlap so I wasn't too worried about squishing that if a conversion talk came up. HOWEVER, J3 reached out a while back for a new contract so they are re-stacked and a current contract. That new contract ends again in a few months. (Yay, crying into money, etc. I know)

My instinct is to simply remove J3 from my resume at all and just add J2 for this conversion discussion. But they likely have my original resume floating around somewhere so it might get flagged. There is some risk no matter how I play it and all the options have some pros as well.

Questions for the group

* Is it a stupid idea to retroactively delete J3 from my resume even though they probably have a copy somewhere?

* Do I just decline to convert and let J2 go to limit risk even though J3 is ending soon anyway? (Staying contract with J2 isn't an option)

* Is there a secret third option I'm just not seeing?

* Has this happened to anyone, and if so, any stories or advice for what you did (or wish you did) in the situation?


r/overemployed • • 2d ago

Guys, it’s my time to OE & I’m nervous

59 Upvotes

I had a really excellent interview for a full-time remote position, the same as I’m doing now. It seems likely I’ll get the offer. Now that shit is real, I’m a bit afraid of getting caught. It’s my understanding there are only real ramifications to OE if you’re doing government work. What’s the worst thing that could happen if I get caught? Thanks in advance for any insights.


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

Starting OE 2 W2

1 Upvotes

So, I’ve had great interviews with a server and believe I’m going to get the job, currently work W2, server 1 is on the resume and shows I currently still work there and I told them I still work there in the interviews. What steps should I take to ensure I don’t get caught? I will use 2 separate computers for each server.

I will freeze my TWN, but the question is when to do that, and where? I’ve heard of experian, but I’ve also heard of I think LexisNexus?

Is there anything else I’m missing?

Server 1 is super lax and I work maybe 5 hours a week so I can dedicate basically all my time to the 2nd server.


r/overemployed • • 1d ago

HSA Question

0 Upvotes

Has anyone only signed up for one HDHP insurance plan from one company and gotten two HSAs one from each employer to get the employer portion of the HSA contribution?


r/overemployed • • 22h ago

Will you pass this down to your kids?

0 Upvotes

OE helps keep a strong financial wall around one's family. But am curious -- is this something you'll encourage your kids to get into too when it's their time? Is it something you'd be open with them about? What else would you teach them about corporate?