I'm new to web development, and have worked for two months creating iteration after iteration of my personal portfolio www.smaugh.net however I haven't being able to find a job or to make a single dollar out of my work. Please help! what am I doing wrong? this is my passion! I really love writing code and dream to become amazing at it.
Two months of work and 0 dollars
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Re: Two months of work and 0 dollars
#2Well, you never really say you are looking for work. You have buttons to view your CV, and a method to contact. But you never REALLY say that you are looking for work, or what kind of work (freelance, consulting, full-time, contract) you want to do.
Re: Two months of work and 0 dollars
#3> I'm new to web development, and have worked for two months creating iteration after iteration of my personal portfolio ...
The problem is obvious -- when you have spent as much time creating successful Web content as you have spent writing your CV, job offers will start pouring in.
> I really love writing code and dream to become amazing at it.
Someday you will be able to say, "I've spent years honing my Web development skills, and I'm objectively very good at it -- here is a list of my successful projects." When that happens, you will have to disconnect your phone in order to get any work done.
Employers don't want to hear how passionate you are about eventually learning how to code. They want to hear how passionate you are about repeating your many past successes.
If necessary, take volunteer assignments that will wind up on display on the Web with your name attached to them. Then when you rewrite your CV, you can include evidence of your abilities.
Re: Two months of work and 0 dollars
#4Well, you never really say you are looking for work. You have buttons to view your CV, and a method to contact. But you never REALLY say that you are looking for work, or what kind of work (freelance, consulting, full-time, contract) you want to do.
You are right... what I have done so far is send messages stating my intent to possible employers with a link to my site. This has proven futile. I will do as you suggest, Thank you!
Re: Two months of work and 0 dollars
#51. Did you contact any recruiters on LinkedIn?
2. Did you call up any companies in your city even if they don't have any jobs listed?
3. Have you tried applying for jobs that might sound "too hard"? Often recruiters up the level in the job applications but when it's in fact not really needed.
4. Open-source your CV/the website you made and show possible companies how awesome your coding is.
5. Call recruiters, e-mail recruiters, knock on their doors, call companies and e-mail them even if they don't have any jobs listed.
6. Build up your brand in social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc) I get contacted on LinkedIn a lot and I know a lot of my friends do too.
Good luck!
Re: Two months of work and 0 dollars
#61. Did you contact any recruiters on LinkedIn? 2. Did you call up any companies in your city even if they don't have any jobs listed? 3. Have you tried applying for jobs that might sound "too hard"? Often recruiters up the level in the job applications but when it's in fact not really needed. 4. Open-source your CV/the website you made and show possible companies how awesome your coding is. 5. Call recruiters, e-mail…
Great advice. This is the true wonder of HN community
To-do
1. sing up to Linkedin (should have done it from the beginning)
2. call every Wev dev company in Melbourne
3. be brave
4. open source
5. call some more
6. Use social media
Thank you! this is the kind of advice I was craving for
Re: Two months of work and 0 dollars
#7angel.co - The best place to find tech jobs. I got almost 40 interviews in 3 months on it and ended up with a few nice offers.
You seem to be based in Australia though and I'm not sure how engaged the Australian community is on AngelList.
Re: Two months of work and 0 dollars
#8I'm sure this is _not_ your actual problem, but I was lamenting how hard to spell, your domain name was as I typed it into my browser. "But, I thought, what can he do, it is his name". Then I clicked, and saw that your name is actually Edger Diaz, not Smaaugh.
So, along with the other suggestions, how about something easy to spell, like hackdiaz.com, updiaz.com, wisediaz.com, etc.
Re: Two months of work and 0 dollars
#9This thread is weird. On one reply, someone says "Sign up to Linked In"! Another reply says, "Sign up at angel.co" and says the typical, "Worked for me!" reply. This isn't HN-like at all. HN is supposed to be helpful and offer real advice, not "Sign up at this website" type of replies.
OP - you are confused, in more ways than you think. Are you trying to "find work", or are you trying to freelance ("make a single dollar out of my work"), or both? You ask, "What am I doing wrong?" - until you tell us what "success" looks like, we can't help you. You've given us a "portfolio" and a vague "Help me, please!" post here - that's just not enough for anyone to give you meaningful, actionable advice. If you act on any of the advice you've been given thus far, you're just doing it because it feels like you are doing something....
Tell us more details about what you want to actually do and you'll get better responses.