What are some of the ways that you have managed to transition into a new technology as a freelancer? I am currently working as a freelance business intelligence and analytics architect with 10+ years experience delivering data warehouse and analytics solutions, predominantly using Microsoft technology.<p>I am currently trying to find a way to transition into data engineering and more data science oriented roles. I am doing a lot of self study and proof of concepts for clients where the opportunity arise. However most companies would only offer an opportunity to transition into such a new role if you join them as a permanent staff member.<p>How have you managed to stay a contractor / freelancer while changing technology and discipline during your career?
I am a backend developer, I had an opportunity to be a contractor for a frontend angular project (which I never had played with before).<p>I basically thought I could do it and then did it. I spent around 160h in the project even tho I only billed 80h. So I basically worked "for free" half of the time but that was me "paying myself" in knowledge.
I set aside about two months every year to pick up new technology.<p>I'm 26, have no mouths to feed, and no debt. Losing two months of income in return for better work prospects is not a big deal to me.<p>I start by building a small project using whatever bit of technology I'm learning, put it up on GitHub, write a blog post or two about it, and do a show and tell at a local tech meetup or conference. This results in a bunch of leads that I can then choose from.<p>My process works fine for skills that don't take much time to learn, or are in the same lane as what I already do. E.g, going from Angular to React or Python+Django to Node+Express.<p>However, if I were to move to a completely different field I might have to take a different approach. I haven't done it so I have no experiences to share. I imagine I'd have to take out a bigger chunk of time, perhaps ask somebody from my desired field to mentor me.