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Ask HN: What makes a great freelance portfolio?

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Re: Ask HN: What makes a great freelance portfolio?

#21

As someone with little technical skills when it comes to software development, I like that I can see a person's past work and read reviews from people he/she has worked with in the past.

What would you like to see specifically about a developers past work? Code? A walkthrough of what was built? What would be most useful?

Re: Ask HN: What makes a great freelance portfolio?

#24
post #20

As someone hip-deep in professional services: consider whether the answer to "freelancing sites are terrible for software developers" is "we need better freelancer sites", or whether instead the answer is "freelancer matchmaking sites are generally not in the best interests of freelancers". In this rare instance I think I'll try speaking for Patrick McKenzie, a fellow consultant, along with myself: we think the answe…

Thomas wrote substantially what I wanted to write.

Edit to expand:

So some of the features of WorkMob were easy for you to write, but are not in the best interests of many people who could potentially work for you. If your design showcases to clients that "Number of OSS projects" or "Number of Github followers" are how you rate developers, your clients might actually develop the impression that those two numbers a) matter and b) matter quite a lot.

Instead of being inspired by freelance portfolios, which devote 95% of the emphasis to What and 5% of the emphasis to Why, maybe you should look at case studies by consulting firms who are good at what they do.

One I wrote which drove substantial additional business for me: http://blog.fogcreek.com/our-marketing-is-up-fog-creek-and-w...

One which I was not involved with, but which I routinely recommend for people when they ask "How do I write a case study?": http://www.conversion-rate-experts.com/seomoz-case-study/

You'll note that neither of these is particularly intensive from a features-required-to-support-the-case-study perspective. All you need is a blogging engine that lets you add images. For bonus points, email capture.

Re: Ask HN: What makes a great freelance portfolio?

#26
post #20

As someone hip-deep in professional services: consider whether the answer to "freelancing sites are terrible for software developers" is "we need better freelancer sites", or whether instead the answer is "freelancer matchmaking sites are generally not in the best interests of freelancers". In this rare instance I think I'll try speaking for Patrick McKenzie, a fellow consultant, along with myself: we think the answe…

We agree that freelancer matchmaking sites are generally not in the best interests of freelancers.

We've taken the position of freelancer discovery over matchmaking. Our goal is to give freelancers a great way to be discovered by filtered clients, based on specific skills and experience qualifications.

We want make it possible for freelancers and clients to find each other more efficiently, and we're not going to be involved with the actual project or contract.

For your example, we might serve as the place where the client found the 3 consultants that were invited to pitch with a cover letter, resume, and case studies.

Re: Ask HN: What makes a great freelance portfolio?

#27
post #26
post #20

As someone hip-deep in professional services: consider whether the answer to "freelancing sites are terrible for software developers" is "we need better freelancer sites", or whether instead the answer is "freelancer matchmaking sites are generally not in the best interests of freelancers". In this rare instance I think I'll try speaking for Patrick McKenzie, a fellow consultant, along with myself: we think the answe…

We agree that freelancer matchmaking sites are generally not in the best interests of freelancers. We've taken the position of freelancer discovery over matchmaking. Our goal is to give freelancers a great way to be discovered by filtered clients, based on specific skills and experience qualifications. We want make it possible for freelancers and clients to find each other more efficiently, and we're not going to be…

The philosophical problem with all freelancer sites is that they position consultants as substitutable offerings that can be selected off a shelf. There are some fields (graphic design, for instance) where this is apparently not too damaging. But I think it's (in practice) very bad positioning for software consultants, and, not coincidentally, an unhelpful mental model for buyers to adopt.

Re: Ask HN: What makes a great freelance portfolio?

#28
post #9

are you competing with freelancer sites?

Yes and no. We're building a place for freelance developers to share, showcase, and find new freelance gigs. We're not attempting to be a middle man in the actual transaction but to improve the process of finding the right freelancer for your specific job.

Re: Ask HN: What makes a great freelance portfolio?

#29
post #21

As someone with little technical skills when it comes to software development, I like that I can see a person's past work and read reviews from people he/she has worked with in the past.

What would you like to see specifically about a developers past work? Code? A walkthrough of what was built? What would be most useful?

A walk through of what was built would be helpful to better understand what the project looked like (or how it functioned) before the developer came on board and what the project looked like/functioned after.

Also, knowing how a developer works best would be useful. For example, does the developer like to check in regularly or does he/she prefer a hands off experience.

Re: Ask HN: What makes a great freelance portfolio?

#30
post #24
post #20

As someone hip-deep in professional services: consider whether the answer to "freelancing sites are terrible for software developers" is "we need better freelancer sites", or whether instead the answer is "freelancer matchmaking sites are generally not in the best interests of freelancers". In this rare instance I think I'll try speaking for Patrick McKenzie, a fellow consultant, along with myself: we think the answe…

Thomas wrote substantially what I wanted to write. Edit to expand: So some of the features of WorkMob were easy for you to write, but are not in the best interests of many people who could potentially work for you. If your design showcases to clients that "Number of OSS projects" or "Number of Github followers" are how you rate developers, your clients might actually develop the impression that those two numbers a) m…

Segmenting freelancers by technology is an even more fundamental problem with this design.
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