Skills required to become a freelance engineer and how to improve them

1. 4 skills required to become a freelance engineer

While freelancers have a high degree of freedom in choosing a job and working style, they also require skills that are different from those of office workers.
Next, I will explain the four skills required for a freelance engineer.

1.1 IT skills (technical skills)

If you want to become a freelance engineer and get some compensation, you still need IT skills (technical skills) and practical experience.
The work style of a free engineer is ideal for those who want to work in their own way by making the best use of their own experience and aptitude, and those who want to acquire new skills through work and improve their skills.
The easiest way to convey your abilities as an engineer to the hiring company is your work experience. If you want to showcase your knowledge and abilities in the technique even if you do not have practical experience, it will be more convincing to have something that can be objectively shown, such as related qualifications and portfolios.

1.2 Self-management ability

Especially in home-based projects, it is possible that you will be lazy because you have no eyes around you.
From task management to handle a series of tasks up to delivery, self-management ability and self-management ability that can decide the schedule of the day and act by oneself are required.

Freelancers have a strong image of being relatively free, such as choosing a project and receiving an order, and choosing a place to work, but because they are free, they are responsible for everything from ordering to delivery. You need to be aware of it.

1.3 Sales force, bargaining power

Freelancers without the backing of a company need sales and bargaining power to appeal to their own human resources and acquire jobs . By acquiring the sales ability to convey one’s strengths to the other party and negotiating working conditions, in addition to acquiring projects, the range of jobs will expand and it will lead to an increase in annual income, and when looking for a job, when looking for a job, when I was a company employee It is also very useful when using personal connections and SNS, and when receiving referrals from acquaintances.

If you are looking for a support agent that handles a lot of freelance projects, you don’t need much sales force. If you have little experience as a freelance engineer and are not accustomed to it, or if you are not confident in sales, make good use of it.

There is also the merit of being able to introduce desired projects, negotiate with customers, and give advice on creating skill sheets.

The agent case introduction service is a service that you definitely want to use if you want to become a freelance engineer, but you are not confident in sales or you can not handle sales.

Find freelance job vacancies via agents that don’t require sales

1.4 Knowledge of tax returns and social insurance

If you are an office worker, you may not be very aware of the official procedures for social insurance. The tax to be paid is deducted from the monthly salary, and I think that the person in charge of the general affairs department etc. would have done the procedure separately after submitting the documents for the year-end adjustment.

However, if you become freelance, you will have to do all of these public procedures yourself, and you will need to know about annual tax returns and social insurance such as health insurance and national pension.

A tax return is a must for freelancers who have income above a certain level. If you use accounting software, you can create tax returns smoothly even if you do not have much knowledge of accounting (bookkeeping).
However, not only final tax returns but also the social insurance system may change depending on the year, so it is recommended that freelance engineers always keep an antenna so that they can keep up to date with the latest information.

2. Freelance engineer’s job type (project) and required skills

The types of work (projects) of freelance engineers are as follows.
The types of projects are divided into resident type and home-based type , and most of the freelance engineers are resident type. Here, I would like to briefly list the techniques that I would like to acquire by job type.

2.1 System development

As a system engineer or programmer, I am engaged in various system development from application development to business system, and most of the freelance SE development projects are resident type. There are a wide variety of programming languages ​​to use, including Java and C, as well as Ruby, Python and PHP.

2.2 Web engineer

There are web-related projects such as web application development, markup engineers who create web pages using HTML / CSS using HTML / CSS, web designers, and front engineers using JavaScript.
For those who can complete the work by themselves, there are also home-based projects. You may be required to submit a portfolio when applying.

2.3 Help desk

A help desk that responds to inquiries from employees and customers. Not only IT skills, but also familiarity with system specifications and communication skills are required.

2.4 Infrastructure engineer

We also have the duties of server engineers, infrastructure engineers, and network engineers who operate system infrastructure such as servers and databases. If you have English ability to manage configs and read technical books, your range of work will expand.

In the future, knowledge and experience of cloud and security such as AWS, Azure, and GCP will be indispensable.

As a company employee, the biggest attraction of freelance is that you can select a project that makes the best use of your own experience and strengths after gaining several years of work experience at the company and gaining skills and know-how .
However, there is not always the case you want. It is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of freelance and take measures.

3. How to improve the skills of freelance engineers

The IT industry is constantly in demand for new technologies. In order for freelance engineers to continue to win projects, they must strive to advance their careers and be greedy for acquiring skills. Here, I would like to introduce a specific skill improvement method as an engineer that our engineers also use on a daily basis.

3.1 Participate in study sessions, events and seminars

It is a method of participating in training and seminars for engineers using the SNS community such as Twitter and Facebook and resources for engineers.

Since a lot of information is posted on SNS, it seems easy to find a seminar that suits your interests, but since anyone can send it, the content is good or bad. It is also important to think that you will get enough information to increase the withdrawal of your skills.

3.1.1 Site where you can find study sessions and events for freelance engineers

・ Connpass

connpass is an IT study group support platform that connects engineers. You can check the study sessions held by region and month. Study sessions are held somewhere almost every day.

・ Supporters Colab

It is a service for beginners that young engineers claim to be a “technically connected” companion search service. We hold technical study sessions and meetups for young engineers almost every day. You can know the latest technology and development know-how of each company with a small number of people.

・ TECH PLAY

I wish I could easily find an interesting study session! It is a service born from the thought. TECH PLAY collects information on various technology-related events, study sessions, lectures, exchange meetings, conferences, seminars, etc.

3.2 Challenge high-level work

It is a method of improving your skills while challenging a job at a level higher than your own skill. Of course, when undertaking a project, it must be equivalent to skills, but by trying technologies that can be challenged in the field, “you can practice cutting-edge technology, improve your skills, and achieve results. It is a method of learning two birds with one stone.

For that purpose, it is also important to select a project that seems to improve your skills. Always keep an antenna on the latest technology.

3.3 Get the right information from books

The advantage of learning techniques from books is, above all, a reliable and credible method of information. As a recommended method, you can first obtain a wide range of information from technical magazines, etc., and then learn more about the techniques you are particularly interested in from technical books.

3.4 Introducing resources that engineers can use to improve their skills

Sharing knowledge and exchanging information between engineers is a shortcut for improving skills. Here are some resources that many engineers usually use to improve their skills.

4. Summary

We have described the skills that freelance engineers should know and the skills they want to acquire and how to improve their skills.
It can be said that the knowledge of self-management ability, sales ability / negotiation ability, final tax return / social insurance is an essential skill unique to a freelance engineer who is not so conscious of it if it is a company employee engineer.
If you want to become a freelance engineer, first of all, while thoroughly reviewing your current technical skills, understanding non-technical skills will lead to a successful freelance engineer.