Becoming a freelance is more and more common among engineers. Nowadays, more and more engineers want to start as an independent consultant in order to choose their clients and thus be able to work on the most innovative projects.
However, with more and more independent engineers in the market, it can quickly become complicated to find new customers.
Here are our recommendations for finding new clients:
Go through a freelance platform:
The platforms freelancers have developed rapidly in recent years, there is now for all trades, in addition to many existing platforms generalists. In the engineering sector, Kicklox remains the benchmark with more than 50,000 French engineers as well as more than 1,000 client companies submitting projects on the platform.
The advantage of the freelance platform does not only lie in the fact that it is easy to find jobs. Some platforms will facilitate collaboration processes. Indeed, working with a large group turns out to be very complicated for a freelancer. The process of referencing external suppliers in a large corporation is complex. A simple freelance will have all the difficulties in the world to be referenced in order to be able to collaborate with the various collaborators of the company.
The advantage of the freelance platform is therefore that it is already referenced with many large companies with recurring needs to outsource certain IT / R&D projects. The company's employees therefore only have to publish an ad and search among the candidates. There is no longer any friction in the process of setting up the contract.
Make your network work:
As an engineer, you probably went to engineering school or worked with other engineers during your various professional experiences.
So do not hesitate to ask your former classmates or your former colleagues if they are aware of companies looking for a freelance engineer to support them on a project. The easiest way to maintain this link is to use the professional social network Linkedin. Use Linkedin to stay abreast of the latest news from your network or to reconnect with old acquaintances.
Another method, and one of the most effective, is to generate recurrence with clients you have worked with before. If the collaboration went well, there is no reason your former client is looking to go through another freelancer for a similar need. From time to time, follow up with your previous customers to check in with them and find out if they could potentially need you again.
Use traditional job search platforms (Indeed, Google Hire, Pôle-emploi, etc.):
One of the more classic tips for finding new clients is to browse the different traditional job boards. Many “job boards” now offer to filter on the type of contract sought (eg: CDI, freelance, etc.).
These platforms are little or not at all specialized in freelance assignments, so you have to be careful to filter your searches and read between the lines to be sure to find a job that suits you.
The other negative point of classic job search sites offering freelance assignments is that you will find many intermediaries between you and the end client. Managers in need of freelancers rarely go through these platforms. Consequently, it is mainly intermediaries, such as ESNs (Digital Services Companies, formerly SSII), who will publish advertisements to recruit freelancers.
To summarize, there are therefore 2 simple and effective ways to find new assignments for freelance engineers:
Word of mouth through its network.
Specialized freelance platforms like Kicklox.
For more information about:
freelance engineering jobs
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