Computer programming is a serious business so you cannot let your attention wander from keeping your computer programmer's career on a good level. It means you need to keep yourself update, always, if you want to be in the race of software development.

How to keep your education on a good level?

Your successful career of a computer programmer depends on your skills which must always be kept up to date. In this era of hi-fi technology that keeps on changing every other day, keeping you up to date is absolutely necessary.

With the rapid advance of new programming technology, languages, tools and platforms, you need to find a way of keeping up-to-date in this field. Keeping in view your career as a computer programmer always be prepared to learn new skills quickly so that you never lose a chance of selection as a computer programmer. You must be ready to cope with
the demands associated with constant learning.

There are many ways to keep your education on a good level.

-Make your choice of a field, Hardware or Software.
-If software, learn new programming languages and master them.
-Get yourself a certification viz. Microsoft, Sun, CISCO, Brainbench, etc.
-Keep yourself in touch with programming.

Tips on what websites to read and follow to stay in good shape and to be a
top notch programmer

Internet boom has made it possible for you to learn new things without having you to attend any formal classes. Yes, there are thousands of websites that provide you a wealth of information that will help you build your career as a computer programmer.

Some of the websites that play a vital role in a computer programmer's career are
listed below:

http://www.programmersheaven.com: This website provides a wealth of information on various programming languages including tutorials, sample code; sample
downloads and also links to other websites that are very important for a computer programmer.

http://java.sun.com: This website is a total solution to a computer programmer's requirement for Java platform.

http://forum.nokia.com: This website has a forum that is participated by millions of
computer programmers around the globe.

http://www.codeproject.com: This website provides a computer programmer with lots of sample code.

http://www.devguru.com: This site plays role of a Guru (teacher) and assists the
computer programmer in enhancing his skills.

http://www.brainbench.com: This website provides computer programmer certifications on various platforms with specific guidance for certification. It also provides sample tests before actually taking the certification test on this website.

http://www.microsoft.com: This website provides guidance on its certification as well as helpful articles along with world's largest software development library network for the computer programmer.

Do you need to write/speak English?

This part is of prime importance to you as a computer programmer. Because once you
choose computer programming as your career, you need to develop yourself as a top notch computer programmer to remain in the competition and this is possible only when you are open to the outside world where a wealth of information has been made available through Internet. English is the main language used on Internet. Computer programmers around the globe have benefited through this vast medium i.e. Internet.

Basically, English proves to be a best medium of interaction between people around the globe when it comes to software development. Lots of source code, examples, and sample demos that have been developed by computer programmers and are available on Internet; and you need to read, write and speak English so that you can have optimum use of these resources.

If you have selected computer programming as a career, then you will be interacting with lots of people. It is possible that you are required to go overseas to learn new things. It is also possible that you may need to interact with overseas clients while working as a
freelancer or working for a company. English proves to be the best universal medium of communication and most suitable language for a computer programmer who has selected computer programming as a career. So it will be very beneficial for you as computer programmer to read, write and speak English.

Being a software developer, it is very important that you get paid for all the hard work you put in while you do the programming. You must have spent a lot of time programming and working very hard for the project and finally must be expecting a good payment. But, if you had placed your bid and got this project through an unsecured site, then getting paid can be a problem for all the programming you have done or will be doing.

The buyer may promise you a lump sum initially, but may leave you without having paid for the programming you did. He may run away with your completed project, leaving nothing for you. So, to avoid such a situation, you have to make sure that you are being paid for all the programming you have done.

In order to be sure that you are paid for the programming, you have to take care of the following things.

1) You must place your bid only through a trusted and secured site like RAC (RentACoder.com). Although they charge you a part of your gain, they take care that of your financial security and will ensure that you are paid for the programming done. No
buyer can run away with your work, without paying you if you have done all that were
described in his bid request.

2) You must submit your project in time, with quality, so that the buyer need not send you back the stuff which you have developed over the period putting in your every skill for the development of the project. This will enable easy acceptance of the project and ultimately easy payment.

3) Avoid making private deals with your buyer. All the deals have to be done via the trusted site. Usually, people follow the procedure just to avoid paying commission to the site and welcome difficulties. Someday this could be a problem and once they know that you have settled anything outside the website, they will throw you out because they are doing the administration part to ensure that you are paid for the programming.

4) Avoid giving personal details such as address, phone fax etc… to the buyer. Always ask the buyers to contact you and communicate with you through RAC so that it is 100% confirmed that you will be paid for the programming you will do for the buyer.

Building up relationships to ensure you are paid

It is very important for you, as an offshore programmer, to maintain a good relationship with the buyer. You must ensure that you are very polite with the buyer and avoid any sort of conflicts with your client (buyer). If you maintain your relationship with the buyer on the basis of trust, honesty, and hard work then there will be no stopping in the long and
strong relationship and will be paid for every project you will be programming.

Once you are able to create trust in your client then it is sure that you will be given first priority over others for the next project from the buyer, who will be your long-term client and that will make sure that you are paid for the programming part you will play in all his projects.

In Offshore Development, you don't have direct contacts (face to face) with the clients. So the contact with the client must be made through internet e.g. E-mail, chatting etc. In offshore software development, first of all you need to organize everything that is required for the project.

Your first step is to collect the information from the client, such as what is the purpose of the offshore project that he needs to get developed, ask him to provide you vital statistics of the project. Also get the details of the system that already exists and need to make changes in that. If yes, then concentrate on the drawbacks of the old version so that you can overcome those and provide better solution to them.

Understand the requirement properly,  have discussion on that. Create a list of software and hardware that will be required for the offshore project under development at your end. As an offshore developer, you must have to take care about the time required for the
development of the offshore project.

Support

As your client and you as an offshore developer, are at different places, you need to make sure that you provide all the support required for the offshore project that you have developed. Sometimes you may need to provide him online support. It is your sole responsibility to do that. It will be very appreciable by the client, if you stay in contact with him for the technical support for at least 6 months.

Documentation

Documentation is the most important thing in offshore project development. You will need to provide your client with all the documentation of the offshore project you have developed. Documentation may contain the following:

1. Requirement Analysis.

- Need for System

- Resources

- Hardware, Software requirement,

2. System Design :

- Databases management,

- Entity Relation ship diagrams (Entity Relationship Diagrams),

- Data flow diagrams (Data Flow Diagrams)

- Advantages and Disadvantages of the software

- Pictorial representation of the project.

3. Existence of the old system and its limitation.

4. Proposed system.

5. Software Testing Report

6. Help System of the project

7. User Guides in PDF format.

Maintenance

Maintenance of the software plays the most important part in offshore software development. Once the software is  developed, it needs maintenance till the people who are using it are well experienced. There will be a possibility that some bugs will come up after the software has been installed on the user's machine and you will have to fix the bugs. It means you will be needed to solve the problems that may occur. This can be done
by providing the client a maintenance support for one year that will be called "Warranty Period". During this time you will have to provide the technical support.

After the Warranty period is over, you may have to make agreements for the maintenance of the offshore software developed. This will be the Annual Maintenance Contract, which will get renewed every year, if the client needs you to help on the offshore project that you have developed for him.

It is very important for people like you, who are in India and are involved in offshore outsourcing, to avoid customer dissatisfaction. Staying in India and thus being offshore, if you do an excellent job in outsourcing, there is always a chance that the buyer returns with a new project and you can work on it. It also enables the buyer to speak positively about you to his friends who ultimately may become your future clients.

If you do a bad job while being in India and working on offshore projects and outsourcing, you not only lose a buyer, but the buyer may tell ten of his friends about this. They in turn may tell a few of their friends and thus you lose about 20-30 clients, which is a heavy loss for all of the offshore programmers in India like you, who depend on offshore outsourcing.

Living in India, and being involved in offshore outsourcing, communicating with the customer is the best way to avoid customer dissatisfaction. Right from the time, you as a developer in India get the project through an offshore outsourcing client; you need to concentrate on identifying all the requirements and hence get ahead of the buyer in analysis. You must communicate all the extra requirements identified by you to the
client so that he can revise them and appropriately suggest you about it. You can communicate with your client and receive quick responses and answers to your questions.

Although your client may be irresponsive, it is always your responsibility to tell your client how his project is progressing and get suggestions from him. It is always better to ask the
client questions, show him samples or screen shots and suggest alternatives to him. This will enable him to identify any discrepancy and let you know at a much earlier stage rather than after all your work is done. This will also avoid much number of rejections by your offshore client and in turn help you in rework of offshore outsourced project in India.

As you are in India, working offshore and are involved in outsourcing, you have to always get a step ahead for your client to let him know that you are the best among the rest. This can be done by providing him a simple help file or a logo or few simple animations at no extra charge. It is very important for you to explain to your client the project in as much detail as he wants. It is also very essential for you in India, to answer any questions asked by your offshore client or provide support for technical issues in outsourcing.

Follow up the project with an email which should be as detailed as possible. You may advise the client and guide them as best as you can, but ALWAYS you must deliver what he wants and not what you think it should be. You must always remember that your client is always right. This way you can avoid your client reject you project and can stop him from sending the stuff back and/or stop him from adding the requirements every now and then.

Every organization has limits on the resources available to it. Software Outsourcing permits you to redirect resources towards activities that provide a greater return in serving your customer. Let us see what is "Software Outsourcing"?

Software outsourcing means you hire somebody outside your company to provide IT services or get your software developed from somebody who is not part of your software company.

Offshore software outsourcing

For Offshore Company, Outsourcing of software is just a software development at another location, a facility connected with the client's location using high-speed data communication links to allow engineers and managers to communicate on a real-time basis. The communication from both sides is possible online. For an Offshore company you can
monitor software development process and project milestones on an up-to-the-minute
basis. As a professional, the software developed through offshore company, must ensure both quality and progress. If you are an offshore programmer who develops software for outsourcing must have:

-Expertise in latest technology
-Rapid deployment
-Lowered Costs.

Your company, as an offshore company for software outsourcing, is responsible for high-risk and powerful proposition will be a high-gain. For an offshore software development a "good relationship" is the key for success. Your offshore company must have technical skills and quality for outsourcing and it will be a relationship based on compatibility, trust and mutual respect.

Testing

Testing is the most important phase in Software Development Life Cycle. You must
test the program code of your offshore software that has been outsourced to you.
You must always use different testing techniques for your outsourced software.

Who does the testing?

Alpha Testing: Alpha testing is done at programmer's site. Your team members or employees can participate in this testing. Offshore company always prefers Alpha testing usually after the basic design of the software that has been outsourced. Now you have to look over the program and make suggestions or give ideas to your designer to improve existing status of the software. To solve the MAJOR problems you can report and give ideas to your Programmer or Designer. Just avoid reporting the little things. There's bound to be a number of bugs after a program is created and the designer most likely knows about many of them. This isn't the main concern in alpha testing.

Beta Testing: Beta test is carried out after Alpha by the customer first time at his site. Beta testing a product can become very tedious for the designer to do all by himself. It's also not recommended because it's likely that you'll overlook several things. You will
require the Beta testers to test your product. Beta testing requires a good communication between the designers and the beta tester. As a designer it is your responsibility to keep the tester active during testing phase. Beta testing is like proofreading a paper. Offshore companies always keep in mind that the designing and alpha testing is not sufficient for an
outsourced software product. Such a product is not going to be used by the public unless it's absolutely flawless. It is impossible to have a product 100% free from bugs. But remember that even a little thing doesn't seem right then the person that's using it will probably get the feeling that the entire product is flawed. It's very important for you to test your product by multiple testers and for you as a tester to catch these bugs and report them.

When?

You must follow the Software testing after the design phase of the Software that has been outsourced to you. Alpha testing takes place at the Designer site. Once the Alpha testing is over, Beta testing is carried out as customer site. Types of test cases are available e.g.
Stress Testing, Black Box Testing, White Box Testing, Regression Testing, Functional Testing etc. which helps you to test the performance of the system. Thus you, as a Designer, must take care about testing until your offshore software product that has been outsourced to you is totally bug free.

What if something is wrong?

You will receive feedback from a beta tester(s) on changes made in the program for outsourced software and also receive proper reporting about the bugs. You must act like the developer try to add new features and find the solution for existing bugs. You must think about the following things before handing over it to the offshore company:

-Is the product good enough?
-Is the product user friendly?
-Does the product satisfy the user's requirement?
-Does the product is bug free?

Related article

Software Test Strategy for time-pressured projects

Customer satisfaction towards the regular and honest work is always beneficial in the field of programming for offshore projects. As a programmer working for offshore company, you must keep in mind that the customer is always right and you must take care of his requirement. It is very important while working for offshore customers to show them your
progress on their projects.

As you are an offshore programmer who is programming their projects, it won't be feasible for them to visit you or have a look on the prototypes or any sort of development so it will be very beneficial and feasible for you as well as your customer to be in touch during the
development of the offshore project that you are programming. It can be achieved by the following:

Proper Planning is very important

For a customer to be satisfied, your program must be in a well planned state. A proper planning is the key to success. For successful completion of the offshore project that you are programming, it must be ensured that it doesn't move away from its targeted goals. You must involve the offshore customer in your project for a clear definition of the project. Daily updating the offshore client is the feature of a best programming. In a programming field, offshore customer satisfaction highly depends on the preparation of documents, layouts, and report format by the programmer.

Show Prototype of the offshore project

For an offshore programmer like you, timely and quality delivery of the project and 100% client satisfaction must be implemented through the programming. Prototypes are the predefined strategies. Any offshore company always believes in seeing a well designed model of the software that is under development, from the programmer. Show your prototype to your customer and discuss the changes required in your software, if any.

If you are running an offshore company, you must do the following things regularly and honestly:

-Everyday collect the project's actual progress status from team members.
-Send the daily reports to your customer.
-Prepare agenda of the discussion that includes project progress, problems occurred and
suggested solutions.
- Discuss project related problems with the customer through messengers.
-Keep watch on the progress of the offshore project that you are programming by tracking the project plan weekly.
-Time to Time Study of the Risks analysis.
-Be careful about the changes when there is deviation from the plan.

Contact by e-mail

Email, the facility given by the internet, plays an important role for a powerful communication. This service is available 24 hours a day. Within less time a programmer can communicate with the offshore client and update them about the additional changes in programming of the project. You can ask for the information related to the software and you will receive immediate responses to your question. Remember that Email sent by you
must be effective and able to clear the ideas behind your development.

For a better communication between offshore clients and you, as a programmer, must spend 1 to 2 hours a day. By sending emails to offshore clients, you as the programmer, have to involve them in the projects which help in the programming. Make sure that your emails contain the details they want to receive. Even if the offshore client is not responsive, programmer has to do his part in the programming. Explain the project as per
the client requirement. Follow up the email sent by the client and inform him about the new developments in the programming by Email. You can attach Screen Shots, Formatted reports, and System layout along with the information.

Contact by Messenger

Messenger is one more media for communication. The messaging services are provided by the websites. MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Rediff Bol are the famous messengers. You can communicate with the offshore client through Messenger to improve the programming skill. As an offshore programmer, you can use messenger that makes it easy to get effective and quick information from the offshore clients, in the form of chatting on the Internet. If the offshore client is online, you can send instant message related to programming to him. In case the offshore company demands a file, you can send it to him through messengers.

Are you a Software professional? If yes, then you must be familiar with SDLC, "System Development Life Cycle". Here are some key points are given to implement your work for a success on any website that provides projects for freelance developers.

How does the customer tell you what he needs?

As an offshore software developer, you should be able to fully explain how you conduct your work. You should have a common process that applies to every project in offshore software development. The process should define how you gather your customers' requirements and specifications, how you develop schedules and prices, how you communicate with your customers, how you develop, test, and document your work product, and how you deliver the product to your customers.

Links of Interest
Swimming Upstream The Information Flow

To work out this methodology under offshore software development, you must follow the first step of SDLC which is a "Problem Identification and Requirement Specification".

Once you identify the actual problem i.e. the aim of the project, you can turn to gather the information. There are different sources to collect and analyzing software requirements in offshore software development.

Interview: If the Client is available, then conduct an interview through MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger; discuss your problems related to software. Note down the important things for offshore software development. Ask limited and actually needed question to him. Try to collect the sufficient information within less time. Thus this is the best technique for analyzing Software requirement in Offshore software Development

Questionnaire: An offshore software developer uses this technique for collecting information. If the interview is not possible or if you are not able to attain the interview, then just by sending the Questionnaire to your Client via email, you can collect the information. As an offshore software developer your questionnaire must be formatted with again limited questions. All the questions must be meaningful with explanatory format. As an analyst under offshore software development, you can send Questionnaire again for detailed information as per the Requirement.

By the nature of your specialization, you must bring extensive world- class resources to meet the needs of your customers. Partnering with an organization with world-class capabilities can offer access to new technology, tools and techniques that you may not currently possess; you, as an offshore software developer, should always use more structured methodologies, procedures and documentation; and a competitive advantage through expanded skills.

What are you looking for?

You must look forward in achieving the best software solution for your offshore client and you must have a preferred method of doing business with companies for numerous positive reasons. As an offshore software developer, you must think about the following in respect of your client company and you should make sure that your software solution provides:

-Effective utilization of resources being utilized.
-Enhancement of corporate financial goals by IT Department.
-The compatibility of current resources and new technology.
-Quicker and more effective method to handle these issues.
-Find out the consequences for a wrong decision.

What for information do you need?

A project under Offshore Software Development is not deemed complete until you have proper documentation with you. System Design" is the main phase of SDLC. This phase is the skeleton of your software and that's why you must request for layout of the working process of your clients project. In offshore software development you can request to your client for the flow of information in their working area.

This information is needed for proper structuring of your collected data under offshore software development process. If your clients already have computerized system then you must focus on the drawback or limitation of the previously existing system. As an offshore software developer, you must study the Software and Hardware specification to improve the performance of the proposed system. You must study their management strategies for a System Design.

How do you communicate back what you will create?

As an offshore software developer, you must implement the Software Quality Assurance (SQA) process that addresses the quality assurance needs at every phase of the development cycle. Your QA team must focus on quality control checklist. In addition, you must also have a comprehensive Quality Testing Checklist which ensures that every solution delivered measures up to the highest possible international standards.

Testing and implementation is one of the phases of System Development Life Cycle. As an offshore software developer, you must ensure through proper planning that the project doesn't move away from its targeted goals while the customer gets a clear definition of the project and is in the know of the project status and has ready access to project deliverables at any point of time. As an offshore software developer, you must ensure the timely and
quality delivery of the following, for 100% client satisfaction:

• Prototypes & Staged Deliveries
• Weekly Status Reports
• Final deliverable

How do you make sure?

Under offshore software development process, you must check out that your client has received the reports, prototypes, final deliverable and obtain a receipt of these you're your client. You will receive positive response from your client. As an offshore software developer, you must take care about their time to time requirements. If your client is
satisfied or impressed by your regular work then you can make sure that the software you have developed has "Good Quality". Thus this positive response will motivate you for offshore software development.

As a freelance developer, you can find good jobs on the Internet. To find such jobs, you can visit many websites that offer projects for freelancers, viz. RentACoder.com, ProgrammingBids.com. You can place your bid for the projects on these websites.

Some of you must be aware and some may not be. Let's first see what a bid is. When a project is placed on a website for freelancers to bid, you can read the requirement of the project owner in the description. Then you must understand the exact demand of the project.

After that you can place a bid to request the project owner to give you the project so that you can develop it and handover it to him. You will be given an amount in exchange of that. The bid amount will be placed by you considering the maximum allowed for bidding.

I wish you are a successful bidder. If not, then it's time for soul searching. In literary meaning, it's time for polishing your bidding style so that you get what you want… a Project!

Here are some helpful hints that once implemented can lead you to success on any website that provides projects for freelance developers.

How to bid for a Project?

• First and foremost thing is to get you considered for the project by the buyer. This should be your first motive while placing your bid. To become a successful freelance developer, you must first get noticed by placing a sensible bid. For example, if you are placing a bid for $500 project then your bid must be very convincing to the buyer. It must display seriousness and detailed analysis of the project. It shouldn't be like this,"OK, I can do this. Please accept my bid. I have enough experience to do this, etc."
• For getting at least a consideration, you must do some homework like a brilliant freelance developer does. First study the project. Know the exact requirement of the buyer. Get some extra information on the possible solution(s) to the project as this will show your seriousness towards the project.
• When this is done, place your bid along with a reasonable amount. Ask the buyer some questions, at least two of them so that the buyer gets an idea that you are a serious freelance developer and he will at least think of considering you for his project. In support of this, introduce yourself and let him know that you have done similar project(s) in recent past so that it displays your experience, if any, as a freelance developer.

How to interact with the client?

• One of the most important factors in being a successful freelance developer is the interaction with the client. It is always better to have constant interaction with your client so that the development process/progress is always known to the client. Barriers of any form that threaten to hamper the smooth flow of interaction at any stage can be disastrous to the whole freelancing process, which may in turn lead to unnecessary negotiations and modifications.
• As like the best freelance developer, you can have interaction with the client via email exchange or through a messenger like MSN. It is always a better idea to keep your client updated so that he doesn't have to search for you and check out how his project is going on.

What you must ask? What you must say?

Being a freelance developer, it is your primary duty to keep abreast your client of what is going on and at what level. Your client will feel happy when you involve him in the project by asking him some questions, also replying promptly to his questions. Discuss with the client about the project. Show him some screen shots; also ask his suggestions on improving the interface or anything like that.

A responsible freelance developer must always respect his client's word. Do not forget that you are a freelance developer; so you may get a chance to work with him again in near future if you provide him the best support through out your current ongoing project.

While placing your bid, you can include responses you received from your former clients. This will prove to be beneficial for you and for the would-be client to understand you and your working level. You might have received a response from your former client, for example, "Good Work. Excellent Coder. Provided best solution to my needs." etc. These can play a major part in getting you projects.

A freelance programmer like you is always in need of a project, through which he can show his skills and ability to his client and in the end earn his bread and butter. You, being a freelance programmer need to handle many clients and make each one of them happy. For this, you have to be sure that your client should have your entire attention and you give him the best of your capability.

Where, what sites?

There are many assured and secured web sites for a freelancer, who works as programmer, from where you can get the project. These sites are a portal for both buyers and coders. Buyers put in their requirements and the coders can bid for their projects.

But, it is most important point for you as a [TAG-Tec]freelance programmer[/TAG-Tec] to select an appropriate project. A freelance programmer like you must be very careful while selecting the project. It is better if you choose a project which is similar or same as that you have worked before.
You, as a freelance programmer, must at least be aware of the specifications and requirements of the project, so that it will always be easy for your buyer to communicate his requirements to you and help you to understand them and provide your buyer the best product.

However, there are few sites which look attractive but are not secured by any means. So both the buyers as well as the freelance programmers have to be well aware of such traps.

Here are some of the best sites for a freelance programmer:

• RentACoder.com
• Elance.com
• Programmingbids.com
• Allfreelance.com
• Codelance.com

What are you looking for?

You as a freelance programmer must look forward to reach a well established and permanent client who would select you from a large set of coders and would always like you to work on all their projects. You, being a freelance programmer, are always in need of clients. There are many buyers who want freelance programmers to work for them and once it is done, they pay them and forget them as these freelance programmers are not very important for them.

But the client is very important for the for you. Hence, you as a freelance programmer must always establish and maintain a good relationship with your client. You must always try to gain trust and belief in your client's mind. Customer service skills play a major role along with the coding and technical skills. Although you are dealing with a number of clients, you have to treat each client as if he is the only person whom you are serving. You always have to put yourself in your client's shoes and look at the project from their perspective.

You must avoid assuming that you yourself know much better than the client does.

Discussing all the topics with the client would help to avoid all sorts of discrepancies. Since the client is paying you to deliver a product or service, you're obligated to deliver the way and within the time limit he wants it.

Are there any parts where money is better?

You must know the scope and demand for freelance programmers in the international market. Due to the rapid change in IT, the demand for work and hence the demand for freelance programmers changes. There are various areas like games, websites, graphic designing, animations and never ending databases where freelance programmers like you are preferred.

Games are usually incorporated along with high resolution graphics and animation. If you are good in 3D graphics and animation then this is one of the best area that offers good money. A very high level of intelligence is also included. So if you as a freelance programmer are aware of some AI techniques used in games, then there is a bright chance for you to make good money.

Most of the companies all over the globe are on the way of being online. Many large companies are trying to bring up attractive and effective sites. So, if freelance programmers like you possess all the qualities of a web developer, then this is the part for you to win. Databases are in demand since a long period of time. But, nowadays, there is a
large scope for distributed ones. Freelance programmers working on databases like Oracle9i onwards, MySql, SQL SERVER can earn good money.

There is a boom for open source technologies in the International market. Combining PHP, MYSQL, PERL, CGI, PYTHON, Java is on a very high demand. There is a large scope for embedded systems and mobile computing, thus bringing money and fame.

There is a tremendous growth of IT in India since a decade or two. As a result, the Indian market is on an upward trend, but the Indian programmers like you have reached a saturation level while working within the country.

All Indian programmers, including you, are facing a very high level of competition and it has become difficult for them to survive. A large population of the country is in IT. You need to stand out in this high-tech crowd to maintain your position and as a result now you earn enough for the efforts you put in and for the quality of work you provide.

If you are an Indian programmer who

• Believes in quality and provides quality work,
• Is aware of the time constraints and
• can work in demanding schedule,

then it is more beneficial for you to be an offshore programmer and gain success in terms of wealth, name and fame.

Offshore programming is beneficial to Indian people, as it grows the Indian economy, helps in creating jobs, increasing demand (and thus, pay) for skilled workers. An Indian programmer like you earns better in offshore world than what you are earning in domestic projects. It is possible for Indian programmers like you who possess immense skills to prosper and flourish in a short span of time through offshore programming.

What are the difficulties?

However there are few difficulties associated with offshore projects. To keep the secrecy of your project, it is very important that you as an Indian offshore programmer avoid disclosing your actual work or its nature to anyone outside the organization or to a person not dealing with that project. You, being an Indian programmer, should clearly be able to
understand your client's requirements and correctly work on it. You should keep in
mind that your client is from a different culture and hence you should always strive
at bridging the gap between both of you.

Where do you work?

It is not very important for you to worry about your actual place of work. It is always better for the Indian programmer like you to represent yourself as a "Company" although it doesn't have a legal and/or physical existence by putting up your own website. This would improve the way the client looks at you as an owner of the Company and not just a programmer from India. It would be better if the Indian programmer tells the client about his team size and their area of expertise.

Working on an overseas project, the Indian programmer like you needs to be very honest and truthful. You should avoid taking up work which you are very little aware of. Learning and working at the same time may bring success in some cases while it may cause the deadlines to fail, loss of quality work and ultimately may cause the project to fail. It is very important for the Indian programmer like you to maintain a good healthy relationship with
the client. If the client is happy with you, there are good chances that there can be a continuous flow of work.

What do you need?

It is very important for an offshore Indian programmer like you to have a wide range of skill sets. This will enable you to work out on variety of projects thus bringing you good wealth. It is equally important for you and your colleagues, who are programmers from India to focus on the quality and time aspect of the work to be submitted. You must have a patient hearing to your client's requirement and must be ready to rework if necessary. This will bring up confidence in the mind of the client. Assure them that the changes and
rework will be done in time and as requested. You must always aim at satisfying your client by providing him the best work, with best quality within the time constraint.

How long are your working days?

Like other Indian programmers, you may have to work on demanding schedule and may have to provide 24/7 support irrespective of traditional Indian way of working. For
critical projects taking longer time to analyze, design and code, you may have to skip weekend enjoyments and stick to work. Many Indian programmers and project leaders work for around 18-20 hrs a day continuously. So you can work in shifts, like most Indian programmers, with your team members in a co-operative way without disturbing the job and routine.

What are the trends/ future to work like this?

As the trend of outsourcing is on increase, you have a very bright future ahead as Indian Programmers are being considered at an advantage to others by offshore companies all over the globe.