If you are like me- living and working in Germany, you might have noticed that finding a long-term freelance job might not always be so easy. What I mean by that, is that startups seem to avoid hiring freelancers. Contrary to the USA for example, where, according to latest reports 1 out of 2 people will be a freelancer by 2020, German startups prefer hiring people for full-time positions.
This is true for Berlin as well- as hip and sexy as it might seem, Germany’s (tech) capital is unfortunately not an exception.
It’s more about the German mentality, really, then about the design market itself.
Let’s take a brief look into that. I have one word for you- security. German startups are all about the security- they don’t want to hire freelancers for two purposes:
- You can’t rely on freelancers to stick around for a long time aka they are unreliable.
- Investors want to see that a startup has a team. Yes, you guessed it- a freelancer is not considered part of the team, or at least not on paper, anyway.
So with this in mind, it might be quite difficult to find your next client in Berlin, especially a startup which wants you to craft the next Instagram UI for them and needs someone to “commit” to the project ( by signing a full-time contract).
Consequently, you might end up without a freelance job- even if you are very well qualified.
So, how do you find a freelance (remote) job as a UX/UI designer, if you are based in Berlin?
Here’s a list of places I scan on a regular basis every time I have 0 clients in my pipeline.
Websites
A great design community with a dedicated job board. As a member, you can ask for feedback, submit articles and vote on submissions.
THE place to be, especially if you are a UI designer. A lot of companies that value good design post on Dribbble’s job board.
On the downside, some clients prefer to hire designers with big followings and lots of Dribbble shots. SO keep in mind you should be updating your Dribbble profile on a regular basis, so it actually works for you when you need it to. ( I do have a Dribbble profile, but nor actually updating it on a regular basis).
I recently found out about Toptal and I just applied to become a member. They supposedly have awesome jobs for developers and designers- all remote. At this points, I have no information whether the job offers are worth it. Stay tuned for my next blog post dedicated to the application process in Toptal.
One of the largest collections of job offers. It features remote-only job offers from all around the world. Check out the Design/UX section and scan for offers that accept international applications. (not the case for all job posts).
Of course, this goes without a saying, if you are based in Berlin, you gotta check this one out. Most of the positions are for full-time employees, but every now and then there’re some freelance jobs as well.
Facebook Groups
You thought Facebook is just wasting your time. Well, I am happy to give you a new perspective. :)
Enter Facebook groups. An invaluable tool that I’ve discovered last year. There are quite a log of very active groups and people post job offers all the time.
Landing jobs (Berlin Tech Jobs)
Berlin Freelancer/Freiberufler
Facebook groups supporting female designers
Slack Channels
Joining some free Slack channels and connecting with other designers is always beneficial and will help you get feedback and expand your knowledge. There are some amazing communities that have a dedicated #job channel.
If you haven't already, I highly recommend joining the below channels.
P.S. I will try to keep this list updated. If you have a source you want me to add to this list, just email me at hi@iglika.co
xoxo,
Iglika
