The Graduate's Guide To Finding Work In Open Source

by Sam Dean - May. 12, 2010Comments (3)

While the job market is improving, it's still a tough environment out there, especially for college graduates who have little experience on their resumes. As noted in this post,  it's also possible to graduate with a technology-related degree but not end up offering in-demand skills to employers. We've noted before, though, that open source skills are increasingly in demand in the job market and can be a great differentiator for job seekers. Here is an updated collection of ways that newly minted graduates can explore working opportunities in the open source arena.

TwitterJobSearch, Elance and many other sites are good places to look for open source work.  TwitterJobSearch yields lots of jobs for folks with open source skills in the development area, in particular. Try entering PHP or Drupal, for a start.If you have skills with open source programming languages, showcase them on Elance for freelance work. While you're at it, put a citation up for your open source skills on RentACoder.

Along similar lines, register on oDesk and get hired for jobs emphasizing your open source skills. The company connects global tech employers with people who have tech-related skills. Also, look for openings at Findatechjob.com. Look down the left rail for specific jobs emphasizing PHP, Unix and more.

Also, remember that you can showcase your skills here on OStatic. Just create an account, and follow the instructions down the right rail of our home page for how to fill out your profile and reach out to other open sourcers.



al lamb uses OStatic to support Open Source, ask and answer questions and stay informed. What about you?



3 Comments
 

As a matter of fact, it has always been difficult for those who have just graduated from college to get a job, or at least a good job related to their careers. And now, with the recession and difficult times, it is even more difficult.


I guess it is very positive to have all these new options to give those with no experience but a lot of knowledge to offer, the opportunity to find a proper job in which they can perform as expected.

Good article!


0 Votes

Hi, this is Nicole from Rent a Coder.


As suggested (thank you), everyone is welcome to sign up with our service and start bidding on a wide variety of jobs right away.


I'd like to point out a few differences between our service and services like Elance since those differences could influence your satisfaction and earnings.


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Cost:

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The more a site charges you, the less you have to put in your own pocket at paycheck time. Unlike Elance, Rent A Coder does not charge you a monthly subscription fee for any bidding or certification privileges.


1) Free and unlimited bidding and certification privileges

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Workers on Elance cannot place more than 3 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95/month for 20, $19.94/month for 40 or $39.95/month for 60). The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees.


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Working with a new buyer on Pay-for-Deliverables projects:

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The cheapest and easiest way to work with a buyer is to bill by the hour (called pay-for-time). However, a new buyer doesn't know yet that you're productive, and won't run up a huge bill with fluff hours. To help you establish that trust, both Elance and Rent A Coder let you work with them safely by bidding a fixed price for the final deliverables (called pay-for-deliverables). However, Elance's extra charges for arbitration may make it prohibitively expensive to exercise your rights.


2) Payment Guarantee

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If a buyer doesn't pay you for work you've properly delivered (fully completed by the deadline and up to industry-expected standards), then both sites will step in and pay you via arbitration. However Elance charges you $66-$133 to do this. This may also make it impractical to get paid on smaller projects. Rent A Coder, on the other hand, does this for free, so you never have to think twice about exercising this guarantee.


3) Arbitration

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On Elance a buyer can challenge you with an arbitration at any time. If they do, you must either choose to pay the non-refundable arbitration fee ($66-$133) or forfeit your money-back guarantee. Rent A Coder, on the other hand, never charges you to exercise your guarantee.


In addition, on Rent A Coder you can start arbitration immediately. A buyer intent on abusing the system can stall the start of arbitration on Elance for 21 business days and during this period your money is not available to you. During the first phase (dispute assistance), the buyer has up to 3 business days to respond, and can make this phase last up to 12 additional business days (15 business days total). After this, the arbitration phase 'begins', but does actually start because the buyer is given 3 business days to acknowledge the notice of arbitration, and the another 3 business days if they did not acknowledge the first notice. Only at this point is arbitration actually started. See the Elance contract for more information.


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Working with a buyer you know on Pay-for-Time projects:

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Once a buyer trusts that you won't bill them for unproductive hours, you can bill them by the hour (called pay-for-time). This has many advantages over pay-for-deliverables including cheaper fees, flexibility (you don't have to define all the requirements in advance to start working) and less risk (under-estimates are no longer your responsibility to bear). However Rent A Coder guarantees all hours worked, while Elance does not.


4) Guraranteed Payment

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Elance does not guarantee any hours until you've worked at least 80 hours. During this time you may find yourself working for free. Elance only guarantees to pay you for the first 40 hours you work in a week. If you are working longer hours to help a client, you may find yourself working for free. Rent a Coder guarantees payment for all hours worked.


For more details on the above see:

http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/DotNet/misc/CompetitorInformation/O...


To learn about additional differences (as well as compare the other 5 major sites), you can click here:

http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/DotNet/misc/CompetitorInformation/W...


If you have any questions, please let me know. You can also call in to talk to a facilitator 7 days a week, or email us (see http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/misc/Feedback.asp).


Nicole

www.rentacoder.com


1 Votes

Yes, really its helpful to lot of graduate aspirants. I am also one of the user of Odesk portal and earned good skills and experience.


Along with this, I think one should think beyond graduate (http://www.beyondbachelors.com) to groom his profile in right direction. No one is perfect or can say is master of all. Here need to think practically to achieve and progress in career through available sources and talent pool.


The only thing that sets a person apart from another in terms of achievement is the power of their goals and dedication in line of academic learning and work experience. Beyond graduate and odesk will go hand in hand if one use these generously.


Ostatic is the right platform to contribute the possess knowledge for coming generation.


0 Votes
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