

Ask HN: Freelancing without specific skills? - vis52

I know that this isn&#x27;t a typical question for HN since most people are either programmers or at least aspiring programmers.<p>I am however a HN reader for a year or so and, what can I say it&#x27;s a great site.<p>One thing that&#x27;s been bugging me for a long while though is that I wanted to start freelancing for a long while now but didn&#x27;t have to until now. Right now I&#x27;m in a bit of a financial tight spot and I&#x27;d like to earn something on the side.<p>The problem I&#x27;ve always had though is that I don&#x27;t have any specific skills that I could &quot;sell&quot;. I&#x27;m not a programmer or designer or any other specific job title that I can come up with.<p>I am one of those typical geeks without a cause. I like technology I like messing with it and I have a lot of general knowledge about the IT world but nothing specific.<p>I am really good at solving general tech related problems, finding solutions to problems and things like that.<p>Right now I&#x27;m at a difficult point, money is kinda tight right now and earning something on the side would really be helpful but I&#x27;m not sure what I could do with my current skill set. On the other hand if I start learning some skill right now it would probably take a few months, in the very least, until I&#x27;m good at it and can start offering it as a service.<p>I hope that this sort of question is allowed on here, I&#x27;ve taken a look at the rules and I have often seen &quot;how do I start freelancing&quot; types of questions here so hopefully I didn&#x27;t break any rules.<p>If anyone can offer some advice I&#x27;d really appreciate it.<p>Thanks
Antonio
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mswen
Maybe you can find a second job? Freelancing without a specific set of skills
is a really tough start. Generally when people hire a freelancer they are
looking for a skill set that allows them pass off a complex project/task to an
outside professional rather than hire another employee.

I know the pressure is on to earn more money right now, but I encourage you to
take the long view and start learning a higher level skill that is in demand
so that 2 years from now you have more options.

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Red_Tarsius
[http://jake-jorgovan.com/blog/remote](http://jake-jorgovan.com/blog/remote)
Jake's post might seem off topic, but he actually spends the first part of the
article describing how he developed his web development skills (a couple of
months) and started freelancing. Give it a read, it has a few good pieces of
advice and it's quite inspirational.

Cheers from Italy!

