To maximize the time spent in front of the keyboard, it is best to learn useful keyboard shortcuts that can help you code faster.
Keyboard shortcuts are a powerful and underutilized tool that can help you save time and improve your productivity when using your computer. Whether you’re working on a document, browsing the web, or performing other tasks, keyboard shortcuts can help you perform actions more quickly and efficiently than using a mouse or touchpad.
Keyboard shortcuts: code efficiently, code faster
As a developer, you spend most of your day in front of the computer, and most of that time you spend in your favorite editor/IDE. Therefore, it is essential to be as efficient as possible with our favorite editor.
This is where keyboard shortcuts come in. Knowing the correct keyboard shortcuts for each situation will save you time and make programming more enjoyable.
Shortcuts are the most productive resource you can add to your developer repertoire and will help you over the course of your career.
Learning how to use the system and tools will improve your productivity and generally make it easier to manage all your windows and applications.
In addition to the time-saving benefits, keyboard shortcuts can also be beneficial for reducing strain on your hands and wrists. Instead of clicking through menus and using a mouse or touchpad, you can perform many actions using keyboard shortcuts, which can help reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries.
But when and where did the first shortcuts appear?
Also read our article about How To Code Well. Peter Fisher, freelance web developer and host of the popular “How To Code Well” podcast, discusses why he started teaching coding and some of the best career advice he has given.
First keyboard shortcuts
The first keyboard shortcuts appeared at Xerox in the 1970s and included functions such as cut, copy and paste.
However, David Bradley, an IBM engineer, was the creator of the iconic Control-Alt-Delete shortcut, which occurred in the early 1980s.
Bradley said it required only five minutes to devise the iconic combination, which became a hit among IBM employees and was then programmed into the original company PC.
How to determine keyboard shortcuts?
Behind every keyboard shortcut is a story, the purpose of which is always the same: to solve a problem or facilitate the execution of a function.
Therefore, the challenge for engineers is:
Make the shortcuts easy to remember
Make sure they make sense with existing keyboards
Develop combinations that do not trigger other shortcuts.
They must also take into account how often a shortcut is used. More frequently used shortcuts tend to include simpler key combinations (e.g., copy and paste). On the other hand, less frequently used shortcuts tend to include more keys (e.g., forced exit from an application).
Modern apps are initiating a new era of shortcuts
The use of shortcuts is one of the biggest trends in productivity software. Companies such as Notion, Superhuman , and Figma have created their own shortcuts to help users save time by dropping the mouse.
For those who are more of a do-it-yourselfer, you can always grab your keyboard. Both Mac OS and Windows allow users to create their own shortcuts.
Overall, keyboard shortcuts are an essential tool for anyone looking to work more efficiently and effectively on their computer. By taking the time to learn and use them, you can streamline your workflow, reduce the risk of injury, and improve your overall productivity. So next time you’re working on your computer, give some of these shortcuts a try and see how they can help you work smarter, not harder.
We have chosen to divide the keyboard shortcuts by type of task:
Basic Editing
Cursor Movements
Debug
Display
Editor Management
File Management
Generic Windows Shortcuts
IDE Shortcuts (VSCode)
Integrated Terminal
Multi-Cursor and Selection
Rich Languages Editing
Search and Replace
This way it is easier for you to check which shortcuts save you time based on your needs.
2024 has already started, and it’s time to take new resolutions to start the year off right. Have you already made your freelancers resolutions for the new year 2024?
If you haven’t already, don’t panic! We offer you 10 good resolutions for freelancers to increase your productivity in 2024. Because productive days are a first step towards the success and development of your activity as an independent consultant.
1. Train yourself to stay competitive and productive
The tools, techniques, software and needs of your customers are constantly evolving. In addition, every day, new productivity tools are emerging: CRM, planning management applications, databases, corporate social networks … The start of the year is therefore the ideal opportunity to start investing in your training. To stay competitive and stay ahead of your freelance competitors, but also to work better on a daily basis, invest in your training! As a freelance, training ultimately means investing in the most valuable resource in your business: yourself! To do this, there are free and certifying courses, online or at university, workshops, webinars, online moocs or offered by organizations or major schools …
2. Resolutions for freelancers: declutter your workspace
The change of year is the perfect time to clean up! Now is the time to free your workspace from all the clutter. Sort and file invoices, letters and other papers from the past year. Also remove anything that is unnecessary on your desk or that may distract you: figurines, keys, books, smartphones … Also sort your emails and digital files on your computer to see more clearly. Then make sure to keep your workspace clean, tidy and organized to have a clear mind and boost your productivity.
3. Anticipate your peaks of activity
In this new year, choose to plan ahead. In 2023, what were the periods of strong activity? Analyze your previous year to prepare in advance and anticipate the highlights of your business. The more prepared you are, and the more you anticipate, the more productive you will be! Also consider hiring other freelancers to help you out in these tense times. For example, you can delegate your tasks with low added value. In 2024, consider outsourcing the assignments that take your time, you will easily find other freelancers ready to take on these assignments for you. This resolution will undoubtedly increase your productivity!
4. Take breaks
Whatever your freelance activity and your workload, you need to take care of yourself: physically, mentally and emotionally. This is important for having a fulfilling and productive freelance life. Sedentary lifestyle at work by sitting at your desk every day can lead to many health problems, as well as reduced motivation. In 2024, you need to somehow add exercise to your daily routine. For example, you can go out every two hours to get some fresh air, walk, do some stretching exercises, and relax. You will find that by the time you get back to your desk, you will be more productive!
5. Resolutions for freelancers: work on your adaptability
With the health crisis, we have all learned more or less about adaptation. As a freelancer, your adaptability has been greatly strained, for example you may work at home one day and the next day be required to work in your client’s offices. Faced with this constantly changing environment, you need to be flexible and adaptable more than ever. In addition, your activity as a self-employed person requires a lot of flexibility. Particularly because you are required to practice in sometimes diametrically opposed worlds, which require a strong capacity for adaptation in order to meet the needs of your clients.
But how do you work on your ability to adapt? First, learn to step out of your comfort zone. Dare to respond to missions that go beyond your usual field. By going on new paths you will be able to evolve and grow your business more easily. Plus, remember, it’s never too late to improve your adaptability.
6. Set goals for the year
To get the year off to a good start, you need to think about what goals you want to set and achieve in 2024. Among the resolutions for freelancers, start to ask yourself the following questions:
Is it a certain number of missions to be carried out?
A certain number of clients to prospect?
A turnover to achieve?
Having personal goals will allow you to track your progress throughout the year. They should be seen as stages to be crossed in order to reach your final objective: the success of your activity.
To define a realistic action plan, use the SMART method (Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time).
Starting 2024 with clear and precise goals will give you a long-term vision. It is also a good source of motivation to boost yourself in times of blur or low motivation.
7. Check your emails and social networks less and better
As a freelancer, you have no boss and are free to organize your working days as you wish. But it also means that no one is there to control your productivity during working hours. However, we all know that distractions can quickly mar the day. By distractions we mean social networks and emails.
Although this is your work mailbox, stop checking it every 5 minutes. The same goes for your social media accounts, even if they are your work social networks.
Among the good resolutions of freelancers, choose to schedule a time during the day to check your social networks and emails. For example, choose a time slot in the morning before you start your work day, a time slot at noon after your lunch, and one in the evening before shutting down your computer.
8. Take care of your online reputation and develop your network
When you’re a freelancer, it’s almost impossible not to have an online presence. This is all the more important in these times of pandemic when all conventions and meeting places are closed. To increase your bottom line, you need to convince other customers to trust you. The best way to do this is to take care of your online reputation. Be sure to showcase an authentic image that looks like you. Develop your profile on LinkedIn, and ensure a quality presence on social networks by posting your own articles relevant to your activity which will highlight your skills. Also refine your presence on freelance recruitment platforms like Mindquest.io, with a fully completed profile, if you find it necessary, you can also create your website. Finally, for a perfect e-reputation, take care of your current customers! There is no better ambassador than a satisfied customer.
In addition to taking care of your e-reputation, maintain your network! Because that’s one of the most important things about being a freelancer. It is with word of mouth and your ability to bond with others that you will be able to land new assignments. You can join different groups on social media to interact with other freelancers and there are many events online that will allow you to meet new people.
9. Resolutions for freelancers: choose the missions that interest you
One of the main advantages of being self-employed is being able to choose your projects and missions. So why work on missions you don’t like?
For this New Year, only take on missions that are truly valuable to you. The more you like what you do, the more you will want to invest in it and the more productive you will be.
On the other hand, if you’re used to working with clients who always ask for more (without paying more), who don’t showcase your skills and stress you out, it’s time to change them. It is important that you find customers whose values are close to yours.
10. Learn to invest
Sometimes you have to spend some money to make more money! It may seem paradoxical, but have you ever counted the time lost on tasks that you do not master, such as web writing, community management, accounting, graphics, administrative management…? In some cases, calling on another more competent service provider and delegating the mission to them leaves you more time to devote to your customers or to the search for prospects.
Investing in your equipment is also part of the good resolutions of freelancers. If your hardware is failing and slowing you down, invest in better performing hardware. Sure, it’s a cost, but it will save you productivity in the short term. And more productivity means more profits.
In conclusion, stick to all the resolutions for freelancers we have put forward to you to ensure a much more productive year 2024!
Remote work is becoming increasingly common amongst IT pros. Here’s how you can benefit from this trend a from the comfort of your home or personal office.
Remote work is becoming increasingly common amongst IT pros. The way in which tech experts look for jobs and carry out missions was already changing before Covid-19 hit. IT freelancing was on the rise; With higher levels of remote work; slowly becoming an industry standard and the figure of the digital nomad gaining acceptance.
Now that digital transformation efforts have accelerated and companies have had to adapt their hiring strategies to a world in lockdown; remote work across countries and time zones is out in the mainstream. Regardless of country reopenings and a slow return to the office, remote work is here to stay. Here’s how you can benefit from this trend and what you should keep in mind when pursuing a new gig from the comfort of your home or personal office.
First of all, you need to pinpoint your target company type. The kind of company you will be applying for jobs at and that you will turn to support your remote work lifestyle. Whether that is as a freelancer or as a full-time employee.
For that, you need to make sure you are aiming for industries and organisations that have friendly policies towards remote hiring and working. Most big tech companies have fully shifted to remote work after the start of the outbreak. So they will be open to receiving applications and collaborating with fully remote employees. Other sectors of activity will be less prone to hire remote employees due to a lack of organisational readiness or the nature of the job to be done; jobs relating to IT infrastructure and cybersecurity tend to involve an on-site component because of its confidential and hands-on nature.
IT remote work: Make sure your environment and tools are ready
This one sounds rather obvious. But you would be surprised to learn how many IT projects encounter roadblocks along the way. Due to unforeseen technical limitations on the remote worker’s side of things. And we are not talking here about a stable internet connection.
Make sure you have analysed the project requirements and spoken with company stakeholders to understand the technical needs of the project. And also see if you should ask for extra equipment or services – think of cloud processing resources, networking equipment, etc.
The social component
Working remotely can make collaboration with other team members more difficult and requires you to put in some extra effort. The social component of remote working should not be overlooked, but you can follow a few easy steps to ensure you are properly connected with project stakeholders.
First and foremost, make sure you are conducting a proper onboarding. As with most things in life, setting a robust foundation is key. If the employer doesn’t have a fully fleshed out onboarding process, be proactive and put together all the questions you will need clarification on. Make sure you get acquainted with the rest of the team. Even if that means proposing quick one-on-one virtual chats to get to know them a bit.
Secondly, set up follow-ups and regular check-ins with your colleagues to keep track of the progress and let them know you are there and on top of things.
Maybe looking for a job remotely sounds good, but you would rather work on-site at least some of the time. Or maybe you are looking for a job remotely as a way of moving to another country. No problem. The IT jobs market has never been better for that.
Just make sure you are considering everything first, like immigration regulations and demands (visas, health insurance, etc.). Sometimes, working with a recruitment partner who has experience relocating IT experts is the best choice. They will help you figure out all the details so you can get started with your new life as soon and as easily as possible.
Peter Fisher, host of the popular How To Code Well podcast, discusses why he started teaching coding and some of the best career advice he has given.
Peter Fisher; freelance web developer and host of the popular “How To Code Well” podcast; discusses why he started teaching coding and some of the best career advice he has given.
I never actually wanted to be a programmer. I actually started off from an arts background. So I did a lot of graphics design and a lot of 3D animation. We did a lot of flash animation and action script coding, so the coding came alongside the multimedia stuff.
When I was at school, I was building small little websites for myself and friends just to post images on. And I found it interesting that one could build something with really small feedback loops. All you had to do was write some HTML code and refresh the page and you had something.
And then when I got my first job in a web development agency, I discovered very quickly that I wasn’t actually a graphics designer as more of a coder. So, I was able to transfer my passion for design to a passion for designing and architecture.
You are the host and teacher of How To Code Well. A podcast and learning hub around web development and pursuing a web developer career. How did this adventure start?
I never started How To Cope Well with the intention of building a business from it or being a creator. It was a purely accidental thing that I got into. I always started blogging when I started learning because that was my way of keeping note. But I was writing to myself rather than to others.
After I finished university, I was in this ocean of developers who’ve just come out of university, and they were all looking for the same jobs. I was speaking to a lot of recruitment agents, and one of them, off the cuff, said “I wish there was a way I could show our clients how well you can code.” This was like 2006-2007, so YouTube was just coming out. And I thought: “You know, that’s something people is starting to use more, so I will video myself doing some code.” It was a very selfish decision. It was never intended to teach anyone how to code, it was just to show how I coded, so I could have called it How Well I Code rather than How To Code Well.
But then you decided to focus on helping others. What changed?
At first, I did about four videos and posted the links up onto my CV, but I very much doubted that anybody would actually see those videos from a job perspective. So, I forgot about it for a few years and didn’t bother logging back into YouTube.
Then one of my family members wanted to post or share a video for other family members. And I just thought “Oh yeah, I’ve got this YouTube account.” So, I logged in and, after several years of it being dormant, I noticed that there was a ton of comments and questions and feedback which were all very positive. I thought this was something I could run with, and it went from the very selfish decision of promoting myself to helping people out. People on YouTube were asking if I knew how to do other things, how to use other programming languages, where the next part of the course was. The funny thing is that I never thought it was a course when I did it. The driving force of How To Code Well is its community.
What was the most challenging part of starting to produce educational content on a regular basis?
I was a junior dev working a full-time job with freelance work on the side, and I was now teaching people to code, so time was and is a thing that is against me.
I’ve got a very strict rule of not doing it during working hours, so it’s evenings and weekends, and over several years I’ve managed to keep that going. But there’s a lot of sacrifices one has to make. For instance, if I live code on YouTube on Tuesdays after work, my working day is prolonged, and my downtime is shorter. If I live code on Twitch on Sundays, my Sunday afternoons are out of the water. And there’s a lot of preparation that you have to do before you do that. You need to think about what it is that you’re going to code and talk about.
What about impostor syndrome. Do you experience it yourself? How do you address it?
Impostor syndrome is something that is definitely real, and with the podcast that came through accident as well. I started doing long-form content where I was touching upon subjects that I didn’t know much about. It got to a point where I was getting to the limits of my knowledge, and I just decided to bring people on the show to learn from them. It’s always a learning journey, always knowing where my limitations are.
With every course I build, I think that I’ve done the wrong thing, if I’ve said the wrong technical thing. You know, if I’ve pronounced an acronym wrong. You’re constantly doubting yourself. It does get easier because you get used to that feeling and you can have a little word with yourself and say “It’s fine. It’s okay, you can publish it.”
You’ll never truly know how the audience is going to react until you publish it. So, every doubt that you’ve got in your mind is just your doubts. It’s not the doubts of others. I think that’s how I get through it.
Speaking to people on the podcast who know about the subject matter, I do come away feeling like I know nothing. I know what they’ve said because I’ve understood what they said, but it just makes me aware of how little I know of web development, which is another reason why web development is so good, because there is so much to know and so much to learn, it’s endless. You’ll never learn everything.
In your experience, what makes a good web developer versus a great one?
From a technical standpoint, a good web developer knows the syntax and the processes. But a great developer understands the technical consequences of those processes and decisions, and they can lean upon past experiences.
Also, a great developer is highly professional. They know when to say no and they have justifications of why they’re going to say no. They have testing, they know how long things are going to take, they have some experience behind what they’re doing. They’ve seen it from inception to deployment, and they’ve gone through the whole bug fixing cycle. But really, I think what boils it down is experience. You can’t just learn to be a great developer, you must embrace it and experience it.
Based on what you have seen through your courses, what are most developers struggling with these days?
Not understanding core programming concepts is something that I see a lot, so knowing the framework but not understanding the core principles of the programming language behind that. Learning the concepts of programming is a transferable skill. I’m not just talking about learning JavaScript or learning PHP or Python. It’s learning the operators, the logical flows, learning what a function is versus what a class is. All of those things you can take with you to the next programming language.
What I see a lot is people diving into frameworks and then getting stuck when they move to another position or another job, or when that framework changes. They are comfortable in that world, but they’re not comfortable in the world outside of that framework.
What’s the best web developer career advice you have given?
First of all
Take breaks. Take more breaks than you think you need to. Your brain works offline, so even if you’re not physically at your machine, you’re thinking about the work. I think about the work when I wake up and when I go to bed. I never switch off in terms of thinking about the bugs that I need to fix or the logical flows, but because I’m not staring at a screen, I’m not getting stressed about it. I’m processing this information in my brain in the background. And, when you come back to the code, it’s easier to identify the issue that you are in.
The second one
The second one is to keep asking questions. Web development is super hard and it’s going to get harder. You think you know it now, but, in two years’ time, you’ll know two years’ worth of it, and then you’ll discover another two years that you don’t know. There’s more stuff in web development that I don’t know than there is that I do know, and I’ve been in it for a long, long time. Don’t beat yourself up and if you don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve, then ask someone. And, if you don’t understand what that person is saying, ask someone else, because perhaps that person hasn’t talked about the answer in a way that you can absorb. Maybe you are more of a visual learner. Maybe they can show you on a whiteboard or take you through the process. Throwing acronyms at someone isn’t a very useful thing, is it?
Lastly
Lastly, technology comes and goes. At university, I studied visual basic and action script. Well, action script is for Flash. Flash is never used. And visual basic, I just wouldn’t even know. I did well in that course, but I’ve never used it. What I’m trying to say is that technology comes and goes, and whatever you learn now probably won’t be the thing that you will be learning in 10 years’ time or doing in 10 years’ time. So, what you need to do is accept that and embrace change, but don’t embrace change every five minutes.
And the only thing would add is to just enjoy it. Don’t get too stressed with it all. It’s a very challenging thing, and I find that, the more I get stressed, the more I dislike it. So, once you find that you’re actually getting stressed and frustrated with something, take a breather, take a couple of hours. The code will still be there tomorrow, so take an evening off.
How To Code Well is a video podcast which is live on YouTube every Thursday at 20:00 BST. The audio version is released every Friday and is a week behind the live show. You can find it on iTunes, Spotify and most other podcast platforms.
You can follow How To Code Well through its website, on YouTube (Live every Tuesday @ 17:30 BST and Thursday @ 20:00 BST for the podcast) and on Twitch (live every Sunday @ 14:30 BST).
In the ultra-competitive IT job market of today, finding the right job is not as straightforward as one would wish. Understanding how it works is a must.
In the ultra-competitive IT jobs market, finding the right IT job is not as straightforward as one would wish. Things move fast, with top skills and technologies changing every few months and a constant stream of qualified IT candidates making it difficult to secure the best jobs out there.
But today’s complex environment is also one ripe with opportunities. Understanding how it works will help you achieve both your professional and personal goals.
Also, need advice on how to start or develop your freelance consulting business in tech or IT? Need to start a new permanent or freelance assignment? Join Mindquest and get support from our team of experts.
The growing IT talent gap
Technological advancement has its adverse consequences – skill obsolescence is a well-known side effect of progress. However, with new technologies emerging at a growing pace and changing the way businesses operate, the IT talent skills gap is rapidly widening.
Not surprisingly, most recruiters cite skills shortage as their top challenge. The lack of qualified candidates drives salaries up and empowers those professionals who possess the most desired skills. These candidates become increasingly hard to attract and retain, which, in turn, perpetuates the vicious cycle. That’s good news for tech experts.
Ironically, the same evolutionary speed that often makes IT professionals so valuable and sought-after can be their downfall if nothing is done in response. More so than in other professions, technology experts have the implicit duty to constantly renew themselves in order to remain competitive and grow their careers.
Emerging skills and niches
New technological and business breakthroughs are constantly updating the list of most desired skills and capabilities. While softer skills like communication and time management are life-long partners of success; technical knowledge needs to be periodically revisited and updated to keep up with enterprise trends. The rise of data science, the AI boom and the strong momentum of cloud computing are all setting the agenda for the most in-demand IT skills.
In addition, the pandemic has put the focus on business-related skills. With companies increasingly looking to hire IT professionals who also understand the business side of things and can coordinate better with the rest of the organisation.
The change of focus makes sense. As higher-level business and management skills can help a great deal in navigating change and identifying new opportunities. For IT professionals and technical profiles, making a lateral career move to become more business-savvy can prove very beneficial.
And is often a key part of the career plan of an IT freelancer. So what length of mission to choose between Short or Long Assignments for IT Freelancer?
One of the big advantages of working as a freelancer is flexibility. Flexibility in the choice of your schedule and yourplace of work. But also in the choice of your projects and the duration of your missions. Before to learn how to ensure a constant stream of work and how to advance your career, it’s necessary to know which assignments is the best for you. Short or long, the duration of an assignment is a determining factor in the choice of an assignment. And is often a key part of the career plan of an IT freelancer. So what length of mission to choose between Short or Long Assignments for IT Freelancer? What is a short or a long mission? What are the advantages and disadvantages of long and short assignments when you are an SAP consultant, a freelance web developer, or even a cybersecurity consultant?
Short or Long Assignments for IT Freelancer? Choosing a short assignment when you’re an IT freelancer
What is a short mission?
In the world of freelancing, we commonly call “short assignment” all assignments ranging from one day to 3 months of activity. However, in the field of technology and IT; where missions are on average longer than in other types of trades. We tend to consider as short missions all missions which duration is less than 6 months.
Particularly suited to professionals who have decided to go freelance; short assignments represent the ideal opportunity for a “beginner” freelancer to put their technical skills into practice. But also to expand their references and develop a significant capacity for adaptation.
What are the advantages of doing a short assignment for IT freelancer?
Short assignments are the opportunity for IT freelancers to string together different assignments for several clients in various industries. This heterogeneity of experiences is often favourable to the development of soft or interpersonal skills. And generally offers a rich educational environment.
For teleworking enthusiasts? Be aware that customers are more likely to offer you the opportunity to work remotely for short assignments.
In tech and IT, the duration of the assignment often depends on the area of expertise. And always falls within the time frame of the company’s needs. A consultant who participates in a two-year SAP migration project will a priori be more likely to be offered a long assignment. While a cybersecurity expert may intervene in the context of short assignments if it is to resolve temporary problems – although a holistic approach is often necessary and will result in longer assignments.
On the remuneration side, short assignments can be advantageous. Why? Quite simply because they often imply an urgent character. This will give you a better chance of getting a high ADR (Average Daily Rate). But who says short mission says more missions. You must be able to easily find projects or clients to avoid too long or too frequent intermission periods.
What are the downsides of short missions?
The main drawback of short assignments is the constant challenge of constantly having to look for a new assignment, thus requiring the regular renewal of your client portfolio.
This also translates into a very variable turnover. You must therefore expect to have to manage particularly irregular income.
Also note that short assignments do not favour integration into a team. If you have a strong need to belong to a group, chaining down short assignments can create loneliness and dissatisfaction in your day-to-day as an IT freelancer.
Short or Long Assignments for IT Freelancer? Choosing a long assignment
What is a long mission?
More and more companies are hiring freelancers for long IT projects. These long assignments last more than 6 months and can reach 24 months of activity with contract renewals.
Long assignments are generally entrusted to freelance consultants who have broad enough shoulders for hefty work.
Why favour long missions?
First of all, carrying out a long assignment ensures the IT freelancer has regular remuneration and medium-term visibility into their finances. Enough to take a weight off your shoulders.
In addition to this financial stability, this type of mission offers satisfaction to workers who favour work from A to Z on a project and who want full integration into an IT team – while retaining the freedom inherent to the freelance status.
Finally, long assignments can also be an opportunity to discover the work within an organization, to measure the possibility of a longer-term collaboration with permanent contract.
What are the limits of long missions for IT freelancer?
Long assignments anchor the independent consultant in a certain routine which can be compared to the status of a permanent employee.
The experience obtained on a long mission is also often less rich and diverse than that resulting from a multitude of longer missions. But they allow you to go deeper into projects and develop other types of skills.
So, what should you choose when you are an IT freelancer?
There is no one mission duration that is better than another. The duration of the assignment is an adjustable variable which depends on the motivations and personality of each IT freelancer.
Depending on your preferences in terms of types of projects, your ability to easily find assignments, and your appetite for a team configuration, you will prefer short or long assignments. And remember: nothing prevents you from alternating long and short missions.
The story I am about to tell you really happened to me. I changed some details for my clients’ privacy. Discover an unexpected freelance experience.
I am Lilian Alvarez, freelance iOS expert and manager of a training organisation specialising in supporting IT freelancers. The story I am about to tell you really happened to me. I have intentionally changed and left out some details out of respect for my clients’ privacy.Discover an unexpected freelance experience.
An unexpected freelance experience
It all started with a message on a professional networking platform.
Hello, Lilian.
We need a developer to update the version of a mobile application …
After a few messages were exchanged, I proposed a telephone meeting.
During the meeting, the person told me they ran a web agency. A few weeks before, they had inherited a project from another team, and they were having a lot of technical issues with it. They needed assistance.
So far, nothing surprising.
Right away, I offered to make an estimate of the cost of my services. To do this, I needed to analyse the source code.
And … That’s where things got tricky.
The person refused to share the project files with me.
That’s not odd by itself. Secrecy is vital for some companies (which I hear and respect). This is why I proposed signing a confidentiality agreement. But the person refused again.
I tried to explain myself better:
It’s like walking into the auto repair shops and saying, “My car won’t start anymore, how much will it cost me to fix it?”
That’s a difficult question to answer without first getting your hands dirty to identify the origin of the problem.
That’s when the person offered to come to my house after a full day of work. Because why not.
– This way, I can make sure that you are not making any copies of the source code.
– Uh, sorry?
Okay, I should have ended the discussion right there. But no.
Of an accommodating nature, I suggested meeting at a bar to assess the problem. The person accepted, only to end up cancelling 30 minutes before the appointment.
I learned a lesson from this experience. To say the least:
Not all leads that come to you are worth pursuing.
Spending 2 days doing pre-sales for a service that won’t last more than a week is just not worth it.
My advice
Beyond this little adventure, I would like to give you some advice on the 4 types of customers you should flee:
1. The torturer
They have been abusing providers ever since they read Steve Jobs’ biography.
They tend to change their mind about the colour of the connect button 45 times a day. Of course, they want these requests to be addressed immediately.
How to spot this kind of client? Their last 3 providers have disappeared without leaving any trace.
2. The bad payer
They refuse to pay any deposit before the start of the job.
3. The psychopath
They want to come to your home at 10 p.m. to watch you work. I speak knowingly…
4. The lawyer
They want you to sign a contract with penalties for non-compliance with delivery deadlines. In an of itself, this type of contract is not bad, and may well have its place in a client-freelancer relationship.
However, I must warn you: never sign such a document if you are dependent on resources and customer feedback to meet your deadlines.
And it can get worse. If the boundaries and deadlines of the project are blurry, this kind of commitment is the best way to end up working for free and under pressure.
Of course, it is possible to come across a serious customer who at first glance seems to fall into one of the categories mentioned above.
But, as I often tell participants of my training courses, a freelancer is not just a consultant. A freelancer is also the manager of a company. And a manager must work to do the best possible job while preparing for the worst.
And how about you, what’s your weirdest and unexpected freelance experience?
Before closing this web page, I invite you to follow my newsletter.
I regularly share advice on IT freelancing as well as my latest articles (one-click unsubscribe): ? https://bit.ly/3je2vvL ?
You can also explore my trainings and guidance for freelancers here: www.lilianalvarez.com (Eligible for financing)
To avoid ending up working with the bad type of client, you can also go through a partner such as Mindquest ?. Get access to the best jobs and benefit from personalised follow-up until the end of your contract. You focus on the project; they take care of the rest.
What are the best free software tools to organise you activity as an IT Pro? Better time management will allow you to increase your productivity...
What are the best free software tools to organise you activity as an IT Pro? We all have our own method to organise our daily and weekly tasks, but that doesn´t mean we shouldn´t be keep trying new things to see what we can improve. Better time management will allow you to increase your productivity, develop stronger relationships with your team and clients and even have some extra time to work on your career development strategy.
To make that easier, we have put together a list of free software tools in the hopes you discover at least one you are not yet using. If that’s not the case, you can take this list as validation of how good a job you are already doing. Wink. Wink.
Some of these tools are completely free, while others also offer several subscription tiers. Whether you are an independent contractor or part of a company’s IT department, they will help you build better and more robust projects, more effectively and in less time.
Does this one
really need an introduction? Well, maybe. Especially since Google recently went
and rebranded G in a move that surely confused many of us out there. Now known
as Google Workspace, the productivity suite is a whole world in and of itself. From
storage, to document collaboration, you will find in it everything you need to
carry out all your basic everyday tasks.
Even more
so since the rebrand, Gmail serves as the platform’s backbone, making it easy
to create an efficient workflow between your email, calendar and files.
Workspace also comes in handy when you need to share and work on documents with
clients or people external to your organisation. Google Sheets is great for
easily storing and sharing data sets.
Evernote is pretty much the only notebook you will ever need, and it’s free unless you want to use it in more than two devices at once.
It’s very intuitive and quick to use, and it allows you to share individual notebooks and notes with other people, anytime, anywhere. In addition, Evernote can integrate perfectly with other tools like Google Workspace and Slack, making it an ideal solution for collaboration.
You can include almost anything you want in your notes, from images and videos to PDF documents. Furthermore, the Evernote web clipper tool makes it possible to capture screenshots and ideas directly from the web. This information is saved in a note which includes a link to the original page. All your searches are saved in one place for easy access. You can also scan physical documents directly on the app.
To transfer your emails to Evernote, you only need to forward them to your
unique Evernote email address.
This
easy-to-use project management tool will inevitably improve your daily life. Juggling
between a thousand tasks is not, well — an easy task. No one enjoys forgetting
a deadline or wasting their time.
Trello allows you to create and manage to-do lists and set up reminders, so you don’t miss anything. What makes it particularly compelling is how simple and intuitive it is to use, letting you organise your activity without adding more work to your already packed workflow.
It’s advisable to use Trello in combination with another very practical and free tool: Toggl. This time-tracking tool allows you to have a precise idea of the time you spend on each task on a daily basis. The goal is not to waste too much time on tasks that require a disproportionate time investment and to manage your time better to improve your productivity.
Asana is a free tool that was originally created at Facebook to organise internal workflows. Compared to Trello, this project management tool loses the simplicity but offers endless customisation and deeper integration with existing workflows. It is particularly useful for collaborative projects.
You can assign and delegate tasks to collaborators and set the deadlines to meet. The whole team can easily see all pending and completed tasks in a single place. Everyone is then able to plan their time to their taste to meet the specified deadlines.
Calendly works
with your Outlook, Google, iCloud and Office 365 calendars, allowing you to
consolidate all your schedules into a single one for optimal management of your
time. It also allows you to precisely define “break” periods between several
meetings or projects, to create secret events, and to avoid certain meetings or
last-minute appointments.
But perhaps
the best thing about Calendly is its automated scheduling feature, which saves
you the time-consuming hassle of having to send back-and-forth emails to agree
to a time that works for both parties.
The tool is
perfect if you need to collaborate with people from other countries since it
automatically detects the time zone of your contacts for even smarter time
management.
Need advice on how to start or develop your freelance consulting business in tech or IT? Need to start a new permanent or freelance assignment? Join Mindquest and get support from our team of experts.
Discover our time management tips in remote for IT Professionals. Here are a few tips on how to achieve full efficiency while working remotely.
Discover our time management tips in remote for IT Professionals. Having independence in one’s work is a great thing for any driven professional who likes to take the initiative. But it is not all advantages.
Working independently lets you distribute your energy throughout the day as you see fit, giving you more flexibility to dedicate time to yourself and others. Yet all that schedule juggling requires solid time management skills.
Here are a few tips on how to achieve full efficiency while working remotely.
Time management tips in remote:
Start by building a comprehensive calendar
It is easy to get overflowed with daily activities and forget about the bigger picture. Especially for newcomers to the remote working life.
Outline all your tasks and upcoming deadlines and incorporate them into a comprehensive calendar. Plan your week and then look at each day, building a schedule that defines clear goals while allowing for some flexibility.
Spending 10 minutes at the start of each day to review your calendar will let you reassess priorities and adjust objectives. Your goals should be “smart”, that is, achievable without excesses. Sort priorities and categorize tasks.
You can use one of the myriads of free calendar apps out there or opt for the more traditional paper version. Whatever works best for you.
Make sure to put some time on your calendar to deal with all the administrative tasks we all love so much (invoicing, timesheets, reporting, etc…).
Prioritize the most important tasks
It is advisable to use the morning hours to carry out your most important tasks, namely the ones that will demand the most energy and attention from you. For most people, the morning is the time of day when their brain is most productive.
Starting with the more tedious tasks will make the rest of your day easier, leaving the less strenuous tasks for when your mind is tired.
Find an adequate place to work
You must be comfortable to deliver your best work. Your work environment should nurture your productivity and creativity while promoting general well-being.
Don’t forget that your body and mind need to rest periodically to remain at full capacity. Choose a work setting that allows you to take breaks throughout the day. An hour of work usually requires 10 minutes of break.
To manage your daily schedule in the best possible way, try using the Pomodoro, or ‘Tomato’ method — yes, Italian.
This technique is designed to help you split your working day by alternating breaks and intense concentration sprints.
The steps are pretty straightforward:
Focus your attention on a single task at a time
Set a timer to a fixed duration of 25 minutes
Work on that single task for the duration of the timer
Once the time has passed, take a break for 5 minutes
Start again from the beginning and, after the 4th repetition, take a longer break (15-30 minutes).
Plan for the unexpected
Your daily schedule will often be thrown off by unforeseen events that you will have to deal with. As Murphy’s law makes clear, nothing goes as planned. Here, reactivity is key. Allocate some time on your calendar for contingency management so that you are not caught off-guard by unexpected pitfalls.
The World Has Stopped — Your Career Doesn’t Need To. Well, we have a message for you — don’t surrender. There is still plenty you can do.
Yes, the world has stopped. We are living through scary and uncertain times. Millions of people find themselves stuck at home for the foreseeable future. While businesses across the globe scramble to move their operations online and stay afloat. In this climate of uncertainty, economists and global institutions are telling us to brace for the worst crisis since 2008; some say even worse. Workers are losing their jobs, and whole activity sectors are freezing new hires.
If you were in the middle of a job hunt when all this started, nobody would blame you for becoming discouraged by the current situation. Or perhaps your current IT projects have been put on hold and you are fear you might not be able to find new ones anytime soon.
Well, we have a message for you — don’t surrender. There is still plenty you can do.
Thriving amid adversity
At the same time that industries like commercial aviation are going through the darkest days of their history, other businesses are thriving. From entertainment platforms and social networks to online retail and videoconferencing services, some companies are simply very well-positioned to take advantage of our society’s sudden change of habits. Even too well-positioned in some cases.
Enterprise cloud companies are experiencing lag and connectivity issues, while streaming services have had to downgrade their video quality to cope with the traffic increase. Meantime retailers are hiring in mass to meet the demand for online shopping and home deliveries. You can focus your job search on those sectors that are thriving in the middle of this chaos. There are plenty.
You can also join the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19 by collaborating with the many technological initiatives now underway — from 3D-printed ventilators to AI and data modelling.
A global thirst for ITspecialists
The coronavirus outbreak has prompted a lot of companies to undergo light-speed digital transformation. Classes are going online, telemedicine is now a real thing, and you can visit museum exhibits through your laptop.
All of these organisations need skilled IT talent like yours. A recent study by London’s Imperial College suggests that, only in the UK alone, 48% of companies will prioritize technology hiring in the coming months.
Additionally, the soaring numbers of employees working remotely is accentuating an already existing problem: the cybersecurity skills shortage. If you have security experience or are thinking of obtaining some, now it’s the time.
The world has stopped: Gain new skills, take a closer look at your career
When was the last time you had so much time? Only the hours saved by not having to commute should be enough for you to benefit from the current situation.
Tons of free learning resources are available online these days, from coding bootcamps to university classes in all sorts of topics. Some eLearning portals like MasterClass have even started offering free courses for those at home because of to the pandemic. You can also develop your skills with a certain technology by using free official resources like openSAP or Microsoft Learn.
On the other hand, it’s not always that we get the chance to stop for a moment and re-evaluate our career’s direction while the world has stopped. Are you happy with what you currently do, or perhaps is it time to embrace other passions? Is there something you could do or improve on to advance your career?
