Thread by @reconquestio

A few recommendations from someone who worked as a freelance software engineer for about 4 years:

#Upwork

1. Dialogue: Ask a client about tech/project you are applying for in the first sentence/paragraph. Customers often want to talk about their problems, not about you/them.

2. Don't try to dump the price artificially. It just doesn't work.

It's the most intuitive way to get the job, but it just doesn't work well.

3. Overcharge instead (at least 10%). Sounds counter-intuitive, I know. But it actually makes you special. You can discuss the price later. It's pretty common sense that better service is paid higher.

4. Talk about your qualities through stories. Tell them how complicated a task was, but you managed it well.

5. Look for technologies that are mentioned in the job posting, and highlight them in your stories about your experience.

6. Don't lie. That's not the kind of advice that will give you a job. But it will make your life much easier.

7. Sometimes customers look for workers from a specific timezone, if you don't live in such a timezone, but you can adjust your schedule, then just tell them about it. It's not always a mandatory thing for employers, they just want you to be able to work with the team.

8. Write your cover letters like it's the last job you can get. Really. It's better to write two unique and great cover letters a day than twenty shitty templatish letters.

9. Keep applying. Freelance is a fucking lottery. But you can win if you play. If you apply for one job a day, then in a month you will have about 30 great cover letters. It's definitely gonna work. Consistency works here better than intensity.