DEV Community

Cover image for How To Make Money as a Software Developer
Joseph Mania
Joseph Mania

Posted on

How To Make Money as a Software Developer

As a developer, you just have to be smart. Remember, you are an engineer, able to find different ways to kill a rat. Be ready to try all the means to make ends meet. Trust me, there are more than enough opportunities outside there, but getting your first gig can be exhausting as bugs in the code. There are various ways you can make money, but they don’t apply to everyone. Find the best that works for you.

Developer Job
After mastering your skills well in a specific niche, let's say, backend developer, look for opportunities on LinkedIn. Also, the local industry might post vacancies, try and apply for most of them. Have faith and courage, you will secure a job. Daily we have new startups that need to employ technology. The field is wide, with vast opportunities to consume everyone.

Local Freelance
Get local clients who want to set up their business online. But make sure you agree on payment or shares before you start. I made a mistake, although I was still learning in my third-year campus. I had two clients, but I agreed to take shares rather than money. Truly, i regretted. So be sure to agree to the terms and build the model I bits as they pay you. It's risky to apply for one milestone. But depending on how you get clients, visit sites like MEETUP.COM to engage with local businesses and startups demanding your skills.

Upwork Freelance
This is one of the best worldwide freelancing sites. Open an account and type in the language that you have mastered well. If you are a new developer kindly choose intermediate jobs. It might be difficult during the first six months, but once you get positive reviews, opportunities will come in plenty. Don’t rush for jobs, call for experts, apply for jobs that you can perform. Jobs like building online stores may take you a few days or weeks. As you grow, you absorb more knowledge as you update your resume.

Tutoring
It's something that most people don't talk about. But if you are in the US, you have an added advantage. Having your knowledge and distributing it to beginners is the best way to learn. Teaching someone with zero experience is cool when you are just a beginner, let's say 1 year of coding. It's easier to relate with the newbie. This opportunity belongs to people who have empathy, caring heart with social skills.
• Ø WYZANT.COM has a lot of students seeking tutors. However, it is restricted to the US community only.
• Ø TAKELESSONS.COM also has more than a thousand people seeking knowledge. Mainly restricted to US citizens only.
• Ø PeoplePerHour.COM-This platform offers various jobs for everyone across the world.
Ø CodeMentor.io- If you have maximum experience, and you feel like you can challenge other developers, this is the site that can offerr 6-figure salary. It's mainly for more advanced people who have code for more than 5 years. Clients are also skilled and smart people. Remember, you are working with your peers and not non-technical people.

YouTube
This is like a bonus. Anything you learn daily, you understand it in different ways. You might decide to share your knowledge. Apart from that, we have developers who show on how to tackle some bugs and their videos are receiving millions of views. But with YouTube, you will have to be patient. Through persistence and consistency, you're going to make it.

Blogging
Just like YouTube, here you share your knowledge. You might decide to share a free open source code on the projects you have worked on. Focus on a specific niche and you will make it. When your blogs get popular with hacker rank and dev. to It's something awesome.

In conclusion, have an open mind. Diversify your skills and master using some tools. Be patient, learn daily, technology changes, and it's like a flowing river. Be updated and look for various ways that might increase your income. People outside there need your smart mind. Make strong connections on Twitter and linked. DM these managers from top companies. You never know where your luck comes from.

Top comments (0)