Hey all,<p>I am a college freshman and my summer break (80 days) is coming up in a few days. Wanted to do something productive. (Couldn't get an internship).<p>I have the prerequisite HTML/CSS/JS + one back end lang. (Ruby + RoR) skills.<p>Also since I've got 80 days of free time, would it be better to invest this time in, say, getting a high score on TopCoder?
Getting a high score on TopCoder does not get you any closer to landing a consulting client. Instead, you should contact people who have budget and business problems, and convince them that giving you money solves business problems. This will easily sail over $500 to $1k per month. (I don't know what I'd charge in your position, but I'd be opening with "more than you can even conceive of asking for." Wait until you get "NO WAY" from 5 people before you walk down rates. I predict the present economy is unable to count to five.)<p>This assumes that your level of Rails skill is sufficient to solve business problems, but out of the universe of all possible problems, many of them are tractable for the same level of skill as required to successfully complete the Rails Build A Blog In 15 Minutes tutorial.
Get a database of small web dev agencies (companies that have around 2-3 people at the most) and offer subcontracting position. You are likely to get at least one or two positive responses if you write to hundred such companies. That should easily help you sail over $500 a month.
Hi vshan,
Incidentally, I am looking forward to build a Webapp and exploring the options. Let me know if you are interested to take up the project, we shall discuss more (please share your email id)
Get a github account, write some code and put it up there. Create a blog and share what you're coding. Then when you contact agencies you can point them to a representative of your work.
Word of mouth is the best way to start, and how I started. Honestly, Facebook Groups and local pages are awesome for this. Just post a casual ad with your email address. That should bringing you in enough jobs to easily make that amount of money.<p>Just out of curiosity, where are you located?