4 ms·

I do a lot of cloud infrastructure and system admin, at 62. I freelance so no one cares about my age, only what I can deliver. I see lots of freelance opportuni

I do a lot of cloud infrastructure and system admin, at 62. I freelance so no one cares about my age, only what I can deliver. I see lots of freelance opportunities for that work because many companies don't need full-time, can't afford, or can't find people.

ensemblehq 4y ago
I second this. Freelancing roles for cloud infrastructure (and even data infrastructure) might be a good fit because there is some degree of needing quality engineering - otherwise, things just don’t work.
mooreds 4y ago
I agree. Contracting is great, and no one cares about your age, just what you can do. I've been paid and paid thousands of dollars without ever actually meeting someone in-person. He should absolutely check his employment agreement, though, and make sure he doesn't: * use company equipment * do any work for a competitor * work on company time Contracting also is helpful because it is something he can dip his toe into without a large time commitment (as opposed to a job). I'd suggest he reach out to people he has worked with in the past that have left the company (LinkedIn is good, but Facebook might work well too). My go-to phrasing is: "Hiya, hope you are doing well. <Anecdote, like 'remember when we shipped project X? Guess what, it's still running today'.> I'm reaching out because I'm looking to do more contracting and to expand my network. In particular, I want to do <the type of work he wants to do>. I'd prefer to do it off hours, about <X hours a week>. Do you know anyone who is looking for a hand? If you do, or think of anyone, I'd sure appreciate an intro." This phrasing is far less direct than "Do you need help" but conveys the same message. He should also think about a rate that he'd work for, as that will likely be one of the first questions any possible client will have.
- timmyboop 4y ago
  How do you do contract work where you get paid a significant amount without even meeting the person? How does a company or a person trust you to give you some work without even meeting in person. You must be doing something super right that some of us might not know that would open doors for us. Can you please elaborate?
  - gregjor 4y ago
    I have customers who have paid me thousands of dollars every month, for years. I haven't met most of them face-to-face. It comes down to trust. Since 2014 I have worked through an agency that takes care of contracts, billing, payment, so that's one route. But even before going on with the agency I never had a problem getting paid. You should not put yourself in a position where a customer owes you a lot of money. I define "a lot" as an amount I would consider legal action to recover. Charge for deliverables with clear expectations and definition of "done." If you get a sketchy or slow-pay customer who argues about your bills, drop them, they're not worth it. Anecdotally I have known lots of freelancers in my career and slow pay/no pay is not a big problem for the freelancers who deliver what they promise and avoid the fringe customers. It's the customers who want you to clone eBay for $5,000 in a month who won't pay you. Reputable companies and organizations might take a while to cut a check but they won't screw you.
  - mooreds 4y ago
    It's all about derisking what you are selling (your labor and expertise). It's been a few years, but here are a couple of tips: * Start with a warm intro from someone you've worked with in the past. This lowers the risk for both parties. This is why I suggested reaching out to former co-workers; they know you and (hopefully) will vouch for you. * Begin with a small project first. Again, this is about lowering risk. Is there a project you can do for a couple hundred bucks? Can you write a planning document, or do an analysis of the current infrastructure with a read-only account? Or a small enhancement/bugfix? * Document your expertise in a way that others can find you. This could be code, gists, a blog (I have multiple :) ), articles in places like dzone or the stackoverflow blog, or podcasts. This is good for finding new clients, too. * An entirely different option is to use a contracting company, where they find the work and take a cut (a large one, typically). This way the company has trust that you can leverage. It's been decades since I walked this path, so I don't know how available it is now. One other thing: contracting is risky for both sides, not just for the client. For the first project or two with a new client, don't ever bill more than you can afford to lose. I've never been stiffed 100%, but one time I had to pursue a client for months to get a 4 figure paycheck. Here's that story: https://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/2650 https://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/2650
timmyboop 4y ago
I am someone who has been interested in cloud freelancing for a very long time except freelancing and cloud don't seem to go well together for me. I've had zero callbacks when I tell them I'm a freelancer. The companies I've worked with in the past have even the dev environments on the cloud pretty locked down and access to any higher environments are usually locked down even more. Given that cloud has a lot of important data and companies are usually very selective in how they give out access. How do you do freelance work when it comes to cloud? Can you please elaborate? If cloud freelancing is something that looks like it could be within my reach it would make my family and I's life easier in so many ways. PS: I'm from a relatively third world country so please factor that in.
- gregjor 4y ago
  I understand the trust issue, and honestly working from a different country presents some problems. I (US citizen) only work for US companies (though I don't always live in the US). I think that makes the customer comfortable because they have legal protections. I also work through an agency that has vetted me and makes the relationship feel more solid and professional for the customer. Some of my customers just give me the cloud credentials -- they have no idea what any of that means, it got dropped on them when the last sys admin quit or stopped returning emails. Some know how to manage their cloud assets and create an IAM user with appropriate permissions. A few have made me work with/through their IT department. Generally I ask for a privileged user login to their cloud control panel (AWS, GCP, Azure, Rackspace, Digital Ocean) and an ssh login with sudo permissions. I may get some or all of that, depends on what they need. My involvement ranges from reviewing existing cloud setups and offering advice to fully managing cloud infrastructure and servers. I kind of fell into this from programming work. I would notice problems in the customer's infrastructure, or they would tell me about problems, and I told them I could help so they gave me the keys. I tend to keep my customers for a long time (years, a couple over a decade) so they trust me already. You might look at consultancies that focus on security and see if you can work through them. Security experts usually need the same kind of access I need. Very often the first time a company needs a cloud expert/system admin is when they get hacked or something crashes, so security consultancies and IT support companies get those calls, and you can freelance for or through them. A cloud expert/engineer certification can't hurt. I don't have any certifications but I have gone through the AWS materials. I got started with cloud admin early-on so I've kind of grown with it as it exploded. I have prior system admin experience that helps. Lots of smaller companies have cloud infra that they paid someone to set up for them, but that person/company has moved on and doesn't maintain or support the customer anymore, so that's where you look for opportunities.

ensemblehq 4y ago

I second this. Freelancing roles for cloud infrastructure (and even data infrastructure) might be a good fit because there is some degree of needing quality engineering - otherwise, things just don’t work.

mooreds 4y ago

I agree. Contracting is great, and no one cares about your age, just what you can do. I've been paid and paid thousands of dollars without ever actually meeting someone in-person. He should absolutely check his employment agreement, though, and make sure he doesn't: * use company equipment * do any work for a competitor * work on company time Contracting also is helpful because it is something he can dip his toe into without a large time commitment (as opposed to a job). I'd suggest he reach out to people he has worked with in the past that have left the company (LinkedIn is good, but Facebook might work well too). My go-to phrasing is: "Hiya, hope you are doing well. <Anecdote, like 'remember when we shipped project X? Guess what, it's still running today'.> I'm reaching out because I'm looking to do more contracting and to expand my network. In particular, I want to do <the type of work he wants to do>. I'd prefer to do it off hours, about <X hours a week>. Do you know anyone who is looking for a hand? If you do, or think of anyone, I'd sure appreciate an intro." This phrasing is far less direct than "Do you need help" but conveys the same message. He should also think about a rate that he'd work for, as that will likely be one of the first questions any possible client will have.

timmyboop 4y ago
How do you do contract work where you get paid a significant amount without even meeting the person? How does a company or a person trust you to give you some work without even meeting in person. You must be doing something super right that some of us might not know that would open doors for us. Can you please elaborate?
- gregjor 4y ago
  I have customers who have paid me thousands of dollars every month, for years. I haven't met most of them face-to-face. It comes down to trust. Since 2014 I have worked through an agency that takes care of contracts, billing, payment, so that's one route. But even before going on with the agency I never had a problem getting paid. You should not put yourself in a position where a customer owes you a lot of money. I define "a lot" as an amount I would consider legal action to recover. Charge for deliverables with clear expectations and definition of "done." If you get a sketchy or slow-pay customer who argues about your bills, drop them, they're not worth it. Anecdotally I have known lots of freelancers in my career and slow pay/no pay is not a big problem for the freelancers who deliver what they promise and avoid the fringe customers. It's the customers who want you to clone eBay for $5,000 in a month who won't pay you. Reputable companies and organizations might take a while to cut a check but they won't screw you.
- mooreds 4y ago
  It's all about derisking what you are selling (your labor and expertise). It's been a few years, but here are a couple of tips: * Start with a warm intro from someone you've worked with in the past. This lowers the risk for both parties. This is why I suggested reaching out to former co-workers; they know you and (hopefully) will vouch for you. * Begin with a small project first. Again, this is about lowering risk. Is there a project you can do for a couple hundred bucks? Can you write a planning document, or do an analysis of the current infrastructure with a read-only account? Or a small enhancement/bugfix? * Document your expertise in a way that others can find you. This could be code, gists, a blog (I have multiple :) ), articles in places like dzone or the stackoverflow blog, or podcasts. This is good for finding new clients, too. * An entirely different option is to use a contracting company, where they find the work and take a cut (a large one, typically). This way the company has trust that you can leverage. It's been decades since I walked this path, so I don't know how available it is now. One other thing: contracting is risky for both sides, not just for the client. For the first project or two with a new client, don't ever bill more than you can afford to lose. I've never been stiffed 100%, but one time I had to pursue a client for months to get a 4 figure paycheck. Here's that story: https://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/2650 https://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/2650

timmyboop 4y ago

I am someone who has been interested in cloud freelancing for a very long time except freelancing and cloud don't seem to go well together for me. I've had zero callbacks when I tell them I'm a freelancer. The companies I've worked with in the past have even the dev environments on the cloud pretty locked down and access to any higher environments are usually locked down even more. Given that cloud has a lot of important data and companies are usually very selective in how they give out access. How do you do freelance work when it comes to cloud? Can you please elaborate? If cloud freelancing is something that looks like it could be within my reach it would make my family and I's life easier in so many ways. PS: I'm from a relatively third world country so please factor that in.

gregjor 4y ago
I understand the trust issue, and honestly working from a different country presents some problems. I (US citizen) only work for US companies (though I don't always live in the US). I think that makes the customer comfortable because they have legal protections. I also work through an agency that has vetted me and makes the relationship feel more solid and professional for the customer. Some of my customers just give me the cloud credentials -- they have no idea what any of that means, it got dropped on them when the last sys admin quit or stopped returning emails. Some know how to manage their cloud assets and create an IAM user with appropriate permissions. A few have made me work with/through their IT department. Generally I ask for a privileged user login to their cloud control panel (AWS, GCP, Azure, Rackspace, Digital Ocean) and an ssh login with sudo permissions. I may get some or all of that, depends on what they need. My involvement ranges from reviewing existing cloud setups and offering advice to fully managing cloud infrastructure and servers. I kind of fell into this from programming work. I would notice problems in the customer's infrastructure, or they would tell me about problems, and I told them I could help so they gave me the keys. I tend to keep my customers for a long time (years, a couple over a decade) so they trust me already. You might look at consultancies that focus on security and see if you can work through them. Security experts usually need the same kind of access I need. Very often the first time a company needs a cloud expert/system admin is when they get hacked or something crashes, so security consultancies and IT support companies get those calls, and you can freelance for or through them. A cloud expert/engineer certification can't hurt. I don't have any certifications but I have gone through the AWS materials. I got started with cloud admin early-on so I've kind of grown with it as it exploded. I have prior system admin experience that helps. Lots of smaller companies have cloud infra that they paid someone to set up for them, but that person/company has moved on and doesn't maintain or support the customer anymore, so that's where you look for opportunities.