LITTLEBLACKDOG.COM

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:20 pm Post subject: "Freelance" websites

Hey fellow coder type people!

Having recently lost my job ( who hasnt ), I'm looking at doing freelance design and programming. I know theres quite a few sites out there that have 'classified ads' for this type of thing, but was wondering if anyone has actually used any of them and has any feedback?

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:23 am Post subject: Re: "Freelance" websites

wolven wrote:
Hey fellow coder type people!

Having recently lost my job ( who hasnt ), I'm looking at doing freelance design and programming. I know theres quite a few sites out there that have 'classified ads' for this type of thing, but was wondering if anyone has actually used any of them and has any feedback?

I don't know any software engineers who've used sites like that (and I know a few software engineers). I'd love to hear otherwise but I'm not convinced "freelance programming" is a viable career without being a full blown consultant.

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:26 am Post subject:

I am looking more for website based development, database backend stuff, etc.

I realize it isnt a career. I am looking for a means to temporarily offset some of the lost income is all. The reason I'm asking for suggestions, is I'd perfer not to get ripped off in the end Smile

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:45 am Post subject:

Personally, I find that unless you plan on working for pennies, literally, stay clear of such places.

Off and on for the past few years I take a stab at rentacoder.com. Reason being, I've tried using that to fill slow periods with some extra work. I walk in thinking "any bill rate is better than no bill rate," and I try to keep that attitude while bidding on jobs.

I used to bid at what I thought would be realistically fair for that specific job after realizing that my actual bill rate is considerably higher. After being out-bid more often than not I brought my prices down to what "the neighbor kid" would charge, thinking again, anything is better than nothing.

The end result is, you're bidding against people living in Eastern Europe and India, who before this global depression, were making in a month roughly what I'd make in a few hours.

In these days and times? I'd not be surprised if the bid winners are offering to do a 3 or 5 page site from the ground up for a few bucks.

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:48 am Post subject:

heh... I yelled about this almost a year ago to the date

http://www.miscellaneousdebris.com/words/2009/02/21/nothing-better-than-old-fashion-exploitation-or-why-i-hate-rent-a-coder/

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:04 am Post subject:

Olive wrote:
heh... I yelled about this almost a year ago to the date

http://www.miscellaneousdebris.com/words/2009/02/21/nothing-better-than-old-fashion-exploitation-or-why-i-hate-rent-a-coder/

Nice article, makes a lot of sense.

I'm certain, wolven, that your time would be better spent padding out your CV by working on Open Source projects. (This is why I contribute to the Fedora project -- it looks good on my CV and prospective employers can check out samples of my work before or during the interview.)

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:22 pm Post subject:

I get jobs at scriptlance and craigslist but like has been stated I am competing with east Europeans and Indians. I emphasize that I am local and have a solid command of my native language. But still, I have to bastardize myself sometimes just to make a buck; it sucks, everyone wants something for nothing