So Tuesday comes and maybe someone is ready to land in an office chair next to noisy colleagues and dream about how to stop working for an uncle and start living ... and become a freemason, so to speak. This will be discussed in this article. True, this time we will look at freelancing through the eyes of a person more distant from the IT industry.
Internet technologies are gradually and inexorably entering our lives, and judging by my top secret data, more and more engineers not directly related to the IT industry are becoming avid readers of Habr. Therefore, I decided to briefly share my little freelance experience, since the author of the article in his “hungry” youth hacked as a “web master of all trades”, then along the way I will make some comparison of the specifics of the activity and, of course, I will tell you what awaits novice engineers in the field of freelancing.
I don’t really like to write articles that don’t carry a reasonable, kind, eternal and I promise to write something related to science and technology in the near future, but for now, if a respected reader is interested in what it’s like to be a freelance design engineer, please under cat.
So, since there is no absolutely correct judgment in the world, so that you can imagine and try on yourself what I will talk about, here is the initial data.
"Given"
1) In the past, a self-taught Web Master with an "extravagant" concept of design and not very direct hands in terms of graphics processing, traded in the creation of turnkey sites, did something better, something worse, but as a rule, everything is very budgetary. Relevance of information 3-5 years ago. Then he sighed and gave up.2) Currently Engineer is a designer of low-current building security systems and, to a lesser extent, electricians.
In both cases, freelancing was not seen as the only source of income, but rather as a way to temporarily turn around or earn extra money.
Now let's move on to a direct description of the process and small comparisons.
"Hurry up, hurry up, buy kalachi..."
Where does a beginner freelancer start? Most likely, from a trip to the freelance exchange.
Our main domestic exchanges are those that have free and lance in their names, sometimes together, sometimes through a dash. And if an IT specialist, in addition to these exchanges, can still try his luck on smaller sites or even on sites from habr, then for a designer, proektanti.ru will close the top three at most, everything else is almost complete golyak.
So the first thing a novice freelance designer will have to face is a shortage of orders. By the way, if you don’t buy a premium account on the two exchanges mentioned above that have free and lance in their names, then you may not see orders at all, so be ready to invest right away. In my opinion, there is no premium account at all on the proektanti.ru exchange, but there you will most likely be overwhelmed by “hard guys” and it will also not be easy for a beginner to get a coveted order.
It should also be noted such a seasonal phenomenon as a blockage of students' sessions, then orders for term papers, diplomas, etc. appear on the market. Competition is lower here because students and their teachers are unpredictable people and self-respecting specialists usually do not consider this market.
"Do you remember how it all started"
I'll start with the commonality between IT and freelance engineering, even if you own at least the very basics of any specialization, still be prepared to feel like a guest worker. As shown by my practice and the practice of my friends. Confidence often comes gradually and at first people, perhaps even less qualified than you, but more hardened, will intercept orders from under your nose.
At the same time, open dumping will not be a guarantee that you will receive the project, it is likely that someone more confident in himself, albeit with large financial requests, will receive it. Thus, you will probably take on any job just to get a taste of the won tender. One of the most rough and more or less regularly appearing works is the digitization of drawings. Moreover, in view of the fact that both students and guys with a large portfolio do not disdain this work, it is likely that by the 17th minute from the moment the project was opened, 24 applications will be submitted. Here, in case of victory, it is quite appropriate to feel like a happy sperm. 
I don’t know how it is now, but from my experience, I can say that there are many more orders for website development, script writing, layout, promotion, content, program writing, consultations, and so on. Just checked now 02:41 Moscow time, one of the large freelance exchanges already has new orders in the WEB and IT areas, and there are more than 5 of them in each of the areas, not a single new order has appeared in engineering yet.
Separately, I want to note that I’m not talking about the fact that in the IT field orders are better or worse, there are a lot of bad orders everywhere, it’s just that there are more of them in IT than in engineering (even if we consider engineering + architecture in conjunction).
“I left only my card ...”
Portfolio. Oddly enough, I noticed that the portfolio is much less important for an engineer than for, for example, the same web master. I remember how every shitsite I was, and every little thing I carefully put into my portfolio, it was plump and brought me quantitative preferences. Apparently, after gaining some kind of critical mass, even if it was of low quality, the level of confidence in me increased.
But with engineering activities, it turned out to be enough for me to post a couple of screenshots of the specializations that I did, just so that people know that I do this. At the same time, from my own experience on the part of the customer, I’ll say that a couple of screenshots of drawings are also enough for me, and a person with a bunch of 3D pictures in his portfolio and a bunch of projects like “here I made a specification”, and “here I made a cable magazine” will not have significant preferences in front of a person who has only a couple of screenshots of thematic projects in his portfolio.
So, a happy moment has come when the first draft fell into your hands and you will immediately experience surprise: “How did it happen that I have been drawing some kind of heresy for 200 rubles for 8 hours, and in the end they still give me comments?”. And the worst thing is that if you buckle at some point, then the customer is not particularly scared, because there are few projects, and rough workers are a dime a dozen. And since it was ridiculous to ask for an advance of 100 rubles, you can even draw your 8 hours for free.
In general, a “man-sandwich” gets more for his work.
The same applies to other common specialties, for example, a low-voltage project costs more than digitization, because this is still an activity that requires some knowledge, but again there are many competitors and everything said above is successfully extrapolated.
Then I remembered only the first order, this does not mean that all your orders will not be profitable, it is quite possible to catch on to a good order, then get connections and generally no longer climb the exchange. It's just quite possible that it is the FIRST order that will be flawed in all respects, because there is a chance that you will want at least some order to gain confidence. And he really will be "any"
"And I'll go work as a locust"
In the last paragraph, we touched on the topic of specialization. I will say what I see purely in engineering (excluding architecture and structures). Hierarchy of prestige of honor and earnings, in ascending order.
In the comments, amarao also reminded me of electronics, there are not many orders for electronics on the above sites, they are usually either from students or from people with low incomes, so labor intensity is often higher than profitability.
1 Without specialization.
2. Help students, simple electronics
3. Weakness in terms of OPS, ACS, SCS, SVN, etc.
4. Engineering automation and fire extinguishing automation are also estimates for the SS
5. Electricity, electric lighting and air conditioning, as well as estimates for other sections (about the same place in the rating of the AR and the KR and metal structures).
6 Hydraulics (heating, water supply), geodesy.
7 Rare specializations such as RZA and TM and other projects of high complexity
This rating is made by eye, but in principle the alignment is really such that a good hydraulics will get more than a submachine gunner, and he will get more than a pure weak current. Moreover, electrics and hydraulics are quite in demand, so if you own them, you can safely try your luck at freelancing.
"Journey through the torments"
The main problems of freelancing in other areas are also relevant for the design of an engineer.
Inadequate customers, labor-intensive and low-paid projects, constantly emerging customer wishes, cancellations of projects that have been started or almost agreed upon, elementary scammers. Vaccinations are the same as for everyone: a clear TZ, advance payment, do not take on anything.
Another problem is the low return of customers.
If you wrote a code, a database, a website for a person, drew a logo, there is a chance that he will return to you simply because he is too lazy. Things are worse with an engineer in this regard, partly because most customers can master your activity on their own, for example, an electrician can get a well-executed project from you once and then replicate it from apartment to apartment, replacing machines and socket placement. Still, people who receive the logo will not be able to fix it beautifully later or receive the site will not be able to install the module for the CMS without burying everything for good much more.
Summary
In my opinion, freelancing in the field of engineering design is good only in two cases.If you are a super specialist and already have a certain client base, or if you consider freelancing as training before starting your own business Because without licenses and access to SROs, you will most likely be 2 or 3 or even 4 in the chain of intermediaries , respectively, funding will be minimal, and the number of people making demands will be significant.
Therefore, think the same simple draftsman or low-level specialist, how a freelancer can simply starve to death. In this case, working for an uncle will be much more profitable, and freelancing should be considered rather as a way to learn something and not get bored.
Just in case, once again I will say everything written above, this is only my experience and the experience of colleagues, other people may have a different experience. To be fair, I plant that after a large number Full of cones, freelancing has become a profitable hobby, but for the first 4 months it brought only moral and material losses, so I propose to think about whether it’s good where we are not and whether it’s worth dreaming about drawing schemes on beaches under palm trees.
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Letters from our readers
This article is devoted to one of the areas of modern freelancing - the design of construction projects. Since the article and the topic are trial in this direction, it will highlight the author's experience as a design engineer, the main problems that arise in the work, and the prospects for the development of this direction on freelance. Everything described in this article is solely the personal opinion of the author, which is based on the level of his competence in this area, and experience in the field of construction.
Nowadays, when a person hears about freelancing, first of all, such things as programming, administration, copyright, translations come to his mind - professions that are somehow connected with modern Internet and IT technologies. Author this article is not a freelancer in one of the above areas.
On the contrary, I would like to talk about one of the areas of freelancing, the volume of projects of which is not so high, but I believe that the prospects for growth and development of this area are very high.
In June 2012, I graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering with a degree in Information Systems and technologies in construction. He started his freelance career in the 5th year of university in 2011, when he entered a permanent job as an engineer in a company engaged in the design and installation of low-voltage systems in the construction of buildings and structures. From that moment on, my freelancing career began.
First steps in freelancing
The direction in design that I have chosen is low-current systems, which include fire alarm, fire automatics, warning and evacuation control systems in case of fire, fire extinguishing (gas, powder, water mist), burglar alarms and communication systems (structured cabling systems and telephone communication systems).
To begin with, freelancing was not a means of earning money for me, but a means of improving my skills and gaining additional experience. As resources for finding potential customers, I used the most popular sites on this topic: FL.ru, Freelance.ru, Avito, NN.HH.ru. The first orders and customers were financially of little interest, but from the point of view of a long-term perspective and gaining experience, they completely suited me. Naturally, I did not even think about large projects, but regular and additional work brought good experience and knowledge. One of my advantages was that I managed to find a balance between practice, that is, direct participation in the construction of facilities, and design, the bulk of which was freelance.
One of the main difficulties for a novice freelancer is always attracting the first customers and developing a customer base. My first clients were small construction organizations, in which there were no designers in my direction on a permanent basis, which in the future could give permanent orders.
During the first year, I managed to establish cooperation with 4-5 construction firms, who later began to contact me on an ongoing basis. I should note that for a novice freelancer who does not yet have sufficient professional experience, it is very important to show the most loyal attitude towards the customer (of course, within reasonable limits). In my work, I always stay in touch, I never charge extra for minor alterations, and I provide advice to construction workers.
I consider it very important at the first stage of work to sacrifice some financial ambitions for the sake of experience and entry into the profession.
Design and freelance. Is it compatible?
Unlike the IT industry, construction is a delicate topic. Mistakes in construction should not lead to consequences that in the future can bring great losses, both financial and humanitarian. Based on the foregoing, I draw only one conclusion that many mistakes during construction can be avoided at the design stage. Of course, freelancing design to a certain extent increases the likelihood of errors. In the foreground, I would like to highlight two parties: the customer and the contractor. On the part of the customer, it is important to build relationships with the contractor in such a way as to maximize the level of responsibility of the contractor.
The most common and easiest way is to build a payment system in which the contractor receives an advance payment to start work, and the balance is transferred only when the documentation, for example, passes all the necessary approvals (state examination project documentation, departmental expertise working documentation etc.). Another option for design quality control is to have an employee on the customer's staff who is able to supervise and oversee the design that a freelancer or a group of freelancers is doing. In my practice, both of the options I described have a place to be.
The option in which the customer simply orders the project and, without checking it, pays for all the work to the contractor at once, we do not consider, although this is also observed.
It is obvious that on the part of the freelancer, personal qualities come to the fore, driving the performer to perform his work qualitatively and responsibly, when not only the goals of earning are put in the foreground, but also the receipt of a high-quality and working project.
Also, one of the important causes of design errors is the abstract representation of designers about what they are developing. More specifically, the lion's share of designers never visit construction sites and do not take any part in the production process. But at the stage of construction of an object of any scale, issues related to the developed project regularly arise, and it is important for the designer to be directly involved in solving these issues. Participation of the designer in the production process construction works is the most invaluable practical experience, better than which it is difficult to think of. If it is definitely easier for a full-time designer to do this, then what about a freelance designer who has a permanent job and works only on weekends and evenings? Personally, I solved this problem like this. My main place of work is more related to the production of works, less to the design. That is, at my main place of work, I am a construction participant, although I also regularly have to develop projects. At the same time, as a freelancer, I have a constant flow of projects from completely different cities, to which, if necessary, I had to travel.
Thus, I consider the combination of practice (construction) and theory (design) to be the most optimal combination, in which the number of design errors can be minimized.
Answering the question about the compatibility of design and freelancing, I will answer that with a competent and responsible approach to work on the part of both the customer and the contractor, you can achieve results no less successful than having an ordinary designer on staff.
Work at present. conclusions
Currently, I have managed to achieve a constant flow of projects, about 2-3 projects per month on average. For 4.5 years of work, I have completed about 60 projects of various sizes and purposes, including industrial buildings. In the last 1.5 years, freelancing began to appear major projects, such as industrial enterprises, municipal facilities, etc. This fact indicates the desire of customers to work with freelance designers at large facilities, and the potential for freelance development in this direction.
I believe that freelancing as such is not and cannot be the reason for the low quality of design, I see the main reason for this problem as incorrect and unprofessional relationships between freelance designers and customers in the development of design and working documentation.
Lead Engineer for Low Current Systems construction company LLC "SK OSK"
