Slashdot Mirror
Moving from a Permanent Position to Contract Work?
duncan bayne asks: "I'm sure many developers in salaried, permanent positions have been tempted by the self-management, flexibility and higher pay that are the perks of being a contractor, while at the same time looking nervously at the uncertainty and irregular income. So, to all those in the Slashdot crowd who've made the change - what was it like, was it worth it, and what advice can you share?"
I think it was worth it to me. You have to realize that you won't always get higher pay and more flexibility; sometimes part of becoming your own one-man company is that you have less flexibility because you are the only one to do things. And while the pay may be more per hour often you get fewer hours, or spend huge amounts of time marketing yourself and doing research to setting up contracts.
Still, on the whole it is worth it. You do have more independence.
Traditionally people following this route have had former employers as their main clients. With sites such as scriptlance, rentacoder, guru.com, and etc., you can now get a larger client base, and even start doing it before you quit your old job.
However, I do have to say, that if insecurity makes you nervous, maybe you shouldn't do it, or at least save up money for a while first.
Switching to Contracting? KFN