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I am currently a freelance developer. However, I would like to be able to prove my eligibility for a job to any future employer. I've noticed there's a job listing that requires at least 14 years of coding experience, including at least 6 years of iOS programming, and I'm assuming that's the norm for programming jobs.

Since I would have no former employing company - and therefore, no formal record of number of years of experience - what can I do now to ensure my ability to prove my eligibility for a job in the future?

I'm assuming "experience" will include any relevant college courses taken, correct?

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    That's not really normal for programming jobs, or there would be no programmers, good question though, it's a lot harder to get company work after being a freelancer for a long time. In general the solution is to list your time freelancing, the skills you have and get references from clients.
    – Kilisi ♦
    May 18, 2016 at 8:07
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    You don't need to be super precise. You just need to show a portfolio of past projects and past clients. If they think you're not telling the truth, they can always ask for specific references and ask for your tax returns for those years.
    – Stephan Branczyk
    May 18, 2016 at 8:08
  • @killsi: The problem is, as I see it, I can self-document my own time and present that to an employer, but they may turn me down simply because my document will be no more truthful than my word unless perhaps I can back it up with some verifiable information.
    – user32190
    May 18, 2016 at 8:11
  • I can tell you I've worked from 9AM to 3PM, and show you my schedule, which says the same thing, but for all you know I've falsified the schedule.
    – user32190
    May 18, 2016 at 8:14
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    That's assuming they've thought about it in depth. I have seen jobs that ask for years of experience that would mean a developer would have had to start about a year before the technology became available for public use. They may also just want someone who's over 30 but not want to put that in the description for fear of seeming ageist.
    – Amy Blankenship
    May 19, 2016 at 16:22

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That seems like an awful lot of experience to be required for a development job. But giving the number of years of experience in a job spec is usually just a vague guess at what they want.

What they're trying to say is they want a very experienced developer and giving the number of years to give you an idea of what they mean by that since they know everyone has their own interpretation of the word "very".

Although if you are that experienced you should certainly send your CV, the one thing I would be wary of with Freelancing is that even though you may be an experienced coder, you'll have had less chance to have learned from others or worked in teams and built up a knowledge of new ideas to bring to their company, which are some of the things they might be hoping you have plenty of. So big-up those kind of areas if you can.

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    And less chance to pick up bad habits (assuming that by nature you don't have bad habits).
    – Amy Blankenship
    May 19, 2016 at 15:01
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I'm a senior developer with over 20 years, split between consulting vs full time jobs. One dilemma I didn't understand early on was the 'years of experience' thing.

You don't give me the impression that you've had a very wide depth of experience in your freelance work. You don't get depth by repeating the same simple tasks a bunch of times. This trait is gained through working projects for varied clients with unique needs and technological challenges.

For a senior level job, a hiring manager wants you to talk the talk (deep technical competency, plus ability to communicate well on paper, and to understand dollar value of the work done) as well as walk the walk (be given tasks to solve, independently -- with confidence.) If you are timid in communicating what you've accomplished, you'll be sidelined quickly and someone more confident will be found.

This 'proving yourself' thing may take more time, because it doesn't seem like you understand what it takes to get your foot in the door. You might consider browsing lots more job requirements (try dice.com, or techfetch.job) that match what you want to be doing, to understand (a) clusters of tools used to accomplish the work, and (b) the attitude you'll need to succeed. In both cases, you must figure out where you're deficient.

You can also do assessments (brainbench.com) and this will help you understand your own competency. Plus, you can reference your results on a resume.

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Honestly programming is mostly about understanding and learning code other People did and how to work together. If you think you can do the job with the time you programmed apply. List the years you did programming language x for x years as a free lancer.

I've noticed there's a job listing that requires at least 14 years of coding experience, including at least 6 years of iOS programming, and I'm assuming that's the norm for programming jobs.

No, that is definitly not the norm for programming. Alot of People get Jobs with requirements like that one with hardly half the experience

I'm assuming "experience" will include any relevant college courses taken, correct?

No, an college course is counted as education not experience. Especially if you get a certificate.

Most of experience requirements are just to weed People from applying, my opinion atleast.

Since I would have no former employing company - and therefore, no formal record of number of years of experience - what can I do now to ensure my ability to prove my eligibility for a job in the future?

But honestly find something lower down the line, because it feels atleast on paper, that you are overestimating your capabilities.

I am currently a freelance developer. However, I would like to be able to prove my eligibility for a job to any future employer.

Put up the Projects you did? Assuming you did work, this is not ment to be mean the market is tough everywhere, also you don't state how Long you have been freelancing or if you did annything at all.

Hope this helps, and don't hessitate to ask for clarification if something is unclear.

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  • Are you a developer?
    – Xavier J
    May 19, 2016 at 12:40
  • @codenoire depends on what you mean by developer.
    – Raoul Mensink
    May 19, 2016 at 12:57
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It can be helpful to get membership of a professional association - the kind where you have different levels (e.g. associate member, professional member, chartered status, fellow) because then employers can safely assume the professional association has done the due diligence on your experience in order to allow you to get the level of membership you're on, so you don't have to go through the whole process again with each potential employer (at least, sometimes you don't).

Certification can also be helpful for similar reasons, although be aware that some certifications aren't worth the paper they're printed on - do your research first to find out which ones are known and respected in your particular part of the industry.

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