To become a freelancer was a young bourgeois feelings, a few meters comic book the protagonist's feelings. Many years of career experience, but the courage has not arrived, the desire to big company's high salary, are a shallow, today think carefully about this topic.
In fact, the so-called "freelance", seems to focus on "freedom" (most people are also running this to go), in fact, implicit is "money"-the novel "Tired of travel, idle work" Day is also need money to support. So relying on the unreliable, it depends on how you make money. Here are a few of the most common domestic programmers to make money in the channel:
1. Traditional line-down projects
There should be a lot of programmers have similar "connect reverse telecommuting" experience, friends or friends of friends of the company may want to do some propaganda website, backstage management system, etc., the cost from hundreds of to tens of thousands of yuan.
This kind of activity is issued by non-IT company, the technical content is not high, but the communication cost is very high, the boss does not understand the Internet does not understand the user, the business flop, today agreed to change tomorrow, some did one months with you said the project does not do, and some took your code decompile to others to do--what strange things have, The medium-term business is capricious and late payment is severe.
Programmers who intend to maintain "freelance" in this way must have two traits: either the luck is particularly good, or the business ability is particularly strong (not technology, in the business areas involved in the project in front of the customer, know what the customer really wants, think of the customer's unexpected, including communication skills). Of course, there is also a point is necessary, is a lot of friends, there is work to do.
2. Emerging online Access Projects
In fact, it is not too emerging, foreign http://Freelancer.com domestic pig are such. This way of making money is similar to the previous one, but has the following advantages:
1) do not have to find a friend Latin America relations, live a lot, see you rob not rob to
2) compared to the offline owners who do not understand the Internet, can be posted here on average quality or slightly higher
3) Take live from foreign customers can get global pay--although now the dollar is weak, but overall still more than in the domestic
Programmers here also need to have the first trait: good luck and strong business.
3. Connect the Pure research and development task from the big line platform
For example, TopCoder this, the students who have done the algorithm should know. Most of the above tasks do not need to focus on the business situation, just need to pull a small task down, such as a piece of code to write unit test cases, or complete a small algorithm and so on. I have a friend to do this, write two days a week, one months also have nearly thousand DAO, if do well to get a prize or something, tens of thousands of knife on hand.
The advantage of being a "freelance" programmer in this way is the low demand for business capability and Global pay. The disadvantage is the high technical and standardized requirements, English communication, the reverse of time lag. (Eat Youth rice:) ）
4. To the company as a consultant
One is a temporary consultant, in the early years I published some technical articles related to video conferencing on the internet, and then received various mails, many of which offered to pay guidance.
The other is an adviser to the resident company. I have a job around more than 10 years of friends, employed by their friends of the company as a consultant (at the same time several companies), now every day to bring children at home, a month to friends company three or four face, guidance technology and business direction, one months on a week class, very carefree.
When consultants have a high demand for technical, business and communication skills (because they want to guide others), they also have a certain demand for resources around them, and of course the income is not cheap. Personally feel less suited to young programmers.
5. Make your own products
Well, that's what I'm doing right now. Generally everyone likes to say "entrepreneurship", but actually now I and my partner basic is freelance-no company, good mood to write code bad go out to play, night tired on the morning natural awake, the first two weeks crazy engage in development on-line after two weeks dozen games played pitch darkness, The new Year one months ahead of each other home and then open FaceTime downstairs in the café to write code ... Such a variety of, should be a bit like the freelance in the novel. Thanks to Apple for providing an app platform that is so friendly to individual developers (compared to the domestic Android Market ...). ）。
This freelance, personally feel that the choice of platform is very important, if in the Web age, I will not do this thing.
Requirements for programmers: Understand the product, understand the user, understand the mobile development. Earn more and earn less by skill.
How engineers get freedom of life
