Finding ad-hoc/ part-time jobs - suggestions?

[leo938]

Hello all,

Has anyone had much success with side gigs using freelancer/ upwork/ fiverr?

I'm interested in working on embedded Linux/ GUI/ Yocto projects as a sideline but rates on a lot of the jobs seem to make it not worthwhile (i.e. less than $15/hr) or there are significant number of bids making it hard to get started. I'm no expert in these areas but persistent enough to see jobs through.

Any suggestions appreciated!

 

[Georgy.Moshkin]

I do not recommend those for engineering jobs. There are exceptions, but you do not want to learn from ones who won the lottery. You can't easily do high quality satisfying engineering on those platforms, need to pop out something that barely works. This means that you need to be pretty novice to get any measurable satisfaction and drive from those activities. And if you start to aim for any decent level, you probably end up working for 1 USD per hour You can try harder to search through all those projects, but at some point, it's like trying to become a perfect secretary. Alternative is to start your own business, which means registering company and bank account, payment processing, getting tax consultant, and letting people know your offerings and how much does it cost. And do not limit yourself to "embedded Linux/ GUI/ Yocto", try more ideas.

edit: a little harsh answer, so I thought it would be nice to make more optimistic and smooth statement. I think you can earn amount that makes sense, but need to consider all the projects, not only linux/gui stuff. Or you need to make more people to know you and your services. Those platforms provide only a tiny fraction of what's going on worldwide, although very condensed.

[RJSV]

Right now, I'm doing PET SITTING, right close by, across the street, almost.  Pay can be nice, but not when starting out...and if doing any 'dog walking' service it's nice to obtain liability insurance.  This time the gig is going on a year, come July, (yippie).
That side job has PAID for one whole month of rent, not too shabby.  (Of course it's not engineering, but I'm relatively free to study other 'Job ADs' while the neighbor's pets slumber nearby.)

   Learned a lot, about being a self-conscious, upright 'employee', not causing trouble, and customer focussed, puts me above a lot of other, disrespectful service providers, (who express open contempt for the paying customer).  Puppies or not, it's still a beneficial, easy side job.

[leo938]

After some examination of these sites it appears hard to get 'traction' starting off. Without a work history you don't get work, a bit of a catch 22. I suspect some 'gaming' of the sites occurs where freelancers hire themselves, get (obviously) great reviews & become more visible.

If not these sites then trying to advertise through ones own website?

Either way significant upfront effort is required to get 'noticed'.

[Georgy.Moshkin]

You can easily find at least one project and try. Some projects resubmitted for several months, because nobody done the job. Try to apply and see for yourself how much time would it take to finish the job, then decide your next step.

[RoGeorge]

My advice would be to stay away from any "freelancer" bids.  Even if you somehow manage to find a worthy project there, never write freelancer in your CV.  Write only the project theme, but avoid the word 'freelancer', it is associated with bad reputation.

For an extra money, you may find more interesting making graduation projects for students.  Often their professor allows students to pick their own theme, so you can work on projects that you wish and like the most.