Finding a remote-working/home-based contract

[northernladuk]

When I say I am available through the day that is what I mean.......

Which means you could be away from your keyboard for more than 5 mins but still available. If you get a poor manager who thinks he can manage WFH by the colour of your activity dot TVRs little work around starts to make some sense.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Which means you could be away from your keyboard for more than 5 mins but still available. If you get a poor manager who thinks he can manage WFH by the colour of your activity dot TVRs little work around starts to make some sense.

Agreed.

[formant]

Which means you could be away from your keyboard for more than 5 mins but still available. If you get a poor manager who thinks he can manage WFH by the colour of your activity dot TVRs little work around starts to make some sense.

Although I obviously agree that that's a particularly poor form of management (and not too uncommon), IMHO people just need to grow a pair and address that sort of thing with said manager. If you're confident in the quality your work and deliver on time, anyone should be able to appreciate that you may not actually be typing for 8-hours per day without interruption.

And anyone who thinks that just showing as available/active all day wouldn't raise suspicions (particularly with the above mentioned type of manager) needs to apply some common sense. Real people have potty breaks, conduct business on the phone, etc. The odd few mins, half hour showing as away is a lot more realistic than artificial non-stop availability all day.

[herman_g]

I did one home-based contract and not keen on doing one again!

It worked out fine in terms of productivity and financial.

However, it felt completely socially isolating - something I never expected. When mates of mine asked me to meet them for some beers in the city, I felt so jealous of the social contact they had as on a daily basis!

I know it seems like the dream job ( I did too ), but once was definitely enough!

[TheFaQQer]

The key is to find a project where the project team is based in a number of locations, so it doesn't make sense to be in one site.

Client before last, I did three projects. First one - business users were in Massachusetts, technical team in Berlin, me in UK. Second one was all run from Berlin. Third one - PM in Massachusetts, business users in India, technical management in Berlin.

This client is a truly 24+ hour business which never sleeps - based in almost every timezone, so there is no logical place to be based.

For each one, I've also negotiated a lower rate and then they pay expenses, so there is an incentive for the client to keep me away from site.

Apart from a two week stint away with this client to meet the team, I've not been into an office in over three years now. It's going to be a massive culture shock when I have to go back into a client office, but for the time being I'm very happy working from home.

I take my children to school in the morning, and pick them up most afternoons. I have lunch with my wife every day. I eat healthier than when I'm away, and I do more. Can't beat the life as far as I'm concerned :-)

[cojak]

The key is to find a project where the project team is based in a number of locations, so it doesn't make sense to be in one site.

Client before last, I did three projects. First one - business users were in Massachusetts, technical team in Berlin, me in UK. Second one was all run from Berlin. Third one - PM in Massachusetts, business users in India, technical management in Berlin.

This client is a truly 24+ hour business which never sleeps - based in almost every timezone, so there is no logical place to be based.

For each one, I've also negotiated a lower rate and then they pay expenses, so there is an incentive for the client to keep me away from site.

Apart from a two week stint away with this client to meet the team, I've not been into an office in over three years now. It's going to be a massive culture shock when I have to go back into a client office, but for the time being I'm very happy working from home.

I take my children to school in the morning, and pick them up most afternoons. I have lunch with my wife every day. I eat healthier than when I'm away, and I do more. Can't beat the life as far as I'm concerned :-)

WTFS

Most of my work is in US morning time so I'm busy from 12.30 - 17.00.

The mornings are my quiet time.

[Murder1]

I did one home-based contract and not keen on doing one again!

It worked out fine in terms of productivity and financial.

However, it felt completely socially isolating - something I never expected. When mates of mine asked me to meet them for some beers in the city, I felt so jealous of the social contact they had as on a daily basis!

I know it seems like the dream job ( I did too ), but once was definitely enough!

Yeah, surely the aim is to find a contract that facilitates home-based working - that way you can drop in and out of the office location as and when it suits you.