Your work as a mobile programmer will revolve around mobile phones. Chances are that you will stare at LED screens for the better part of your day. Well to be completely honest it is not necessarily the case. However, programmers in other fields do develop, execute, test, and log the code; you do the same, albeit on mobile platforms. Mobile programming is a good field to work in today. It has been in high regard ever since the turn of the century.
While some of you may already work full time and may wish to do something by the side, and others might wish to freelance fulltime. Usually most programmers work for recognized IT organisations and sometimes take up other projects by the side, while others freelance full time. In both cases, you can stand to earn decent money. The increase in opportunities has ensured that a career as a Freelance Mobile Programmer can be a rewarding one.
Job Duties for Freelance Mobile Programmer
As a freelance mobile programmer, you will have to fulfil many roles in a work environment. However, while working from home there are some duties assigned to you. Some of the important ones include:
- Acting as lead iOS and or Android developer. Depending on the skills set can be lead on one platform and play a supporting role across the other, liaising with the development teams
- Working remotely and closely monitoring other mobile app developers
- Deliver across the entire app life cycle –concept, design, build, deploy, test, release to app stores and support
- Liaise directly with developers and product managers to conceptualise, build, test and realise products
- Gather requirements around functionality and translate those requirements into elegant functional solutions
- Build prototypes at tech scoping stage of projects
- Liaising with other developers to create and maintain a robust framework to support the apps
- Liaising with the front end developers to build the interface with focus on usability features
- Create compelling device specific user interfaces and experiences
- Standardise the platform and in some cases apps to deliver across multiple brands with minimal duplication of effort
- Optimise performance for the apps
- Keep up to date on the latest industry trends in the mobile technologies
Skills:
You can either hate it or love it, but programming languages are no walk in the park. To be a moderately successful freelance mobile programmer, you need to have these skills.
- Strong Object-Oriented design and programming skills in Objective-C
- Familiar with iOS SDK (UIKit, Cocoa Touch, Core Data, Core Location, etc) Familiar with xcode
- Strong Object-Oriented design and programming skills in Java (J2EE/ J2ME)
- Familiar with the Android SDK
- Knowledge of SQLite, MySQL or similar database management system
- Familiar with Eclipse
- Problem solving skills
- Software Development
- Software testing
- Software Debugging
- Software documentation
- Perseverance
- Independence
- Able to work remotely
These are but some of the major skills that recruiters look for while signing on potential programmers. You can learn many of the skills needed online. The number of websites offering programming knowledge free has only gone up in the recent past. Think Vidya, Udemy, Allison, Appcoda, Vogella, Developer Android, Techno Talkative, Udemy , The New Bostonand Team Treehouse include some popular online destinations for you to develop the skills you need.
Being Successful as a Freelance Mobile Programmer
Your success as a mobile programmer will be measured by the quality of code you create, and the functionalities and deliverables you were able to translate into the program. Whether you can bring about innovations to a program, how you affect the programming life cycle, and how the final code will perform, what importance does it have to the organisation. However, employers usually measure a freelance mobile programmer’s success in ratings and reviews.
There are many other aspects to being successful than simply a review and a rating. Some of the ways you can get on the path to success as a programmer include:
- Knowing mobile programming language intimately
- Being an algorithmic, analytical thinker
- Understanding a bug, as opposed to simply changing the code until it works
- Knowing the hardware and the programming environment
- Writing large programs from scratch
- Having an understanding of IOS and Android application development
- Being recognised in your network for these skills
Average Remunerations:
Mobile Programming is one of the most important jobs in the world today, with mobile devices fast replacing cumbersome computer screens. The demand for programs that will transcend hardware and be able to function as desired, only increases.
In such a world, the future of mobile programmers looks bright and seems assured. You may wonder, that if this is the situation, what will I earn as a mobile programmer?
Usually freelance portals offer various kinds of payment models. In the fixed-price model, the price is usually pre-determined. The hourly model is the most popular and employers usually pay a predetermined sum per hour. Finally, in the project-budget based model, you often need to auction for such projects. Usually a fixed price model may range from $20- $200 and upwards, while you have to pitch for hourly projects, and budget payments, which usually range from $5- $35 an hour. Average pay scales for Mobile programmers, are usually $21 an hour.
Finding Work:
Finding work as a freelance mobile programmer is not difficult and there are many portals where you can advertise your services. It is a reasonably well paid job and there are thousands of opportunities for prospective work-at-home programmers like you.
Websites like Elance, Upwork, Guru, Freelancer and Peopleperhour offer many job listings for freelance mobile programmers.
Resources:
As mobile programmers, you can hone your programming skills through many ways. Many websites offer online training videos, and others that offer interactive training sessions on most type of coding exercises.
Think Vidya, Udemy, Allison, Appcoda, Vogella, Developer Android, Techno Talkative, Udemy , The New Bostonand Team Treehouse include some popular online destinations for you to develop the skills you need.
For more information on Freelance Mobile Programmer please visit www.careerlancer.net
