Hi,
After being scolded for mentioning this repeatedly in IRC, I have decided to post this in OT. Over the past 7 months, I've been encoding (~450 encodes) and publishing (~40 publications) on this site non-stop. I am proud of my contributions, but in hindsight, it is very clear that I have used my time here as a way to justify me not having a paying job, both in real life and online with my programming abilities. I've had very bad experiences in the freelance market when I was younger, and after being discouraged from continuing my involvement in it, I've worked in several open source projects / non-profit websites, the last of which has been here.
Now, I have come to a point where I need to raise a small amount of funds sometime before December. My parents are more than likely not going to fund this, and even if they did, I'd feel guilty to continue to mooch off of them. I could get a part-time job on campus, but I am doing policy debate for credit, and for those who know anything about that, it's a pretty huge commitment that takes out most of my weekends. So, I am hoping to re-enter the online freelancing market. Finding work is hard, however, and I'm very reluctant to work for the same kind of manipulative bastards that I have encountered during my time at RentACoder a few years ago.
So, I'm hoping I could find someone on here that could hire me, or someone who already is working for a client who needs more coders. As this is a forum containing many programmers, I thought I might find someone. It'd be great to work for / with people online that I actually "know" and mostly like instead of some random jerk trying to get a free lunch. I am primarily a website programmer, experienced in (X)HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, MySQL, XML, JSON, etc., though I could probably work on desktop applications written in Python or any relatively simple one written in another language with similar syntax like Java. I started programming 7 years ago at the age of 12, and I know my stuff.
Here's hoping that someone has a use for my abilities. I'd like to resume encoding at a casual pace soon, but it's hard to justify any further contributions past TASing or the occasional publication when I have no source of income.
Why? This is Off Topic. I am in a time of need that people here might be willing or eager to assist with in exchange for a service they are likely to need being in such a community. I'm not derailing any other discussions, trying to make this into a drama fest, or even attempting to make a massive gain from this thread (If I made a dollar for every encode I've done here, I'd have more than double the amount I am trying to raise in the immediate future). Considering the range of discussions that go on in this section, I believe this is warranted if it doesn't degenerate into a flame war.
Here's hoping that someone has a use for my abilities. I'd like to resume encoding at a casual pace soon, but it's hard to justify any further contributions past TASing or the occasional publication when I have no source of income.
I honestly had no problem with this thread being here, until this. Its a tough economy right now, and I think people saying "Hey, got any coding projects you need for a bit o' cash?" is not wrong. However, this almost seems to be "pay me or I stop volunteering." That isn't how volunteering works.
Encoders, TASers, judges, admins, etc all step away from their duties when real life duties call. This is a hobby, and should be treated as such.
(If I made a dollar for every encode I've done here, I'd have more than double the amount I am trying to raise in the immediate future).
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
I agree. The distinction is that I'm not asking money for my encodes; I'm saying that I'd appreciate the opportunity to do paid work, and the amount of money I want to raise is fairly insignificant. If you interpreted this literally, I apologize. The only connection I'm trying to make between my previous contributions and my current wish for work is that I clearly have a strong work ethic, and I believe that my request is warranted as I am an established contributor and not just some random person posting services, which would clearly be spam.
The fact is, I have spent far too much time volunteering when I should have been balancing my act between volunteering and seeking paid work. This is no one's fault but my own. I'd like to continue volunteering, but it is irresponsible for me to devote further time to it if I haven't even taken a step towards fixing this issue. If you want to call this a threat to stop volunteering unless someone pays me, that's your judgement to make. The point is that I need to step away from, or at least dramatically reduce, my contributions, and I'd appreciate any help I can get as far as finding programming work. I'm not asking for a free lunch.
If you are good at programming and making websites, try to make money by putting google adsense ads on your website, or make a useful program, android app or something. I would try if I had such skills.
But wouldn't it be easier to raise money by getting a temporary boring-ass job?
DarkMoon wrote:
Except for the ones that are partnered on YouTube. Even then, it's about $1 per 1,000 views, so it's rather insignificant.
Not if you have a million views on a video. By the way, can you really get partnered if you have TASes on your channel? I didn't think that would classify as "original content" since it's from games.
A guy once paid me 15 dollars from three Goldeneye TASes that I made. That's all I've earned from TASes :P But most people don't earn anything.
If you are good at programming and making websites, try to make money by putting google adsense ads on your website, making a useful program, android app or something.
My Adsense campaigns have been quite unsuccessful in the past. I'm not sure how people make anything close to a substantial profit off of websites...is the web nothing more than a Ponzi scheme?
Personally, I don't find any problems with this thread. The guy is looking for a job because he needs money. Perfectly normal if you ask me. Whether he is or isn't a volunteer for TASVideos or whatever else isn't relevant here; any other member could still create such a thread and it would still be perfectly normal.
The only problem here is that particular paragraph attracting unwanted attention, so instead of looking for ways we could employ Brandon we're discussing that paragraph. Which I'm sure isn't what any of you want to discuss.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Joined: 11/22/2004
Posts: 1468
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
It's really too bad you had a bad experience working as a freelancer. I've been a freelancer for a few years now and love it. The only problem is I always take on more jobs than I can really handle, so I always work from early in the morning till late at night.
If I have some extra work that I can't handle on my own I'll keep you in mind for sure.
DarkKobold wrote:
I honestly had no problem with this thread being here, until this. Its a tough economy right now, and I think people saying "Hey, got any coding projects you need for a bit o' cash?" is not wrong. However, this almost seems to be "pay me or I stop volunteering." That isn't how volunteering works.
That's not how I interpreted this topic.
Besides, he's already done a lot of work for the site. Like he said, 450 encodes. Probably did a lot of site development as well, even though I can't see the extent to which.
If he's planning on quitting his work on the site, which isn't unrealistic given his situation, then instead of complaining about how all he thinks about is himself, we should thank him for his work.
If I have some extra work that I can't handle on my own I'll keep you in mind for sure.
That would be very nice, thank you. Where do you look for work, if you don't mind me asking? Maybe I've just been using the wrong sites, as Elance, the site I'm trying to use now, has very non-responsive buyers, and RentACoder, now VWorker, takes 15% of your profits, and like I said, has a lot of people trying to scam you. I could tell a lot of funny / tragic stories from that site, but maybe then I'd be crossing the line into personal drama. There was third site I had tried that I liked a lot, but it was really small and I don't think it'd still be around, not to mention I forgot its name.
If he's planning on quitting his work on the site, which isn't unrealistic given his situation, then instead of complaining about how all he thinks about is himself, we should thank him for his work.
Maybe I started this thread in an overly dramatic way, and I'm sorry for doing this, but I'm at least reducing my contributions, at most taking a break from everything. I have no intention of retiring.
Joined: 11/22/2004
Posts: 1468
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Brandon wrote:
Dada wrote:
If I have some extra work that I can't handle on my own I'll keep you in mind for sure.
That would be very nice, thank you. Where do you look for work, if you don't mind me asking? Maybe I've just been using the wrong sites, as Elance, the site I'm trying to use now, has very non-responsive buyers, and RentACoder, now VWorker, takes 15% of your profits, and like I said, has a lot of people trying to scam you. I could tell a lot of funny / tragic stories from that site, but maybe then I'd be crossing the line into personal drama. There was third site I had tried that I liked a lot, but it was really small and I don't think it'd still be around, not to mention I forgot its name.
That's the thing, actually. I would never use websites like RentACoder specifically because they have a reputation for being awful. I strongly suggest getting your own clients from your area. Try visiting graphic design studios, showing your work and telling them you're a forward-thinking, down-to-earth programmer who's new to the freelance world and would like to help them make great websites.
Most of my clients are actually graphic designers, and most of them are return clients with whom I've done a lot of projects. It's easier that way, and you'll be less likely to get scammed or otherwise cheated out of your fair reward.
If I have some extra work that I can't handle on my own I'll keep you in mind for sure.
That would be very nice, thank you. Where do you look for work, if you don't mind me asking? Maybe I've just been using the wrong sites, as Elance, the site I'm trying to use now, has very non-responsive buyers, and RentACoder, now VWorker, takes 15% of your profits, and like I said, has a lot of people trying to scam you. I could tell a lot of funny / tragic stories from that site, but maybe then I'd be crossing the line into personal drama. There was third site I had tried that I liked a lot, but it was really small and I don't think it'd still be around, not to mention I forgot its name.
That's the thing, actually. I would never use websites like RentACoder specifically because they have a reputation for being awful. I strongly suggest getting your own clients from your area. Try visiting graphic design studios, showing your work and telling them you're a forward-thinking, down-to-earth programmer who's new to the freelance world and would like to help them make great websites.
Most of my clients are actually graphic designers, and most of them are return clients with whom I've done a lot of projects. It's easier that way, and you'll be less likely to get scammed or otherwise cheated out of your fair reward.
I'm not sure how many I would find in a college town, unless there are somehow start-ups that would have the funding to pay me. I'm also not a web designer; I'm all about back-end engines and stuff. Still, it'd be ideal to get returning clients on the internet, which is why I thought it'd be awesome to work with people here if they could use the help.
Joined: 11/22/2004
Posts: 1468
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Brandon wrote:
I'm not sure how many I would find in a college town, unless there are somehow start-ups that would have the funding to pay me. I'm also not a web designer; I'm all about back-end engines and stuff. Still, it'd be ideal to get returning clients on the internet, which is why I thought it'd be awesome to work with people here if they could use the help.
I'm actually not a web designer. Actually, I am, but I very rarely do that these days and it's not what I meant. The thing is, there's always a conversion takes place from graphic design to actual website, and it's that transition that a lot of programmers don't know how to handle.
If you can convince a design bureau that you're good at helping them make that transition, not just by perfectly emulating their design in a web setting but also modifying it ever so slightly so that it makes sense and actually works well, you've got a unique selling point. It also helps to mention that you want to be involved from the start, so that you can help them plan their websites out and consult them on what's useful for the people who will eventually start using them.
Of course, if you're all about backend programming that's okay too, I'm sure you could find work that way as well. I don't know exactly how it is where you live right now, but around here the web programmer business generally never really felt the economic downturn.
The fact is, I have spent far too much time volunteering when I should have been balancing my act between volunteering and seeking paid work. This is no one's fault but my own. I'd like to continue volunteering, but it is irresponsible for me to devote further time to it if I haven't even taken a step towards fixing this issue. If you want to call this a threat to stop volunteering unless someone pays me, that's your judgement to make. The point is that I need to step away from, or at least dramatically reduce, my contributions, and I'd appreciate any help I can get as far as finding programming work. I'm not asking for a free lunch.
Thats fine. I totally understand that real-life takes precedent over hobbies. As I said, I'm fine with this thread, but please keep need for work separate from your contributions to the site.
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
The fact is, I have spent far too much time volunteering when I should have been balancing my act between volunteering and seeking paid work. This is no one's fault but my own. I'd like to continue volunteering, but it is irresponsible for me to devote further time to it if I haven't even taken a step towards fixing this issue. If you want to call this a threat to stop volunteering unless someone pays me, that's your judgement to make. The point is that I need to step away from, or at least dramatically reduce, my contributions, and I'd appreciate any help I can get as far as finding programming work. I'm not asking for a free lunch.
Thats fine. I totally understand that real-life takes precedent over hobbies. As I said, I'm fine with this thread, but please keep need for work separate from your contributions to the site.
Understood. I admit that I mentioned my contributions partially to guilt people into thinking my post here was justified, but I was never trying to imply that anyone owed me anything. Sorry about all of that. Thanks for allowing me to keep this thread open.
