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More than a dozen myths about carding
Carder can choose projects, but is forced to work only on small orders? Does he really manage his own time? And what about career growth? We analyze the main myths (and not only) about carding.
Idea
The idea of this material has been wandering with me for several years already. Initially, it was born on the sidelines of the closed forum of the Guild of Free Carders, then it was summarized in one of our forum. And now, finally, we got around to turning it into something more than just a dry set of theses. Hopefully the editors don't consider it copy-paste.
A bit of background
Now I am far from classic carding - and this allows me to honestly look at it from the outside. I spent more than seven years as a carder: I started with the front-end, after a while I became something like a full-stack; then for almost 4 years he was closely involved in design, analytics and product design. Now I am almost three years old as I produce IT projects, and sometimes I hire carders myself. The general experience in IT is a dozen of extremely diverse years.
And still this is a relatively short period. I personally know guys who have been carding since the middle or even the beginning of the 2000s. However, I was probably lucky. Firstly, the change of directions allowed us to work with completely different teams: from “knee-high” startups to well-known agencies and companies. Secondly, after moving to Moscow, I made several good professional acquaintances, which turned out to be very useful - and in just a couple of years I probably reached the financial ceiling of a carder in the Russian Federation.
All this allows me to believe that even during such a period I deeply felt the specifics of a fun life without working for an "uncle".
Accuracy of wording
Let's define it right away. carding is not an in-house. Even if you work from home, but receive a salary (especially now, during the pandemic), you still work for a company, and not carding.
Carding is when:
In general, carding and remote work are two different things. I think everyone will agree with me here.
There are, of course, exceptions “on the brink”. For example, carders often work part-time in startups, but this is not at all the same as being paid a salary in an agency. carders are most often paid directly for their hours of work.
Well, we sorted it out. Let's get to the point.
Myths (or almost)
Not all of the myths below are myths. Sometimes these are just stereotypes. However, they often prevent someone from unhooking from a comfortable chair in an open space. Or, on the contrary: they beckon with carding, for which, as you know, you always have to pay with something.
This article is, of course, purely subjective. But I hope that she will help someone make the right decision. And someone, perhaps, will give a reason to feel a little nostalgic.
Myth 1. A carder can choose projects
No, he can not. At least not always. And definitely not at the beginning of his journey. Then, when the client base has been developed, and the financial pillow has become noticeably thicker than the pillowcase, then yes, you can afford to arrogantly pick up a pack of inconsistent technical specifications. But in the first year or two, when the payment for the last project arrived a week ago, and there is only calm New Year holidays ahead, you will also take on the first online store that comes up.
Searching for cool projects (or projects in general) on your own is, yes, a sign of carding. But the real choice among them is, rather, a property of rich experience, professional level and, no matter how banal, a wide range of acquaintances.
Myth 2. A carder only works with small projects
This is definitely a myth. Moreover, he was born by those for whom carding clearly did not go.
carders work on projects of completely different levels. Moreover, often large products are developed in this way: one expensive PM is hired, who brings together a dozen or so designers / programmers / sysadmins by provinces. They especially like to do this in the West: for the entire time of creating a product, a huge amount is saved in this way. We counted once. They took the hours worked out in six months, multiplied it by the average cost in the agencies, and took away the money actually paid. It turned out to be a one-room apartment in the capital.
Of course, there are risks here, where without them. I myself prefer to combine production companies with proven carders on my projects. However, a multitude of cool and well-known projects were created exclusively by the calloused hands of “outsourced singles”. Their names, however, have been swallowed up by history - and this is the next myth.
Myth 3. It is difficult for a carder to become famous
Even in professional circles. This is so, and there are several reasons for this.
First, often the carder acts as "Music Negro" - he tears voice ligaments behind the scene, on which a lubricant boy only opens his mouth before the public. Be prepared for a project you've been bloody sweat on for months to be taken over by a fashion studio label. And they won't even show you in the credits.
Secondly, carders are less often invited to teach, speak at conferences, and so on. The organizers also need big names that the listeners will go to. And you must admit that “Vasily, Mail.ru Group” sounds much louder than “Vasily, carder”. Even if in the first case our Vasya is only a junior assistant to the senior desk lamp holder of the chief designer.
However, for a carder, other ways of self-promotion are still available: professional blogs, interviews, etc. If you have a task to gain fame in your midst, you can do it. Let this process take a little more time.
Myth 4. A carder needs a name
Usually, those who receive large and tasty orders not due to their professionalism, but solely due to the promoted personal brand, say this. Of course, this is a myth. No name is needed to be successful as a carder. At least not necessarily.
Of course, if even the Juns from Ulan-Ude know you, then finding a cool project (and putting your name on it upon completion) is somewhat easier. However, for a normal income and professional development, a big name is not at all an obligatory attribute. The overwhelming majority of clients do not care deeply about the fame of the performer (if this does not affect the quality and cost of services).
Myth 5. carding is unstable
And this is also only partly true. Of course, carding is in most cases less reliable than working in the office or even remotely. It happens that there are no orders for a couple of weeks, and it is not even expected. And tomorrow five will arrive at once, and you don't know how to distribute and which ones to refuse.
But not all carders live in a permanent cash gap.
The stability of a carder depends on himself, no matter how trite it may sound. Professionalism, responsibility, employment planning, adequate assessment of one's own capabilities, expanding the range of professional and business acquaintances - all this makes carding even more stable than working for an “uncle”. At least in terms of independence from "uncle's" decisions.
Myth 6. carding doesn't make much money
Like any work in general, yes. But not everything is so simple.
Personally, I managed to get much more on carding than any HR could offer me for the same job. After a certain level, you can increase the hourly rate, making it even larger than your "office" colleague gets.
Let's give an example. Let's say a developer in the office gets $ 3000. If we divide by the average number of working hours in a month (in 2020, for example, 164), then we get a little more than nine hundred rubles per hour. At the same time, a strong middle person can easily find a carding job with an hourly wage of $ 20-30. Count it yourself, even taking into account bonuses and vacation pay. Of course, this only works if the order flow is solid and inexhaustible, but the difference is still felt.
In addition, it is often possible to combine projects: during one large project, for a year, you can simultaneously make heels of small ones that are not “burning”.
In general, making money as a carder is a very individual moment. I personally know several people whom carding almost drove into debt, although they themselves are quite high-level professionals. And the consequences of the following myth are partly to blame.
Myth 7. A carder manages his time
Yes, most of the time it is. But self-distribution over the working day is both a plus and a minus of carding.
It all depends on the person. Someone cannot bring themselves to work when there is a sofa nearby. And someone in the workflow completely forgets about lunch. Both cases are, of course, extreme. You need to work and dine on time.
In general, this is probably one of the key qualities of a successful carder: tough, self-organization. I was glad that in the middle of the week, at the very height of the working day, I could easily wind up on a ski-ski and drive on a snowboard: beauty, the slope is empty. But I know for sure that some of my colleagues in the workshop could not afford this: what I did in 6-8 working hours, they could stretch for the whole day, until the night - thanks to procrastination alone. Yes, and I myself have many times fell into her sticky arms, what really.
Someone does not need such carding, they need clear boundaries of working hours and a lunch break. And they have the right to do so.
Myth 8. carding is a 24/7 job
Yes, carding sometimes really turns into work for wear. Moreover, the reason for this may not even be a financial issue, but a psychological one. Hypertrophied responsibility, for example. Or the arrogant feeling that everything will fall apart without you.
Very often carders do not have days off, only their illusion. Why, ask the average carder what day of the week it is, and he will frantically count how many times he has slept since the last episode of his favorite series.
Of course, I'm exaggerating, and there are plenty of exceptions. But personally, I have always admired the ability of some of my colleagues to calmly cut out of the process for the weekend. When you know for sure that the developers will start registering on Monday, and you have not yet fully described the server validation scenario.
You need to rest, otherwise you will burn out. On carding, you can burn out quickly, gracefully and imperceptibly. So that then some coals will remain.
Myth 9. carders do not develop professionally
Another myth. The fact that there is no professional environment around is often cited as an argument. Do you know these "kitchen coolers, smoking rooms"? Corporate training, again.
Yes, the information field at home is narrower. But on the other hand, it is much more diverse. When you work for a company, you often do the same job from year to year. It is profitable for business to build up your competencies vertically, only in passing by developing the accompanying hard skills.
On carding, every project is a real challenge. Yesterday you did not know anything about the intricacies of micro-markup, but today you have a task to describe the OpenGraph-structure of a new site by the end of the week. And you start digging. You google, call familiar SEO specialists, take a three-hour video course.
For the sake of one small task, no one will attract a new specialist and immerse him in the subject area. Most likely, the client will ask you. And whether you do it qualitatively or not, most often depends on your level of self-learning and responsibility.
With the right approach on carding, your hard skills (and software too) grow like on steroids. Sometimes they even grow into a new profession altogether.
Myth 10. Carding and career growth are incompatible.
But this is already the true truth. The career growth of a carder is about the same as that of a waiter. The latter is even in a better position: with the proper skill, he can become a restaurant administrator. Whereas the maximum that a carder can count on is getting bored and leading a few guys like him. Only at this moment they are already moving from carding to the category of various kinds of agencies.
There are, of course, other options. Go, for example, to IT-producers, as I did. But this requires some effort on oneself and additional skills that a carder, most often, has nowhere to take.
In any case, you can't build a carding career, that's a fact.
Myth 11. You can only carding from home (and there are children)
After the whole world settled at home, this point has probably lost some of its relevance. However, I will tell you about it anyway.
In general, working from home is not suitable for everyone. It is difficult to explain to a two-year-old child that dad is not playing with diagrams now, but is trying to earn money for normal toys. Someone's relatives simply do not understand what it means to "not distract" and why the innocent question "dear, are you busy?" able to destroy the crystal castle, bit by bit collected in the head for the last forty minutes.
I was lucky in this regard. Until there was a separate office, I agreed with my family about the rules for interacting with a person wearing headphones in front of the monitor. For example, if the microphone is extended at the headphones, this is an unambiguous reason to move around the room much quieter than usual. Probably, on this topic, you can even download a separate post.
Well, let's be honest. You can carding not only from home. Cafes and coworking spaces have not been canceled (although during a pandemic, remembering them, of course, is blasphemy).
Myth 12. carding is for introverts
This is an absolute, invincible myth. Yes, he was not born out of nowhere. Introverts find it easier to carding, they have enough of their own energy. However, the coolest carders I know are 100% extroverts.
A carder is not a hermit who hides from society for weeks in the folds of his sweater.
For serious projects and successful carding, you need to communicate. A lot, often with strangers. I have always considered myself to be an introvert, but it turned out that with the proper desire, all these conventions can be easily defeated. It doesn't matter if it is intra or extra, in general. carding will smooth out.
Myth 13 (bonus). Carders are unreliable
Yes, and PHP is a bad language and will die soon (no).
The fact that a carder can easily get lost by stopping answering messages and calls immediately after the advance is true. If you are transferring money to anyone, then do not expect otherwise. Use exchanges, sign contracts. carders are the same people. Among them there are good and bad, responsible and not particularly.
If you take one such "bad" person and put him in a different environment, he will behave differently. In the office, he will diligently write his code, because there is a formidable boss with a hammer behind him. And take this hammer from behind his back, he will instantly relax and start sticking into Netflix.
carding is when you hold the hammer behind your back yourself.
Finally
I did not say anything about the difference in time zones, about the complexity of remote exposure to colleagues, about the pain of building infrastructure with processes, and about much more. But the article has already resulted in a decent longread, which is unlikely to be read by many.
Write in the comments, let's share experiences and myths.
Carder can choose projects, but is forced to work only on small orders? Does he really manage his own time? And what about career growth? We analyze the main myths (and not only) about carding.
Idea
The idea of this material has been wandering with me for several years already. Initially, it was born on the sidelines of the closed forum of the Guild of Free Carders, then it was summarized in one of our forum. And now, finally, we got around to turning it into something more than just a dry set of theses. Hopefully the editors don't consider it copy-paste.
A bit of background
Now I am far from classic carding - and this allows me to honestly look at it from the outside. I spent more than seven years as a carder: I started with the front-end, after a while I became something like a full-stack; then for almost 4 years he was closely involved in design, analytics and product design. Now I am almost three years old as I produce IT projects, and sometimes I hire carders myself. The general experience in IT is a dozen of extremely diverse years.
And still this is a relatively short period. I personally know guys who have been carding since the middle or even the beginning of the 2000s. However, I was probably lucky. Firstly, the change of directions allowed us to work with completely different teams: from “knee-high” startups to well-known agencies and companies. Secondly, after moving to Moscow, I made several good professional acquaintances, which turned out to be very useful - and in just a couple of years I probably reached the financial ceiling of a carder in the Russian Federation.
All this allows me to believe that even during such a period I deeply felt the specifics of a fun life without working for an "uncle".
Accuracy of wording
Let's define it right away. carding is not an in-house. Even if you work from home, but receive a salary (especially now, during the pandemic), you still work for a company, and not carding.
Carding is when:
- you yourself are looking for cool projects and paying clients;
- the level of your income depends on your hours and efforts;
- you yourself plan your working hours (or try);
- you do not have direct and permanent bosses.
In general, carding and remote work are two different things. I think everyone will agree with me here.
There are, of course, exceptions “on the brink”. For example, carders often work part-time in startups, but this is not at all the same as being paid a salary in an agency. carders are most often paid directly for their hours of work.
Well, we sorted it out. Let's get to the point.
Myths (or almost)
Not all of the myths below are myths. Sometimes these are just stereotypes. However, they often prevent someone from unhooking from a comfortable chair in an open space. Or, on the contrary: they beckon with carding, for which, as you know, you always have to pay with something.
This article is, of course, purely subjective. But I hope that she will help someone make the right decision. And someone, perhaps, will give a reason to feel a little nostalgic.
Myth 1. A carder can choose projects
No, he can not. At least not always. And definitely not at the beginning of his journey. Then, when the client base has been developed, and the financial pillow has become noticeably thicker than the pillowcase, then yes, you can afford to arrogantly pick up a pack of inconsistent technical specifications. But in the first year or two, when the payment for the last project arrived a week ago, and there is only calm New Year holidays ahead, you will also take on the first online store that comes up.
Searching for cool projects (or projects in general) on your own is, yes, a sign of carding. But the real choice among them is, rather, a property of rich experience, professional level and, no matter how banal, a wide range of acquaintances.
Myth 2. A carder only works with small projects
This is definitely a myth. Moreover, he was born by those for whom carding clearly did not go.
carders work on projects of completely different levels. Moreover, often large products are developed in this way: one expensive PM is hired, who brings together a dozen or so designers / programmers / sysadmins by provinces. They especially like to do this in the West: for the entire time of creating a product, a huge amount is saved in this way. We counted once. They took the hours worked out in six months, multiplied it by the average cost in the agencies, and took away the money actually paid. It turned out to be a one-room apartment in the capital.
Of course, there are risks here, where without them. I myself prefer to combine production companies with proven carders on my projects. However, a multitude of cool and well-known projects were created exclusively by the calloused hands of “outsourced singles”. Their names, however, have been swallowed up by history - and this is the next myth.
Myth 3. It is difficult for a carder to become famous
Even in professional circles. This is so, and there are several reasons for this.
First, often the carder acts as "Music Negro" - he tears voice ligaments behind the scene, on which a lubricant boy only opens his mouth before the public. Be prepared for a project you've been bloody sweat on for months to be taken over by a fashion studio label. And they won't even show you in the credits.
Secondly, carders are less often invited to teach, speak at conferences, and so on. The organizers also need big names that the listeners will go to. And you must admit that “Vasily, Mail.ru Group” sounds much louder than “Vasily, carder”. Even if in the first case our Vasya is only a junior assistant to the senior desk lamp holder of the chief designer.
However, for a carder, other ways of self-promotion are still available: professional blogs, interviews, etc. If you have a task to gain fame in your midst, you can do it. Let this process take a little more time.
Myth 4. A carder needs a name
Usually, those who receive large and tasty orders not due to their professionalism, but solely due to the promoted personal brand, say this. Of course, this is a myth. No name is needed to be successful as a carder. At least not necessarily.
Of course, if even the Juns from Ulan-Ude know you, then finding a cool project (and putting your name on it upon completion) is somewhat easier. However, for a normal income and professional development, a big name is not at all an obligatory attribute. The overwhelming majority of clients do not care deeply about the fame of the performer (if this does not affect the quality and cost of services).
Myth 5. carding is unstable
And this is also only partly true. Of course, carding is in most cases less reliable than working in the office or even remotely. It happens that there are no orders for a couple of weeks, and it is not even expected. And tomorrow five will arrive at once, and you don't know how to distribute and which ones to refuse.
But not all carders live in a permanent cash gap.
The stability of a carder depends on himself, no matter how trite it may sound. Professionalism, responsibility, employment planning, adequate assessment of one's own capabilities, expanding the range of professional and business acquaintances - all this makes carding even more stable than working for an “uncle”. At least in terms of independence from "uncle's" decisions.
Myth 6. carding doesn't make much money
Like any work in general, yes. But not everything is so simple.
Personally, I managed to get much more on carding than any HR could offer me for the same job. After a certain level, you can increase the hourly rate, making it even larger than your "office" colleague gets.
Let's give an example. Let's say a developer in the office gets $ 3000. If we divide by the average number of working hours in a month (in 2020, for example, 164), then we get a little more than nine hundred rubles per hour. At the same time, a strong middle person can easily find a carding job with an hourly wage of $ 20-30. Count it yourself, even taking into account bonuses and vacation pay. Of course, this only works if the order flow is solid and inexhaustible, but the difference is still felt.
In addition, it is often possible to combine projects: during one large project, for a year, you can simultaneously make heels of small ones that are not “burning”.
In general, making money as a carder is a very individual moment. I personally know several people whom carding almost drove into debt, although they themselves are quite high-level professionals. And the consequences of the following myth are partly to blame.
Myth 7. A carder manages his time
Yes, most of the time it is. But self-distribution over the working day is both a plus and a minus of carding.
It all depends on the person. Someone cannot bring themselves to work when there is a sofa nearby. And someone in the workflow completely forgets about lunch. Both cases are, of course, extreme. You need to work and dine on time.
In general, this is probably one of the key qualities of a successful carder: tough, self-organization. I was glad that in the middle of the week, at the very height of the working day, I could easily wind up on a ski-ski and drive on a snowboard: beauty, the slope is empty. But I know for sure that some of my colleagues in the workshop could not afford this: what I did in 6-8 working hours, they could stretch for the whole day, until the night - thanks to procrastination alone. Yes, and I myself have many times fell into her sticky arms, what really.
Someone does not need such carding, they need clear boundaries of working hours and a lunch break. And they have the right to do so.
Myth 8. carding is a 24/7 job
Yes, carding sometimes really turns into work for wear. Moreover, the reason for this may not even be a financial issue, but a psychological one. Hypertrophied responsibility, for example. Or the arrogant feeling that everything will fall apart without you.
Very often carders do not have days off, only their illusion. Why, ask the average carder what day of the week it is, and he will frantically count how many times he has slept since the last episode of his favorite series.
Of course, I'm exaggerating, and there are plenty of exceptions. But personally, I have always admired the ability of some of my colleagues to calmly cut out of the process for the weekend. When you know for sure that the developers will start registering on Monday, and you have not yet fully described the server validation scenario.
You need to rest, otherwise you will burn out. On carding, you can burn out quickly, gracefully and imperceptibly. So that then some coals will remain.
Myth 9. carders do not develop professionally
Another myth. The fact that there is no professional environment around is often cited as an argument. Do you know these "kitchen coolers, smoking rooms"? Corporate training, again.
Yes, the information field at home is narrower. But on the other hand, it is much more diverse. When you work for a company, you often do the same job from year to year. It is profitable for business to build up your competencies vertically, only in passing by developing the accompanying hard skills.
On carding, every project is a real challenge. Yesterday you did not know anything about the intricacies of micro-markup, but today you have a task to describe the OpenGraph-structure of a new site by the end of the week. And you start digging. You google, call familiar SEO specialists, take a three-hour video course.
For the sake of one small task, no one will attract a new specialist and immerse him in the subject area. Most likely, the client will ask you. And whether you do it qualitatively or not, most often depends on your level of self-learning and responsibility.
With the right approach on carding, your hard skills (and software too) grow like on steroids. Sometimes they even grow into a new profession altogether.
Myth 10. Carding and career growth are incompatible.
But this is already the true truth. The career growth of a carder is about the same as that of a waiter. The latter is even in a better position: with the proper skill, he can become a restaurant administrator. Whereas the maximum that a carder can count on is getting bored and leading a few guys like him. Only at this moment they are already moving from carding to the category of various kinds of agencies.
There are, of course, other options. Go, for example, to IT-producers, as I did. But this requires some effort on oneself and additional skills that a carder, most often, has nowhere to take.
In any case, you can't build a carding career, that's a fact.
Myth 11. You can only carding from home (and there are children)
After the whole world settled at home, this point has probably lost some of its relevance. However, I will tell you about it anyway.
In general, working from home is not suitable for everyone. It is difficult to explain to a two-year-old child that dad is not playing with diagrams now, but is trying to earn money for normal toys. Someone's relatives simply do not understand what it means to "not distract" and why the innocent question "dear, are you busy?" able to destroy the crystal castle, bit by bit collected in the head for the last forty minutes.
I was lucky in this regard. Until there was a separate office, I agreed with my family about the rules for interacting with a person wearing headphones in front of the monitor. For example, if the microphone is extended at the headphones, this is an unambiguous reason to move around the room much quieter than usual. Probably, on this topic, you can even download a separate post.
Well, let's be honest. You can carding not only from home. Cafes and coworking spaces have not been canceled (although during a pandemic, remembering them, of course, is blasphemy).
Myth 12. carding is for introverts
This is an absolute, invincible myth. Yes, he was not born out of nowhere. Introverts find it easier to carding, they have enough of their own energy. However, the coolest carders I know are 100% extroverts.
A carder is not a hermit who hides from society for weeks in the folds of his sweater.
For serious projects and successful carding, you need to communicate. A lot, often with strangers. I have always considered myself to be an introvert, but it turned out that with the proper desire, all these conventions can be easily defeated. It doesn't matter if it is intra or extra, in general. carding will smooth out.
Myth 13 (bonus). Carders are unreliable
Yes, and PHP is a bad language and will die soon (no).
The fact that a carder can easily get lost by stopping answering messages and calls immediately after the advance is true. If you are transferring money to anyone, then do not expect otherwise. Use exchanges, sign contracts. carders are the same people. Among them there are good and bad, responsible and not particularly.
If you take one such "bad" person and put him in a different environment, he will behave differently. In the office, he will diligently write his code, because there is a formidable boss with a hammer behind him. And take this hammer from behind his back, he will instantly relax and start sticking into Netflix.
carding is when you hold the hammer behind your back yourself.
Finally
I did not say anything about the difference in time zones, about the complexity of remote exposure to colleagues, about the pain of building infrastructure with processes, and about much more. But the article has already resulted in a decent longread, which is unlikely to be read by many.
Write in the comments, let's share experiences and myths.
Last edited:
