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Ask HN: Resources for finding short term projects?

61 points by skullsplitter ↗ HN
I'm a webdev in the midst of a work dryspell although I anticipate having plenty of work in 2mos or so. Im wondering what resources are out there for finding shorter term project work in the 1-3 mos time frame. My interests are Python, Django, Server side JS.

26 comments

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jkent
Various websites exist to connect project creators and programmers. You'll pick up work if you dig around.

www.elance.com (better fixed jobs) www.vworker.com (better by the hour) www.ifreelance.com (don't know it well) www.scriptlance.com (smaller?)

philfreo
I'd stay away from elance and other similar sites if I were you. Focus on getting your name out there as a freelancer in certain niche communities (Django, for instance) rather than competing mostly on price for any kind of work.
ahlatimer
I highly and wholeheartedly disagree with this. Yes, there are a number of projects on elance that are only concerned with price, but I've managed to pick up a few good clients via elance who were willing to pay a higher fee for quality work. My suggestion: don't apply to the jobs that say their budget is $5-10/hr for 3-6 mos.
gigafemtonano
These fine folks give $1,000 for small projects on a monthly basis: http://awesomefoundation.org
chrischen
Wow, that truly is awesome. I just applied.
CWIZO
Do you have any more info about this? FAQ&about sections of their site is under construction, and it all seems too good to be true.
gigafemtonano
I applied a while ago when their site had more details and they were just based in Boston. I learned about them from a Reddit ad. Seems like it's some tech people who made money and want to give it away in exchange for having you do awesome stuff. Maybe it's under construction because they're expanding to new cities now?
skullsplitter
Great suggestions, thanks everyone! Ill give those a shot (esp. the area specific ones such as djangogigs.com) and report what worked and didn't work for me.
BSierakowski
I'm currently working on a project devoted to hooking up devs and developers based on projects that they want to work on - what sort of work are you looking for? Have an academic interest in what sort of criteria you're using to choose what to work on.
skullsplitter
Im mostly interested right now in python web apps and node.js type projects. A couple things I whipped up recently:

  whosreppin.me : A site to connect voters with their local reps (django)

  hckrn.ws : A mini hacker news targeted for mobile devices (node.js / couchdb)
Is that what you were looking for?
BSierakowski
Yes, exactly!

What drew you to these projects?

skullsplitter
hckrn.ws was a class project that I used for getting my hands dirty in some server side js + nosql technologies so it was an opportunity to kill those 2 birds w/ one stone.

whosreppin.me was built for an NPR KQED iPad hackathon event. So it was super simple and streamlined and I used a more familiar set of technologiess (postgres, django) in order to mash something up in a weekend. The neat part is that whosreppin.me shared 1st place w/ one other team.

yousuffauzan
DEBUG is set to TRUE on whosreppin.me...you might wanna change that
endtime
Where are you located?
skullsplitter
Oakland, CA. Oh but I should add I'm ok w/ remote.
dotBen
You couldn't be better placed than here (well, anywhere in the Bay Area).

I would try attending some meetups on the areas/languages you want to work in as there are always non-tech people turning up to them looking for people to help build a prototype for investment/etc.

To be honest, it's a good idea for anyone who regularly has up-and-down work (eg freelancers, independents, etc) to attend these types of events as you can always have work lined up.

awt
Checkout the gigs section in craiglist. There are lots of short term projects there. You never know what will happen...
bengl3rt
Amen. I found a three month software gig on craigslist that turned into two more years of really interesting work with great people.
eldavido
As someone in a similar position, I can offer a few tips.

First, realize that the search process is totally different from a job hunt. Good tech companies hire for talent, not skills. However, developing talent into something comercially useful isn't a short-term proposition. Unless you have extensive project management experience/have shipped several impressive things, your best bet is to become expert at a particular skill/tool, and sell that expertise, than being a good "back-end developer".

You need to get comfortable around non-techies. This means: explaining how your contribution reduces expenses/increases revenue, realizing the client often doesn't know, or frankly give a damn about the technical merits of the project ("python? you mean, like, the snake?"), and that you'll have to network a lot with non-technical people. Tech people might be a source of referrals, but most of them default to "building" vs "buying" (paying you) to get the job done.

Get off the internet. Seriously. Business-to-business commerce is still very telephone, referral, and relationship-driven. Elands, craigslist, etc. puts you head-to-head against undeniable idiots, offshore guys whose cost of living is about 1/10th that of oakland

skullsplitter
This thread is really inspiring. I havent found anything yet (only posted this morning :) but Im feeling confident that something cool will turn up out of all of the linked resources. The craigslist gigs idea seems like it has potential. For some reason I never considered it.