Freelance coding

I might be moving to Taiwan in a few months to work a desk job. I can bring my own computer to this job and there will be lots of downtime, so I’ll be able to work on outside projects.

I currently work as a web developer in the US, and would like to continue doing this on the side. Since Taiwan is essentially diametrically opposite the US time-zone wise, it seems like that could be an advantage to finding contract work from US companies. I’d be open to projects outside of web development too (and from non-US clients).

I was wondering if anyone has done some freelance coding while in Taiwan, how’s it gone for them, and if there’s a good place in particular to look for such work.

I’m not a freelance coder but I know there are a number of online sites where you can find work. I do a lot of editing with clients I find from these sites. I get a lot of work off of Upwork but there are other sites.

Just use Google to find them, set up a profile and start looking for work.

Thanks Gilgmesh, I’ll check that site out and look around some too.

Looks like a bid war on Upwork. They all look so inexpensive; I bet they are disingenuous about how long it takes to complete the job. Business attorneys for US$75/hr? I hope that I am wrong. Maybe it is that much more competitive on a worldwide stage.

I tried advertising on upwork once but didn’t get much out of it. It may be different for what you do, but what I do (realtime/embedded) tends to be medium-term projects that results in physical hardware, and a professional company won’t want to farm the job out sight-unseen to a random guy on the other side of the planet.

Also, as noted, there’s always some guy in Bangladesh who will do the job for $3.

I’d just register with a local (US) employment agency - and tell them your plans. Monster.com might work too.

There are definitely people willing to work for cheap on Upwork but you can find some decent jobs there. I’ve seen profiles of coders who have made a lot of money. It does take time to build up a reputation and a client base.

There are also clients who want to pay next to nothing but there are decent clients as well.

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