Best way to look for non-regular contracting work

[theroyale]

I've now got a work-from-home gig that is not time-of-day based, i.e. I do have to put in xx hours per week but they don't need to be 9-5 or mon-fri.

Thinking of using this opportunity to expand my skill-set and my CV by doing non-regular contracting/consulting work. e.g. a company that asks you to come in once a month or on an "on call" basis to solve problems.

I like the idea of being associated with a startup - in any field - that might be looking for a tech person that they might want onboard but not necessarily full-time or regularly.

What is the best way to find this sort of work in the UK?

[tomtomagain]

I've now got a work-from-home gig that is not time-of-day based, i.e. I do have to put in xx hours per week but they don't need to be 9-5 or mon-fri.

Thinking of using this opportunity to expand my skill-set and my CV by doing non-regular contracting/consulting work. e.g. a company that asks you to come in once a month or on an "on call" basis to solve problems.

I like the idea of being associated with a startup - in any field - that might be looking for a tech person that they might want onboard but not necessarily full-time or regularly.

What is the best way to find this sort of work in the UK?

PeoplePerHour.Com

[theroyale]

PeoplePerHour.Com

Thanks but I wonder about the level of work on this site. Good for coding (especially the excel/VBA kind), web dev, 2nd line support, but not anything higher-level than that - at least that was my impression. Am I mistaken?

[gigahoe]

People are always looking for dog walkers on Gumtree. Nice bit of cash in hand (although you may have to have something else in your hand too).

[borderreiver]

Try workinstartups.com. That's how I found a very nice side project near me.

Tends to just list permie roles, and there's lots of "we can't offer you any actual money" BS roles, but you might find some gems near you.

[tomtomagain]

Thanks but I wonder about the level of work on this site. Good for coding (especially the excel/VBA kind), web dev, 2nd line support, but not anything higher-level than that - at least that was my impression. Am I mistaken?

What sort of work is "Higher" than coding? What do you want to sell to companies?

That aside you are looking for companies who wish to purchase part-time resources. Companies on PeoplePerHour ( or Freelancer or elance or the many of other similar sites ) are looking to purchase flexible resources. Which means they are open to flexible resourcing.

Let's say you see yourself as a "Marketing Consultant", keen to sell "Marketing Strategy" to companies. Taking on some lower level "email marketing campaign" work gives you an "In" to that company.

Once you delivered that for them, you can then speak to them about the higher level "strategy" work.

Otherwise you've just got to cold-call every company in the phone book saying "Do you need a Strategic Marketing plan?" ... and 99.9% will say no, 0.1% will say "Send us your information". Of those that do request information, almost none will read it.

[DaveB]

Personal contacts for me. 3 clients on the go now, all through contacts from previous gigs.

Helps if you are actually good at what you do as well.

Otherwise DialABrain.com might be worth a look.

[d000hg]

I'm in a very similar situation with spare time on my hands. I should be using it on my plan B but I'm feeling a bit bored and something new would be nice.

I was considering posting on CUK but feared I might get some flask

[FatLazyContractor]

I was considering posting on CUK but feared I might get some flask

Root cause of all failures, innit?

[d000hg]

Root cause of all failures, innit?

Or overconfidence. Or arrogance. Or incompetence.