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Thread: Any Advice on getting freelancing jobs?

  1. #1

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    Frenzied Member jdc20181's Avatar
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    Any Advice on getting freelancing jobs?

    Alright, so I have been coding comfortably for nearly 3 years now (Started learning in 2014, started really coding in 2015) so either way I have 2 years of coding experience. Vb.net took longer understanding some concepts (and still require help to refresh my brain) - And I even have a pretty successful First open source project, my browser project which has reached around 2k downloads (total since launch) - Clearly I am doing something right *hopefully*

    I also do web programming - websites, design, and javascript oriented stuff.

    But now I want to put my skills to the test, I need a job - or at least a source of income. I am 17 years old until the fall of this year - And I have no idea how to go about freelancing.

    I am currently working on a Employee Time Clock Program that I will offer premium features for a fee. It is in vb.net and will be pretty basic designed. Which is what my philosophy on programming, basic UI mean a better user experience for everyone. Maybe that isn't a good approach. Anyways I doubt (I know I shouldn't) but I highly doubt many will find my little program to be of any use (or even be found) - But that is also why I am asking.

    Have you ever freelanced?
    How do you find jobs?
    How do set rates?
    How do you Secure your portfolio with all the introduction projects you have done?

    My browser project is simple but in many ways complex its at least 20k lines of code now (at least) and has about 45-50 forms in it.

    But I want to be able to do smaller simple projects and get paid for it, maybe someone wants a Secure Typing utility, I can use what I know from a feature in my browser to make a pretty cool text editor.

    I just wanna know how to approach this, and how to find work.


    All advice is welcome

    P.S This is a new concept because I generally program open source

    Also I want to sell a service not neccessarily a product - Meaning I just wanna make money off building the programs
    Last edited by jdc20181; Feb 9th, 2017 at 01:20 PM.
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  2. #2
    Super Moderator dday9's Avatar
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    Re: Any Advice on getting freelancing jobs?

    A freelancer is essentially a great salesman. You need to essentially sell yourself to businesses on how you can provide value.

    Whenever I started contracting myself, I started by searching for job postings in forums. Once I landed my first job, I branched out from there and haven't had difficulty finding work when I needed it since.
    "Code is like humor. When you have to explain it, it is bad." - Cory House
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    Super Moderator Shaggy Hiker's Avatar
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    Re: Any Advice on getting freelancing jobs?

    That's WAY too serious for Chit-Chat, so I moved the thread here. That will keep the responses more serious...but also kind of repetitive, as I already know what a few members will say, since the question has been asked and answered a few times in the past.

    One thing I would say is that you may be a few months too young, if you are in the US. I think you'd be looking at an internship until you are 18. At least, you might get treated that way anyways. That's not so bad a thing, as the biggest problem is always that of getting your foot in the door. I don't know where you're located, and don't feel like tracking it down, but the key to any career is finding the first job. Once you have a track record, that's what you use to get other jobs, but when starting out, you don't have a track record. Therefore, the first job is certainly going to be the hardest to find (unless you start shooting up your workplace....or shooting up IN your workplace, since either of those two would likely make the second job harder to get than the first).

    Going after an internship is a clear option at your age, and may be somewhat expected. The problem is that lots of companies see intern = slave, and that's as far as it goes. In any case, you may not get much of an income, if any, as an intern, so it comes down to whether you have the financial resources to do it just to crack the door open wider.
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  4. #4

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    Re: Any Advice on getting freelancing jobs?

    Quote Originally Posted by dday9 View Post
    A freelancer is essentially a great salesman. You need to essentially sell yourself to businesses on how you can provide value.

    Whenever I started contracting myself, I started by searching for job postings in forums. Once I landed my first job, I branched out from there and haven't had difficulty finding work when I needed it since.
    Thank you




    Quote Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker View Post
    That's WAY too serious for Chit-Chat, so I moved the thread here. That will keep the responses more serious...but also kind of repetitive, as I already know what a few members will say, since the question has been asked and answered a few times in the past.

    One thing I would say is that you may be a few months too young, if you are in the US. I think you'd be looking at an internship until you are 18. At least, you might get treated that way anyways. That's not so bad a thing, as the biggest problem is always that of getting your foot in the door. I don't know where you're located, and don't feel like tracking it down, but the key to any career is finding the first job. Once you have a track record, that's what you use to get other jobs, but when starting out, you don't have a track record. Therefore, the first job is certainly going to be the hardest to find (unless you start shooting up your workplace....or shooting up IN your workplace, since either of those two would likely make the second job harder to get than the first).

    Going after an internship is a clear option at your age, and may be somewhat expected. The problem is that lots of companies see intern = slave, and that's as far as it goes. In any case, you may not get much of an income, if any, as an intern, so it comes down to whether you have the financial resources to do it just to crack the door open wider.
    Thanks

    Ahhh didn't know where to post tbh, thought it would be fit for there since I didn't know where to ask it.

    I may look into a internship but my location is kinda impacting the chances of that. Unless its like a virtual/Remote one, which is why I am such a fan of freelancing I can work from home, plus I am finishing up highschool - I go to a virtual school (online Public its weird don't ask)

    I am taking a Web design class but I am wayy past this level its offering me, and additon to that, its old outdated material html 4 to be exact lol, so I do everything in HTML5 haha

    Anyways, yes I see your point as far as waiting on my age, and as far as contracts I can't legally sign one but technically I can since when I go get a job at mcdonalds I would - So not really sure.

    Another reason I am not into going and working at mcdonalds other than my parents are busy and we just haven't gotten my permit yet, is I am not into slave labor BS with Min wage of $7.25 a hour and working my rear end off.

    I was already employed and left a job, because it really wasn't a "Job" income was basically in store credit, and some cash on the side (local business) turns out I got cheated by the owner. Netherless, I see no point in getting a job in something I can't have some fun doing. Programming is like a therapy to me tbh - and have dreamed about programming for money.

    I have volunteered most of my young adult teenage life, mainly with misc projects, and one that is a startup which I am not sure when we will get actual revenue from.

    Anyhow I will keep looking.

    My philiosphy is to give a good quality service and product and not charge a fortune since I am a "Entry level" programmer, and have no college degrees, but have the experience.

    Again thanks for the advice its appreciated.
    Last edited by jdc20181; Feb 9th, 2017 at 05:17 PM. Reason: OOOPs sorry Shaggy didn't thank you haha :)
    Disclaimer: When code is given for example - it is merely a example.




    Unless said otherwise indicated - All Code snippets advice or otherwise that I post on this site, are expressly licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Please respect my copyrights.

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    Re: Any Advice on getting freelancing jobs?

    any insight?, I'm excited to read ideas and suggestions from experts about this field since I am now starting my freelancing career.
    Last edited by Shaggy Hiker; Nov 3rd, 2020 at 04:41 PM. Reason: Removed link that could be seen as advertising.

  6. #6
    Super Moderator dday9's Avatar
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    Re: Any Advice on getting freelancing jobs?

    After several years of freelancing and ultimately moving onto a full-time career, I can tell you that my advise I gave 3 1/2 years ago is the same as it is today.

    If someone is willing to give you a shot, prove them right and write quality code that meets their deadline.

    I feel like I got a bit lucky with my contracting career because I stumbled into Cognex integration into custom human machine interface. It was all VB.NET code following an SDK on how to integrate Cognex's DLL, but the industry knowledge is so specific that once I was in, I was in.
    "Code is like humor. When you have to explain it, it is bad." - Cory House
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