Freelancing, Remote Working or Both - PyCon Zimbabwe 2016

PyCon Zimbabwe Talk

Transcript

1. FREELANCE, REMOTE WORKING OR BOTH Anna Makarudze PyCon Zimbabwe 2016 Talk 25 November 2016
2. AIMS OF MY TALK • Present possible opportunities of employment to software developers in Zimbabwe • Freelance Work • Remote Working • A Combination of Both • Explain the how-to for each • Benefits of each
3. WHY CONSIDER FREELANCE OR REMOTE WORKING? Zimbabwe currently has over 90% unemployment rate
4. WHY CONSIDER FREELANCE OR REMOTE WORKING? Python is relatively new in Zimbabwe hence fewer Python jobs locally.
5. WHY CONSIDER FREELANCE OR REMOTE WORKING? Everywhere else in the world there are more Python jobs than developers.
6. WHY CONSIDER FREELANCE OR REMOTE WORKING? We are really in high demand everywhere in the world except here!
7. WHY CONSIDER FREELANCE OR REMOTE WORKING? Both the developer and the host country benefit from remote working.
8. WHAT IS A FREELANCER? •A person who is self-employed and is not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term.
9. GETTING JOBS AS A FREELANCER? •Look for jobs online and offline yourself. •Get jobs through referrals.
10. SKILLS REQUIRED Basic project planning and management.
11. SKILLS REQUIRED Problem solving skills – think outside the box.
12. SKILLS REQUIRED Presentation skills.
13. SKILLS REQUIRED Report writing skills.
14. SKILLS REQUIRED Documentation skills.
15. SKILLS REQUIRED Training skills.
16. SKILLS REQUIRED Book-keeping skills.
17. SKILLS REQUIRED Knowledge of Git or any other online collaboration technologies.
18. SKILLS REQUIRED Time management.
19. SKILLS REQUIRED Discipline even when no one is watching.
20. REMOTE WORKING •A situation in which an employee works mainly from home and communicates with the company by email, telephone and/or instant messaging (IM). •Work is completed in an environment other than the employer’s workplace.
21. SKILLS REQUIRED Experience in freelance work – evidence you are able to work under minimum or no supervision
22. GETTING STARTED Programming skills.
23. GETTING STARTED Database backends – SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL
24. REQUIREMENTS •An office – somewhere to work from, e.g. home office or rented space
25. REQUIREMENTS •Own hardware – laptop, desktop to use as development machine.
26. REQUIREMENTS Reliable internet connectivity
27. REQUIREMENTS Website – personal or company
28. REQUIREMENTS GitHub (BitBucket, or similar)
29. REQUIREMENTS LinkedIn profile
30. REQUIREMENTS StackOverflow account
31. REQUIREMENTS Knowledge of Git or any other online collaboration technologies.
32. FREELANCE JOBS WEBSITES Tunga www.tunga.io
33. FREELANCE JOBS WEBSITES Upwork www.upwork.com/o/jobs/browse/skill/ django-framework/
34. FREELANCE JOBS WEBSITES Freelancer www.freelancer.com/jobs/Django/
35. FREELANCE JOBS WEBSITES DjangoGigs www.djangogigs.com
36. FREELANCE JOBS WEBSITES People Per Hour www.peopleperhour.com/freelance/d jango+developer
37. FREELANCE JOBS WEBSITES Guru http://www.guru.com/d/freelancers/q /python/
38. FREELANCE JOBS WEBSITES DjangoJobs www.djangojobs.net
39. REMOTE JOBS WEBSITES The PSF www.python.org/jobs
40. REMOTE JOBS WEBSITES StackOverflow www.stackoverflow.com/jobs
41. REMOTE JOBS WEBSITES HackerRank www.hackerrank.com/jobs
42. REMOTE JOBS WEBSITES CodeHire www.codehire.com
43. REMOTE JOBS WEBSITES Linkedin www.linkedin.com/jobs
44. REMOTE JOBS WEBSITES DjangoJobs www.djangojobs.net
45. REMOTE JOBS WEBSITES OfferZen www.offerzen.com
46. REMOTE JOBS WEBSITES Hired www.hired.com
47. REMOTE JOBS WEBSITES Indeed www.indeed.com
48. BUILDING YOUR PROFILE Work Experience – years in software development (not necessarily Python).
49. BUILDING YOUR PROFILE Skills you have – especially Python Libraries.
50. BUILDING YOUR PROFILE Projects/accomplishments
51. BUILDING YOUR PROFILE GitHub and/or BitBucket, StackOverflow and Linkedin accounts
52. BUILDING YOUR PROFILE Personal Website
53. APPLY FOR JOBS Use your profile on the placement website to apply for jobs.
54. APPLY FOR JOBS Other companies may require you to apply by email or via their own company website.
55. APPLY FOR JOBS Cover letter may be needed sometimes.
56. INTERVIEWING First stage – Technical Interview
57. INTERVIEWING Be prepared to respond to technical programming questions to demonstrate your capabilities.
58. INTERVIEWING You will only proceed to the next stage of the interview process after passing technical interview.
59. INTERVIEWING Research more on the company before the technical interview!
60. WORKING Be professional always.
61. WORKING Meet deadlines. Always be time- conscious!
62. WORKING Communicate with your clients/employer regularly.
63. WORKING Continuously give updates and communicate challenges.
64. WORKING Where necessary, advise on best practices.
65. MERITS - FREELANCE •Flexibility – you determine the working hours.
66. MERITS - FREELANCE •You draw up your own job description. •Traveling time – when you don’t have pressing projects.
67. DEMERITS - FREELANCE •May be difficult to get projects on your own. •Getting help with code – you have to rely on the community.
68. MERITS - REMOTE •No need for relocation. •Your host country’s economy benefits from taxes.
69. DEMERITS - REMOTE • Removes human-touch that is experienced between co-workers. • Getting help from colleagues on projects may be complicated if your time zones are different. • Requires someone who can work alone without walking over to the next person’s desk every 20 mins.
70. FREELANCE OR REMOTE WORKING OR BOTH? Freelance Developer Remote Developer Freelance/ Remote Developer
71. QUESTIONS Questions Comments Feedback
72. END OF PRESENTATION A big THANK YOU!!!