

Ask HN: How should I land my next consulting gig(s)? - padobson

Like any good HNer, I've been working on speculative projects, expanding my skillset with side work, and paying the bills while having a blast consulting for startups for the last couple of years. However, for a number of personal reasons, I need to spend the next 6-9 months maximizing my cash income. I want to put this into effect starting in early August. So that means I have one month to put the necessary client list/portfolio/resume together to start making this happen.<p>As a programmer, I am very proficient in building Django web apps. I can write the necessary SQL, python, javascript, and css to build every part of a Django app, and then do the system administration necessary to deploy on AWS using EC2. I can also rig up a CDN to work seemlessly with the app using S3 and Cloudfront. I have built GIS applications using GeoDjango and PostGIS, and I have constructed social video apps by implementing Encoding.com as a service to prepare raw video files for consumption on the web.<p>I am also moderately proficient in programming PHP, Java, and C#. I have built web apps in PHP, and desktop apps in Java and C#. I have dabbled with Android applications and iPhone apps, but nothing I would show off.<p>I also have some experience doing SEO, social media marketing, and content marketing. Many of my clients have needed their apps promoted after they were built, and I was always happy to oblige when I could.<p>I have also worked with biometrics technology including fingerprints for government contractors. This was as much a business analyst role as it was a programming gig, as I had to help answer RFPs, make checklists, and work around reems and reems of regulations to build applications that met very large bureaucratic requirements.<p>I only have two real requirements for my next gig(s):<p>1) Work remotely. I live in North East Ohio, and I don't plan on leaving, but I wouldn't mind traveling one or two weeks out of every month to service clients who need on-site help.<p>2) $60.00-$999999.99USD/hr contracting rate. (OT: Why can't I use &#38;infin; here?)<p>So what should I do for the next 30 days to achieve this? Should I target some large company and learn the requisite buzzwords to impress them? Should I learn some new language or technology? Polish some skill that I already have? Should I build something using my current skillset, or with some new technology? Should I put a website for my consultancy together to market myself? Should I do that using latest technology x, y, and z? Or should I just slap something up on Tumblr?<p>I'm willing to do anything (moral) over the next 4 weeks to put myself into a position to maximize my income, and I'm open to all and every idea HNers may have. Let me hear them.
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daemon13
If you are targeting start-ups, I would place a more specific skills
description on your web site. Not picking-up, but:

Postgres - what exactly can you do? Set-up master-slave replication? Set
pgbouncer, else? Do it on AWS? Using RAID? xfs FS?

What did your projects handle? 100 uniqs, 10'000 uniqs, more?

nginx - one server, 10 nodes cluster, 100 nodes cluster?

Your LinkedIn has too much marketing speak [that's OK on LinkedIn], but
instead of

-Rackous Rackous was founded as a streaming media website aimed at eliminating the fragmentation consumers face as ........ vices ensured a wide-range of compatibility. Rackous' stack inlcuded MongoDB, Amazon Cloudfront and S3, Django, and Flowplayer or an optional HTML5 Player for devices without Flash.

I would put, for example:

Can implement[ed] complete web solution for media upload, encoding/decoding,
storage and streaming using [Red5, Flash, else] in 2 weeks.

or

Can implement[ed] video chat/web conference/etc using ... in .. days.

with emphasis on execution - what you did, therefore can do.

Also, there was HN Hiring people post a week ago.

And there was great post of the guy who started freelancing a couple of months
ago. Also he had excellent recap of skills. Did not keep the link, web site in
bluish colors. May be other guys can recall?

~~~
padobson
It seems like your advice is to go through my various Job seeking profiles
(GitHub, LinkedIn, Indeed.com, Monster, Dice.com) and re-word them with
metrics to show what I can do in a more quantitative way.

In my case, none of the startups I've worked for have gotten much traction.
They handled maybe 100 uniqs. Is there some way I could prove I could build an
application that can handle 10,000 uniques without actually building one?
Maybe building a simple app, and then using BrowserMob or Blitz.io to show
what kind of load I can support?

Do you think that taking those steps will lead to me getting a gig in August?
I'm trying to optimize the job-finding process. I know I'll be working in
August, what I'm trying to figure out is how I can optimize my income.

~~~
daemon13
re 1 par -> No.

My advice is:

1\. focus on 3 places - your web site, GitHub and LinkedIn. I wouldn't bother
about others.

2\. Your web site - add button for Resume/About me on front page; add clear
readable resume-like description of your skills; make it technical enough, so
that visitors understand what you can do.

Not sure how to explain this, but when I was hiring for IT/finance jobs, after
30-50 resumes I could easily separate good folks based on the way how they
described their achivements.

3\. GitHub - if I would be a recruiter, I would expect to see more stuff
[prior projects], unless those were proprietary.

4\. LinkedIn - too many buzzwords and marketing speak for my liking, but may
be OK for suits, don't know.

>> Is there some way I could prove I could build an application that can
handle 10,000 uniques without actually building one?

Sure there is. Without building - no. Should not be difficult - get 3-5 VMs on
AWS, set-up three tier (1 nginx -> 2-3 uwsgi/gunicorns -> 1 postgres) - yes,
either blitz.io or [this is a tricky one] - post challenge on HN. I recall
someone did this with WP. Just one example. Can be somth else.

The key is - your achivements shall be aligned with your strengths/skills
shall be aligned with your representation [website, LI, GH] shall be aligned
with which gigs you target/want.

The above will not guarantee a gig [it is Step 1], but imrove your success
probability.

My view.....

~~~
padobson
This is the most applicable advice I've gotten. I really appreciate it.

------
padobson
One of my own ideas was to build a website for my consultancy. It would have
three sections, one for Programming, one for SEO, and one for business
analytics.

I would build the site using Django and Twitter bootstrap and deploy it on
AWS. I'd host the blog on Tumblr and market the site with content marketing
and social media.

Then I'd collect all of the email addresses that I've amassed from HR
personnel and recruiters over the years and announce the grand opening of my
consultancy's website.

I'd also like to build a time bidding app so potential clients can bid on my
time, sort of like what others have done including this guy:
<http://www.thisiscool.com/buytime.htm>

I think this would be a great way to use my time, but I don't know if it
maximizes my earnings potential. It certainly wouldn't add too much to my
skillset, so I'm not sure if it's the best route.

------
padobson
Another idea I had was to spend the month honing my iPhone and Android app
abilities, and then launch 2 apps for each device by the end of the month that
would show off my skills as a developer.

I think it would take a good chunk of time to go solely into development for
myself in order to start making money, so this would be used as a way to gain
development talent that I could use in consulting.

The problem with this idea is that I would have to use all of my time
developing (which I like) and almost none of my time marketing myself, which
seems necessary. This idea may need more time to do in order to start landing
contracts by August.

