Parking Lot Gigs

These gigs are one of the newer additions to Gigwalk, and at a pretty consistent $15 a pop, they have a nice return. Additionally, they give you the opportunity to visit some big tech companies like Facebook, Google, Adobe, & NetFlix.

However, while the higher ticket value is nice, there are some things to take into consideration:

  • Time Restrictions
  • Size of the Campus:
    Depending on the size of the business campus, there may or may not be multiple parking lots, in which case you must find the main or largest lot. Because this may take up a chunk of the mere hour you have to do this gig, it’s a good idea to arrive early and…
  • Scout out the Location: 15 min prior to the gig start time is suitable, or if the site is nearby, check it out the day before and verify where the main lot is located as well as marked parking spots. For example, Google was such a large campus that I was glad I scouted it out the day before. It gave me the opportunity to get the skinny from a valet. Not only did I get pics of the parking lot, I got some important extra information as to the parking situation (they have valet for a reason).
  • Relative Fullness of Parking Lot:
    If the lot is relatively full and people are walking home, you should be able to get this job completed with relative speed.
    If the parking lot is relatively empty and there isn’t much foliage on the campus, you will stick out like a sore thumb and potentially be approached by security. This has happened to me, so be careful in these cases. Some of the lots are very large, so one might opt to take photos from their car.
  • If the lot is full: …and people are still on campus, feel free to get friendly with the staff. Yes, this helps! Without giving too much information away, you can easily walk to the front desk and mention that you are surveying parking lots to verify the existence of disabled, expectant mother parking, etc. Then casually mention what you’ve noticed and proceed to ask if there are other marked spots. Usually visitor and disabled spots are the only marked spaces, but since you must verify the existence of executive parking, which is often non-existent or marked in a cryptic manner, it helps to verify with the front desk.