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Ask HN: How do I reach making $1-1.5k/mo in 13 months?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I reach making $1-1.5k/mo in 13 months?

#21

Post by 3pt14159 »

What I've seen that has worked in the past is this:

Pick an open source project that is in a language that is respectable and commit to contributing to it for three or four months. Full time. Try to make sure that your written English is clear and professional in things like PRs.

Try to keep your code as clean and as well tested and linted as possible. Once the core team gets to know you a bit you'll be able to reach out for introductions to people hiring for remote jobs that you just wouldn't have had access to before.

I've seen people make $500k a year doing this. Just make sure that you choose wisely on the language and project. If you want to do frontend then it's probably going to be a project in TypeScript or JavaScript, but if you want to do backend then there are a lot of projects in tougher languages like Rust. Python isn't a bad choice either, even though it is easy to learn. Google has a Python style guide that is pretty good so look it up.

If I knew you were good at Python and you were asking for $1.5k a month I would hire you and laugh all the way to the bank. Set your aim hirer than what you need to survive.

Re: Ask HN: How do I reach making $1-1.5k/mo in 13 months?

#22

Post by Gustomaximus »

dessant wrote: post #9
deathhand wrote: post #3

I've hired through UpWork.com

People are usually exploited on freelancing sites like UpWork to work for considerably less money than the market value of their work, so I wouldn't recommend that, unless they're in a desperate situation.

People tend to start off that way. That's the pain of getting noticed. If you create an established profile it can be lucrative. But people who think they will join and get their 'worth' rate straight away are dreaming.

Also try to keep your account a little anonymous. I know of guys in developing countries that have criminals target them if they stand out as good earners.

Re: Ask HN: How do I reach making $1-1.5k/mo in 13 months?

#24

Post by neals »

jdhawk wrote: post #18

Possibly an unpopular opinion on Freelancing work, but generally avoid anything that is highly saturated. Become a very deep expert in something older or niche. These can lead to opportunities to maintain older software, or work on very specific projects. I did well updating and maintaining ancient Microsoft Access databases for small and medium size businesses who relied on them for day to day operations. I'm curren…

This is true, I made at least 10x OP's amount servicing legacy Adobe Flex applications and later on leading the transition to JS.

However, it might be difficult to get a good lead on that.

Re: Ask HN: How do I reach making $1-1.5k/mo in 13 months?

#25

Post by rubber_duck »

> I'm a dev with almost no experience

> Started coding 3.5 years ago and probably have enough under my belt to try multiple projects over this duration

This isn't enough information to go on, 3.5 years of programming could mean you've built your own game engine and a CMS from scratch in an attempt to do some project of yours, or it could mean you've been watching random programming courses sporadicly in hopes of landing a higher paying job eventually. (What third world country has median income of 1500$/month anyway ?)

Going off on what this sounds (because you didn't provide the info above) it seems like you aren't even close to an independent developer/freelancer but you're starting the discussion by determining your expected income.

IMO start with anything where you see you have potential to progress at any price point - if you actually have technical skills it shouldn't take you long to reach the level that matches them and if you don't it will give you time to learn.

Re: Ask HN: How do I reach making $1-1.5k/mo in 13 months?

#26

Post by golergka »

> I'm a dev with almost no experience

Experience, as in experience that a person who hires you can read from your CV, is the key for the developer's career. However, $1-1.5/month is a junior developer salary (and I don't live in a first world country either), and one year is more than enough to build a CV and/or github profile that shows that you know what you're doing. I was just recently hiring junior developers (and probably will again in the near future), and if I would see someone with relevant tech stack (sorry, I think that for a junior, matching the tech matters - although I believe that a senior can easily switch and learn), experience with different aspects of that stack (not implementing the same feature 10 times on very similar projects, but doing something different each time), projects complete and even some code on github (alhtough I work in the industry where this is much less common), he would jump to the top of my list. There's plenty of advice on how to write CV: focus on what you've done (as opposed to what you've been doing), drop keywords (but convey your level of expertise truthfully), it's all common knowledge, but it works.

And regarding remote work - now it's the best time for remote it's ever been, and there's plenty of companies from first-world countries that hire from anywhere in the world, with montly salaries for seniors reaching up to $6-10k a month. It may not be easy to reach that level, but it's certainly doable.

Re: Ask HN: How do I reach making $1-1.5k/mo in 13 months?

#27

Post by diegoperini »

This is my anecdote, I hope it serves you well.

I'm a computer engineer with a respectable bachelor's degree from Turkey. Google has enough material to see what kind of 3rd world country Turkey is.

I found myself in a similar situation 2 years ago. I had 5 years of experience at that time. Due to my father's decreasing health condition, remote had become by only option. I don't know if it was luck or simply how the system works but in my case Upwork saved my situation 1 month after I signed up. I created a modest profile and clicked a bunch of gigs I found interesting. I did a bunch of Skype calls to present myself as approachable as I can and even took some disappointing gigs just to get used to freelancing (it was my first) without causing harm to my reputation. Somewhere along the second month I spent in the platform, one employer from another country approached to me. Unlike my other gigs, this employer valued trust more and asked me if I can join them part-time for a month, to be able to evaluate my performance without taking too much risk. I was promised the one time payment even for failure. Luckily I didn't fail. Now I am a full time remote employee and have a competitive salary even for European standards.

TLDR: Try upwork.com, maybe it will work.

Re: Ask HN: How do I reach making $1-1.5k/mo in 13 months?

#29

Post by snazz »

Combine two interests or abilities. Try combining writing (which you seem to be good at) with computer skills or security with web application experience. You'll be able to charge more if you carve out a niche for yourself.

Fiverr is actually fine if you can do that. It's only a race to the bottom in saturated segments with no differentiation. You might be able to apply to be a Fiverr "Pro" and charge more.

Re: Ask HN: How do I reach making $1-1.5k/mo in 13 months?

#30

Post by noddly »

dangus wrote: post #11

It seems like this is a big list of things you aren't willing to try, but you still want someone else to come up with a $10,000 idea for you. What you're asking for is an easy way out. There isn't one. If you've got over a year of financial runway, I'd say you could feel pretty happy about that. I'm sure you'll figure out something in that time.

I'm sorry if I'm giving that impression. It hasn't been long since I've come into this situation. As someone who haven't had much exposure into the working of the world, I was just seeking opinion from others on what can be done.
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