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What I did at your age: find local companies that need small gigs. Forget about trying to use those gig sites, you’re just competing with countries with super l

What I did at your age: find local companies that need small gigs. Forget about trying to use those gig sites, you’re just competing with countries with super low wages - not worth your time. Get some experience under your belt then get a salary job somewhere, pay won’t be great at the start but you’ll learn a lot real fast. You can study a ton and learn all the algorithms in the world but you have a lot easier time learning on the job in a position where you wouldn’t need them. If you’re still in high school ask if they have any local business connections that might need your assistance. I did mostly websites but I also never turned down general it help for people that had a computer that didn’t work right. I also did real invoicing and tried to treat it as a business.

thomastjeffery 9y ago
> Forget about trying to use those gig sites How would you recommend finding them then?
- dawnerd 9y ago
  Like I said, talk to local companies or in ops case his school. People love hiring students especially at that age. Can’t be afraid to just talk to people.
Jhsto 9y ago
Having been at OP's situation, I find this advice the best given that you want to earn money while doing it. Not only are local companies more reliable with actually paying (when compared to finding gigs online where people can just block your IM), you will also be able to meet them face-to-face, which will let you learn about social and sales skills when it comes to business (which are likely to convert into more money later on). In general I think you are on the right track -- you need to find some way to validate your skills when it comes to programming. That might take a few projects. It is also likely that the first clients don't care about the technical details as long as the thing works. It might feel like the people don't appreciate your skills, but as long as you are actually enjoying what you do, you shouldn't be worried (this also applies to the 'wtf go be young advice'). Better clients (or companies to which you interview to) will be able to understand you later on.

thomastjeffery 9y ago

> Forget about trying to use those gig sites How would you recommend finding them then?

dawnerd 9y ago
Like I said, talk to local companies or in ops case his school. People love hiring students especially at that age. Can’t be afraid to just talk to people.

Jhsto 9y ago

Having been at OP's situation, I find this advice the best given that you want to earn money while doing it. Not only are local companies more reliable with actually paying (when compared to finding gigs online where people can just block your IM), you will also be able to meet them face-to-face, which will let you learn about social and sales skills when it comes to business (which are likely to convert into more money later on). In general I think you are on the right track -- you need to find some way to validate your skills when it comes to programming. That might take a few projects. It is also likely that the first clients don't care about the technical details as long as the thing works. It might feel like the people don't appreciate your skills, but as long as you are actually enjoying what you do, you shouldn't be worried (this also applies to the 'wtf go be young advice'). Better clients (or companies to which you interview to) will be able to understand you later on.