Zero experience how to get started with n8n real projects to become a job ready candidate

Hello

I completed 70% of the “n8n The Ultimate course” on Udemy from David Soden.

I installed n8n Community edition using Docker Desktop on Windows 11.

I’ve read the online docs for n8n. I don’t have any real experience building n8n workflows.

I need to become n8n expert to land paid projects on Upwork or other sites.

n8n is a very powerful tool, and there are so many things you could do with it.

Right now, I am a bit lost where to begin.

The biggest issue is that most of the n8n credential sites are paid.

Does anyone have any advise?

Thank You

Information on your n8n setup

  • n8n version: latest community edition
  • Database (default: SQLite): sqlite
  • n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main): default
  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): docker desktop - local machine
  • Operating system: Windows 11
1 Like

Perhaps join a community where people are looking to collaborate on projects. I have seen some communities where some people are looking for newbies to contribute to their projects. Offer to contribute free of charge, and you’ll be moving faster than you thought. Good luck!!

2 Likes

You’re on the right track already!

My suggestion would be to start by helping out in the Questions and Help me Build my Workflow section here in the community.

Each user workflow/problem is like a mini case study, try to solve it yourself first, even if you don’t post the answer right away.

The more real problems you expose yourself to, the faster you’ll build both confidence and practical experience…

Over time, you’ll notice patterns, learn best practices, and become more efficient at building workflows.

5 Likes

Well, the best is obviously for me to just write this with my voice and then edit it nicely. We use AI the fucking way we can, the best fucking ways, you know? For me, it’s not a problem to just keep talking and then it formats and sends the fucking message. It feels like a fucking quest, like a game UI, to send the message.

What caught my attention from the way you speak is this idea of becoming a job-ready candidate. But “job” — what the fuck do you want exactly for your life? From my experience, that only got me going until a certain point. Then I had to niche out: figure out what I like, what I can get paid for, where those things meet. That’s where the real gold nuggets start showing up.

Seeing myself in your shoes, I don’t actually have much experience with n8n either. I saw a problem of talking with my LLMs through their UI — and not all of them have decent voice transcription tools. Even in the major ones like ChatGPT, if you talk for five minutes and then you get the server error, your whole message is gone. So for that problem, I decided to build my own n8n workflow. It was my first one, and it actually let me solve it in two days, which was fucking great.

My advice: start slow, but do it consistently, every day. Whenever your best time is, put yourself there, in the fight, because that’s when you’re in your best state — and good shit will happen. 1% better every day, that’s enough.

If you need help, reach out. Thank you brother, keep it going.

Best Regards,
Ivan from tuniverstudio.com

2 Likes

Thank You for your feedback! Do you have any specific places to recommend besides the n8n forum? Thank You