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Freelancing, half a year in.

alanhollis.com

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Re: Freelancing, half a year in.

#21

Post by vignesh_vs_in »

I have always wanted to do freelancing but refrained from it.

Below are my skills,

Official: I got 5 years of experience in various fields,

1 year as manual tester for a Mainframe/JSP based application.

2 years as an automation test engineer, which is a fancy way of writing scripts to do automatic tests.

2 years as a tools developer for an automation framework, work involves writing java/Oracle based tools to do a specific task.

Non Official: . 2 years learning to code and worked on basic android applications. . 2 years on iOS ranging from games to apps.

Side Projects:

Android:

Personal Finance Calculator (http://bit.ly/STAJ8n) helps you to calculate Loan Interest rate.

Baby Names (http://bit.ly/STAJ8n)Provides List of Baby names and their meaning

Mobile Number Tracker(http://bit.ly/STAIkI) provides caller info based on the mobile number (Only India).

Mobile Number Tracker US (http://bit.ly/PGakKz)

iOS Game:

Juicy Fun (http://bit.ly/Ub7IRv) physics game

Atom Ace (http://bit.ly/UxZ6F9) a different kind of puzzle.

iOS App:

London Tube Map (http://bit.ly/QqAXo7) shows london tube statues.

Movie Theaters (http://bit.ly/SwedyD) shows info about latest movies and movie theaters which plays them.

I am not sure what will I be able to charge clients as I don’t have professional development experience, and also living in India doesn’t help things I guess.

My big question is, will I be a fool to try freelancing at this stage and with my experience?

edit: formatting

Re: Freelancing, half a year in.

#22

Post by Alan01252 »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #18

What non programming skills have you found most useful for freelancing apart from general business stuff? For example when I have looked at freelance web programming jobs, especially for smaller companies who don't have an in house team they seem to also expect you to do the design work. Do you have other freelancers that you sub-contract out to, do some yourself or stick to strictly scoped (programming only) project…

I explain very clearly that I am not a designer right from the start. Again I've lost projects to digital agencies because of this, which is sad, and is another problem I'd like to solve but haven't yet.

The biggest non programming skill I have, and something that I appear to be okay at, is in face to face meetings. I've not yet walked out of one meeting where I haven't then got a job.

There's probably a few things that have helped here.

1. It's easy to demonstrate my knowledge face to face.

2. I repeat in my head "be confident" throughout the entire meeting.

3. I dress smartly.

Re: Freelancing, half a year in.

#23

Post by mseebach »

NickPollard wrote: post #12
cageface wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Freelancing has helped me understand just how much my previous job was paying me that didn't show up on my paycheck. Health insurance, matching 401k contributions, and various miscellaneous other perks are actually quite valuable. So you really have to take these things into account when you set your rates. The other big difference is that a salaried job means a regular paycheck, no matter how busy you might be in an…

The OP is in the UK so thankfully health insurance is not an issue as it is state-provided out of your taxes (although some companies do provide subsidised private healthcare, which some people might value highly). You're very right about the other things though - pension contributions, paid sick leave etc. which freelancing doesn't cover, so it's important to compare them carefully.

Healthcare is public, yes (although a private insurance is a popular benefit) but the tax that pays for it (up to 13% I think) is deducted separately. Ie. for your employer to give you a salary of £10000, he has to pay £11300. If you're self employed, you have to pay this, so it can bite you when comparing salary and contracting rates.

Re: Freelancing, half a year in.

#24

Post by Alan01252 »

davedx wrote: post #20
Alan01252 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my experience that's also the very very best graduates. I don't know of anyone who's gone in at that figure. I was earning just less than £35k two years after graduating with a 2.1 ( not sure what the equivalent is in American university terms ). And at that point was earning considerably more than anyone else I knew who graduated at the same time.

I went from GBP 33k to 40k within a year after graduating, in 2001. This was for an investment bank though. (London)

Banking/finance does seem to be the industry which breaks the standard, especially in London.

I think I've mentioned here before, but I know a friend of a friend who supposedly earns £50k a year as a Java developer for a bank, but didn't know what a constructor was.

The mind boggles.

Re: Freelancing, half a year in.

#25

Post by n0mad01 »

vignesh_vs_in wrote: post #21

I have always wanted to do freelancing but refrained from it. Below are my skills, Official: I got 5 years of experience in various fields, 1 year as manual tester for a Mainframe/JSP based application. 2 years as an automation test engineer, which is a fancy way of writing scripts to do automatic tests. 2 years as a tools developer for an automation framework, work involves writing java/Oracle based tools to do a sp…

you have to know that by yourself.

you'll never know for sure if you don't try it.

Re: Freelancing, half a year in.

#27

Post by NickPollard »

mseebach wrote: post #23
NickPollard wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP is in the UK so thankfully health insurance is not an issue as it is state-provided out of your taxes (although some companies do provide subsidised private healthcare, which some people might value highly). You're very right about the other things though - pension contributions, paid sick leave etc. which freelancing doesn't cover, so it's important to compare them carefully.

Healthcare is public, yes (although a private insurance is a popular benefit) but the tax that pays for it (up to 13% I think) is deducted separately. Ie. for your employer to give you a salary of £10000, he has to pay £11300. If you're self employed, you have to pay this, so it can bite you when comparing salary and contracting rates.

National Insurance contributions are slightly more complicated than that, but the upshot is you generally won't be paying more personally as a freelancer than as an employer.

When you're employed, both you and your employer pay NI rates. If you're self-employed, you pay £2.65 a week plus 9% on profits over about £8k, which should work out fairly similarly to the rates you pay (out of your gross salary) when employed.

More details on gov.uk.

Re: Freelancing, half a year in.

#28

Post by narag »

What are "digital agencies" and how to find one?

(Sorry if the question seems stupid, I haven't heard the term before and it seems a little too general to return meaningful results in Google)

Edit: Thank you benjaminwootton!

Re: Freelancing, half a year in.

#29

Post by RobAley »

mseebach wrote: post #23
NickPollard wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP is in the UK so thankfully health insurance is not an issue as it is state-provided out of your taxes (although some companies do provide subsidised private healthcare, which some people might value highly). You're very right about the other things though - pension contributions, paid sick leave etc. which freelancing doesn't cover, so it's important to compare them carefully.

Healthcare is public, yes (although a private insurance is a popular benefit) but the tax that pays for it (up to 13% I think) is deducted separately. Ie. for your employer to give you a salary of £10000, he has to pay £11300. If you're self employed, you have to pay this, so it can bite you when comparing salary and contracting rates.

Thats not correct. PAYE (Pay As You Earn) tax for employed people and the equivalent Income Tax for self-employed, along with similar rates of National Insurance for both, go into the general tax pot which pays for healthcare and other government programs. Employers advertise pay rates from which the tax is deducted, so in that way they are the same as contracting rates (the tax is deducted from both). Employers also pay a small National Insurance contribution on top, which doesn't come out of your wages.

Re: Freelancing, half a year in.

#30

Post by benjaminwootton »

narag wrote: post #28

What are "digital agencies" and how to find one? (Sorry if the question seems stupid, I haven't heard the term before and it seems a little too general to return meaningful results in Google) Edit: Thank you benjaminwootton!

Web design and marketing companies that specialise in online stuff.

They often have more design and campaign work than development, so they will regularly bring on freelance developers to help with projects.

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