Where can you work as freelancer?

I just graduated in graphic design and I am looking for new opportunities, I looked at sites as upwork, but most of the available tasks are not payment verified,or the fee you have to pay is high, is there any page where you pay the membership only monthly or yearly but not the fee.

If that. In the US, an entry level job is a 4 year degree AND 2 years of experience, which I always recommend getting while still in college while eligible for internships. Once you graduate, internships are tough to land.

Personally, I wouldn’t even think about freelancing without five years of experience in the industry. Without sounding too harsh or patronising, you simply don’t have enough knowledge yet. What you have now is the minimum requirements for an entry level job.

Freelancing requires well-developed sales skills, on top of a good portfolio and a reasonable pricing.

If you want to be a freelancer, you should start by learning how to present yourself in the best possible light and convince potential clients to work with you.

Still, I highly recommend getting a regular job in the industry - to have a steady source of income - and building your freelancing career in parallel. Once you’re successful as a freelancer, you can decide what to do next.

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Bearing in mind that a side gig as a freelance designer while working as a graphic designer for someone else might be viewed as a conflict of interest. Keep it above board with the boss.

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As you are just an beginner you should get your skills developed by joining in any firm first and then you can look for freelancing opportunities.

I couldn’t agree more! The next step, which of course happens for the brave ones and after gaining some years of experience, could be starting your own business. The options go from making and selling t-shirts to starting an advertising/social media agency with, well, pretty much everything in between. So, this is the path I followed: started as an intern, got the job eventually, worked for a year and a half before I started looking for some freelance projects. As you can guess, now I’m reading about some business ideas, but it will take a while before I feel ready to do more than reading, that much I can tell you. To sum up, start small, dream big!

there are many gig market platforms, to go and work with

… and most of them pay poor rates (if any) to the designer for their time and offer poor, unqualified, inexperienced designers to clients. Competition sites are a race to the bottom in terms of quality and expectation, offering a bad deal for both parties. The only people who gain are the people who run the sites, which I assume is the position you are in given you somewhat spammy post on another thread.

You can work on REMOVED, Upwork, Toptal or Guru as freelancer.

Edit by MOD

Yeah um the first one…
Really???
(I thought we had autocorrected that one out of existence)
If you like doing work for no pay then have at it with the contest sites. I think any freelancer who takes their business seriously would be avoiding wasting billable hours on that crap.

And freelancing is a BUSINESS. With all the legal and overhead responsibilities of a real business.

The official spelling of the site has two Rs. I do believe that spelling is blocked.

We did but, some manage to find a way around it. That one is now added to the growing list of variations :roll_eyes:

From now on, if someone sees it before we do, just flag the post. We will zap it as soon as one of us checks in :smile_cat:

I agree with you. First you need to learn how to sale, after learn how to design, because competition it TOO high in thant business.

You know what? You might find them in your own neighborhood too. Go out and visit. Bring a leave-behind. Go to the Chamber of Commerce in your city or any other local gathering of businesses. Check out what your state can do for you as a small business. Most have a website dedicated to small business under State Treasury (or similar title.) Sometimes local word of mouth is the best thing for a freelancer.
Of course that means getting up, getting dressed, getting out of the house, and talking to people…yikes…face to face.

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One possible option is to try specialized job boards or forums that are tailored specifically to your field. For example, you might look at job boards or forums that are specifically designed for graphic designers, such as Behance or Dribbble.

Another approach is to network with other graphic designers and seek out opportunities through word of mouth. You might also consider reaching out to businesses or organizations directly and offering your services on a freelance basis.

In terms of payment, it’s important to be cautious when dealing with platforms that require payment verification or fees. It’s always a good idea to research the platform and read reviews from other users before committing to any payment.

Ultimately, finding new opportunities as a graphic designer may require some effort and persistence, but by using a combination of job boards, networking, and direct outreach, you may be able to find the right fit for your skills and goals.