Start your career as a Freelance Tester

Nowadays, most people choose freelancing instead of office jobs. They much depend on the idea of a flexible schedule, high incomes, and more independence. But this kind of work will not suit everybody and has its own peculiarities.

Why freelancE as a career?

When you are working with your usual 9-5 job you will be always limited to company restrictions, you will be paid with a fixed salary, routine working hours, and moreover similar tasks. All your work will be decided by the management and higher authority. But freelancing will be suitable for people who are not afraid of risk and new challenges, and willing to take full responsibility for the work they do.

Freelancing is spread across the globe and most of the people are likely to become a freelancer. According to research most of the freelancers are from Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Around the world, 77% of freelancers are men and 23% are women and the average age of the people working varies from 30-39 years old.

As a freelance tester provides opportunities to:

1. Experiment and choose yourself on different projects and industries
2. Manage toward work and studies
3. Opportunity to learn new tools and technologies
4. Direct communication with customers
5. Gain wide professional experience
6. Experience to work on different projects simultaneously
7. Manage and plan your personal time accordingly
8. Test your own potential, skills, and interest towards job

What kind of skills and experience do I require?

As a freelance tester first you should have self-confidence and strong self-motivation. Most of the people will consider the freelancing as an additional income and will not take it seriously. Those people will be finding difficulty in searching for a customer and as well as dealing with a difficult task.

For a freelancer, its must to hold a bachelor degree in the field of computer science and a certificate in the relevant testing will be an added advantage for the customers to pick you.

Communication will be a major part for a freelance tester even though you are highly skilled in testing and doesn’t know how to showcase and explain your product to your client will become a negative impact.

How to find a suitable Customer?

There are a lot of online marketplaces where you can find your suitable customers. The most face platform to find the customer is Upwork, Truelancer, and Freelancer.

Nearly 70% of freelance workers used to find projects via online marketplaces, there are also other options available. Among them, the social networks (LinkedIn), recruitment teams, professional networking sites and much more are the best platforms.

In the beginning stage, it will be difficult to find customers and establish long-term relations. But with each next project, you will be able to gain more experience and confidence, and your profile will become more attractive to potential customers.

In general, approximately 54% of testing freelancers spend up to 2 hours to find a new job, 30% spend up to 6 hours, and 17% spend more than 7 hours to achieve it.

How much can I earn as a Freelance Tester?

The freelance tester will be paid by two methods one will be an hourly basis and the other through fixed cost for a definite scope of work.

A fixed cost depends on the difficulty of the project and the amount of work to be done. Before applying for such a job, do carefully consider the time and effort that you are going to spend.

Conclusion

If you still ignore about freelancing, you should check whether it is of your fit. In the beginning, you can simply combine with your daily work and spend hours or a day as a freelance tester. If then also you choose to freelance as your way, be patient to find your customers according to your skill set and experience and constantly develop yourself as a professional.