I'm a webdev in the midst of a work dryspell although I anticipate having plenty of work in 2mos or so. Im wondering what resources are out there for finding shorter term project work in the 1-3 mos time frame. My interests are Python, Django, Server side JS.
As someone in a similar position, I can offer a few tips.<p>First, realize that the search process is totally different from a job hunt. Good tech companies hire for <i>talent</i>, not skills. However, developing talent into something comercially useful isn't a short-term proposition. Unless you have extensive project management experience/have shipped several impressive things, your best bet is to become expert at a particular skill/tool, and sell that expertise, than being a good "back-end developer".<p>You need to get comfortable around non-techies. This means: explaining how your contribution reduces expenses/increases revenue, realizing the client often doesn't know, or frankly give a damn about the technical merits of the project ("python? you mean, like, the snake?"), and that you'll have to network a lot with non-technical people. Tech people might be a source of referrals, but most of them default to "building" vs "buying" (paying you) to get the job done.<p>Get off the internet. Seriously. Business-to-business commerce is still very telephone, referral, and relationship-driven. Elands, craigslist, etc. puts you head-to-head against undeniable idiots, offshore guys whose cost of living is about 1/10th that of oakland
I'd stay away from elance and other similar sites if I were you. Focus on getting your name out there as a freelancer in certain niche communities (Django, for instance) rather than competing mostly on price for any kind of work.
Great suggestions, thanks everyone! Ill give those a shot (esp. the area specific ones such as djangogigs.com) and report what worked and didn't work for me.
Various websites exist to connect project creators and programmers. You'll pick up work if you dig around.<p>www.elance.com (better fixed jobs)
www.vworker.com (better by the hour)
www.ifreelance.com (don't know it well)
www.scriptlance.com (smaller?)
I've had some good luck with <a href="http://jobs.freelanceswitch.com" rel="nofollow">http://jobs.freelanceswitch.com</a>. It requires a subscription (< $10/month) and you can cancel and re-subscribe at will.
This thread is really inspiring. I havent found anything yet (only posted this morning :) but Im feeling confident that something cool will turn up out of all of the linked resources. The craigslist gigs idea seems like it has potential. For some reason I never considered it.
I'm currently working on a project devoted to hooking up devs and developers based on projects that they want to work on - what sort of work are you looking for? Have an academic interest in what sort of criteria you're using to choose what to work on.
<a href="http://jobs.plasis.co.uk" rel="nofollow">http://jobs.plasis.co.uk</a> aggregates freelance jobs from 9 different job boards. programmermeetdesigner.com is also good.
These fine folks give $1,000 for small projects on a monthly basis: <a href="http://awesomefoundation.org" rel="nofollow">http://awesomefoundation.org</a>