Your journey

[northernladuk]

To be contrary, cos I can, I doubled my day rate moving from Gig #1 to Gig #2 just by getting the ITIL Foundation Cert and winging it

That's the only time I've had such good ROI on a certificate. I now only do them because it acts as a marginal differentiator for those recruitment consultancies that don't understand big words.

Bloody typical. I'm the first contractor to get the ITIL 4 MP and my rate when down

[hungry_hog]

BA

First client through an online portal (this was 2008 so pre Linkedin days) - Gov. 15 months
Registered with an FS agency
Transitioned to FS industry
Next contract via another FS agency (I think actually contacted me from jobserve or similar)
Next 4 gigs via word of mouth / contacts
Last one via LI (last year)
Would expect next one to be via LI judging by amount of approaches I get

[jojingles]

Do you do anything special in regards to Linked In?

Have you uploaded a CV or is it that your profile has your experience etc.

What makes people approach you do you think?

[northernladuk]

Do you do anything special in regards to Linked In?

Have you uploaded a CV or is it that your profile has your experience etc.

What makes people approach you do you think?

You just fill in each of your roles in LI like you would your CV. You don't upload it. The format as it is on there makes it look the same. Agents do keyword searchs so if it's in his profile and he has the experience they'll send you a message.

You can spam your contacts with pointless look at me type posts like most people seem to on there but puts me off more than attracts business.

[IsayIsayIsay]

I'm in a similar space (Transformation, Programme, Project, Change) and the oldies but the goodies (Prince2, MSP) are still in demand. Agile/DevOps are rehashes of how you've probably been working, but equally in demand (Customer Success, Customer Experience, all the same thing). Remember your skills are transferrable to any business (my background is in Telecoms), but I've also worked for other industries when marketing myself as a business transformation specialist.

Marketing is something I always struggled with, but I now "separate it" from my delivery and see it as a portion of my business that requires a different approach (LinkedIn - thought leadership in my area). ITIL is a good one for managed services (again, with everything moving to servitisation (See Aston Uni - it is a thing) and subscription models, it'd be a good one to reinforce any PM qualifications you have). Change management (ADKAR, other models) is also in demand and that's my next step (along with ITIL v4) to reinforce my transformation experience.

The thing that struck me (is still striking me) is based on reading a lot on here and listening to the experience; you have to be more militant, and more willing to walk away if the terms aren't right for you, this was a step change for me but ultimately has led to a happier, more effective contractor who knows what he wants to get from it.... (nice cars, holidays, earn good money, enjoy life)... and not take things to seriously. We're a commodity to a business that needs to achieve something, those reasons can vary a lot, don't try and understand, don't engage in politics... and keep learning/growing.

Good luck!

[northernladuk]

I'm in a similar space (Transformation, Programme, Project, Change) and the oldies but the goodies (Prince2, MSP) are still in demand. Agile/DevOps are rehashes of how you've probably been working, but equally in demand (Customer Success, Customer Experience, all the same thing). Remember your skills are transferrable to any business (my background is in Telecoms), but I've also worked for other industries when marketing myself as a business transformation specialist.

Not quite as black and white as that. Clients will be looking for someone that's worked in their vertical (banking, pharma, telecoms) before and also who has a long history of carrying out the specific hand in task. A spread of skills and hopping from vertical to vertical is certainly good for permie roles because they focus on the person and their ability to integrate and grow. Contracting is different. They want someone that's got years delivering exactly what they want in their area. Many contractors have been pigeon holed in to a certain area because of their past delivery. FS specialists, public sector, defence and so on. They know the culture, the risks, what's important and that helps. Different verticals focus on different things that you won't know if you come from a different one. Financial services will be very rigid, pharma or regulation, retail on customers, public sector on throwing money away. That's a benefit to the client if you know that. An FS guy banging the table and demanding things are done will not last in a public sector role for example.

You are right, skills are transferable but in contracting past experience in that clients area of business can be highly favourable and will put you above the next guy with similar levels of skill.

[zonkkk]

Over 5 years and 4 contracts. No time on the bench. I got all contracts through LinkedIn, never applied for one on job sites. Make sure your LinkedIn profile looks good and is up to date.

Went from permie to first contract with no gap. I get a lot of agents contacting me on LinkedIn, I always reply to them saying "Thank you but not available let's have a chat around current contract end time).

I've always considered other opportunities about 1 month before renewal time. All my previous clients wanted me to renew, so I had good bargaining power with regards to rate for the new contract. If the new contract doesn't materialise, nothing to lose. This is how I got my rate up on every new contract so far.

Good luck.

Having just started out working for myself I am interested in how people got their first client or two.

How long did it take you and what got you over the line?

In terms of prospecting what has worked for you and what hasn’t?

I am in listening mode at the moment trying to suck up as much knowledge and experience so any feedback is great.

[MonkeysUncle]

I know people do but for me those aren't really interchangable. You'll be up against people that have done change for a decade and same for the PM. If you flit in between you've have two halves of nothing

Agree with NLUK here. I would say either go with PM with change experience or a Change Manager with PM experience.
Know your focus.
Its rare (in my experience as a PM) to find a role where people want both, they either want a PM as they have a change team or vice versa.

thats not to say you couldnt potentially have two CVs, one which is PM focused and the other Change focused but that could be a headache to maintain