3 ms·

Last year I literally went round ~200 businesses in my area offering my services for free and sometimes more than once, stuck up posters in local business centr

Last year I literally went round ~200 businesses in my area offering my services for free and sometimes more than once, stuck up posters in local business centres, did not get one bite.

ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
I feel your pain. I really do. I'm not sure my advice is relevant, but I'll tell you what I have. I have a gigantic open-source portfolio. I incorporated it into what Stack Overflow calls a "story"[0]. This is sort of a "super-CV." I have an almost solid green GH Activity Graph[1]. The value of this is reduced by people that "game" theirs. I spruced up my GH profile[2], using their "hidden Profile README"[3]. I have had over twenty apps in the iOS App Store, over the years. I'm down to just a few, now[4]. I spent my entire career (over 30 years), shipping product; even my open-source work is done as "ship." I have written a tool that has become a worldwide standard[5] (but is now under the care of a new team -I hardly have anything to do with it anymore). I write a lot of stuff[6]. Basically, my motto is "Don't just take my word for it; see for yourself. I can prove what I say." I would have been happy work for half of what people with far less skill than I demand, as I do what I do for the love of the craft, and my retirement is set. That all means nothing. Recruiters drop me like a live snake, as soon as they figure out that I'm older than 40 (50, actually). I now make sure that my age is known up front, so that prevents a big waste of time. They don't need to give me a binary tree test to weed me out. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. [0] https://stackoverflow.com/story/chrismarshall https://stackoverflow.com/story/chrismarshall (Story Format) https://stackoverflow.com/cv/chrismarshall https://stackoverflow.com/cv/chrismarshall ("CV" Format) [1] https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY#github-stuff https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY#github-stuff [2] https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY [3] https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/github/setting-up-and-managing-your-github-profile/managing-your-profile-readme https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/github/setti... [4] https://littlegreenviper.com/AppDocs/ https://littlegreenviper.com/AppDocs/ [5] https://bmlt.app https://bmlt.app [6] https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany
- throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
  Thanks for a comprehensive post. I hope you can find work. From all that you've done you should be in a better position than many. Good luck!
rusticpenn 6y ago
That is probably because you advertised it for free. Free creates a lot of headaches for business. You should quote a price and offer a discount (or the first project free. Its basically the same thing, but you are actually selling yourself better.
- throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
  Do it for free = you're worth nothing. Do it for pay = after a job. Either way no dice. It's a tricky one.
  - rusticpenn 6y ago
    That's where the first project free comes into picture.

Last year I literally went round ~200 businesses in my area offering my services for free and sometimes more than once, stuck up posters in local business centres, did not get one bite.

ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago

I feel your pain. I really do. I'm not sure my advice is relevant, but I'll tell you what I have. I have a gigantic open-source portfolio. I incorporated it into what Stack Overflow calls a "story"[0]. This is sort of a "super-CV." I have an almost solid green GH Activity Graph[1]. The value of this is reduced by people that "game" theirs. I spruced up my GH profile[2], using their "hidden Profile README"[3]. I have had over twenty apps in the iOS App Store, over the years. I'm down to just a few, now[4]. I spent my entire career (over 30 years), shipping product; even my open-source work is done as "ship." I have written a tool that has become a worldwide standard[5] (but is now under the care of a new team -I hardly have anything to do with it anymore). I write a lot of stuff[6]. Basically, my motto is "Don't just take my word for it; see for yourself. I can prove what I say." I would have been happy work for half of what people with far less skill than I demand, as I do what I do for the love of the craft, and my retirement is set. That all means nothing. Recruiters drop me like a live snake, as soon as they figure out that I'm older than 40 (50, actually). I now make sure that my age is known up front, so that prevents a big waste of time. They don't need to give me a binary tree test to weed me out. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. [0] https://stackoverflow.com/story/chrismarshall https://stackoverflow.com/story/chrismarshall (Story Format) https://stackoverflow.com/cv/chrismarshall https://stackoverflow.com/cv/chrismarshall ("CV" Format) [1] https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY#github-stuff https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY#github-stuff [2] https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY [3] https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/github/setting-up-and-managing-your-github-profile/managing-your-profile-readme https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/github/setti... [4] https://littlegreenviper.com/AppDocs/ https://littlegreenviper.com/AppDocs/ [5] https://bmlt.app https://bmlt.app [6] https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany

throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
Thanks for a comprehensive post. I hope you can find work. From all that you've done you should be in a better position than many. Good luck!

rusticpenn 6y ago

That is probably because you advertised it for free. Free creates a lot of headaches for business. You should quote a price and offer a discount (or the first project free. Its basically the same thing, but you are actually selling yourself better.

throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
Do it for free = you're worth nothing. Do it for pay = after a job. Either way no dice. It's a tricky one.
- rusticpenn 6y ago
  That's where the first project free comes into picture.