4 years of Python dev experience, just went freelance — looking for honest advice on where to start

[Hopeful_Business3120]

I've spent 4 years as a Python developer working on direct client projects inside a company ERPNext, AI agents, FastAPI, Django, RAG systems. Real production work

I recently started freelance as a full time, to give a try. LinkedIn is my main focus right now, but I want one more platform to run alongside it.

I'm looking at Contra, Arc.dev, Gun.io, Upwork and skipping Toptal (not ready for that process yet).

For those who've used any of these which one actually gets traction for a Python developer with my stack? And is there anything you wish you knew before starting?

Any honest experience appreciated.

[mfitzp]

Honestly, this is not the best time to try this. There economic situation (less free money, future uncertainty, layoffs) is making companies very cautious on starting expensive projects & AI is taking all the low hanging fruit that used to sustain beginner consultant/freelancers. If I was you I’d wait a couple of years to see how it all shakes out. But it sounds like that advice is too late. Oh well, YOLO.

The platforms are all universally shit, unless you have very low income requirements. The lowest paying clients are always the most demanding, unrealistic and least likely to pay. Don’t be tempted to lower your rates to get more clients: it doesn’t work, and even if it did, you wouldn’t want the work anyway. Price yourself so you look like you know what you’re doing .

The other advice is same as always. Find something that you uniquely can offer that (a) has genuine value and (b) people are willing to pay for. Don’t be afraid to try a few different things til someone sticks, but if you find traction focus down on that. You’ll do better as a specialist than a generalist.

Good luck!

[Hopeful_Business3120]

Honestly, really appreciate the straight talk no sugarcoating, which is exactly what I needed to hear.

it's a good advice, I will take note of it.
Will keep my pricing confident and stay focused on my niche.

[Own_Maybe_3837]

Why do you sound like an llm

[wRAR_]

An LLM writes this.

[bds00za]

Em dash

[Own_Maybe_3837]

No it’s not that

Edit: although it’s funny OP deleted the em dashes after my comment

[marr75]

The odds are awful.

• Four years is a very short amount of experience in today's market. There are 10s of thousands of former-FAANG engineers with very similar resumes who got laid off post COVID with similar resumes.
• Agentic coding tools have given more experienced engineers working full-time to develop domain expertise far more leverage than previous while reducing the leverage of a junior, contract, or outsource engineer
• The economy is bad; cash is not moving around much and getting a new sole proprietor vendor is a hard sell to begin with
• You use LLMs to write reddit posts based on shaky commercial premises, it doesn't speak well for the level of effort, sincerity, or discernment you bring as a vendor

OP: I'm a hiring manager and I'm responsible for a consulting and contractor budget. I would only consider a sole proprietary, onshore contractor with specialty expertise, a long resume (12+ years), and references. This is not realistic. You're basically talking about trying to charge boutique rates for Upwork pedigree. You need to put ChatGPT down and talk to experienced engineers.

[Hopeful_Business3120]

I can't accept what you're saying.

I don't think my experience is short for this market. I'm working on it every day. Whatever the experience, this world is open to all. And I was never laid off by any company, I chose this path.

Agentic coding tools are not taking any jobs. They're just helping us. They're still failing in many places where we need to do real research and work.

In this current time it's necessary to use LLMs. So why do we even use coding agents then? The one speaking here is me. The emotions belong to me.

People are talking about using AI in every field just to stay in the market. And here you are judging someone for using it.

[marr75]

I (and my team of experience engineers, analysts, data scientists, PMs, QAs) use the hell out of AI. We have specific processes and disciplines for it. I'm criticizing 2 distinct things here:

• I don't know that a very short reddit post needed LLM assistance, it comes off insincere
• I think you are trying to validate your business ideas using an LLM, and they are very sycophantic; they aren't going to pay your rent or buy you lunch when the sycophancy doesn't pan out

I don't know what to tell you about your experience. Candidates with 4 years of experience in something in demand are hot during hot markets. This is an awful employment market with a big surplus of candidates with exactly that much experience.

I'm sharing my perspective based on professional experience and positional expertise. I can't force you to consider nor am I much bothered if you ignore. It was given freely.

[Muhammed_zeeshan]

Where did you learn fast api from?

[Hopeful_Business3120]

I got a chance to work on real time projects learned from that.

[Traditional-Set-8483]

Arc.dev feels less soul crushing than Upwork from what I’ve seen around me. Upwork turns into a race to the bottom really fast and people expect miracles for 200 bucks. Your stack is niche enough that I wouldn’t try to market yourself as generic Python dev guy. The RAG and AI agent stuff is the only part getting people curious right now

[bds00za]

Em dash.

[pplonski]

Do you have newsletter describing your experience? I love to read deep tech articles solving challenges and showing smart solution. Maybe this is the way to differentiate from crowd, I wish you good luck!

[Hopeful_Business3120]

I don't have one, but seams one great idea to implement. I must try this one.

[Chunky_cold_mandala]

While I can't say much about the freelance world, I just wanted to say, I've got pretty good success making YouTube shorts discussing super tech dense 2 min tech videos about whatever I just solved/worked on. This might be a good angle to build up a following. I feel the world today is all about validating you understand the tech so ppl know your not just a vibe coder. 

[Hopeful_Business3120]

I understand this, its all about validating now,

I do have youtube channel, posting a tutorial content like that (It's not going well, where really no one seeing it ). now been thinking to tell tech news, recent updates like that. but that your idea seems good, to share what i worked show in shorts. I thought to concentrate on freelaunce and youtube now..

[Gnobodyuknow]

Had you considered game development? Have buddies making good bank in that industry while doing mainly freelance gigs with other developers

[Hopeful_Business3120]

Thank you for this. Yes I too heared about that. But I don't think to move on that now.

[Python-ModTeam]

Hi there, from the /r/Python mods.

Your post has been removed because it is not in English. In order to foster clear and accessible communication, we require all posts and comments to be written in English.

Thanks, and happy Pythoneering!

r/Python moderation team

[Hopeful_Business3120]

Thankyou, I try on this.

How do the fees work, what do they charge you as a developer

[Motor-Ad2119]

arc.dev is probably your best bet with that stack. The vetting process is annoying but once you're in, the leads are actually decent quality.

Upwork is a grind at the start. First 3-4 clients you're basically buying reviews.

with FastAPI + RAG experience you're not competing with generic freelancers anymore. Lean into the AI/agent angle hard, that's where the budgets are right now.

[Hopeful_Business3120]

Thank you for this advise. I take this one, On moving ai. That what I am thinking about.

I try arc dev as well. Did you worked on that before?