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Ask HN: Becoming a Freelancer in 6 months?

Hey All,

Bit of an odd, specific question here, but I think it brings up an interesting discussion, so here goes -

If I have 6 months to get my web development skills to a level where I can be paid $35+/hour freelancing, what's the best way to go about it?

Now a couple things I want to mention to help keep the question clear: the timeline is somewhat arbitrary (give or take a few months), but for personal reasons I'd like to be able to quite my current job and move home for at least a year, while still being able to make some money (hence the freelancing). Also, I do have beginner/intermediate level experience with HTML, CSS, Java and C++, but nothing that anyone would pay for right now.

So, with all that being said, what's the best way to go about positioning myself to make money as a freelancer in the very near future? Is it possible in that timeline? What language(s) should be focused on, and where/how should I learn? And what projects should I do to prove to someone that I'm worth hiring?

Edit: One other note, learning to code at a high level is something I've been wanting to do for a while, so this isn't just a 'one year and done plan.' After my hypothetical sabbatical, I'd like to join a start-up as an engineer and use the programming skills I've acquired. Anyway, thank you for the help. I'm interested to see the responses.

106 points olso4052 13 years ago 64 comments

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