How to Become a Successful Freelance Programmer?

In principle, the work of freelance programmers is not different from those who are permanently employed. However, there are some significant differences you should know.

Programming is programming, regardless of whether you are employed or freelance – that’s what some people will have thought when reading the headline. Of course, it’s mostly true. In fact, there are no differences between freelancers and employees in this key area of activity.

Because freelance programmers are characterized by numerous other particularities. Especially IT people in training – or even before that – often have no idea how much this can differ in practice.
 

 

The requirements for freelancing

Let’s start with the basics, the most important basic requirements needed to become a freelance programmer.
 

 

The necessary qualifications

In principle, anyone can work professionally as a programmer, because unlike many other industries, you do not need any training or studies to be a programmer, to offer such services, or to be employed.

In plain language, this means that anyone can register with the tax office as a freelance programmer, create a website, print business cards, and offer their services. However, the reality looks a little different.

Although there are of course many self-taught people who have acquired an enormous amount of knowledge on their own and are thus highly successful in their professional lives, the freelance world is usually a different story. There, many clients trust (more) those who can prove their professional knowledge.

Nothing here leads to vocational training or even a degree – especially in the initial phase, until you have built up a good reputation with many presentable testimonials. This proof of having knowledge acquired in accordance with recognized (i.e. state) regulations has a strong effect – especially for many potential clients who are not deep in the IT scene and therefore do not know that a good programmer did not necessarily become so good through education.
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“Full-stack” Keyword

Programming is a broad field with numerous niches. As much as it can be useful to specialize in one area, one should strive for the goal of being a freelancer to be primarily a generalist – a so-called full-stack developer.

There are now several specialist areas in programming in which you can develop yourself as a freelancer. Approximately:

• Web Development,
• Data Specialists,
• Software Programming,
• Software Testers,

As a full-stack, you naturally have less knowledge than specialists in these respective fields, and that is the decisive factor for freelancing: You can offer a much wider range of services.

This in turn increases the number of potential clients enormously and ensures a more harmonious level of employment and, of course, income (security). However: That of course requires the will and the passion to voluntarily dive deeply into all programming fields – one of the most important reasons why only those who are really passionate about the job should opt for freelancing.
 

 

Soft skills and additional qualifications

 
Employees only have to convince strangers about themselves once: at the job interview. As a freelancer, it’s different. Here, every new potential assignment means having to persuade people to choose you over, say, a competitor.

That means, unfortunately, it is not enough to just be an outstanding programmer. This is just the basis behind which further skills are required:

• A well-dressed appearance that goes far beyond the “T-shirt standard” – at least during the first meeting, you should be dressed appropriately every time, as if you were going to an interview.
• Professionalism. Anyone who cannot establish a connection to the projector when initiating an order, struggles with the flipchart, or cannot pull off a presentation routinely and enthusiastically, can be sure that far too often only a polite “we will get back to you if necessary” will be heard.
• Ability to work in a team under difficult conditions. During your career, you will probably have the same clients several times. More often, however, you work with new faces. This requires a very high level of teamwork, knowledge of human nature, and the ability to adapt, because – unlike in salaried life – you cannot adapt to the particularities of bosses and colleagues through the routine.
• Flexibility. Of course, as a freelancer, no day or job is exactly like the other. You have to at least accept that, but even better love it.
• Self-discipline, self-organization, perseverance. As a freelancer, you often only get a goal and a deadline. You have to (be able to) sort everything else yourself. In fact, this is the most important soft skill. As a freelancer, you can only survive permanently if you are fully capable of being your own boss.

Persistence is also an important quality for freelancers. Because regardless of whether it’s about placing orders or negotiating money, those who are yielding will then lose out. However, you usually have to train this soft skill over the years – because you will repeatedly sit across from clients who may have been “boss” for years. They usually sit in this position because they have proven to be extremely persistent.
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Everyday life as a freelancer

 
As an employee, you have a boss or a department head who tells you exactly what to do when and how quickly. For the freelancer, on the other hand, everyday life in the context of job acquisition is characterized by other necessities. You primarily have two options.
 

 

Option 1: Select projects or customers yourself

Networks are used to find suitable projects or customers in order to carry out temporary support and consulting work. Often for smaller companies, for which it is not profitable to rely on permanent professionals. But sometimes also for large companies who want to get fresh ideas and unconventional approaches by choosing an external person. In principle, there are two different cases:

1. You apply for a project for which freelancers are sought on the relevant portals.
2. An entrepreneur who has a project approaches the freelancer on his own initiative.

The first will occur more frequently, especially in the initial phase of freelance work, as one is still a newcomer to the scene. However, if you have satisfied a circle of clients, word of mouth can show its effect. Then the clients often come by themselves.

In both cases, however, one has to learn to filter. This is where the above-mentioned personal responsibility comes into play: Many freelancers get bogged down by putting too much work on themselves. This not only ensures the stress that you wanted to avoid with freelance work but is also subject to the enormous risk of missing deadlines or not delivering the necessary quality.
 

Option 2: Realize and market your own project

The first option is a classic reaction. However, there is also the opposite way of becoming proactive yourself. Because the IT world is full of solutions that were devised and programmed by clever people. Solutions for which there was apparently no need before and which were therefore not asked for. However, when someone created them, they became a long-running favorite.

This means that assuming you have enough market feel and creativity, it can also be an option to initiate your own projects for which there are no specific requirements from a company. Then there are two options:

1. You advertise your product openly to potential customers. It should be noted here that freelancers only have legally limited advertising opportunities.
2. You keep the project in hand and with a little luck, you can pull a tailor-made solution out of your sleeve if you have a request.

However, it should be noted that this option is of course significantly riskier. After all, you are working “out of the blue” without a contract, without a requirements profile. You accumulate valuable working hours but have no guarantee that you will be paid for them.

Realistically, you should only start such projects if you are a freelancer and know the market well. In the beginning, however, you should only see it as a “side project” that you work on in your free time or in phases between two jobs.
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The role of recruitment agencies

 
The problem as a freelance programmer is this: There are a lot of them. Even the best word of mouth does not have unlimited reach. In other words, in the first few years, in particular, you run the risk of simply missing out on orders because you are not in the right networks or not known to potential clients.

On the other hand, you should urgently seek recruitment agencies or headhunters.

Important: In the IT area, in particular, there are good and bad agencies. Anyone who wants to only receive suggestions that exactly match their skills should use their contacts in the scene and compare them carefully.

However, you should not rely too blindly on headhunters, Which gives deceptive security. This means you should always be willing to look for jobs on your own.
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