Real vs freelance jobs (was Re: [thelist] Job Change Question)

jon at daemon.com.au jon at daemon.com.au
Fri Oct 25 02:37:01 CDT 2002


>    While one of my best works is a portal for which I wrote all the
> code (backend, frontend) and deal with systems and database manage (all
> but design), when I talk to employers, they center all their attention in
> my 'real' works. I cannot give the importance to this portal. They seems
> only interested in real jobs (start, end, company, what to do in that
> company).

You need to provide a commercial context for any 'self employed' work.
Anything done as a personal hobby, eg: your own website, is only useful as
an example of your work. You can supply copies of the code and design
documents as examples of your ability to do various things.
I personally have very little personal stuff that is worth presenting, and
all of my commercial code is protrected under confidentiality agreements.

Employers want to see your ability to work in group environments, dealing
with externally imposed methodologies, meeting deadlines, etc. Anything you
do for yourself usually doesnt have these sort of things to deal with. If
it does then you need to rephrase what you were doing to make it serious.

Jon.



More information about the thelist mailing list