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Experienced Contractors needed

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    Experienced Contractors needed

    A question for the more experienced contractors.

    When I started contracting, I was expecting that there will be a few fallow periods between contracts. I was fine with that, I thought that a month or two between jobs would provide perfect chill out time (Mrs Gonzo has a permie job so she is not at home during the day )

    My current client keeps finding new stuff for me to do I have completed two projects for them and that was fine because I did some good work there. Now they are coming up with little pieces to do here or there and it isn't really what I want to be doing.

    Now don't get me wrong, I like my client, and if they have some crap to do that they don't want their permies to touch then that is one of the reasons I am there.

    But now, I want a couple of months on the bench doing sod all.

    My trouble is that I am reluctant to force that to happen by turning down work.

    When I have been looking for work it has been real hard work to get a contract so my question to the more experienced is, at what point do you feel comfortable to sit down and not worry about getting work for a few months?

    #2
    7 Years of plenty
    7 Years of famine

    Be prepared, make hay while the sun shines

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Churchill
      Be prepared, make hay while the sun shines
      Yeah, really I know that that is what I should be doing.

      Thanks.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Churchill
        7 Years of plenty
        7 Years of famine

        Be prepared, make hay while the sun shines

        If the client isn't providing the kind of work you want, walk away and let them find someone who is wiling to work on that basis.

        When your ready to go back into work, update your CV and start applying.

        Churchill's right. Do not feast lest you have enough aside for the famine. If your finances dictate that you must be beholden to the client and take whatever comes, ok. Alternatively, you can structure your finances to cover periods on the bench.

        I've turned down many opportunities in my time contracting either becuase I want a chill-out period or the contract just isn't right for me. There are plenty of permies out there who are unhappy with their work/job. Seems pointless being a contractor only to end up in the same position.

        HTH

        Comment


          #5
          I've turned down many opportunities in my time contracting either becuase I want a chill-out period or the contract just isn't right for me. There are plenty of permies out there who are unhappy with their work/job. Seems pointless being a contractor only to end up in the same position.
          Hear, hear.

          You occasionally need others to point out the obvious - you're stuck in a (fur-lined) rut. This happens to us all, it creeps up and before you know it you're accepting an extention simply because it's offered...

          If you were happy you wouldn't be asking us...

          I think you need to revisit why you're a contractor, you may have lost focus.

          (The obvious exception to this is lack of savings (feast/famine above) or when the bottom drops out of the market.)
          Last edited by cojak; 29 April 2007, 11:54.
          "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
          - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by cojak
            you're stuck in a (fur-lined) rut.
            You are right.
            1. I don't much like the work I am being asked to do.
            2. I don't need the money now but I will do in one year's time.
            3. I am being offered work now and I don't know that that will happen in one year's time.

            Two things are going through my head right now.

            Firstly I have not been contracting long enough to have had to weather a downturn so I have not been in the position of wanting work when none was available. I expect that will happen sooner or later so I should get the money in the bank now.

            Secondly, I think that one of the reasons clients should hire contractors is that we will do the cr@p that they don't want their permies to have to deal with.

            Bingo. Answered my own question.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Kyajae
              If the client isn't providing the kind of work you want, walk away and let them find someone who is wiling to work on that basis.
              Rather than walk away (which in my eyes doesn't look too professional, especially on the grounds of "it isn't really what I want to be doing"), I'd ask for a higher rate. If the client accepts your request, you're sorted for cash. If the client turns down the opportunity to pay more, you're not stuck for an answer when asked why you stopped working with them as it boils down to business reasons rather than personal reasons.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by chicane
                Rather than walk away (which in my eyes doesn't look too professional, especially on the grounds of "it isn't really what I want to be doing"), I'd ask for a higher rate. If the client accepts your request, you're sorted for cash. If the client turns down the opportunity to pay more, you're not stuck for an answer when asked why you stopped working with them as it boils down to business reasons rather than personal reasons.
                Fair point.

                I guess it's down to the individual. Personally, I know I won't give 100% on a contract that I really don't want to be on, regardless of the rate, and I'm not one for screwing money for little return.

                God, I'm naive!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Sit down with your client, and explain that the work they have lined up for you isn't really the kind of business you want to be doing...(and why it isn't).

                  See if you can work out some alternative approaches. I had a similar problem with my last-but-one client and we came up with the following options:

                  1. Flexible working - rather than being on-site 5 days a week, I simply worked when I needed to so that the project would be delivered.

                  2. Bring in a much lower skilled / cheaper substitute, me working 2 days/week to direct my sub who would be working 5 days/week.

                  3. More money to make it worthwhile.

                  In the end we agreed a combination of 1 & 3, and I ended up working 3 - 4 days/week.

                  In terms of when to turn down work and take a long break, I've been meaning to do it since 2004...

                  I will do it either i) between contracts [not had the chance yet] or ii) once the mortgage is cleared and I have sufficient savings to scrape by.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Crossroads
                    1. Flexible working - rather than being on-site 5 days a week, I simply worked when I needed to so that the project would be delivered.
                    Lucky you.

                    For some reason, clients in the specific industry in which I work tend to exhibit the most extreme form of control freakery imaginable, wanting to account for every hour of every day. The concept of "getting work done" pales into insignificance in comparison to the concept of "being at one's desk during working hours, regardless of the amount of work being done".

                    Comment

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