Drupal Job Board

PHP CoderSecuring projects in the Drupal freelance marketplace is a task in itself. You must be willing to work as hard at finding frelance jobs as you would at performing the technical project itself. And working hard not only means emailing out proposal after proposal. Securing a Drupal job, freelance or permanent, requires a precise methodolgy. You must develop a process for identifying your desires and talents, as well as implement a plan to secure the work. Regardless of your freelance background, you must be willing to add the roles of businessperson, marketing guru, salesperson, and financial whiz to your list of skills if you want to survive and thrive. Unfortunately, the majority of freelancers do not see themselves as business people but rather as web designers or programmers. They hit a brick wall when trying to secure projects because they have no plan for securing work other than applying. They struggle with the need to sell themselves and develop a plan of attack that will make the best use of their non-freelancing time.

This article will help you to think about your plan, but it is not a comprehensive guide to landing Drupal freelance work. Reading this article will not guarantee you work anymore than reading a book on Mother Theresa will guarantee you the ability for infinite compassion. However, it will steer you in the right direction and give you the tools to begin revamping your approach to freelancing.

Create a detailed profile and resume that highlight your skills. Working as an independent contractor means selling yourself. For the majority of people, this is the most difficult aspect of the freelance marketplace. However, without the ability to sell yourself as a product - the best product - you won't gain any ground in this industry.

When creating your profile and resume, remember that you don't have to give someone your life story and detail every job you had starting with the ice cream parlor attendant position you held in 10th grade. Since you are selling yourself, take the time to create a resume and profile that highlight your skills and accomplishments while, at the same time, being brief. Employers are busy people and generally spend five seconds on a resume or proposal before tossing it to the side. If something doesn't catch their eye within those five seconds, it's a safe bet you won't have another chance.

Spend the time and personalize each proposal to the employer's needs. Employers are not only looking for someone with the skill set they asked for, they are looking for someone who is in sync with their thoughts about the project. If you send a canned response that does not speak about their project or organization, you are sending the message that you don't care or have the time to communicate with them. This lack of time or caring issue will carry over to their impression of how you will handle the project. If you can't take the time to write a personal response, how will you manage the time to complete the project?

Indicate your desire to use a payment Escrow service. It is the safest way for both employers and professionals to transact.

Avoid communicating in the first person. Your resume and proposals are not meant to serve as an autobiography. Ultimately, employers are not interested in John Smith; they are interested in a PHP programmer with experience relative to their industry and a talent for communication across various groups. When writing any document for an audience other than yourself, avoid using the first person (I, me) and rephrase your accomplishments to reflect what you did to help XYZ company succeed in the Y2K challenge or how you managed to lower the IT Web budget by migrating from an outdated legacy system to Drupal.

Focus on quality over quantity. Though it is tempting to spam employers as you feel there may be nothing to lose, spamming not only takes it toll on you by making you work hard to send out proposal after proposal, it affects your approach as well. No one can proposal-spam successfully. Eventually, all spammers resort to dry, canned responses that are ignored by employers. This creates a lose-lose situation for both parties as you become frustrated from sending out hundreds of proposals and the employers become annoyed by receiving numerous bids that do not relate to their project. Focus on the positions that interest you the most and fit in with your skill set the best and hone your proposal to snap up those projects.

Develop a thick skin against rejections or the lack thereof. Securing work of any kind is a tough business. For every twenty or more proposals you send out, you may receive one response. Dealing with that type of rejection takes resilience and the more you have of it, the better off you will be in the independent contractor world.

Re-evaluate your approach often. Ask a friend or colleague to review your documents and your approach and give their honest opinion. Would they hire you? Though your resume and proposal text may have worked wonders last year, this year and its economy are a whole new ballgame. You need to take into consideration the changes in the marketplace and modify your attack plan to suit these changes. With the downturn in the economy resulting in fewer jobs and more applicants per job, the old "I'm your man/woman" approach likely won't work like it did in the past.

Post WebLinks or Porfolio/Solutions that detail your skills and showcase your work. Although employers can see your resume and proposal, allowing them to view previously-completed work will offer a view into your talents that is unmatched by pure text.

Be proactive in your marketing by seeking new contacts, avenues, and methods to showcase and discuss your skills. New companies and opportunities for freelancers pop up every day and it is your job to stay on top of these developments and use them to the best of your ability. That being said, evaluate the methods you are currently using against the return. If you realize that you spend the same amount of time on three freelance avenues, though you only receive work from one, you may wish to consider shifting the time spent on the first two to the third. Abandoning those opportunities altogether may not be the answer, however borrowing time from them may be. If you spend 30 percent of your time on three venues, borrow 15 percent from the non-returning venues to allow you to spend 60 percent of your time with the company that grants you the most work.

Although this should go without saying, make sure all your documents are free of spelling and grammatical errors. Though you may be a PHP programmer who could not care less about grammar, the person in human resources will likely perceive that as poor communication skills on your part. And, as time has shown, all people need communication skills to survive and do well in the job market.

Complete all projects assigned to you in the most professional and time-conscious manner. Good credentials and a well-developed track-record go a long way to securing future projects.

Ask clients you work with for referrals. Research has shown that 60 to 75 percent of the jobs filled today are filled through referrals. People are comfortable when dealing with those they know. If an employer is looking for a marketing analyst but doesn't know anyone personally, he is likely to consider a referral from a colleague a great deal more than a blind submission.

As a professional in the Drupal freelance marketplace, you have to arm yourself with the information and tools needed to achieve success. By approaching job searching in the same way you would approach a hunt, with hunger and a cache of tools to achieve the end goal, your success is guaranteed.