Elysian Shadows

Chances of me finding a summer job are getting slimmer by the day. I'm trying to come up with ideas for making some money on my own or with a friend of mine who's in the same boat. Any ideas?

I wonder if trying to sell a little game I make would even be feasible. I kinda doubt it but I just don't know.

Well, you're at the right place to do that. I always thought that making website for people like teachers and small businesses was the easiest way. It's web development, so it's not as hardcore as C/++-ing an application/game, and it's still programming.

Last summer I worked as a dishwasher. I don't believe your chances of getting a job will slim down to null, there's got to be something out there to do, even if it's a shit job and unrelated to what you want. But it's just a summer job, so it's meant to be temporary, don't have to worry about working so hard either, because you don't care... Well I guess if it's that easy, I should 'walk the walk' and get a summer job too... I do work every second weekend, but I should work more...
Been playing too many games, I missed alot when school was going.

Hm, I been thinking about this lately too. XNA Game creators have this thing where you get paid for selling your games, but I'm I'd rather do something else... something that guarantees a paycheck.

Pro Gamer, get sponsored? wouldnt that be nice.

My backup plan for getting money is to become a male prostitute, gigolo. You can charge double for the big girls
maybe...

That's all I got so far. I'm in the same boat, does anyone have any other ideas?

Rob a bank maybe? No, that would be way too risky and I aint in the mood, to go down the cop shop. Maybe I'll post back when I have a more sensible idea..

Yeah, as Falco said, maybe some web development for small businesses. Personally, I wouldn't go down the route of making a game for money, especially in that short of a timeframe. I tried doing that with a couple J2ME cellphone games and they never went anywhere. Hopefully I'm about to see how XNA games payout, but I've been told not to expect much...

With .NET or PHP, you can throw a site together pretty quickly - especially if you use something like .NET Nuke or PHP-Nuke. (which I consider cheating, but they certainly serve their purpose.)

GyroVorbis & trufun202 wrote:...web development...

I've tried to get into that before. I can't seem to find a decent client. I've tried using those sites where you bid as a freelancer. I've gone to people with shitty sites with the promise of bringing them up to date. "I like it how it is now because it loads fast." One time I got to the point where the guy was telling me what he wanted... and he said he wanted the site to really catch peoples attention with flashing lights and ads all over it (not ads for his business... he just wanted ads... and not for money, just for looks). I then realized I was working with the most incompetent imbecile on earth and things quickly went down hill from there.

So I think I'm done with web development. I hate it anyway.

You could build templates or modules and sell them on Snowcovered.com.

It's still web development, but you wouldn't be workin' for the man.

JS Lemming wrote:he wanted the site to really catch peoples attention with flashing lights and ads all over it (not ads for his business... he just wanted ads... and not for money, just for looks). I then realized I was working with the most incompetent imbecile on earth and things quickly went down hill from there.

Being a web developer myself I can tell you now that it wouldn't be just him, roughly every 1 of 2 new clients we get comes up with some "great idea" to get peoples attention, and it's always something that moves and flashes.
With those clients our first hour so of meeting with them is spent trying to slowly know the idea out of their heads.
They always seem to be the less intelligent ones too... Today I had a phone call from a client (Incedently it was a client who had a "great idea" when she first enquired about a website) because her computer wouldn't turn on (wtf? we're a web development company not tech support.)
Turns out she was in a power cut

That being said web development is very easy to do and you can charge a lot for it

Since web development is the only thing I know in terms of making money, other than getting a part time job in a shop or something I can't really suggest much else, so i'd have to agree with the web development idea.
It's only real downside is that it can be bloody boring at times (Like most of the time)

I have a friend at school who was hired by FedEx for the summer. Apparently he has to be there at 4 a.m. and spend a few hours doing whatever, then he gets to go home. The pay is great because of the time frame, plus he gets the majority of his days off. Ask around, there's always Someone that wants Something silly done and is willing to pay a bit more than you might expect for it.

Lucas wrote:That being said web development is very easy to do and you can charge a lot for it
...
It's only real downside is that it can be bloody boring at times (Like most of the time)

Web applications can be more interesting than just web sites (assuming it requires more than simple insert/update/deletes), but they can be a lot more difficult too, depending on the application.

wtetzner wrote:

Lucas wrote:That being said web development is very easy to do and you can charge a lot for it
...
It's only real downside is that it can be bloody boring at times (Like most of the time)

Web applications can be more interesting than just web sites (assuming it requires more than simple insert/update/deletes), but they can be a lot more difficult too, depending on the application.

Thats what I'm talking about, sorry I should have specified.
Yes, applications are a little more interesting than regular static websites but for me it depends on how long the project drags on for (And believe me, some of our clients drag projects on for waaaaay too long xD) and also like you said, they are more interesting if you get to do more than insert/update/delete.

You can easily make $$$ with a flash game..

I did it :P $600 for a shitty invader game

How old are you? If you're at college, you could inquire with your professors about a research grant. I'm on one at the moment as a "research assistant" (I do exciting things for $12/hr like, copy paste parts of files into other files and set up SVNs and twikis and stuff), but further, my fiancee did a summer one where she got paid cash + expenses to interview female Mexican immigrants in the area and presented it at the National Women's Studies Conference.

I'm 20. For the past two semesters I have been a research assistant in a solid oxide fuel cell lab. However, it's part of "work-scholarship" which means I work there for my scholarship... no monies. I usually keep pretty busy during the school week.

I am hoping to apply for a job that's in my area, and I'm wondering if I could possibly work for Publix. I am sixteen years old. Do you think that I am of age to apply? This might only be for the summer however.