

Ask HN: How did you land your original contract jobs? - mattiss

How did you guys land your first few contract positions? My resume is pretty excellent, so I think I have a good shot at some positions on dice and the likes, but I am curious as to how you guys broke into the world of contracting?
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steverb
Friends.

Most of my first contracts happened because of other developers I know
recommending me to someone.

After that, the customers started recommending me to their friends.

Hang in there, and make sure that everyone you know is aware that you are
available.

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lucumo
A friend already worked there and wanted to work with me, so he recommended me
when they were looking for people.

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plinkplonk
I spoke at an AI conference about a system I built. A CTO in the crowd sent me
an email offering a contract a few days later.

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lionhearted
Under bid to someone you respect a lot, and make sure they know you're
underbidding. Emphasize how much you'd like to work with them, and how much
you think you're going to learn. Don't try to sell yourself - nobody cares.
You're boring to to other people, no one cares about you. Instead, tell them
about themselves, about what you like about them, what you admire about them,
and what an honor it would be to make them the first person you contract for.
Tell them that you expect to make some mistakes for a lack of experience, but
you're working to work 130% to make them very happy, and that working for an
undermarket price would be a tremendous opportunity for you to learn alongside
someone who is a veteran.

Again, DON'T SELL YOURSELF. No one cares. Tell the person you're taking to
about themself. Tell them what you like and love about them, and then tell
them how you'd like to help them, and what an honor it would be, and how much
you expect to learn. Let them know you're doing it for a very selfish reason -
so that you can learn from them.

It's key you legitimately respect whoever it is, because you'll sound empty if
not, and you _are_ going to make a million mistakes that are very obvious in
hindsight. So find someone you really respect, and talk about them (not
yourself - no one cares, really), and then make damn sure they know they're
getting 130% effort for 30% price or so. The lessons and reference from
someone you respect are going to be worth a heck of a lot more than whatever
you could get by trying to over-represent yourself to an unsophisticated
buyer.

To work with someone very talented, they'll want to know that you're mentally
and emotionally onboard and very excited to work with them personally, and
that your effort will make up for your inexperience. The enthusiasm is what
gets them willing to give you a chance, the undermarket rates is what gets you
the contract. Later on, you can raise your rates, but do try to make the first
person you get someone you really admire - bad clients are really a nightmare,
and you'll have to deal with that later, but good clients are like mana from
heaven. Do what you can to get people you really truly, deeply respect for
your first gigs, even if it's a bit less than you could get on the open
market. It'll be very worth it in the long run.

~~~
mattiss
Who exactly would I pitch to? Someone I would be working with, or the company
I would be contracting for?

