I'm a 22-year-old computer science student finishing my bachelor's degree, and I want to start gaining practical experience before graduating. My goal is to work on real projects, improve my skills, build a portfolio, and eventually find freelance clients, but I'm unsure where to begin.
What platforms or strategies would you recommend for finding remote junior roles or freelance work? How should I approach potential clients, and what should I have ready before applying? I'm willing to learn and put in the work—I'm just looking for a practical first step and a realistic path toward building experience.
4 Answers
Start demonstrating your skills now instead of waiting until graduation. Build a couple of useful, polished applications and publish the code, screenshots, and explanations online. A small project that solves a real problem is usually more convincing than a list of technologies. You can also contribute to existing projects or help local organizations and small businesses if you need your first real examples.
A computer science degree usually gives you fundamentals rather than complete job readiness. You may learn programming concepts, algorithms, databases, and software design, but you still need to practice setting up projects, deploying them, working with users, and maintaining code. Use your remaining time to build independently and learn the practical tools your target jobs require.
Before focusing heavily on freelancing, try to get a regular junior or internship role, including remote positions. Having shipped work and professional experience gives you something concrete to show future clients. Job boards such as LinkedIn and Wellfound can be useful starting points, along with applying directly to smaller companies.
Freelance platforms like Upwork and Fiverr are options, but getting the first client can be difficult because competition is high. You’ll need a portfolio with a few finished projects, clear descriptions of what you built, and ideally some testimonials or references. Don’t assume signing up will immediately lead to work.
That makes sense. My concern is that some platforms require paid proposal credits, which can be expensive when you’re still a student and haven’t earned anything yet.
That’s fair. I’m realizing that the degree gives me a foundation, but I need to deliberately turn it into practical experience through projects and real collaboration.