11–20 of 171 posts
Edit: I mean on HN similar to the first of month feature not a site (I know these are out there obviously).
I suspect the secret to contract work success lies in having really good networking skills and a Rolodex of contacts from having worked in a given industry and having a reputation as someone who delivers. If you don't have that then you would probably have better luck finding reasonable work by going to meetups or similar industry events to build a network of professional contacts. The only way I know of to do this online is to become a notable contributor to prominent open source projects and then use that to leverage paid work.
I recently made it through the Toptal ( http://www.toptal.com ) screening process but haven't taken on any work through their site yet, the hourly rate that you can ask there seems to be quite reasonable though compared to sites like upwork.com, where you will mostly compete with people that are willing to work for 10 $ / hour (which for someone living in a developed country is just not possible). For Germany, Gulp (…
HN who's hiring threads, exclusively update: I post my pitch in the freelancer thread and potential clients contact me, for example https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9998249
I didn't bid to low quality jobs and once I finish my job I offer them an maintenance contract outside upwork.
Some people at HN will tell you the opposite but I find two of my best clients at Upwork. I didn't bid to low quality jobs and once I finish my job I offer them an maintenance contract outside upwork.
Few years ago, this worked quite well, but now there are some idiots that charge a high price for low quality work just to try to take advantage of people like me. So, now it takes some more time to filter through, but still works pretty well.
I came into Syracuse knowing nobody and nothing.
I had never done any app making as of January 2015. I had done some wordpress stuff, but just the basics.
And I had (and have) no CS degree.
I now make a living on contract work. I did it by going to local meetups and introducing myself as a freelance web developer. Nevermind that I hadn't done freelance web development ever. I kept going to meetups for month and still attend a monthly hacker meetup. I participated in hackathons without really knowing how to program.
But all along the way I met people more experienced than I am and picked up two clients along the way. I think one thing that I do differently to most is that I charge a high rate (I always quote $150/hr). I am willing to negotiate lower than that but its a starting point. I have been paid that in the past for less complicated work like hiring developers and being a project manager.
What am I saying? Your questions is what sites to use? Just one: meetup.com