[iudqnolq]

I'm a student trying to get my first contracting job. I have very little experience, and and essentially no past work. I believe I'm competent enough to do some of the tasks I see on sites like Upwork, but I'm not having any luck. The jobs I'm applying for are basic things like write Google Apps script to send emails based on contents of a Google Sheet, not large projects.

I'm not going to lie about who I am and what experience I have. Do you think I have no chance getting a contract at this point?

[BiteCode_dev]

Don't start your career as a contractor. Find a job first, even part time, if you can. Few people can get away with zero structure to shape them first.

[iudqnolq]

Interesting. I've got a monthlong holiday break and want to get some work experience in it. My expectation is that no one will want to go through the effort of hiring me for that. I don't need the money right now, I'm trying to create a history of having reliably done something for money that I can point to in the future.

For example, a project I bid on was offering $200 to implement an email signature with two columns and basic styling from an image spec. Since it looked trivial and interesting I spent two hours learning a DSL for emails (MJML) and making it and then submitted a bid with screenshots of it in a few email clients.

I'm not trying to get a job creating something of significant scale or significant duration right now.

[wiseleo]

Your first few projects are essentially to build credibility. Don’t try to make money. You are trying to level up. Think of it like playing an RPG. You start with easy quests designed for newbies with no experience and eventually unlock treasure.

What can you do that takes you no time and is in demand? I figured out how to something that takes 4 hours in 15 minutes and charge flat rate for it based on the original 4 hours. There is a handful of annoying errors other techs make that I instantly fix without sharing my secrets. ;)

Context: I have first refusal rights in my territory as a field tech on another site. I bill $5000+/mo in gross receivables. It didn’t happen overnight. I started by doing a few unprofitable tasks.

[iudqnolq]

Got it. Most of the projects I've seen are by people who want to bill hourly. Upwork provides some sort of "recommended" wage. How much would you discount that by? I'm afraid that if I'm too cheap even people looking for minimally skilled cheap coders won't want to hire me. Also, so far I'm zero replies for two proposals (a few hundred words each, not copy-pasted). Roughly what should I expect?

[wiseleo]

Don't know, but I would just apply until someone lets me work.

Your proposals are likely too long for easy stuff. Two paragraphs should be enough.

[iudqnolq]

Good to know.

[aliswe]

Your email?

[iudqnolq]

[redacted]