Ask HN: Help out a developer/front end guy in a bind?

60 points by dangerhen ↗ HN
Posting this from a throwaway account I'm afraid...

I've recently started freelancing but I just found out I need to move house within the month and my cashflow right now is dire. I need to try and raise £3000 (nearly $5000) as soon as humanly possible so I was wondering if anyone here needs any designing/PSD chopping/PHP coding done soon. Willing to be rather flexible on price given my desperation :)

My experience is: PHP developer (mainly CodeIgniter these days). I also do design, XHTML/HTML5, CSS, Javascript etc to a high standard (validates strict, x-browser, semantically correct etc) and bits of SEO. Also iOS dev using Titanium/Phonegap (in App Store). I use hg for source control but have done a bit of git before. I've wored on all kinds of sites, including some pretty large stores. Happy to list URL's to anyone curious.

I'm based in the UK but I'm used to working remotely from the US to Australia.

Email is in profile if you have anything I can help with. TIA.

I hope this isn't overstepping the mark (I must admit my situation is somewhat clouding judgement at the moment). If I have erred then please flag it to hell and I promise not to be such an idiot again :)

10 comments

[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 29.5 ms ] thread
From one freelancer to another it would probably help people if you had a portfolio that you could link to so they could evaluate your work experience
anyone interested can already contact him
this is why i never comment at HN. the guy is in a bind, i offer some advice to help him get some more/better interest from people and this is the attitude i get in response. makes for a frustrating experience.
my other life lesson here is: get a job, at least part time, until you can afford to reliably freelance. and when you take on a project, don't forget to get a contract signed with a pay schedule immediately before working, especially if you need the cash soon.
I understand. I wasn't sure about listing them here due to the somewhat desperate nature of the post (and with an eye on posterity). I'm happy to reveal all upon request though. If that's unacceptable to some then I'm sorry about that and I guess I'm not your man :)

I do appreciate your point though (not a wasted post far as I'm concerned, re comment below).

totally understood. truly best of luck. having been in the freelance game for years i can sympathize.
just check out elance.com, there's lots of freelance work available instantly.
That's not instant - I need to register an account, pay elance money (or be extremely limited on their 'free' account), send proposals, bid against thousands of other developers with substantially lower costs of doing business, wait to get 'win' a proposal, then do the work and get paid.

An HN appeal like this is certainly potentially more instant (and cheaper) than elance.

Er, nothing in life is ever really instant... I know you're in a tough spot but if you're going to freelance seriously learn how to keep your project pipeline full ASAP. As a dev that's the hardest thing to learn when going solo. Chase down every lead, fill out every form and bid on everything that you're interested in and capable of. And then keep doing it.

All the best!

First, do not be afraid..

Second, I did see some demand for PHP in the UK remote/telecommute but it is not CodeIgniter..how fast can you pick up a different framework?

The lists I have seen it on is Symfony..also check the 37signals job board...

Best job source for phonegap is the phonegap lists, ask people on that list someone will pipe if they have heard of a gig..us phonegap contributors are very friendly :)

Not much remote/telecommute here in the Midwest of US which is why I am interviewing with some startups in Chicago this next week.

Next time, do not be afraid to use your real name and account..I mean how will people know where your git pages are, your email etc? I can understand the trepidation but here at HN we do not bite..well some of us bark quite loudly but that is expected right?

What area of the UK? Years ago when I attempted concurrent undergrad/grad studies in Molecular Biology I was doing some grad course work through Birberk College-University of London and Wiezmann Institute, Israel.