The Case for Moonlighting in Architecture

Moonlighting is supposedly frowned upon in my industry, that is Architecture. But I never understood why.

I came upon this article from the Startup on Medium that posses the idea of “cheating” on your day job with your side hustle. It had a mixed bag of responses, but generally, it was an intriguing proposition.

TLDR: The author discussed doing her side-hustle while at work (the cheating aspect), which she felt guilty about until she got laid off.

I moonlight on projects that the firm I work for don’t typically pursue. That encompasses minor additions, tiny homes and smaller mum-and-pop developers keen to make a quick buck out of their current property. I never see anything wrong with this, as my boss knows I am licensed, and I am keen on the extra cash.

So, I never actually understood the disdain for moonlighting.

The 9–5 grind: pros and cons

To be clear, I enjoy my job. Note how I said “enjoy” instead of “love” as most articles talk about their supposed day jobs. Love is a strong word. The word should be for your family and your soulmate, but that’s just me. Sometimes, not even in that.

There’s always that 15% of the job that everyone doesn’t enjoy. It’s like inclement weather that you need to deal with. But I digress.