The competition on the sites along with the clients not realizing the value of the work they’re requesting is horrible, but any money is good ;).

Regarding SitePoint’s contests (and spec work in general) NO!SPEC should be required reading for anyone starting at a career in design. It really is a bad thing for the entire industry, and for clients as well.

If you’re starting out and looking to build your portfolio, a good approach is to offer your services for free to some local non-profit organizations. Sure, you’ll be foregoing a small amount of compensation that you might have gotten from contests or bidding on freelance job boards, but in return you’ll be building relationships within your local community. Many of the people you’ll encounter helping out non-profits also have real jobs in (or connections to) your local business community, which can give you great leads for future paid.work. These are the clients that will pay the bills down the road - they’ll have a relationship with you and use you because they trust you and value your skills, as opposed to online bidders who are choosing from a large pool of candidates for every job.