Ask HN - what tech skills are in demand, for freelancing? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN - what tech skills are in demand, for freelancing?

2 pointsthrowaway1004 comments

I'm a semi regular here, posting under a different name, because I am also a full time employee.

I am thinking of freelancing because a) my day job is very boring (I can't leave for a few more months) and b) I could use some extra cash.

I'm primarily a PHP programmer (the usual - php, mysql, oracle) but I have worked with Java in the past.

Given my skillset, is it possible to get freelance work? If no, what tech skills should I pick up? I feel small when people put down PHP all the time. I am confident I can learn Rails and Android (have spent some time with both in the past) if PHP is not enough to get interesting, paying freelance work.

I'm good in communicating, understanding requirements, managing time etc. It is just that I am not so confident my tech skills are enough for freelancing.

Please advise.

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Pick up a skill that makes money rather than another tech stack. If you're capable of selling, planning, and implementing SEO strategies like, e.g., scalable content generation, you can charge triple what the "technical" skill involved would merit.

I understand SEO, but I don't understand what exactly you mean by "scalable content generation".

Also, I never imagined that SEO work would pay thrice (!!!!) technical skills. I should definitely look into this more. Are there any other non-technical skill that are in such demand? I am willing to learn anything, as long as it is interesting and there is scope for finding work.

The difference is that with a technical skill it's hard to break away from $x/hr, but if you can leverage the technical skills into areas that have a direct impact on revenue for your client, you can charge some percentage of the revenue increase, which can be way more than your hourly rate.

Ruby on Rails. Get the Head first Rails book then the Agile programmer book, see amazon. There 2 excellent Ruby books:Beginning Ruby and Pragmatic Ruby but you can do those later.

Then practice like hell. meaning do each project in each book 10 times until you understand how to do it without look at the book. Then do some screencasts. Put all your projects even the ones from books and screencasts online. In the meantime, make something, anything. Take a project from one the books and modify it. Then make another thing. Then make something that someone else already made with rails.

Now you have 3 sites in your portfolio. A month has passed.

Send the links to your projects and a brief email to the companies that do rails regardless if they have opens or not.

Also list the 3 things unique about you. Why should they hire you versus another person who also knows some RoR?

With this you should be able to a choice from several junior rails positions.

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