Your journey

[jojingles]

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.

[northernladuk]

Bit more context would be useful. If you are a fairly new developer and truely freelance any feedback from a PM with 20 years experience will be absolutely useless to you. Location used to be a factor but not so much now. If you lived in Newcastle then the answer would be different to someone living in London.

Also what type of work. Bum on seat standard role. Developer, PM, Service or are you looking to be a freelance delivering products in your own time.

Any useful feedback will be highly dependant on the details really.

Also don't forget to use the search. If you were focussing on London for example searching the forums for London specific threads may help you.
Go to google. Type in <keywords> site:forums.contractoruk.com

[jojingles]

Project Management and Change Management are the areas I am in.

Been in the Corporate world for all my working life but have really been in Projects for the last 5 years or so and for a number of reason have made the jump.

I think the hardest think at the moment is trying to work out how/where to find clients.

I am sure some of you must have felt the same way at the beginning.

it will come, but trying to learn from others experience to guide myself through the fog!!!

[cojak]

I got hold of a piece of paper that agents were asking for, then clients picked me up.

If I was starting out I’d get a piece of paper from the DevOps Institute, that would kick start things.

(And to those who think that certificates are worthless, I wouldn’t be asking you for a contract - this is for CV algorithms and LinkedIn…)

[ladymuck]

My first few clients were via job board ads and since then I've worked via recommendation for the most part.

I made sure the bits of paper I had on my CV related to what was being asked for in the roles I was going for. It's easy to scan the adverts and find out what the most popular requests are and then find a bit of paper that matches.

With a long permanent career behind you your main challenge might more of the mental shift needed into thinking as a contracted hire-and-fire resource rather than a permie.

[jojingles]

Thank you for the advice. Will look at DevOps and generally look at other certifications.

I agree the mental shift is definitely going to take some getting used to.

I have one client which was almost a gimme as I knew then very well. The challenge for my confidence is to get somebody I have never spoken to before.

I think once I crack that the belief will come. Don’t get me wrong I have confidence in my abilities but Marketing myself is something I am going to have to learn.

[anonymouse]

First one, answered an advert in Computer Weekly, Computing never did have the roles for me.
Second, the PM from the first gig got me an interview on the next project.

[northernladuk]

Project Management and Change Management are the areas I am in.

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

Been in the Corporate world for all my working life but have really been in Projects for the last 5 years or so and for a number of reason have made the jump.

And 5 years isn't going to help either. So you've less than three in a skill you want a client to pay top dollar for and fight off hundreds of very experienced people.

I think the hardest think at the moment is trying to work out how/where to find clients.

This is the easiest bit of it all. Linkedin, Jobservice and connections. Sorted. Nothing else to say.

I am sure some of you must have felt the same way at the beginning.

I'd imagine a vast majority knew about where to look be it the classfied of Computer Weekly, jobserve or linkedin. Once they knew that then no, people moved on in the process.

it will come, but trying to learn from others experience to guide myself through the fog!!!

Some experience might be useful to you but you are on your own contracting. Can't be having your hand held all the way. You work for yourself now and it's up to you to know what you are doing and do it properly. Being a contractor isn't the work you do for a client. Any bugger can do that. It's finding work, managing non working periods and running your LTD I am afraid.

Will look at DevOps and generally look at other certifications.

I think you've worded this wrong but certs don't mean squat. They could be useful to back up your experience but on their own they are nothing. A client wants a specialist that is an expert in their field, not some with a bit of paper. You wouldn't someone build you a wall because they've got a C&G in bricklaying for example.

The challenge for my confidence is to get somebody I have never spoken to before.

In most cases it's (sadly) no different from seeing a job on a board, applying and having an interview. As I say above this is your job now and you are up against the best of the best. If you can't do this it's going to be a real struggle.

[jojingles]

Thank you for taking the time to provide a good constructive reply.

You make some good points even if they are hard to read. Thats exactly what I wanted.

This is a marathon not a sprint for me and I have a lot to learn and lots of mistakes to make!

[ladymuck]

I think you've worded this wrong but certs don't mean squat. They could be useful to back up your experience but on their own they are nothing. A client wants a specialist that is an expert in their field, not some with a bit of paper. You wouldn't someone build you a wall because they've got a C&G in bricklaying for example.

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.