Long time freelancer here (decades). I've gotten 99% of my contracts through word-of-mouth. You will get better long-term results than simply grinding through job boards (which you should still do--you never know). You will want to do two things:
1) Cultivate your existing network. Just the other day I reconnected with a friend I haven't seen in several decades. Guess what? He just so happened to be a software dev, and needed another dev to help him with a project. This is just one of many, many stories I have. Call or email people to see how they're doing. Even better, meet up with them for coffee or a meal. This doesn't have to be mercenary; you're probably already doing those things. But start reaching deeper into your network.
2) Build your your network by meeting others in your field and/or potential customers in person (e.g. at user groups, meetups, tech talks, etc.). Talk about what you do and love to do. Presumably that involves your skills that you want to get work in.
Finally, be consistent and reliable and communicate clearly.
As for selling yourself when you're more of a generalist, I wouldn't worry too much about this yet. The key will be when you're presented with a job opportunity that leans in one direction (e.g. 90% dev, 10% management), and you'll have to decide how far you're willing to bend to fit it. But right now you're just getting the word out.
Contracting as a solo dev is taking on sales and marketing as well as development. You have to charge accordingly. But you also have to be comfortable doing all of those roles, or else you won't have any work.
You seem to have a lot of people on forums like this who are just looking for some magical web form to fill out which will result in money flowing in after a couple of emails. Maybe that exists for some really transactional low-paid small tasks. But, as you say, it's not the reality for most opportunities. In "semi-retirement" (as I prefer to call it), I've contacted various people I know about random possibilities, that may or may not bring in any money, but it keeps doors open.
If that's "torture" (per an upstream comment) I don't know what to say.
I accept that premise if the goal is opportunity in novel fields. If the goal is simply landing an opportunity I think he introvert’s approach is actually more powerful.
The extrovert has loads of low probability opportunities; they tend to be more varied due to the breadth of their networking.
The introvert is selling to people they know; if they get to the point where they are asking for the opportunity I predict they land a larger percentage than the extrovert. Because they’re drawn from a smaller network, however, they are also likely to be in narrower fields.
there are always different levels. what you say depends having friends and the ability to keep in touch with them in the first place. and not be shy to ask them after not talking to them for a long time. i struggle with that, and i only have a handful of people i could even ask. so far my network of people i already know is useless, and i feel like i have more chances to find new people, which requires going to events and meet new faces. except that only works in large cities with an active event scene. so no, being an introvert is a handicap and not an advantage.
Does sending emails to people in your network fall into the torture category as well? (Serious question, not judging.) Because if it is, I'm wondering what is the exact pain point: composing the email? Sending it and not feeling silly? Something else?
In the vast majority of cases, when I left a job I was genuinely excited about never having to see or talk to any of my coworkers/managers for the rest of my life, so breaking such streak with an intentional outreach would qualify as lightweight torture to me.
In a career of 15+ years I don’t think I have ever reached out to an ex coworker, not even once. My current company happens to be particularly “prestigious” at this point in time and I have received hundreds (yes, 100+) of LinkedIn messages from ex coworkers ranging from “meet and catch up” to “can you refer me there”. Some have gone as far as finding my phone number and texting me, after they didn’t receive a reply on LinkedIn. The nerve someone has after causing me so much pain and stress during code reviews or random acts of corporate backstabbing to ask for a referral years later. I ignored each and every one of them.
I am not saying this is healthy at all and I well understand the problem is “me”, I would say I suffer from quite a bit of misanthropy against pretty much every coworker I ever had, and on top of that I am an extreme introvert, relationships forced upon me cause a lot of contempt. Fortunately I have a very small circle of people that I love (wife, blood family and a few good friends), so despite the misery of my comments I am not too unhappy when I’m not at work.
To be clear, I am not the one looking for part-time gigs, I have decided that the solution to my struggles is to become financially independent via above-average frugality and diligent savings/investing, and then withdraw from the obligations of modern work. Technically I am already there, just trying to find the courage to quit my current (and last) job.
> Technically I am already there, just trying to find the courage to quit my current (and last) job.
Given all the people who seem to be making you miserable at work, and how much you seem to hate the job overall, what's keeping you from just walking out the door tomorrow and never returning?
> what's keeping you from just walking out the door tomorrow and never returning?
A literal 7 figure paycheck, which substantially pads my savings. Waiting until my next major vesting cycle in a few months to get out from corporate forever!
You think every single one of your coworkers "cause you pain and stress during code reviews"?
Yeah man, the problem is 100% you. That's a crazy thing to say. Have you ever seen a therapist?
And how in the world do you expect these people to just magically know that you're a weirdo? The nerve to reach out after having reviewed your code.. man I'm baffled.
> You think every single one of your coworkers "cause you pain and stress during code reviews"?
Yes, I have a right to have an opinion on how other people’s behaviors make me feel, and so long as I’m still functional at work it’s not a problem (and I am, I always put up a good face and don’t cause any drama, I will refactor my perfectly working PR 1000 times to make all the nitpickers happy). Fortunately “being functional” doesn’t require to answer their referral or Zoom request years later, the hell with that, why would I want those people in my life again.
I simply have no tolerance for most coworkers and managers, it is not that hard to believe and I know a lot of people who despise their coworkers, I am not a unicorn.
My spouse is pretty much the same and has her own small solo business because she couldn’t stand the 9 to 5.
My dad, a very wise man living in a different side of the world and the happiest person I know, decided in his 30s after a corporate stint that he couldn’t live his life being told what to do by managers and coworkers, and became entrepreneur. Clearly he had ups and downs, but he has always been very happy with the independence this choice afforded him.
I earn 7 figures a year through my job in Silicon Valley and so I am putting up with this fundamental pain until I have enough to withdraw, which should be soon!
Sure you're allowed to feel that way, I just think it's ridiculous to phrase it the way you did above.
I'm sure a lot of people have issues with some of their coworkers, but hating all of them across multiple jobs is insane. If you smell shit everywhere you go you probably need a shower.
> But what about when you retire and carry this forward, likely alone.
Curious what you mean by this: once I retire from work, what life situations will force me to be in close contact for 10+ hours a day, for years, with people I wouldn’t otherwise want to deal with, ready to cast their arbitrary negative judgement on everything I do and put pressure on me due to their own demons, pet peeves and rat race ambitions that I couldn’t care less about? Because that’s really my problem, I have wonderful relationships with wife/family/etc., with whom I am very much aligned in terms of life goals, so these issues do not occur outside of work, or are temporary.
I expect my early retirement to be just wonderful, and I can’t wait for it to happen. I just reached 100X living expenses in 2024 thanks to a generous market, just looking for one final 401k max out in 2025 and a tiny bit of courage!
> I simply have no tolerance for most coworkers and managers, it is not that hard to believe and I know a lot of people who despise their coworkers, I am not a unicorn
If you have the same experience with most of your coworkers whenever you go, perhaps your coworkers aren't the problem?
> I well understand the problem is “me”, I would say I suffer from quite a bit of misanthropy against pretty much every coworker I ever had, and on top of that I am an extreme introvert, relationships forced upon me cause a lot of contempt.
Not sure if being an introvert should be a limiting factor.
I love my “bat cave”, working from home (live alone), I don’t generally like talking to people, even about relatable topics, but I noticed precisely what the OP is saying, the benefits of some interactions, even if they are not my cup of tea, so I kind of trained myself to go to (some) Meetups, conferences, talk to people, even at work (social channels). I forced myself through ALL of those at first. Now I’m pickier, but I can find myself enjoying most of the ones I pick.
I’m not saying introverts should become extroverts, as long as we don’t dismiss the benefits of (some times) behaving like the other.
It is at some level if you take definitions to extremes. If you actively avoid conversations and socializing with other people, you will probably suffer personally and professionally. Of course, that doesn't mean you always have to be the "life of the party."
I’m not sure if suffer is the right word. Some people prefer a quiet life and accept what comes with that, because that’s what they want. And that’s fine.
Of course if you want to live a quiet life and avoid socializing very much, and want to be a successful independent contractor, those might be fairly incompatible goals.
There are some correlations. But I agree that you can be extroverted (whatever that means exactly) but most sales and marketing roles (which vary quite a bit) just don't appeal.
All true but I think an introvert is going to have difficulty taking on a "face of the company" sales and marketing role. That just naturally requires a lot of extrovert personality traits.
Certainly. I have heard of a number of senior execs who really hated public speaking (even when they were very good at it given sufficient rehearsal). But I agree in general. If you have a public/customer-facing role you're going to find it exhausting and probably not going to be great at it if it is uncomfortable/unpleasant.
I'm certainly not the classic stereotype of the outgoing sales rep (whether that's a fair stereotype or not) but that didn't keep me from attending a ton of conferences, customer meetings, and giving public presentations.
I personally don't have a problem with communication with people but honestly I cant really imagine let's say dev meetups or saturdays brunch with purpose of networking anything but somehow awkward experience.
Well, "networking events" at least tend to be forced socialization of people basically looking for jobs as opposed to something more organic. Less true of meetups although they mostly never checked a lot of boxes for me either.
Which is what is the sad part. Seems like all forms of a living wage now involve working closely with people which wasn’t how the world was in the decades and centuries past.
Even the most introverted among us benefit from some level of networking or relationship-building—it’s not about being extroverted, but about finding ways to connect that feel authentic to you
Networking, honestly. There is no "go do this, go buy this, etc" advice. You've never had a friend/colleague who needed contracting work done on their house? Or who was helping another friend develop a Wordpress site for their business? Or a person who knew a lawyer/doctor/plumber that could solve your problem?
That's networking. You start doing work for people around you and/or at conventions/social events for networking and then start cultivating long term contacts that continue giving work or referring others.
Software dev, curious about freelancing here. Just recently deleted my LinkedIn profile out of being disappointed with the value it brought to me over several years of using it. Instead, I now note down relevant contacts in a private “CRM”.
Do you think it is important to have a public facing profile of yourself and your work history for attracting new clients or is a broad in person network more relevant?
Some new people you meet will prefer to see who you are by looking you up online. At least to me, someone's online presence is a testimony that the person is who they claim to be when it comes to their experience.
I’m the opposite, I think online profiles are completely untrustworthy and likely as not to be filled with exaggerations or outright lies. But I’m probably in the minority?
This shouldn't be an either/or thing. Any public facing profile, especially on a platform like LinkedIn which is large and has many eyes on it, is better than none if you're looking to get the word out. I've had a LinkedIn profile from nearly the beginning, and although I nearly never use it, I am occasionally contacted by people about work. If I spent even an iota of time filling out my profile and posting regularly, it would probably bring me many offers. (Whether they'd be what I'm looking for is another story.)
If I had to choose between a public facing profile or a broad in person network, I'd choose the in person network. But you really shouldn't discount the online profile, since it's free advertising for you.
I've been on Linkedin from the start and I don't think I've ever gotten work or meaningful benefit from it other than seeing what some acquaintances have been up to over the years and occasionally getting a message from an old friend reaching out to catch up personally.
It's a useful online Rolodex (to show my age). I've had a few recruiters reach out over the years but it's never been useful for that purpose beyond that.
The point about being consistent, reliable and a clear communicator is what turns a one-time gig into repeat work. In my experience, many freelancers underestimate how much clients value those soft skills
I also find that proposition very inauthentic because the first reason for the approach is showing interest to your friend (how do they do?) but he second reason is literally (not judging) selfish (how can I get a new job?).
Someone call you after 10 years to know how you do, precisely at the same time he look for a job… what a coincidence! He might genuinely care for me but the original reason of his call wasn’t that and he probably wouldn’t have call me if not. I would receive better an honest call:
"hey I know its been 10 years but I look for a job, any idea?”
Some people around me find that way of communicating too direct and impolite. I find it genuine. But I’m probably the one that should be fixed, others seems to find relations easy and pleasant.
I agree with you :-) I like the "Hey it's been 10 years and now ..." approach.
Nothing strange about that at all? It's just not possible to stay in active contact with everyone one has met in life and likes being with. (Well, of course it depends)
I have in mind a friend who on first contact, comes off as somewhat superficial and business-brained, b/c he's always hitting people up for lunches, or calls, and likes to talk about jobs.
The thing is, he does that all the time. Employed, unemployed, rain, shine. And he doesn't just like to talk about (or look for) opportunities for him, but for everyone else, too. So over time, you realize that's just how he is/what he does, and it comes across as completely natural.
Like I alluded to in my comment where I said it doesn't have to be mercenary: if you would otherwise have a reason to get together with somebody in person, make plans to do it. It can be one-on-one or with others, but the point is that the main reason for the meeting is social, i.e. you're doing exactly what you would have normally done. Then, during the customary "what's new with you?" part of the conversation you can let them know what type of work you do and that you're looking for. The main point is that you're actively seeking to get together with your friends, rather than waiting for them to call you. This is just keeping your network warm and planting seeds; you're not grilling them for job opportunities, and there is nothing inauthentic about it since it truly is a social call. Think of it as a slow burn, or the long game, or whatever metaphor works.
When it comes to people you don't know well enough to ask to get together with in person, shoot them an email or text. There's nothing wrong with being up front with what you're looking for, e.g. "Hey Joe, this is Mike (friend of your acquaintance Jane from Company XYZ), just letting you know I'm focusing on technical project management [or whatever] these days, wondering if you know of any part time opportunities in the field?" Receiving this request from an acquaintance is light years more acceptable than receiving it from a total stranger.
Side note: I’ve found that it’s never quite so binary. I can enjoy having a beer with someone and shooting the breeze, while also talking about work and jobs.
Your gardener might be the person who finds you on the floor choking and saves your life.
Your coworker who you don’t even really know might be moved to donate an organ to you.
That doesn't come across as authentic, that comes across as transactional and having an agenda.
"Hey, it's been forever, want to catch up over some food?"
If you end up hearing about a useful opportunity, or providing them with a useful opportunity, great. But you still got to catch up with a friend, and came across as that being the primary goal.
If you are looking for part-time work, it's fine to say that, and there's nothing wrong with reaching out to friends to find out if they know of good job opportunities. But "share what we're both working on and how we might help each other?". That comes across terribly.
In my experience, it's a coin toss on whether having the last bit increases or decreases a chance of the appointment being made. Some people require it.
Ultimately the only thing that matters is: you have a phrase that you can say comfortably and expresses genuine curiosity about the other person.
With MLMs, the people doing the pitching know that it’s a bad deal, and they are trying to suck you in so that you will suffer and they will gain. It’s overt that the system can only work via deception, and the MLM is tuned to make that work at scale.
I'm a sucker for replying to any sort of "how do I [career]" HN posts if they're relevant to my own experience, just can't help myself.
I also freelance exclusively, and opportunities come from word of mouth + the personal network that I've built over years of working with (or in) digital agencies. Full-timers jump from agency to agency at a fairly high clip and it's inevitable to run into people you've worked with before because they eventually need somebody and just think back to who they worked with in the past who they have fond memories of.
Generalism isn't a hindrance IMO because the job itself, like it or not, is a service job. You're not there to learn on the job, be part of the family, or find growth opportunities / upward career tracks inside of the organization -- you're there to help solve immediate problems, augment staff, and by God get things done. The more you know, the better! The way project resourcing works internally in these places is, the wider the skillset, the easier it is to slot you into a particular project that needs extra attention. The engagements are also pretty low risk for the agency since whatever you charge, they just inflate your rate to make sure they make money and pass it on to the client (which almost always gets paid), deliverables get delivered, the client is happy, and life marches on -- and if you're ineffective, they can just let you go with no notice, no offboarding, no extra costs, etc. For me personally, that's a win-win. For a lot of people, it's too much stress / risk / uncertainty, but different strokes for different folks!
Every now and then I'll get a gig or retainer that's more in line with "we're a small, thriving business, we need expertise, we have some budget, but we've also had bad experiences with small-to-medium tech shops. Help!" -- these are right in my wheelhouse because it's an easy retainer, quite low-risk for the client, and you can really make some meaningful impact on their bottom line as just one person.
You become "their guy", and the relationships can last for years and years and years. Again, this is a service job, and generalism REALLY helps on these types of engagements -- to be clear, you're not being paid to R&D a product or do academic research on cutting-edge algorithms -- you're just helping a client or business navigate the often-murky waters of technology to help them win. It might not sound "world-changing" in the context of big tech, but it can be quite satisfying work that really means something significant to real people just trying their best to make their thing go.
Anyways, to OP, good luck man! There's infinite opportunity out there if you've got the personality and the drive!
That sounds exactly like what I'm trying to do. I have no experience with the agency world and most of my contacts are in giant corporations. Do you think it would help to do some work in the agency world?
I guess it depends on what country you live in; I'm in the US, not sure what it's like elsewhere with regards to advertising, but if USA-based then yeah I would pursue that. Initially it'll probably be easier via a recruiter who already has a relationship with the agency where they bring you in and put you on the bench until a gig opens up.
From what I've seen, brands (clients) rarely do much in-house -- they hire agencies (for periods of time, then will go to others depending upon results), sometimes hire as Agency of Record for a period of time as well (all creative, from web/app/digital through social management, media, print, etc, flows through their AOR) -- everything runs on quarterly client budgets (so frequent initiatives that "ladder up" to XYZ intangible "KPI" -- you'll get used to the arbitrary and capricious lingo) -- and it's really not that far off from a modern version of Mad Men. "Agency life" is another phrase that encapsulates "we probably have time management issues and/or over-commit to stuff, so if you want to succeed in this business, be willing to be patient, present and available for the duration and parameters of the project" -- as a freelancer though, you get paid by the hour, rather than being a salaryman.
I did 15 years of full-time employment, salaried. Overtime === a slice of pizza, a pat on the back, a vague promise of promotion; as a freelancer, it's dollars-per-hour, nothing more nothing less, you get paid for your efforts.
I've only been fortunate enough to benefit from that having done full-time salaryman in these places long enough to meet enough people and make enough contributions to become a known quantity. That said, I do have friends though that were ONLY contractors the entire time, usually via a recruiter as mentioned above, they worked in the same places on the same projects, and they've been able to flip that into similar situations or even full-time with the companies they gelled with the most.
There are a bunch of ways to approach it, but the fluid, always-changing clientele of ad agencies provides quite a lot of opportunities for work that isn't just "employee".
1) Cultivate your existing network. Just the other day I reconnected with a friend I haven't seen in several decades. Guess what? He just so happened to be a software dev, and needed another dev to help him with a project. This is just one of many, many stories I have. Call or email people to see how they're doing. Even better, meet up with them for coffee or a meal. This doesn't have to be mercenary; you're probably already doing those things. But start reaching deeper into your network.
2) Build your your network by meeting others in your field and/or potential customers in person (e.g. at user groups, meetups, tech talks, etc.). Talk about what you do and love to do. Presumably that involves your skills that you want to get work in.
Finally, be consistent and reliable and communicate clearly.
As for selling yourself when you're more of a generalist, I wouldn't worry too much about this yet. The key will be when you're presented with a job opportunity that leans in one direction (e.g. 90% dev, 10% management), and you'll have to decide how far you're willing to bend to fit it. But right now you're just getting the word out.