How to find Freelancing Opportunities

[phirra]

I have a master's from one of the top 15 programs in the US in Structural Engineering and PE from California. I have 4.5 years of experience working at a firm that did construction engineering services for heavy civil and marine projects. I did a lot of temporary structures, FEA modeling (SAP, ROBOT, Plaxis), lifting schemes and frames, a lot of drafting, etc.
It so happened that I had to move back to my home country in one of the Asian countries for personal reasons last year.
I am looking to freelance but having this very niche experience I don't know where to start. My old company was acquired by a big international firm so can't really ask them.
I am not looking to stamp since that would be risky in many ways. What I am looking for is maybe assist a small firm or a one-man-run LLC that can benefit from outsourcing. Helping them with calcs, reports, or drafting. If need be I can hire people in my country as well. So where should I look out for such opportunities?

Also, the other question that I had was should I just limit to structural engineering? Maybe there are stuff that I can learn from other branches like transportation, traffic, construction management, etc. Since I did a lot of FEA modeling I was also thinking maybe I could pick some of the software like CATIA, ANSYS and explore the mechanical engineering/machine design area if those tend to offer more freelancing opportunities.

I am just bouncing off ideas at this time. It would be great if you could add 0.02$.

Cheers!

 

[SE_FL]

I would find competitors to your old firm by online searches if you have to. Then cold-call them and ask if they need help and tell them where you worked and for how long. Name dropping may work if the industry is tight enough in that market. You might be able to reproduce some previous work product and present as an example of your work. Hopefully you have contacts in the industry that can help you with an introduction.
Figure out your preferable compensation (hourly, fixed per project) and be ready to negotiate to close the sale. Offer an introductory price so they can see what you do. If you can search the same types of companies in other markets you can repeat the process. But my bet is that you may only have a small chance in success. That is more of a sales approach.
There are websites out there for outsourcing like fiverr.com but my guess is that those consultants are competing for work at bottom dollar prices. It might be worth a shot though.