Ask HN: How do I get work underage? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do I get work underage?

2 pointsrjplatte10 comments

So, odd situation here. I'm 17, have good frontend skills, already work professionally in a different field (video production, specializing in political non-profits, and I'm looking to switch over to web development. I obviously can't get a normal salaried job, and can't get an answer back once they guess my age. What can I do?

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If your 17 and not already a dot com superstar, you’re not going to land a job at Google, you’ll probably have to do it the hard way like everyone else.

But if you’re lucky and don’t “need” (ie your parents feed you and put a roof over your head), then I’d think more about getting cool experience than getting a good salary.

Call up professors and lab-techs at nearby universities and ask if they need help with basic web/data tasks. They always need custom coding for weird experiments, and you’re constantly surrounded by smart people.

If you have a relative/friend in local government, offer to work for cheap/free and improve their (likely) horrible website/IT systems. You’ll see how the government (sluggishly) works and will come out with a better understanding of bearucacy.

If you or your parents know a doctor, painting company, landscaper, coffee shop, or any other small business, offer to improve their website or online presence. You’ll see the daily struggles of trying to make a buck as the small guy.

Any of these would teach you techincal skills as well as some good life ones. Sorry, but because you’re 17 they probably won’t trust your skills (even though they probably should). Deal with condescension in stride and blow their socks off with what you can build.

Wish more teenagers had the drive you do, it sure beats mowing lawns or working at Chipotle.

Ask your friends for work. When I was growing up, few of my friends were helping with their family businesses, and some of those were IT related. These were my first jobs, like setting up a server for friends fathers business, or rewriting a perl-script to python for other friend (apart from cleaning up the lavatories in a small publishing house) You might have access to some sort of freelance-agreement.

If I remember correctly, in my country (Czech republic) you can't legally work when less than 15 (you are legally required to be in school before that point), but after that you can enter certain freelance-agreements. No full-time employment, as far as I remember? And you might need some sort of confirmation that your legal guardian is OK with that?

Another thing, RedHat started to have some sort of intern-ship/shool-project for high-school seniors. Not sure if that was only in Czech Republic though, but if you have a local corporation you'd like to work for, showing at their doors and asinkg for work might actually work :D I might want to wait for an open-house or something like that.

1. Create a website for your services (you can start with WordPress - domain will be name.wordpress but free)

2. Design three fake sites for three fake clients (you can link to site1.wordpress.com etc - also free) and display "testimonials". This will be your portfolio.

3. Ask family + friends if they or anyone they know needs help putting together a site, then refer to them your site. May try to get you to do pro bono work but they'll serve as initial clients to add to portfolio.

4. Post same screenshots of sites and create an ad for your services on Craigslist (USA) or Kijiji (Canada) or any classifieds site - also free. Link this ad to your portfolio. This will increase your audience reach.

5. Have fun.

I did something very similar when I was 14 and getting started

I'm not sure where you are, but you definitely can and will get a salaried job in Europe. You need a good portfolio, explain your choices, showcase some source code as well, that's it. I had a salaried job since I was 15 (lowest legal age), and I was working even before (under business license of my father). If you're near Prague, Czech Republic, I have a job for you.

How do they guess your age? Stopping talking about things that point to it (e.g. "I'm in high school" - just don't mention it) might be enough; working part time is normal and doesn't require an explanation.

Why not work on UpWork & co? I don't think they ask you anything about your age (cough real age cough). After all, On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog [1] ;)

Additionally, you can work on various open source projects (either by your own or just contribute to existing ones) and build some brand awareness too.

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[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_...

Upwork is not a job, Upwork is a business platform. You need a business license to work through it (legally, I wouldn't advise to fake a business license because it leads to tax issues on Upwork side and they will come after you, might even report you). That might and might not be possible for OP depending on their location.

> You need a business license to work through it

Actually you don't.

Actually you do, depending on the location (and thus local laws). You definitely don't get an employment contract, and that means that e.g. in the whole EU, you need a business license (self employment or a company); some EU countries allow that from 16 and some (most) from 18; it's illegal to make an invoice if you don't have a license, and Upwork requires you to do so.

You're right that I could've worded that better, that's what I meant with the last part of my comment.

You could look for internships. You could pick up freelance work. You could probably start doing web work for the nonprofits you’re already doing video work for, or ask for referrals to other organizations that need help with their web presence.

Focus on establishing a portfolio and legitimacy, and the pay will come eventually.

When I was 17, the world didn't work the way I assumed. Don't be your own gatekeeper. Just go look for a job. Good luck.

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