| How to find independent consulting / contracting work? [message #147069] |
Tue, 15 November 2005 12:18  |
smartin
Messages: 1803
Registered: March 2005
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
|
Senior Member |
|
|
|
One basic approach to working in consulting / contracting is to go through one of the recruiter / headhunter firms who find you various 6 month or longer or shorter projects. Problem is they bill you at one rate and want to pay you half or a third of that. But how does one go independent and find work? How do you find out about and submit yourself for the same things they submit you for? What approach do you take to go independent?
|
|
|
|
| Re: How to find independent consulting / contracting work? [message #147102 is a reply to message #147069] |
Tue, 15 November 2005 16:12  |
 |
djmartin
Messages: 10181
Registered: March 2005
Location: Surges Bay TAS Australia
|
Senior Member
Account Moderator |
|
|
I WAS going to write about how it is more important to talk with the agency and have 'full disclosure' so that you know that the agency is only taking $8-$10 per hour, not the 50% I have had on some contracts. Also that when I switch from consultant rate to contractor rate the agency cuts their rate as well. But with the need for personal liability insurance, running a company and working through it (which is required by most customers), and with Australia's Personal Services legislation which is a real pain as it treats ALL agencies as the same agency meaning that you lose most of the benefits of a company as you have only 'one' employer in a particular financial year even though you do two or more agency contracts.
But perhaps I should ask is it really that important to get/find the work yourself? Do you want to find work or do work?
All the books tell you to join all the various associations around town, network like a crazy person, put advertisements in the paper, find all the Oracle shops in the region, contact the IT manager of each of them. But how many billable hours are you going to lose in doing this? I'm an applications person and the great DB guys normally get together into a small DB company, hire some crazy-haired hyper-active person to do all the chasing and seeking and leave the soft-heads to do the work and bill the hours.
Have you approached Oracle Corporation in your town or state? Ask them if they need a good 'temp' DBA or have clients that need a 'temp' DBA. If you are willing to travel short-term (like away Monday, back Friday), try Oracle in other states and ask the same question. Often they need someone for just one week to make sure that there is a DBA 'presence' in a shop while someone is on leave or at training. Unfortunately, you HAVE to charge a high hourly rate as you will be 'off work' as often as you are 'on'. Go to the training courses - talk to the participants - do they need a fill-in, or someone for a vactaion fill-in. But hey, you will probably make more money working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year unless you DO GET the good rates. Make sure you get on-call money and weekend loadings.
Just a bit of a brain dump.
David
|
|
|
|
| Re: How to find independent consulting / contracting work? [message #147234 is a reply to message #147069] |
Wed, 16 November 2005 09:27 |
smartin
Messages: 1803
Registered: March 2005
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Thanks David for the thoughts in the brain dump.
And no, I really don't want to find work. That isn't my thing, I want to do the technical work. But I also don't want to do the red tape and countless meetings and time wasting of the governments and beuracracies that I seem to always find myself in.
Basically, I want to eat sleep and drink oracle. Learn more and more about oracle myself, put it into practice in real situations, and help others get the most from the database, and manage their data and applications correctly.
But I also have a wife, and a 3 month old child, and don't want to spend my weeks away from home. So my answer so far has been to find some perm position, but I can't seem to avoid spending more time than not, to the point of almost all my time, on non-oracle stuff and meetings and paperwork.
So I'm looking for some kind of solution.
|
|
|
|
| Re: How to find independent consulting / contracting work? [message #149765 is a reply to message #147234] |
Sun, 04 December 2005 21:54 |
|
djmartin
Messages: 10181
Registered: March 2005
Location: Surges Bay TAS Australia
|
Senior Member
Account Moderator |
|
|
If the job specification says that you attend meetings, then you attend meetings. It is only through these meetings that you will find out what work they want you to do. I used to be like you, but I found that if I am VERY constructive in the meetings, then I can get them to do all the specification work and that makes my DB work just so much easier.
Enjoy the position in which you work, even if you have to fake it. If they think you are unhappy then you have less control over what they intend doing to you and your position.
David
|
|
|
|
] 
Blog
Search
Help
Members
Register
Login
Home
