Carlos On Web :: Blogging from Experience

This article is a little late (as usual) for the simple message I want to convey. To the new graduates, let me echo the special greetings my university friend Don said to me upon my graduation: “Welcome To The World Of The Unemployed.”

I don’t have the time to check the statistics, but it appears to me that the local unemployment rate in the Philippines is on the rise since I bade farewell from the university.

As a new graduate, should you be worried? After school, what now?

To job or not to job? That is the question (which is obviously in wrong grammar).

I mentioned I don’t have time to check the statistics. What I really mean is, I couldn’t care less what the statistics are saying and neither should you. I care more about you, my dear fresh graduate readers. (If you know a fresh graduate, please pass this on.) I believe it will be to your advantage if you scrap the employment statistics altogether and focus instead on how to make it in the real world.

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An opportunity exists for an English speaking web programmer/web developer to work in the beautiful Spanish Island of Tenerife (Canary Islands).

He/She must be highly proficient in: PHP, MySQL and AJAX with knowledge of PhotoShop and Flash an advantage. Linux server administrator skills would also be useful.

The company is a small dynamic group of mainly young people whose common language is English, situated in the sunny South of Tenerife.

The position is a permanent one with paid annual leave and help with flights and accommodation. Salary is open to negotiation but will be commensurate with skills offered. Candidates will be required to sit a skills test. Candidates must be single and understand the commitment required to work abroad.

Please apply with full CV to rob[at]sun4free[dot]com

This entry is requested by:
Rob Carless
Marketing Visions
Tenerife S.L.

This is the second installment of a two-part article about getting the money that you deserve. I’d like to call this “The Art of Getting Paid.”

Before giving you the meat, a short quiz first: As a freelancer, which of the following is the most important to you?

1. Closing a project
2. Finishing a project
3. Getting paid for the project you’ve “finished”

Personally, I would put item number 3 on top of the other two. Call me greedy or anything, but at least I am not a hypocrite. In any business deal, my objective has always been to get satisfactory compensation for the value that I am giving. I don’t know about you, but for me I don’t see any “conflict” in doing something valuable for my client and in return being compensated for a job well done.

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Have you ever been shafted out of a fee that you feel you truly deserve?

Perhaps, you have been working so hard on a project day in and day out for about a month or so and when it’s all done you were disappointed to discover that the promised cheque will never have a chance of arriving in your mail box.

Perhaps, you were lured into a million-dollar share of the profit when the website you are trying build eventually sells to some giant corporation looking to devour a startup pet project. After all, it looks promising and what is an extra two hours a day (or night) spent over the project, right?

Perhaps you have partnered with a son-of-a-rich (dad?) who provided the financial capital to materialize that something only you can explain though given a nice Integrated Development Environment you are 100% sure you can implement the thing and offer to the marketplace. Too bad, your partner turned out to be a jerk and sucked all the proceeds of your invention.

Or perhaps simply, your client just flatly never paid you for your effort. Period. OMG, how can the bastard afford to do it to you, a technical guru who knows how to code even while asleep?

Does any of these sound familiar to you? Well, I can relate to you, my friend.

And this I am sure: hundreds, or even thousands, of other freelancers out there who have the guts to lay open their experiences in the jungle can relate to that as well.

Those are classic examples of money lost by one’s failure to face the realities of a business deal. It’s expensive; it’s stressful; and it hurts. But there’s definitely a lot of lessons to be learned from your failure to collect the money that you deserve.

In Part 2 of this article, I will share some techniques I use to handle those kinds of deals and ensure that the money I demanded, is the money that I get.

Don’t worry it’s all for free. A street philosopher like me loves to share his philosophical insights to someone like you. If you like to be notified of future articles, you can subscribe via RSS using the form below. I am using FeedBurner, so you can unsubscribe anytime. Promise: I won’t be clogging you inbox – I only write sparingly.

Cashline Automation is looking for full time home-based PHP / Java / Ajax programmers. We’re looking for those who are experienced in building a Webshop and other back-end Web based applications.

Programming experience is more important than any degree. Must have a PC and fast Internet connection at home as this will be a home job.

SWIFT, RELIABLE, COMMUNICATION AND REACHABILITY ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE ANY PROGRAMMER WORKING FOR US SHOULD HAVE. Please indicate on your resume what websites, database, administrative programs and planning systems have you worked on and what other languages do you know.

COMPENSATION:

Negotiable (depending on professionalism and skills) Payments can be high on good production and bonuses can do earned if work is finished earlier. Payments will send through bank so you must have a bank account.

Interested applicants may submit their resumes to: angelica[at]cashline[dot]net

A team of American businessmen is looking to hire Filipino Web Programmers. The job is home-based and you can be anywhere in the Philippines not just Davao. The following are the text from hiring person, Mr Rosenbeck:

We are a fresh company looking to enhance business within the international marketplace. Our Web 2.0 Application will bring together entrepreneurs, companies, factories, suppliers, retailers and businesses from around the world.

We are looking for motivated web 2.0 application developers passionate about building innovative technology. If you become obsessed when building scalable applications, increasing performance or influencing major architectural design decisions, then this is the place for you. We need your skills to build the web application we will use connect businesses from around the world.

We need web application developers with experience in the following areas:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent
• PHP and MySQL development
• AJAX and a working knowledge of XHTML, CSS and JavaScript
• Server Client API design experience

Optional areas of experience include:

• User Interface Design experience is a plus
• Flex and Flash application development is a plus
• Facebook application development experience is a plus
• OpenSocial experience is a plus

Basically, at least one person on the team will need to be able to cover each of those areas. I’m expecting most of the work to be in the PHP/MySQL/AJAX areas.

For details, don’t contact me, send and e-mail to Steve Rosenbeck at srosenbeck1[at]hotmail[dot]com.

While finding new clients is important for you at the beginning of your freelance career, you should strive to reach the point when your clients will be the ones looking for you.

Hard to believe? Well, right now you better start throwing your doubts out of the window, because it is happening to me — the lonely freelance cowboy from the Philippines, who works from his home. And I am convinced beyond reasons that, with the right mindset and the right timing, it will happen to you one day.

I am not a motivational author, but if that motivates you, feel free to give me an advice if I should start a change of career. But as far as this article is concerned, my main focus is to share the lessons I’ve learned on how to have projects coming your way instead of you sniffing after them. I call this the art of self-promotion.

If you are ready to continue, I will not waste your time any longer in some useless marketing pitch. Here they are the techniques, straight from my treasure chest of freelancing wisdom.

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In the previous article, I mentioned three Websites that are excellent sources of projects to fuel your freelance programming career. As a freelance contractor, you would naturally select projects that can be done remotely. And if you are the type who prefers working from home, Web-based projects present some attractive options. A good number of project opportunities posted on the aforementioned sites are coming from Western Countries particularly the US tapping into the pool of IT talents from the other side of the globe and taking advantage of the low cost of labor. Some are also based just locally in the Philippines from Manila, Cebu, Davao and other smaller cities around the country. Where the opportunity is coming from doesn’t make much difference anymore. The Internet has made it all accessible to virtually anyone at a super low cost.

But sometimes the best project opportunities can be found right at your own backyard — in your own city, town or the neighborhood just staring at you in the face. Believe it or not, I’ve been doing local projects for locally based clients for a couple of months already. And when I say local, I mean right here in Davao City.

“God hides things,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson, “by putting them near us.” I’m not a Literature guy, but I think Emerson is referring to man’s inability to spot the obvious opportunities right where he stands. I don’t want to elaborate on that literature stuff further. Suffice it to say that there are indeed opportunities in your own locality if you have the eyes to see them.

In this article, I’d like to share some local sources where you can possibly get your next project. Here they are:
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If the title of this article catches your attention, you are not alone. I’ve had countless visitors who dropped an email or two asking for my sources of clients and projects. Perhaps they wanted to venture into freelance programming and curious about how I stayed after all these times. Indeed, anyone whoever wanted to become a freelance programmer should consider the question of finding clients very seriously.

Though it did not worry me a bit where to find my clients in the beginning of my venture, I honestly did a considerable amount of time thinking about it during the rough times.

Is there a good source of legitimate projects that can be done remotely? Is it better to choose clients based abroad than locally in the Philippines?

There are literally thousands of websites scattered throughout the Web offering jobs and outsourcing opportunities that could match all the skill-set you can possibly think of. Your excellent search skills can be a useful asset if you have the time to try and see what’s out there. In fact, I should suggest that you do that. But if you are already bugged down and wanted to narrow down your search with due consideration on the experience of real people, the following sources might prove to be a handy reference.

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Like it or not, your success as a professional (be it software development, network administration, or anything) depends on how the marketplace accepts the value that you bring into the table. That is, the more value you give that the customers are willing to accept in exchange for something of value, the more successful you become. Increasing your value in the marketplace, therefore, is a necessary ingredient for success in your chosen field. And a sure way to guarantee failure is to contribute nothing of value to others.

I personally know of there are three potent weapons available to any professional who is serious about increasing his value in the marketplace. If you want to DO more, HAVE more and BE more… well, READ more of the following… Read the complete article »