Hangout: Becoming a freelance developer
RSVP to the hangout here https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cdkkq1uei70k87ohiaq07sd4o7o?authkey=COmw4ImAtf-a2QE
Survey Results I had 17 respondents to my original survey (here is the survey if you’d like to take it: http://goo.gl/forms/LTAqtJcitT).
What do you DISLIKE about your current job as a developer? (multiple choice)
* 44% said "not enough actual coding." Other popular responses were "work is boring," or otherwise inefficient.
What do you want more of? (multiple choice)
* 75% said "freedom to work only part of the year" * 56% said they want more interesting problems. * 44% said they want more money
If you are NOT a freelancer now, why not? (multiple choice)
* 67% I like the security of a regular paycheck & 401K * 42% I need the health benefits for me or my family
The surprising one was...
If someone made it EASY for you, would you work as a freelance web developer?
* 73% probably, yes * 27% probably not
Admittedly this question was not well phrased since a handful of the respondents are already freelancers or contractors. But still, this is a surprising percentage!
32 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 72.5 ms ] threadI found a customer via contacts in my last job. What also helped a lot is that I did talk on some meetups in my area. I will try to join the hangout though it's 10 PM here in EEST.
'tis me https://www.linkedin.com/in/t0mk88
I really dislike corporate culture and I'm glad to help anyone who wants to quit it. Feel free to ask me about stuff.
...these guys would be disappointed with freelancing :-)
First one is obvious (so many ancillary tasks and worries when freelancing). Second one sounds good... in theory.
Then one day I found ad on job board: "Looking for programmer", there was nothing else than this, no description, just header and phone number. So I just ring the phone and the rest is history.
This was my first client and I still working with them today. It is old rusty Delphi 5 codebase. There is nothing fancy about this gig, but it is ongoing thing, the client pay on time and don't demand much. You find to appreciate jobs like this once you become freelancers and will want to stick with this profession for decades.
A lot of people will share advices on how to get jobs and how to manage life as a freelance, so i will suggest a different thing: it may be hard to work remotely and alone, so try to know some other freelance so you can have at least a skype call with them daily!
One of my best friend is a freelance web designer and this helped a lot!
This is me: https://it.linkedin.com/in/albertoplebani
I got very lucky and found a great opportunity that lets me have the benefits of a full-time job and the freedom of freelancing. Basically, 40+ hours a week, steady work, 1099 setup, no benefits and the best part is that it is 100% remote. I don't have to worry about finding work since I always have work. The drawback is obviously I don't have any benefits so you have to pay for all that out of pocket - but if you do the math, it ends up being the same thing with the freedom of being 100% remote.
A few months ago, I decided to use my contacts to setup a consultancy and have 5 people billing now - if you are a developer and want 100% remote and steady work, you can reach me at eibrahim at gmail or you can fill out the online application at https://devcamp.wufoo.com/forms/fullstack-developer-netnode/ - there is no gurantee I can place you right away but I have a ton of work coming my way all the time. It's mostly full-stack dev work but lately I have been getting more and more mobile opportunities.
ps: right now this is for developers in the USA and Canada only but occasionally I get clients/opportunities that don't care about the geography.
What hourly rates would you consider *
$30 to $40
$40 to $50
$50 to $60
> $60 (this position is not for you)
One of the things I also missed was being part of a development team, where I could learn from others and work on projects that would be difficult for me to take on alone. Being a freelancer for so long, I also found my skills stagnating, and it was hard to try and pick up new skills when working on new projects that always had aggressive deadlines.
Fortunately, health insurance wasn't a problem at the time as it was available through my wife's job, but being older now and with a growing family, it's definitely something that is a much more important factor.
I've been in a regular job for just over 3 years now, and it's had both good sides and bad. Although being a freelance developer is not something that I particularly miss, I do want to be the master of my own destiny. For that reason, I can't see myself remaining an employee for the long term, though I'm not sure whether that will mean returning to freelancing or something else.
Is there a big market for freelance C++ work?
Language knowledge is not just knowledge concerning its grammar, but about its entire tooling environment. In other words, it is not enough to know how to read/write C++. For example, you also need to be very aware of the vast collection of libraries that exists. Otherwise, you will be reinventing the wheel, badly.
While it is possible nowadays to find gigs just with good language knowledge, you will truly become incontrovertible if you know a particular vertical domain. For example, image processing, or biomedical things, or algorithmical trading, or something else like that.
If you are capable of applying sound language environment knowledge onto such vertical domain with the cash to recruit experts for its needs, the recruitment situation will be such that you can name your price and also dictate the terms of employment: freelance, permanent, work-from-home, or whatever suits you better.
Slides from my talk at this year's Berlin Buzzwords on this topic:
"So you want to be a data science consultant (or hire one)? 10 things you should know."
https://berlinbuzzwords.de/session/so-you-want-be-data-scien...
Will join the hangout if I can :-)
In other news, I'm desperately trying to find some part-time freelance work. I'm a Python/Django dev with 4 years experience that leans a little more heavily on front-end. Ideally would like a mentor-type relationship where I can work with someone more experienced. If anyone has any leads or would like to chat, I'd be much obliged! https://www.linkedin.com/in/pnichols104 https://github.com/pnichols104
As long as there's no conflict of interest (there's usually none since the scope and scale are totally different), then it shouldn't be a problem.
The only issue is getting newer clients, currently I get projects/clients from word of mouth or from former colleagues. Of course I would want to do this full time since my regular job is mind numbingly boring, but it pays the bills.