Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that

codeinpython.blogspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 123 posts

Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that

#81

Post by ivm »

drinchev wrote: post #7

This is all wrong. Click-bait title. Some thoughts by a discouraged person in a globalised world and a general conclusion that doesn't make any sense if you read the article. Maybe the OP shouldn't look for projects in oDesk-type websites. I don't do that and I'm really happy working as a freelancer. For anyone wondering how to find freelance projects. You should go and look for local clients, networking, contact com…

> You should go and look for local clients, networking, contact companies that look for developers and try to persuade them that they can count on you too, etc.

Every time in these discussions people ignore the fact that there're thousands of developers outside of US/EU who can't just "look for local clients". Not so many companies want to hire a remote employee without some kind of protection.

I'm working via Upwork and I personally know over 20 developers from Eastern Europe who work there too. We all would be incredibly happy to work directly, without the app that takes screenshots every 10 minutes, and for US rates instead of $20-35/h on Upwork. But it's not that easy until you're a known developer with a good reputation.

Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that

#82

Post by Pizzalover »

zippergz wrote: post #71
robotkilla wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been a freelancer for almost 4 years and I have yet to make money via any sort of website. The clientele's expectations are borderline delusional for the price they want to pay. I get all of my contracts through recommendations from past clients and colleagues and can charge from $60 to $90 per hour (the most I charged was $250 per hour for a job I didn't want to do and didn't expect the client to accept).

I don't know where you're located, but $60/hr seems insanely low. Annualized as a full time job that's $125k/yr. not terrible, but quite a bit less than what a good developer can make as base salary at a tech company. But that tech company job comes with benefits, paid vacation, stability, and possibly equity and bonuses. Plus the freelance gigs are rarely actually full time (even if you have enough clients on a stea…

Shut up you douchebag

Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that

#83

Post by scardine »

mrfusion wrote: post #66
drinchev wrote: post #7

This is all wrong. Click-bait title. Some thoughts by a discouraged person in a globalised world and a general conclusion that doesn't make any sense if you read the article. Maybe the OP shouldn't look for projects in oDesk-type websites. I don't do that and I'm really happy working as a freelancer. For anyone wondering how to find freelance projects. You should go and look for local clients, networking, contact com…

How do you contact them? Email, cold calling? Have you tried doing rfps?

When you answer an RFP, most likely you are engaging into a race to the bottom (competing on price). Often an RFP means some PHB made a poor diagnostic, devised the wrong solution and just want someone to build it.

That is why I don't like to answer RFPs. Working on someones else's diagnostic is root of all evil for freelancers, it makes very hard to deliver maximum value. How would a brain surgeon answer if a patient enters the office saying "Yes, doctor, just open my skull right now and pull out the tumor!"?

Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that

#85

Post by kawera »

thrownear wrote: post #50
x5n1 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People want stuff for free. The web is free. They expect next to free for skills that take at least 10 years to actually master. Skill level similar to a doctor.

>They expect next to free for skills that take at least 10 years to actually master. You compare it to a doctor, but really it is more like that of a driver. Most of the people are only concerned about getting from point A to point B. They don't really care about proper cornering techniques or following the best line..

A driver? Well, I think a better comparison would be to watchmaking or other crafts that require deep understanding and great attention to details.

Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that

#86

Post by patio11 »

If you can write a scraper which performs against any real world data, your new rate is $100 per hour [+]. Your first month you spend 140 hours of pounding the virtual pavement looking for clients outside of the markets for lemons that are the freelancing sites. You spend 20 hours on delivery. Now you have the same $2k that you'd have if you killed yourself working on PayPeanutsGetMonkeys.com and you have the nascent beginnings of an actual freelancing business -- a pipeline, people who are interested in working with you but might not have a project at the moment, a happy client who you can do additional work for and solicit for introductions to peers, etc. Three months later you're at 70% utilization and you start working up your rates.

And yes, this works from the Philippines almost exactly as well as it works from Gifu. There a mere one hour off each other and there is no social advantage that the Japanese engineering community gives you that you cannot trivially duplicate from any cafe in southeast Asia with reliable Internet.

[ + ] Journeyman rates for programming work, trivially paid by a variety of businesses across the first world capable of hiring professionals. This is far under the going rate for people whose primary skill is writing concisely threatening letters, for example.

Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that

#89

Post by ahallock »

The author gives one bad example and extrapolates that to all of freelance. I've found plenty of well-paying gigs on these sites. As with most things in life, it takes hard work and lots of failure to get there. It's really that simple. The author shouldn't have pursued that job from the beginning. Recognize a loser and move on.

Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that

#90

Post by ahallock »

crdoconnor wrote: post #9
drinchev wrote: post #7

This is all wrong. Click-bait title. Some thoughts by a discouraged person in a globalised world and a general conclusion that doesn't make any sense if you read the article. Maybe the OP shouldn't look for projects in oDesk-type websites. I don't do that and I'm really happy working as a freelancer. For anyone wondering how to find freelance projects. You should go and look for local clients, networking, contact com…

>Maybe the OP shouldn't look for projects in oDesk-type websites. Yeah, definitely not. Bottom feeders all the way.

Not true at all. High-profile startups do post jobs there. You can find good clients--it just takes some digging, negotiation, and patience.
Post reply on HN