Fixing bugs (even super hard ones) is a very narrow set of expectations for someone in software.
Sounds cliché but an employee is expected to 'create value' which has a variable meaning.
As an employer - sure I have bugs for you to fix. But I also need new features, performance improvements, re-work old code, etc.
It's going to be a hard sell to hire someone who can only do one of those things (albeit very well), because employers expect someone who can adapt and can deliver whatever is reasonably asked of them in their domain.
I think you are also downplaying the importance of context, a contractor coming in fresh will be missing critical pieces of information that may influence why something happened or was designed like it is.
Bug/Security bounties sound to me like the closest alternative for what you are trying to do.
Sounds cliché but an employee is expected to 'create value' which has a variable meaning. As an employer - sure I have bugs for you to fix. But I also need new features, performance improvements, re-work old code, etc.
It's going to be a hard sell to hire someone who can only do one of those things (albeit very well), because employers expect someone who can adapt and can deliver whatever is reasonably asked of them in their domain.
I think you are also downplaying the importance of context, a contractor coming in fresh will be missing critical pieces of information that may influence why something happened or was designed like it is.
Bug/Security bounties sound to me like the closest alternative for what you are trying to do.