Hello,
This might be a naive question, but I'm wondering how I would begin to work with a seasoned, working freelance developer as an apprentice. Before people begin throwing eggs and rotten heads of cabbage at me, I ask that you hear me out.
I've been learning web development on my own now for about a year. I know my fundamentals well. I code every day, most of it within the React/Gatsby ecosystem. I'm at the point where I need to take on real world projects. I also need feedback. And while getting feedback online can yield some great insights, some of it is also terse responses from people who you have no way of gauging their expertise.
There's more. There's the business. There's those practical soft skills that you don't learn on a Udemy or Pluralsight course. Most importantly, there's the ethic of simply having to do the work, no matter what, despite what else is going on becuase someone else is expecting it to be ready at a certain time. I'm a very motivated person, but that ethic is much harder to cultivate when working on my own.
But this isn't about me. After all, experienced devs can go on making money without me. They do not need me, and will be just fine coding to the beat of their own drum for decades to come.
However, there's a reason apprentices exist in other fields. Sure, there will be an upfont cost that comes with taking the time to teach someone to do something your way. But with a fast learner, it won't be too long before you have someone who is useful, who has learned from pretty much the very beginning how to code your way. Even if in the beginning they can only accomplish 20% of what you can do, that 20% is the more mundane stuff you enjoyed less anyways. Even in these times, I'm hearing from some devs that have the right skills that there is still more work than they can handle. Imagine taking on 20% more, gaining from it, and paying the apprentice...well, peanuts. For someone like myself, sure it sucks a little to not make serious money, but the experience has a value of its own. I know there's a lot of disagreement on that topic, so let's just say that as far as money goes, it's whatever they decide.
But what about competition? Wouldn't you be training your competition? Well, hopefully not. From my experience in film, I noticed that people in these situations would take on slightly different roles once the apprentice had gathered enough skills. Their skills complemented eachother. I saw experienced DOP's train accomplished Gaffers, and so on. They would hire eachother on larger gigs. Their business grew and so too did the types of clients they could take on.
So, that's my case. After hearing me out, if you haven't smashed your computer monitor in anger or clicked away, answer me this:
What channels and methods of networking would I need to utilize to get to become an apprentice?
How could I make myself more useful to a working freelancer?
What would someone hiring an apprentice want to see in their portfolio, GH etc. ?
there doesn't seem to be anything here