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> Without any programming jobs on my CV, what is a good way to penetrate into the market? freelance work. Sign up on Upwork.com (or similar). Do a bunch of co

> Without any programming jobs on my CV, what is a good way to penetrate into the market? freelance work. Sign up on Upwork.com (or similar). Do a bunch of contracts. Put them on your resume. I did freelance work for years before deciding i was sick of constantly hustling for clients. Then I applied for jobs and said "here's all the things I've done" and they were like "cool. interview. yup. you're hired" Also, pro-tip: make contributions to big name open source projects. Not only will it be great to be able to honestly say "yeah, I'm a Rails contributor" (or whatever) BUT it is also great experience for working with others. The large projects tend to have high standards and require good code and unit tests. You'll frequently get a code review and need to make some tweaks before it gets merged. Good experience.

Bilal_io 4y ago
I'd like to add that freelance on Upwork can lead to long term relationships with clients, which have kick-started many people's careers as software engineers, including mine.
- barbariangrunge 4y ago
  Don’t you have to sign contracts forbidding you from working with them except through the platforms?
alexdowad 4y ago
This is what I did. Started with one small contract job on Upwork at a modest hourly rate. Then I raised my rate a bit for the 2nd contract, raised it a bit more for the 3rd contract, and so forth. In the process of doing these contract jobs, I got to know people, they introduced me to other people, and soon I had all the work I needed at a rate I was happy with.
greggarious 4y ago
Did you have issues getting paid on upwork?
neontomo 4y ago
Thank you. That's hopeful.
culopatin 4y ago
I have a mental block with this. I don’t know if I’m ready to create what a customer might want. What happens if I can’t deliver? How do you estimate well? Do people on Upwork expect that hiring someone there could be great or could be iffy? I guess I have a confidence issue with putting myself out there.

Bilal_io 4y ago

I'd like to add that freelance on Upwork can lead to long term relationships with clients, which have kick-started many people's careers as software engineers, including mine.

barbariangrunge 4y ago
Don’t you have to sign contracts forbidding you from working with them except through the platforms?

alexdowad 4y ago

This is what I did. Started with one small contract job on Upwork at a modest hourly rate. Then I raised my rate a bit for the 2nd contract, raised it a bit more for the 3rd contract, and so forth. In the process of doing these contract jobs, I got to know people, they introduced me to other people, and soon I had all the work I needed at a rate I was happy with.

greggarious 4y ago

Did you have issues getting paid on upwork?

neontomo 4y ago

Thank you. That's hopeful.

culopatin 4y ago

I have a mental block with this. I don’t know if I’m ready to create what a customer might want. What happens if I can’t deliver? How do you estimate well? Do people on Upwork expect that hiring someone there could be great or could be iffy? I guess I have a confidence issue with putting myself out there.