POVERTY

This has been the greatest motivation of our next JasSuccess guest for pursuing freelancing.

He was forced to drop out of college because of the pandemic.

Because of this, he looked for ways to make a living and stumbled upon freelancing.

Introducing Eli.

His persistence paid off as he was able to get his first online job.

Not without challenges.

His applications are ignored.

He had a hard time getting his first client.

However, these struggles won’t stop this guy.

Let’s know him more — his victories and challenges — on this replay.

Introduction

A 21-year-old college dropout finds a great opportunity to freelance during a pandemic. An IT student lost his interest in studying at school because of the online class. Let’s listen and find out how did he handle freelancing even without any idea and just dive into something that he’s not prepared for.

Notable Quotes

• Number one is, pakapalan ng mukha pero in English yun, persistence nandun yun and the “just-do-it” attitude nandun yun

• Sa mga naghe-hesitate dyanan, don’t think too much, do it. Do it kaagad and mas bet, and if you are thinking na kaya na free, siguro kaya mo if you can, if you select the correct videos and if you, somehow took the correct path which I didn’t get sa free.

• Yeah, you can do it but, make a good resume and portfolio. Increase your value to make you look great sa client if you have a good resume and portfolio. 

• And sa cover letters, don't make it too long talaga, just assess what they want and just send it. 

• Don’t tell them who you are sa cover letter, don’t tell them na you are a CumLaude, you graduated here, there, wala wag yan.  Just send them what they want.

• And if you think you can’t do it, you’re wrong! You can. You really can, kahit 80 ka na, you can. Just take it and the correct skills. And if you have the skills and you really wanna do it, you definitely can!

Journey to Freelancing

• He had no idea what is freelancing all about at first. 

• For him, as an IT student, it’s almost impossible for him to learn because there was no guidance and training. He doesn’t get motivated in an online class.

• It was his mom who discovered VA Bootcamp around in January to March 2021 when he was in his first year as a college student.

• His mom sent him the link and they were convinced to take the paid course. He learned a lot, as well as some tools that are useful in his freelancing journey. 

• At first, he was just learning and watching the free course and learned some brief skills. Finally, he decided to enroll around August of the same year. 

• It took him a long time to enroll because he thought that he can find a job without the paid courses. He also thought that he can learn more about it by watching YouTube channels and webinars.

• He applied for jobs and watched again the free courses. Then he realized that the main ingredient of having a job was not on the free course. 

• It took him a whole month to finish the course, around the first week of September.

• Got his first client last September 23rd of 2021. His client was an Israeli and has a great time zone. He usually starts at 1:00 PM here and that’s 9:00 AM there. It was very convenient. 

• A  copy and paste job of the writer’s work on WordPress.  With different languages, such as were German, Italian, and Spanish.  Manages Trello Board as well.

• Finished the contract last January 04 this year. Now expanding his niche to Social Media Management under VA Bootcamp’s coach, Ms. Leora.

• Also participated in the Guided Hustle Challenge and already received an email confirming that he’s part of it. 

• He is currently expanding his video editing skills for he finds lots of job posts in UpWork and in LinkedIn. Also creating some samples and portfolios.

Question and Answer

Why do you think it didn’t work when you were like using the free resources?

I think in the paid course, maraming secret tips doon, pati sa resume nga sa free courses,hindi din doon na-tackle yung templates, walang templates and walang tips on how to create resume and portfolios doon. I only learned that sa paid course, yung portfolios and different websites talaga kasi as far as I remember sa free course, Onlinejobs.ph lang ba yun sir? Yun lang Upwork pero hindi tinuro yung like in depth yung how to make a cover letter and how to search more jobs na kailangan pala i.search mo talaga wag lang yung sa first page mo na dapat.  I-consider mo din yung time frame how long was it created. I didn’t see that in the free course.

Even in the other, di ba, there are other YouTuber’s that give a lot of free information about Upwork and stuff, you didn’t see it, you didn’t get it?

Wala. They only show which website and how to access that website as far as I remember. 

Is it a milestone for you kasi naalala mo talaga yung September 23?

Kasi shocking yun. They called me at ten-thirty at night wala pa nga ako sa bahay nun. Then diretso ako sa bahay and chat agad the client at call agad.

What was your experience in that time like until you finish until you got hired?

I had that feeling, mga first week like, atat na atat dapat meron na, so ayun inubos na agad yung connects sa Upwork one week.It was until naubos na, then I remember. Sana binudget ko yung connects. Ayun, mga two connects nalang siguro ang naiwan, hindi na enough i.apply. Hinintay ko ulit na mag-replenish, pero gumawa ako ng account sa LinkedIn, sa Indeed, Glassdoor. Pero sa Upwork ako na.hire.

What kind of focus were you, General VA? Did you focus on a specific area?

General VA data entry and the job was to take care of the Trello Boards and uploading in WordPress. 

How were you able to get hired for this job which the client was with you for five months? What do you think is the factor that really made you stand out?

Siguro because I had the exact skills that they were looking for. Kasi nalagay ko yun lahat sa resume. And I think, clear siya and not conflicting yung skills ko like for example, nilagay ko yung WordPress talaga nandun,yung Google Docs then Google excel. Hindi ko nilagyan ng iba. Like for example lagyan mo ng video editing which is far too different from those. I only added similar things and yun lang din yung nasa cover letter ko is how to help them and I honestly told them na I had no prior experience then nag.take off naman.

You pointed out, you told the client in the cover letter or in the interview na wala kang experience? And this is a first interview with the client?

In the interview. No. nakilang interview na ako dun sa free courses. I jumped in almost, pati mga companies na lahat kahit wala akong dala. Interview lang ng interview. Kapal ng mukha ko. 

How many interviews before si client na-hire ka?

Pwede ba mag name drop ng company?  It was V One Marketing Strategy and Cyberbacker may Virtual Backer din sila at that time. Twentyfour Seven VA. Dun ko na-realize ang power of smile. 

Were you given offers sa mga agencies?

There was one BPO sa Davao, then they never stop messaging me now. First, they message me and then I took the interview. Pero I had to decline kasi nga nasa Davao pero they still invite me. 

In that interview, hindi ka ba kinabahan?

Hindi naman po. Mabait naman yung HR. I think nasanay na. Matanggap man o hindi, do it. Just do the interview. 

How many rejections do you think you got before you got hired? 

Siguro around hundred or two hundred. Kasi I don’t put them all into my memory. Nakalimutan ko na agad. 

Compared to the other interviews na hindi ka natanggap, what do you think is the difference of this interview?

The difference of this interview is that hindi na ako masyadong excited. Unlike sa first,normal lang na conversation. Sinabi ko lang yung ano kulang niya, ano yung hinihingi nila na questions.  Hindi naman ganun, like excited gawin yung interview ganun like parang normal lang. Just do this. 

Experience on earning, personally, how did it affect you? Personally, how did you feel about it?

Like mas convenient talaga sya kaysa sa ano yung traditional jobs, traditional office jobs and very fast kasi kuna ano yung earning mo. Like you don’t have to go the boss’ office para kunin yung sahod mo. So nagkaproblema lang ako nun sa PayPal mga ilang times kasi matagal nila ni.release, 21 days ata, 21 days. It happened again sa second and third 21 days ko nakukuha. Ewan. Ewan ko kung anong nagyari dun. So I only earn ano, around 300 a month sa five months na yun. Nine hours. Okay naman siya for newbies like me kasi I had no experience so almost no value to them. Just skills and unproven pa to them. 

Have you shared with him your experience working online?

We, actually we always in contact pero yung problem niya lang is wala pa siyang laptop or PC. So yeah, I think she has come to earn some money para magkaroon ng PC, and diretso na siya dito, online na. 

Do you still want to have that the college experience kasi hindi mo na experience yun. Do you still have it ba or kontento ka na dito?

Actually yes, gusto kong bumalik sa college soon kung face-to-face na and if ma-afford. Kasi right now ang college is assignment ka lang at home na hindi ka tinuturuan. Kasi may ano, like hindi balance like output, learn, teaching is very low. There’s almost no teaching. Sendan ka lang ng video. And then dun sa Calculus namin, ang hirap ng video, hindi, kasi hindi mo matatanong yung video. “How did we get there?” Ano na nga ako, very dumb in math. 

What’s the difference? Kasi the format is just similar lang naman.

Pero sa VA Bootcamp, is mas detailed. Kahit, actually, very ano, I applaud you sir Jason kasi hindi ka teacher. Naka teach ka mas may nale-learn. Siguro nga it’s kasi experience kana na VA and experience is the best teacher kaya mas nate-teach mo. And yes, I really like na very detailed yung mga ano mo yung courses like, halos hindi ka na magtanong kasi andun na, na-tackle na. 

Sa mga moms and parents who have their kids go to home school or online school sa bahay. Ano ang mga experience niyo?

Shocking din siya. Maybe that’s what’s going wrong kasi the things they are going to teach is naka-design for face-to-face pero they’re online like, siguro nga parang yung lesson plan in-upload lang ganun. So medyo kulang talaga for me ha for me, kasi nga bobo din naman ako pero siguro it works sa iba. 

Do you see yourself in online freelancing in this field? Like even after you graduate?

Forever. I think, babalik din ako dito from school, freelance ulit kasi if I go corporate, I think I’ll earn less than I’ll work for international clients online. So, why there? Dito na.

What idea are you going to, programming or networking, wala pa?

I don't think I’ll be back in IT kasi parang nag-shift na yung ano ko. Right now, wala pa but, Mass Comm is mas appealing, interesting right now. Kasi sa content. Nag-less yung demand niya, binabantayan ko rin yung mga sa UpWork, sa LinkedIn like less sila naghahanap ng IT. Writing and content makers.