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Mikedaniel Ocasio
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Student 15,790 PointsWhen should I feel confident enough to freelance / Look for a career?
I've been dabbling in web development for some time now. ( Completely self taught) and I would consider my self pretty well versed in HTML & CSS and am currently learning responsive design here on treehouse. Im super interested in become a Front End Developer one day. Im just not sure in the steps i should take to get there. Any advice? I'm currently working on my portfolio which to be honest doesn't have much since I'm not comfortable charging people money since I don't consider myself a professional by any means. I've just been learning here. Should I change this mentality? Obviously I'm pretty new to this scene so any advice I would be super grateful for.
1 Answer
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherMikedaniel;
First, congratulations on taking the step to even ask the question. It is a big decision to start your own business or change careers/enter the job market. Not knowing how well versed you are in the various aspects of Front End Development I will throw out my opinion and suggestions for you.
Take a look at some of the Business courses in the library here at Treehouse. Especially ones centered around how to freelance, start a business, run a business, etc. Those will bring up a lot of great questions for you to answer that go well beyond whether you have the coding skills to freelance.
In terms of do you have the skills for a Front End Developer type of position, be it as a freelancer or as an employee, I would recommend taking a look at various job sites (Monster.Com, Dice.Com, CareerBuilder.Com, etc.) to look at what qualifications and skills various companies are wanting. Do a search for Front End Developer, or something similar, and see what comes up. Probably not super important to limit the search for a geographical location if you are just figuring out if you have the skill set.
If you are confident that you have the skills folks are wanting, do a search for Front End Developer job skills test in Google or your favorite search engine. You will get quite a few examples of what some employers ask during the interview process. Go through the examples and see how you do. Here is one that I found by doing just that. Just in taking a quick look it looks like it covers quite a few subjects.
Best of luck,
Ken
Charles Ratkie
11,607 PointsKen, the link you provided was eye opening. Thank you. Will definitely be bookmarking that for later use. I myself have been looking for jobs under front end development and what i've been noticing as a major requirement is having 4-6 years experience (or a degree). =/ That totally bums me out. No doubt I'll be sticking with this from here on out, its just tough to know it could potentially take that long.
Paula Mourad
5,154 PointsPaula Mourad
5,154 PointsHi there Mikedaniel Ocasio ! First of all, congratulations for learning on your own! Sometimes it is the best way to go :)
I'm a freelancer graphic designer and it will be 1 year since I've been working on my own. It's great to be a freelancer! You can work from your home, you can manage your time, and it's all great! But I would lie to you if I only told you good things! As a freelancer you will join a big crowd of freelancers. Some months you'll make good money and some months you may not make any! (Been there!)
My advice to you is to check a very good website: www.freelancer.com This is a site for freelancers in every area...from design to engineering. It's free! You create your account, fill up the forms and questions....etc etc etc. You also have a space to show your work. About showing your work, maybe you don't think that your sites are "cool" but maybe a client will like them! :) Take a chance!
Also, because you're starting, go ahead and bid on a small project, maybe it won't pay much, but it will show in your profile that you already had 1 client! That's how I started! And also, keep learning. I'm learning JavaScript and I'm going insane...but hey! It's all good! :)
Best of luck! Paula