Should I accept this job offer

Career Advice
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I am still a noob, I have HTML and CSS down fairly well and the things I don’t know I can look up fast and easily implement and understand why it works. With JavaScript, I’ve done probably a half dozen tutorials and understand what I’m doing fairly well but don’t use it in abundance with my sites yet. Partly from a lack of need and partly from a lack of confidence. My best functionality that I do with JavaScript is create my nav bars in a js file so all I have to do is edit them there to change them on all the pages of a site. My point of explaining all this is that I’m still a noob but I’m kinda “getting” some it now.

I was contacted by a small company who dreams of making a delivery service. I got the impression that they start companies, build them up a little, sell them, start a different type of company and rinse/repeat. They would like me to start building the online service of this company. I was completely up front and honest about my capabilities and they explained they can see the passion I have for this development and would like to get me on board now. The person interviewing me was not a coder and I explained there would need to be a lot of back-end development(he was at least aware there is a difference between a front end and back end developer) needed as well and while I have taken a python and an database class in school, I retained little of the knowledge and know virtually no back-end development. They said this would be fine and some of my work hours can go towards learning, and they already know I spend my free time learning.

They offered me $14 dollars an hour, $17.50 for overtime but I am only supposed to be scheduled 40 hours a month and working from home, only coming in to meet with the boss to discuss progress and what needs to done once a week. After 3 months I will be evaluated for an opportunity of full time employment. On one hand I kind of want to take it because I believe there is so much I can learn, I would probably even do it for free. But on the other hand, I worry that they are expecting way more from me than I can do for them (despite me explaining my current abilities) and in the end they will feel I wasted their time.

Another concern is I explained I code everything by hand but they wanted me to use a website building program that I had not heard of before and then perhaps rebuild it by hand down the road.

Even the small amount of extra money would be nice, and any professional coding experience would be super nice, but I am currently employed full time and can make the bills if I turn this down. But I can also maintain my current job and do this. I think bottom line is, my gut is telling me this is a bad idea or something is “off” but my mind is telling to buck up, only good will come of this for me even if they decide Im not right a few weeks or months down the road.

Do any of you have any input or advice?

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Sorry no advice for you, i’m not qualified to answer, but I have to say your reasoning is very good and this is a great question for the forum.

Definetly don’t do anything for free or on a promise though, unless you are happy to work for the experience.

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@Aurorikin That is tough question. 40 hours a month or 10 hours a week sounds like a good part-time job. Howerver, Back-end development is pretty open ended.

I’m an ASP.Net Developer, when I switched from ASP.Net WebForms to ASP.Net MVC development, I didn’t learn a couple new things, I had to learn 30 plus new things, there is still little tech stuff I still need to learn. Now we are looking to throw some React.js, Ruby on Rails and Node.js into the mix. That is why I’m going through the FreeCodeCamp certification series.

When all is said and done, you are the only person who can make the best decision for your life direction. My only suggest would be to examine all the Pros and Cons, Pray and then make your decision.

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You said above… “But I can also maintain my current job and do this” So, if you can maintain your actual job and give this new thing a try… what is the problem? Even if it does not work you will learn from that experience, not only about technical stuff but about the reality of a professional developer.

So, being the premise true -you cand do both at the same time- man… I would jump into it.

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Online system for a delivery service company sounds like a big task, possibly requiring a full-time team of 2, maybe 3 developers. Yet you’re paid part-time(1/4th) of bottom/entry level salary+no experience. I highly doubt you’ll deliver in a reasonable amount of time, which may result in bad track record for you. Make sure you fully understand the requirements of the project and expected deadlines. Negotiate, learn to say no, don’t look like I’ll do anything for a song else they’ll exploit you mercilessly, to the bone. And never leave your current job, ever.

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I just wanted to add that regarding jobs it is crucial that you specify where do you live and work. The employment scene changes COMPLETELY from one country to another, not just the salaries. For example, Spain is one of the 10 top economies in the world and wages are in the EU average… however getting a job is traditionally very very hard and the unemployment rate is more than 20%. In Romania (where I live now) to get a job is not that difficult and unemployment rate is very low, but salaries are a joke.

If you live in the US I bet that circumstances may change also from a place to another. When I lived there (in the 80´s) it was easy to get jobs… decades have passed and it looks like not for the best.

Good luck!!

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