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Ask HN: tips for starting as a freelance coder

3 points by vineet7kumar ↗ HN
Hi, I am just out of college(BS) and instead of joining the regular job I am planning to start as a freelance coder. Which is the best place to start as a freelancer and any tips for starting will be appreciated.

Thanks and regards, Vineet

4 comments

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ScottWhigham
The best place to start as a freelancer is by working for your old company as a freelancer or for your old company's clients.
vineet7kumar
I do not have a old company . I am a fresh graduate.
watmough
Why not join a company to get a few years experience and get an idea of the type of behavior that clients typically want.

You'll be surprised by how much it is personal relationships that are important, and not necessarily results, though obviously everything counts.

There's a huge business in consulting, and domain specific knowledge is something that can be hard to pick up unless you go in with an existing outfit.

I think the best advice I could give a new graduate is to do your best to join a big consulting company. You'll learn a bunch of things. The money can be pretty good, and the lifestyle can be fun if you are young enough.

tstegart
I would strongly recommend building a side project while you work on finding your jobs. Clients are impressed when they see what you can actually do rather than just what you say you can do. Not to mention a side project would not have the constraints of a client, so you can make it really awesome (i.e. no "we need to use teal, its our company color"). Another plus is multiple side projects in different languages, so it shows you have wicked programming smarts and can pick up new skills if needed.