Levelling up in contracting - mentoring/coaching services?

[dante0]

Hi all,
I'm a backend engineer, charging £600-700 outside of IR35 (well, at least I have been so far, fingers crossed about the market...).

I was wondering if you know any coaching/mentoring services (or perhaps books/courses), which could help guide me to:
(a) increase my rates further; and
(b) provide better/more consistent inbound stream of opportunities (proactively generated, not passively received from agencies)?

Thank you in advance for your help and insights!

[cojak]

I’m sure that one of our regulars will help you with this.

Because if a new poster appears with a suggestion, not only will they be banned, you will too.

HTH.

[northernladuk]

First off you've got to know the market you need to break in to. Are there roles out there for 700+ backend engineers? Sounds top of the range to me but I don't know that skill well. Not many 'doers' getting much more than that and then it's highly dependant on the the clients.

Pull out the roles that you are aiming for, if they exist, and look in to what they need and you don't have. That will guide your progress. I don't see how books and mentoring will make much difference. The client has a need and you have to have the skills that fill it. You must have seen roles that you want but can't get. Why can't you get them?

[dante0]

Are there roles out there for 700+ backend engineers? Sounds top of the range to me

It is indeed the top of the range. No, there are no such roles regularly advertised or sought for by agencies.

But there are many tech consultants achieving much higher rates. Some of them regularly speak at globally-followed conferences, others not, etc. I know how to reply to a contract advert and get the role - what I don't know (or rather, seek some more detailed guidance), is how to methodically grow significantly beyond. (well, with the exception that, probably, selling my soul to a FAANG for 15 years could help).

Because if a new poster appears with a suggestion, not only will they be banned, you will too.

I love the friendliness and immediate suspicion :-). To those afraid of getting banned - I guess, please DM me...

[wattaj]

I love the friendliness and immediate suspicion :-).

We recognise the type...

To those afraid of getting banned - I guess, please DM me...

...and, there it is.

[eek]

I love the friendliness and immediate suspicion :-). To those afraid of getting banned - I guess, please DM me...

New poster - asking what is really a very stupid question which feels almost designed to allow a snake oil salesman mate to reply...

Reality is - the only way to get yourself out of that level is to be obviously better than the other candidates which means getting yourself known as the go-to expert in something - so blogs, youtube, talks...

Personally it's too much hassle...

[northernladuk]

It is indeed the top of the range. No, there are no such roles regularly advertised or sought for by agencies.

So why do you want to become this person if there is no advantage. You can't speak at confererences when you are billing your client.

But there are many tech consultants achieving much higher rates. Some of them regularly speak at globally-followed conferences, others not, etc. I know how to reply to a contract advert and get the role - what I don't know (or rather, seek some more detailed guidance), is how to methodically grow significantly beyond. (well, with the exception that, probably, selling my soul to a FAANG for 15 years could help).

So you need to change roles then which you can't do in contracting. I very much doubt any of these people are contractors. They are perms who have the ability to work on this on company time. They eat, breath and love the process and theory. You'll spot them in the workplace with an evangalistic approach, all over linkedin and generally just immerse themselves in it with a passion.

You do not have any of this so you cannot become these people. You cannot just force yourself to do it because someone gives you some coaching. You've got to be that person.

And then there is the old adage, if you have to ask then you are not capable.

Sounds like you are just dreaming to be something you can never be.

[dante0]

Woah. I must admit that I am a bit flabbergasted at the level of negativity towards me (including plain calling my inquiries about mentorship "stupid"), and the amount of judgment I have received. I guess I have perhaps misunderstood the intentions behind this forum and community...

I wish you all the best!

I guess, if one of the mods/veterans wants to have 1:1 video call to, perhaps, exchange our experiences and help avoid antagonising potential future community joiners - I'd be happy to... help understand the other side?

Sounds like you are just dreaming to be something you can never be.

Thank you for your perspective... I am so happy to have been taught a totally different approach to life, and have happily achieved success in many areas of life which used to be just "dreams" of mine.

Reality is - the only way to get yourself out of that level is to be obviously better than the other candidates which means getting yourself known as the go-to expert in something - so blogs, youtube, talks...

Personally it's too much hassle...

Thank you for taking the time to actually address the topic. Yes, that is what I have also heard and observed among some of the people I know. I also know that most of them tend to do project/value selling, than hourly billing. What I am trying to assess - is how much hassle there really is necessary, what it involves, what makes the biggest difference, and what the returns are/can be. Alas, I only have anecdotal info (one person - wrote a book, largely based on his niche work experience, and started marketing himself as the expert on this sub-area - it works allegedly well, but it's fewer shorter higher-ticket projects; another - is a well-known open source author/contributor, and has been capitalising on it, although it took him 10+ years to actually see profits from it). Hence, I have been hoping to find somebody/group/org who might have wider insight.

[northernladuk]

Woah. I must admit that I am a bit flabbergasted at the level of negativity towards me (including plain calling my inquiries about mentorship "stupid"), and the amount of judgment I have received. I guess I have perhaps misunderstood the intentions behind this forum and community...

Don't take it to heart. We've just seen it too often. People come with a pie in the sky idea, no idea how to start, which generally means they aren't cut out for it and they quietly disappear. We give it straight here, no namby pamby warm cuddles, which is better advice than someone making something up and sending you on a wild goose chase. Sometimes the best advice is the hardest to hear.

I guess, if one of the mods/veterans wants to have 1:1 video call to, perhaps, exchange our experiences and help avoid antagonising potential future community joiners - I'd be happy to... help understand the other side?

Asking a mod to actually do some mod type work is usually a bannable offence, if they can even bother putting their special brew down for that. Asking a senior person for a 1:1 call for absolutely nothing is also not gonna work and is beyond naieve whcih is exactly why you are getting such a response.

Thank you for your perspective... I am so happy to have been taught a totally different approach to life, and have happily achieved success in many areas of life which used to be just "dreams" of mine.

But just sometimes a seismic shift will have to stay just that, a dream.

Thank you for taking the time to actually address the topic. Yes, that is what I have also heard and observed among some of the people I know. I also know that most of them tend to do project/value selling, than hourly billing. What I am trying to assess - is how much hassle there really is necessary, what it involves, what makes the biggest difference, and what the returns are/can be. Alas, I only have anecdotal info (one person - wrote a book, largely based on his niche work experience, and started marketing himself as the expert on this sub-area - it works allegedly well, but it's fewer shorter higher-ticket projects; another - is a well-known open source author/contributor, and has been capitalising on it, although it took him 10+ years to actually see profits from it). Hence, I have been hoping to find somebody/group/org who might have wider insight.

You didn't like it but I'm absolutely sure I've nailed it with my first bit of advice, particularly reading the above. These people are go getters, they don't ask simplistic questions how to become what they are to their peers on the internet. At that point you are done. You want to be it but you don't even have a clue what it is as per the bold bit. It's grating to try to help someone with a pipe dream when they don't even know what that dream is. It's hard to give you respect for the effort you've put in to it so far let alone the respect you'll need to be an industry leader. If you were on the right track and just needed a boost maybe but that bold sentence tells us all we need to know.
One person that wrote a book? That's it? You've also stated he's a well known open source contributor, so there you go, that's what you need to do. Took him 10 years? So that's worth it to you?

So I'd say again. If you don't even know what you are asking to be, what it involves and how to start then you aren't ready. These people are natural go-getters, love spreading the word, love what they do and the sound of their own voice. Their skills are in becoming public figures, not in the application of tech. If you have zero of those natural as well as learned skills then it's just too much. Why don't you become an astronaut or a pilot instead? Least there is a very well defined process how to get there.

[courtg9000]

Get into the thought leadership side to go above your rate level like that.
That means blogs, youtube, presentations, talks, case studies etc and take your marketing and personal brand seriously.
I say this quite about marketing here when these sorts of discussions come up. In my opinion only it is a good way to go.
So basics such as business cards, pens, brochures.
One of the best ones I did was to brand up my Nextcloud instance. The amount of people that said things along the lines of "that looks more professional than ours". People do seriously take notice of this stuff.
Get known and socialise and network at the right golf clubs and if you are that way inclined - masonic lodges.
Do networking events and be polished when your turn comes to speak.
Unless you want small pieces of work avoid BNI unless you get invited as a guest and for god's sake don't pay for membership!
You could go to the next level and sponsor the local tufty club and things but unless you are after direct local business its not going to really have an effect.
Get your name up there on Google for your skill set preferably without using PPC and the like.
To charge more than market banding you will probably need to be connected over an IT director/CTO's head to get in the door. At lower levels managers or team leads will very unlikely be able to sign off way above market and maybe only by a few quid.