Depending on what you do, you may be able to setup the situation where you learn on the job during job 1, sell the same thing on job 2 while optimizing how it's

Depending on what you do, you may be able to setup the situation where you learn on the job during job 1, sell the same thing on job 2 while optimizing how it's done, and then really profiting on job 3 onwards. Success with that depends on how much you crave novelty and what the industry is. Established industries with larger non-tech companies have many valuable untapped opportunities, especially as we move to more uncertain times. They will want to make a lot of efficiencies and getting rid of "non-core" work is an opportunity for contractors. I know many people who accidentally got into lucrative contract roles in pharma because they started with some random 6 month gig that gave them access to assess the landscape. This can be done more smartly by subcontracting with existing vendors. They are often looking for oversight but you have to be comfortable with mitigating the level of devs they are providing to the client.