Welcome to the Treehouse Community
Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.
Looking to learn something new?
Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.
Start your free trial
Raj Kumar
Courses Plus Student 233 PointsAbout Networking..
In these videos, we have been told to learn networking.. I wanna know networking in which sense.. Which type of networking we need to get started with freelancing..
Thanx in advance
5 Answers
Martin Guzman
11,573 PointsHi Raj,
I was a full-time employee and I have done freelancing in the past and currently doing some of it. In my perception to be freelance is hard at the beginning because you do not have recurrent clients or referrals and most likely is difficult to know where to start, but if you are eager to pursue this career path you will find is rewarding as well you are your own boss, you can manage your time and is a good starting point to create your own company .
if you do not have any contacts to start it might be a good idea to make a couple of projects on your own so you can build up your credibility and have a portfolio to show to potential clients once you can show up your work and what you can do is easier to attract some customers.
On the other hand, if you have many bills to pay, is a good option to maintain your main stream of revenue and do freelancing occasionally until you have clients and enough work to maintain yourself and your bills.
Martin Guzman
11,573 PointsHi Raj,
I would say he is talking about learning to network with people that can help you to get a new project. Friends and family are a good start the might help you to find something or introduce you to the right person. in my opinion Linkedin is a good tool to do networking you can contact people from your previous jobs or school and they might be working in marketing departments or similar, these type of persons are very likely to have upcoming projects
A X
12,842 PointsHi Raj, Networking can take many forms, but there's something called "the hidden job market", which are positions/openings/clients that want projects done that aren't posted online. I've always been told that face to face networking is still a great and viable option to get yourself known to the local community and get yourself contacts. Try going to High Tech/IT general networking groups, meetup groups that interest you in whatever programming languages sound neat, attend job fairs that are either general interest or specific to IT, and/or attend interest conventions...like NWTechFest is coming up in the Pacific NW in April. There's also Open Source Conventions.
Just for my example, I regularly attend a group of IT folks that are looking for work, and we pool our resources to help each other and bring in guest lecturers and businesses to talk with us. I learned about http://calagator.org/ from there, which is a site specific to Portland that lists all the local tech meetings/networking events. There might be an equivalent where you live. There's also state worker's resource centers that might have some leads on local networking opportunities if you're stumped on where to look.
There are also sometimes non-profits that specialize in job placement assistance that have many networking contacts. One example I have is Dress for Success: https://www.dressforsuccess.org/ I know they're for women only, but there might be a male equivalent in your home town/city.
Raj Kumar
Courses Plus Student 233 PointsThanks a lot Martin..
Are you a Freelancer?
Can you tell me is it good to start freelancing career with upwork? If I do not have such personal contacts
If not then what should I do?
Raj Kumar
Courses Plus Student 233 PointsOnce again Thanx Martin..
Your opinion realy matters.. I will think about it :)