How viable is it to a find a job as a front-end web developer as a freelancer in the current market?

The real short answer here is that it’s extremely viable!

The first question to ask is what is a front-end web developer and the skills needed for one.

Without getting into the weeds too much here, the main role of a front-end web developer is to get the visual elements to actually work on the website. Essentially to turn the design into functional elements.

You’ll need a skillset of HTML, CSS, Javascript, some design skills, knowledge of the capabilities of current browsers, and other frameworks to just start out.

I’m not going to say it’s going to be an easy road because there are plenty of front-end developers out there, but there are plenty of jobs to be done as well.

Before jumping to the job boards

Sure you can go onto job boards like Upwork and such, but I have never had to do that in my career.

Plus I don’t know about you, but I’m not to fond of someone taking a big bite from my bottom line just because they made a connection for me.

Don’t get me wrong, finder’s fees are warranted. I’m just not comfortable in having someone else control the flow of money into my business and handling all the communication I have with clients.

So before going to job boards, I would look around at these 3 place first

1. CHECK OUT Hacker News

Every single month they have a thread there that has businesses looking for freelancers to do projects and you can post that you are available for projects.

Hacker News is a community that’s full of folks building businesses and what do businesses need? Websites, folks to handle parts of building those websites.

2. Look in communities where you can find startups

There are a plethora of business communities out there that have founders looking to launch their next thing. Making some connections in and around those communities is a way to land a few projects.

With all the various Javascript frameworks like React, Angular, jQuery, Node, etc if you have one or more of those skills, it should be easy to find a community, if you aren’t in one already based on that where other people may be looking to partner up on projects.

3. Goto a local meet up

Meetup.com is an awesome place to find local business owners who meet with other like-minded people. Making some local connections in those events can be a gold mine.

Especially if you live in a large city, you can easily attend a meetup that has 35-70 people and find someone (or 3) who is looking for help on a project.

Yes, there’s a lot of competition out there in the space, but with a tiny bit of hustle and being a little creative in where you can find work, you’ll soon realize that being a front-end web developer is definitely viable.

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