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1791

answers:

10

I'm looking for ideas on how to find off-site work, preferably short-term and/or part-time. Completely remote access, other side of the world type stuff that I could do from my house for a bit of extra income. Places like rent-a-coder seem a little to low brow, with a lot of the winning bids being ridiculously undervalued (I imagine due to location of the winning tender).

Does anyone know if other sites exist, or have other methods for finding such work?

Edit: I've also found these questions which have lot of good links for freelance websites:

Freelance job sites

Finding Freelance projects

+1  A: 

Two suggestions from the top of my head: jobs.joelonsoftware.com and 37signals Job Board

Einar
A: 

I work from home, here is my story...

I started by working for a small startup-like software company for about 6 months, when they hired me I disclosed that I was planning to move after my college graduation. As graduation grew near, The company I worked for decided that they wanted to keep me around and offered me a remote job.

Not sure how easy it would be for anyone else to do the same, but I think that a little "face time" around a small, more flexible company may be the stepping stone for a remote job...

Now that I work from home, I can tell you that does get lonely...I certainly miss talking to other coeworkers and discussing all things software...

mmattax
+1  A: 

This is not really an answer to your question but I'd join a few open source projects just to see if this was my cup of tea before I took part in some deal I'd have to live up to. Also that might give you a reputation and jobs for pay might actually fall in your lap after some time. At least they'll be easier to get if you can put that on your resumé.

Other than that, when looking for extra cash as a coder -I'd most definitely just do my own products and put them out there with some kind of pay program. Source Forge offers one I think and then of course there is Pay Pal

Niklas Winde
A: 

and this is from the top of MY head

codelance.com

scriptlance.com

getacoder.com (I dont seem to like this one though)

getafreelancer.com (never tried)

Midhat
+6  A: 

I've used guru.com and in the past rentacoder.com also. The real win is not the small undervalued projects you get at first, but the relationships you build which can lead to longer term and better paid jobs. I see those sites as a sort of "rapid dating" service which can lead to a more stable relationship if first impressions are good.

Devin Ceartas
A: 

In my case, I worked a regular onsite job for a while, and then left to spend more time with my family. I dropped some hints that I might consider some contract work in the future.

I just got an email from a former coworker about a short-term opening. I told them I'd be willing to do it, but with some conditions: remote work, flexible hours, pay that made it worth my while. They said yes.

Basically, I'm saying the same thing as everyone else: relationships you establish will be the best bet for good work.

Jay Bazuzi
+1  A: 

Have you tried www.guru.com

I subscribed for a while, but never bid on a project. I did find that the remuneration on offer tended to be rather paltry!

fivemile
+18  A: 

I'm coming up fast on my 4-year anniversary as a work-from-home freelancer, so here's my story:

I started off by quitting my last full-time job and establishing a consulting relationship with that company. This lasted for about a year and a half before they went bankrupt.

Their collapse left me with no clients (it had been a sweet enough deal that I hadn't needed to look for other work alongside them) and I ended up going to one of the big headhunting firms and did a bit of on-site contracting through them.

A bit over a year ago, I stumbled across rentacoder and did some work through them for a couple months, but, like you said, it tends to be very poorly-paid there and this was really just bringing in enough money to scrape by until a former coworker hooked me up with a local web designer who needed some programming done for one of his projects and was willing to pay decently for them. This guy then hooked me up with a few of his other clients and I've mostly been working within that group of clients this year.

I haven't been active on rentacoder in about 10 months, but buyers from those projects have continued coming back to ask me to do more for them. Two of these rentacoder clients have agreed to pay my current normal rates, while a third can't afford them (he runs a business in the Philippines, so he doesn't bring much in), but we've worked out an arrangement for him to provide marketing assistance in exchange for a lower rate.

So, yes, as others have said, relationships and word of mouth are the primary keys to surviving as a freelancer. That and always make sure you have more than one active client at any given time, so that you won't be left high and dry if they go out of business.

Dave Sherohman
"relationships and word of mouth are the primary keys to surviving as a freelancer. That and always make sure you have more than one active client at any given time, so that you won't be left high and dry if they go out of business." .... words to live by, dude!
user279521
+14  A: 

Here is a summary of the links provided in all those answers in related questions(since there isn't a single answer with them all) (at least as of 10/17/08):
* http://www.guru.com/index.aspx
* http://www.utest.com/
* http://www.odesk.com/w/
* http://www.elance.com/p/landing/buyerb.html
* http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/DotNet/default.aspx Please note mixed reviews on RentACoder
* http://www.scriptlance.com/
* http://www.getafreelancer.com/

Edit: Just found a page that provides an exhaustive list: http://www.freelanceswitch.com/finding/the-monster-list-of-freelance-job-sites-2009-update/

torial
A: 

you have to just register on the freelance websites like elance.com,limeexchange.com to get a remote job of your choice