Vicsante has in the IT Industry for almost 17 years, working remotely for 8 of those years from Davao City, Philippines. Vicsante decided he wanted a career in the IT industry ever since he graduated with a BS in Computer Engineering – and he’s been successfully navigating remote working life ever since!
1): Thank you Vicsante for the possibility of an interview. Could you tell us a bit about yourself and what are you up to these days?
I’ve been working in the IT industry for almost 17+ years now. I’ve been working remotely for almost 8+ years. I’m from Cebu City, Philippines but currently residing in Davao City, Philippines.
2): If you searched for your profile on Google, what are the three keywords you would type in the search bar?
The possible keyword(s) searching my profile on Google would be: – “Senior .Net C# Developer” – “Senior Developer” – “.Net C# Developer” I’m not just proficient on .Net C# but also in PHP. I’ve also worked on RubyOnRails and am now currently looking into Andriod/IOS mobile development and also Python since Visual Studio has integrated it to its IDE.
3): What was your inspiration and when did you actually decide to become a freelancer?
It was by chance actually of me becoming a Freelancer. I was fortunate to work as a remote/home-base PHP web developer for a medical transcription company which was full-time. So that started to open opportunities for part-time freelance work since I worked remotely or home-base. Before that, I was working as a Senior Programmer for a Japanese Manufacturing firm in MEPZ, Lapu-lapu City, Philippines.
4): You have been working in the IT industry since 1999, where did your interest for technology come from? When did you realize you wanted this to become your career?
I decide to work in my field of study as a developer/programmer since I graduated BS in Computer Engineering. Even if I don’t have any software development/programming background or just the basic programming skills, that I just need to work or have a career that is involved in Computer(s) or IT Industry before I settle-down in which you can’t be choosy anymore looking for work since you have to provide for you family.
5): Was it difficult for you to start freelancing? Did you face many problems? Could you share with our readers the most important lessons you learned on the way?
It was very difficult for me to start as a developer since the course I’ve graduated from was more on hardware not software. But I was fortunate enough to be given a break and start as a Delphi Developer which was a new technology back then around 1999. The widely used technology was Visual Basic 5 and 6. Borland Delphi is object pascal and it is OOP which was very new to me and very exciting.
6): Let’s go for a question which might be interesting for all newbie freelancers: how do you find new clients that are interested in your services?
It’s hard to find new client(s) that are interested in my service. Fortunately, we do have sites that can help us like Freelancermap that help me with this.
7): Do you use other freelancers or companies to provide skills that you don’t possess or to delegate tasks that are not related to web development?
I haven’t used other freelancers or companies to help me out since I’m very careful to get project(s) that I can work on alone but collaboration with other freelance developers is a good concept as long as you are confident and trust your colleague. I’m getting there now by collaborating with my former developer colleagues and suggesting to them if they can work during their spare time.
8): How do you set yourself apart from your competitors? What makes you special?
I’m not sure what sets me apart from other developer since it’s a broad skill set. But I do tend to have a focus on one or two technologies so that it will be a specialization at my end. I don’t think that I’m special since we do need or constant upgrading of your skill set for new technologies. So, I’m just a normal or ordinary developer like everybody else. Experience maybe a very big plus factor that I do have.
9): Apart from your professional life, what are your hobbies and interests? How do you manage workload with personal life? Do you use any specific apps or software tools for self- organization?
I’m fond of watching movie series during my free time and spending time with my family. The great upside to working remotely or home-based is your office is within your home. But I do need to balance my work schedule with my personal life. Passion is what drives you to work since you love what you do and you’re also being paid to do it. I use Microsoft Visual Team online for project management, repository and etc.
10): What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting a freelance career? And what does it takes to be successful as a freelancer?
Working freelance nowadays is very good career decision since there are lots of sites out there for you to take advantage of and sites that can also help you choose the technology you want to pursue. Passion is the key; be passionate on what you want and the rest will follow.
You can find Vicsante via:
Freelancermap.com Profile
Website
Skype: vasceniero
You would also like to be introduced as a freelancer in our “freelancer insides”?
Send us an email to info@freelancermap.com with the subject “freelancer insides” and shortly describe your services, experiences, and status!
