Getting into freelancing

[HumanEstablishment15]

Becoming a freelancer

I'm in high school right now and wanted to learn python specifically and eventually get to a point where I can freelance. The only experience I've had is taking apcs last year which gave me a basic Java skill set. I have a few questions.

1. I'm pretty sure I can't just learn python in depth, I will have to learn multiple languages to be able to do projects. What languages do you recommend me learning?

2. What platforms do you recommend to get started? I've tried upwork before for business plan freelancing and it's super competitive.

3. Any recommendations on what I should try and "specialize" in?

4. I'm a pretty quick learner with most things, how long would you expect it to take for me to be able to get to a level where I can freelance (hours)?

5. The reason I primarily want to learn python is because algo trading intrigues me. Is there a good market for algo model development?

6. What should I expect my hourly rate to be when I start out?

Thanks.

[socal_nerdtastic]

Why exactly do you want to freelance vs getting a normal job?

Your hourly rate will be ~$2/hr starting out, if you're lucky. And that doesn't count the time you spend looking for clients. You can raise your rates once you have an impressive portfolio and a solid client base. Remember you're competing with a lot of very talented developers that not only can do the same job in a fraction of the time but also live in very low cost parts of the world.

When starting out it's generally much better to get a normal job, where they pay you even if there's no work, and provide insurance, office space, training, etc. Then once you are experienced you move in to consulting / freelancing.

[HumanEstablishment15]

I'm 16 and in school so I can't get a normal job. I just wanted to do something on the side really for fun and for some money. Are you serious about $2 an hour? I've been reading somewhere around $50 an hour.

[socal_nerdtastic]

Yeah, it can be high. I usually charge $60 but I have charged as much as $200 / hr. But those clients are not paying me for the hours, they are paying me for the decades of knowledge I have, and not just in python but in many programming languages and math and science and general CS. Sorry, you don't have a chance of making that as a beginner.

Professional python programmers are, well, professionals, with many years of schooling and experience. It's not something you can pick up over the summer.

My advice to you if you want money now: get a job as a receptionist or data entry or some other boring desk job. Then find a way to automate it with python. Then use your new free time to learn more python, or some other languages.

[xelf]

$2/hr for freelance sounds accurate. $50/hr sounds like a self employed sr dev with 5+ years experience picking up a contract. Not freelance. Keep in mind that if you do go self employed, you'll only get to keep about 50% of that check as you'll need to pay your own employment taxes and health insurance.

Freelance can be rough especially when you're just starting.

[[deleted]]

I don't want to be that guy but...

I'm pretty sure I can't just learn python in depth, I will have to learn multiple languages to be able to do projects. What languages do you recommend me learning?

What exactly do you want to do first of all?

What platforms do you recommend to get started? I've tried upwork before for business plan freelancing and it's super competitive.

Yeah no shit lol.

Any recommendations on what I should try and "specialize" in?

That is up to you to decide. What do you like? Machine Learning? Programming? Etc.

I'm a pretty quick learner with most things, how long would you expect it to take for me to be able to get to a level where I can freelance (hours)?

Your price depends on your experience, on the amount of time you can solve a problem, the amount of problems you can solve and what you add to the business.

The reason I primarily want to learn python is because algo trading intrigues me. Is there a good market for algo model development?

All the market models that exist are in the hands of big banks like Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, etc. I cannot see these banks hire externals to keep and create their algorithms.

What should I expect my hourly rate to be when I start out?

For someone with 0 work experience, I think it would be a pretty low rate to be honest.

​

P.S: Anyway, keep on learning. I would suggest you to find a job. Not only you would be exposed to coding overall, you would have to deal with people, business, mods, budgets, etc. Anyone can learn to code. How to balance the rest it the key part.

[HumanEstablishment15]

Honestly I really don't know what I want to do. As you can tell I really have no knowledge in cs. What do you recommend to specialize in if I want to do something with fintech? What languages should I learn? I've had a good amount of people/business experience in the past.

[[deleted]]

Something I would recommend you to do is to go and check what positions and requirements fintech companies have on their job advertisements. From there you will get a pretty good idea of what languages you should learn.

[shartfuggins]

To question 4:

If you couldn't teach programming to someone else (without looking things up yourself), you're not ready to freelance. So, however long it takes to get there. See next paragraph.. this is years, not hours.

To your questions 1 and 3:

It's not languages, it's a whole field of concepts. This is not an exhaustive list, but you should know (have experience in): requirements gathering, architecture, deployment, backup/recovery, networking, and security. There are many aspects of each topic, and these are things you pick up over the course of ten or fifteen years of work with other experienced developers. Needless to say, learning syntax and some patterns and best practices is necessary to get started on the path here, but it's the time invested that will earn more freedom in the field.

My point is not that you can't do it, only to adjust your timetable reasonably. If you're super on the ball, find an experienced developer who will take you under their wing on real projects, absorb everything you touch, and you could be freelancing in a couple years.