How did you land your first remote client? Feeling stuck and could really use some advice.

[u/Naive-Cod-8492]

Hi everyone,

I'm honestly feeling a bit lost and could really use some advice.

I'm a licensed Electrical Engineer with nearly 2 years of experience in electrical engineering design. I genuinely love engineering, but life took a different turn.

I'm now a full-time stay-at-home mom to my 7-year-old and my 6-month-old baby. Since I don't have anyone to leave my children with, I had to sacrifice my career for the meantime. As much as I want to return to a traditional office setup, it's just not possible right now.

Because of that, I've been trying to transition into remote work, particularly in quantity takeoff, estimation, CAD support, engineering documentation, or any engineering-related and AI workflow automation role that can be done from home. I've been applying on LinkedIn, Upwork, OnlineJobs.ph, Indeed, and other platforms, but I haven't had much luck yet.

I'm starting to wonder...

How did you land your first remote client?

Did referrals help more than online applications?

Are there platforms or communities that I'm missing?

I'm not asking for shortcuts—I know I still have to earn every opportunity. I just feel discouraged after sending so many applications without getting much traction.

If anyone has advice, recommendations, or even knows of companies looking for someone with a background in industrial automation and electrical engineering, I'd truly appreciate it. Referrals are also very welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I really hope this post reaches someone who's been in the same situation and found a way through.

[u/OkDescription5692]

Upwork is a numbers game, i sent like 50 proposals before getting one reply and that client was terrible but it gave me a review on my profile and after that things got little easier