3 ms·

How did you get started in contracting? Did you just start with a previous employer or do you use an outside firm?

BiteCode_dev 5y ago
I have 3 main sources: - my first charity work in africa gave me a lot of contacts that knew what I could do, and that I could take a plane to anywhere to do it - IT training companies that I spammed to work as a subcontractors. It was easy because they don't check reference and really need a lot of people. - People that I trained. I can't be hired for training by them because I want to keep a good relationship with IT training companies. But people I trained sometimes contact be for dev work.
AmericanChopper 5y ago
I started out contracting through a firm. People complain about them clipping the ticket, but if they’re actually good at their job, then they can be pretty worthwhile to work with. The guy I worked with was great, and I was recruited by him to work a contract role the same way recruiters are constantly reaching out to people for other full-time roles. I worked with him for a few years, and since then I’ve done most of my work independently, which I mostly find through the network I’ve built up. I have old clients getting in touch with me, people I’ve previously worked with (who may or may not have moved companies), and contractors I’ve previously worked with who know about opportunities at wherever they currently are. The biggest barrier to working as an individual is the MSA, getting through the corporate procurement process as an individual who’s trying to get put on some large companies list of approved suppliers is very tedious. It can be tedious for both you and whoever is trying to hire you internally, and avoiding this is a fundamental part of the value proposition offered by the contracting firms. It’s the main reason that I still very occasionally do a contract through the firm that I used to work with. I don’t often find myself without a new contract to move to, but I do occasionally find myself roadblocked by due diligence processes (which take months to get through). In any case, one of the reasons that I feel very comfortable with this working arrangement, even in bad economies, is that I have a long list of people who are happy with the work I’ve done for them in the past.

I have 3 main sources: - my first charity work in africa gave me a lot of contacts that knew what I could do, and that I could take a plane to anywhere to do it - IT training companies that I spammed to work as a subcontractors. It was easy because they don't check reference and really need a lot of people. - People that I trained. I can't be hired for training by them because I want to keep a good relationship with IT training companies. But people I trained sometimes contact be for dev work.

AmericanChopper 5y ago

I started out contracting through a firm. People complain about them clipping the ticket, but if they’re actually good at their job, then they can be pretty worthwhile to work with. The guy I worked with was great, and I was recruited by him to work a contract role the same way recruiters are constantly reaching out to people for other full-time roles. I worked with him for a few years, and since then I’ve done most of my work independently, which I mostly find through the network I’ve built up. I have old clients getting in touch with me, people I’ve previously worked with (who may or may not have moved companies), and contractors I’ve previously worked with who know about opportunities at wherever they currently are. The biggest barrier to working as an individual is the MSA, getting through the corporate procurement process as an individual who’s trying to get put on some large companies list of approved suppliers is very tedious. It can be tedious for both you and whoever is trying to hire you internally, and avoiding this is a fundamental part of the value proposition offered by the contracting firms. It’s the main reason that I still very occasionally do a contract through the firm that I used to work with. I don’t often find myself without a new contract to move to, but I do occasionally find myself roadblocked by due diligence processes (which take months to get through). In any case, one of the reasons that I feel very comfortable with this working arrangement, even in bad economies, is that I have a long list of people who are happy with the work I’ve done for them in the past.