u/Odd-Leading-9878

I’m 17, still in high school in Australia, and trying to start freelancing because I’ll need remote work next year.

Right now I’m starting from zero — no freelancing experience and no real online skills yet — and I’m honestly overwhelmed by all the conflicting advice online.

If you’ve started from scratch (or if you were to), I’d really appreciate a step-by-step breakdown of how you did it.

I’m looking for guidance on:

• what skill you would start with (and why)
• what you would do in the first few weeks
• what sites/platforms you would use
• how you built your first portfolio with no experience
• how you got your first client (specific method if possible)
• what mistakes to avoid early on

For context, I’m decent academically (maths, science), so I’ve considered tutoring (though I’m still in high school and technically unqualified), but I’m also open to learning scalable skills like maybe video editing, web work, or AI/automation — I just don’t have experience yet and don’t know where to begin.

I’m not looking for “get rich quick” advice — just a realistic path from people who’ve actually done it.

I’m in Year 12 with a predicted 99+ ATAR (TCE) and I’m trying to figure out how to actually start online tutoring in Australia after graduating. I’m specifically looking into it because I’ll need remote work once I finish school.

I’m also from Tasmania, so I’m a bit concerned the local market/demand might be smaller, which is why I’m mainly focused on online options.

From what I can tell it’s either:

• tutoring agencies
• going independent (finding your own students)

But I’m not clear on what actually works in reality.

Specifically:

• what agencies/platforms in Australia are actually legit
• whether going independent is realistic starting out
• how people get their first students
• if agencies are worth it or just take most of the cut
• what you actually need (WWCC, experience, etc.)
• and how hard it is to actually get your first few clients

If you’ve done online tutoring or know someone who has, I’d really appreciate hearing how you started and what route actually worked.

Cheers