Negative people when starting up!

[meraff]

I am keen to move into contracting by the end of the year. The project at my current permanent job is coming to an end and it just feels like the right time for me to move into contracting.

Did anybody else find their family/friends who were negative about moving into contracting when you were looking? I appreciate the market isn't exactly booming, but we all have to start at some point.

Rant over....

[malvolio]

I am keen to move into contracting by the end of the year. The project at my current permanent job is coming to an end and it just feels like the right time for me to move into contracting.

Did anybody else find their family/friends who were negative about moving into contracting when you were looking? I appreciate the market isn't exactly booming, but we all have to start at some point.

Rant over....

I described it once as like taking up skydiving. Nobody has any sane reason to justify stepping out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft 20,000 feet in the sky. Until you do it...

Just be very clear about your reasons (big hint: money isn't it ) and that you can survive the first six months financially without crippling yourself. And read all the guides you can find - the one on this site and the PCG Guide to Freelancing should be compulsory reading.

[Gonzo]

Did anybody else find their family/friends who were negative about moving into contracting when you were looking? I appreciate the market isn't exactly booming, but we all have to start at some point.

My parents never really understood it, and I deliberately never explained to them, so it remained a mystery to them.

Many of my friends either were contractors or worked with contractors, and they were OK.

Those don't matter so much.

The one that really matters was that Mrs Gonzo understood and was supportive. She earned a good permie salary and so if things had gone badly wrong then we could have lived on only her salary.

The biggest question for you is if there is a Mrs or Mr Meraff, how are they going to react when you have finished one contract and three or four months have gone past and there is still no sign of the next one? Some partners cannot cope with this level of uncertainty.

[HairyArsedBloke]

I described it once as like taking up skydiving. Nobody has any sane reason to justify stepping out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft 20,000 feet in the sky. Until you do it...

Just be very clear about your reasons (big hint: money isn't it ) and that you can survive the first six months financially without crippling yourself. And read all the guides you can find - the one on this site and the PCG Guide to Freelancing should be compulsory reading.

It's not often I agree with malvolio, but in this case he is spot on.

Don't give a frack what anyone else ever says. It's your life, not theirs. It's like anything in life; better to try and fail than to live the rest of your life with thoughts of what could have been eating away at your soul.

When I was a lot younger I was alway shy and full of doubts about what people would think. This came from a family background where cynicism, snide remarks, and 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' ruled.

It took me a while, but now I have the self confidence to say FRACK THE LOT OF YOU. I'm going to do it my way.

[Support Monkey]

Couple of years back contract came to an end and i took 3 months off, 1 month in and father in law says to me why have you not gone and signed on as your unemployed, most normal working people don,t get it at all and even the people in companies you contract for will ask if your hoping the company make you permanent.

There is never a right time but be clear, times are very very hard, do your research and make sure you have marketable skills and do it for the lifestyle not the money

And its very true what the others say if Mrs Meraff is not behind you your gonna get it in the neck the minute your benched for a couple of months

[meraff]

Thanks for the replies. Thankfully I do have a supportive Mrs who is in a permanent role, and who can afford to cover the basic living costs if I am not working (i.e. mortgage, utils, food). I also have money set aside which would last for another 6 months if we were both out of work. Despite all of this, it certainly is hard to make the jump.

I believe I do have good skill base as a Microsoft orientated developer, with good experience considering my age (28) as I have been lucky enough to work in a job where I tend to jump from project to project picking up new skills on the way.

I'm not really looking to move to contracting just for the money, my main reasons are:
- I get bored after 1-2 years at the same company! Contracting allows me to move around often.
- I am finding that I have reached a point in my career where my employer is keen to push experienced developers into management roles. Hopefully in the long-term, contracting will offer me the money I would get from moving into management, but allow me to stay in a role I love.
- I like the idea of having my own company and being my own boss. I would consider myself to be good with money (and good at putting money aside!), so hopefully this will put me in good stead.
- Although I don't want to be out of work all the time , I like the idea of having breaks between work where I am able to consolidate my skills and learn new ones.

[norrahe]

Thanks for the replies. Thankfully I do have a supportive Mrs who is in a permanent role, and who can afford to cover the basic living costs if I am not working (i.e. mortgage, utils, food). I also have money set aside which would last for another 6 months if we were both out of work. Despite all of this, it certainly is hard to make the jump.

I believe I do have good skill base as a Microsoft orientated developer, with good experience considering my age (28) as I have been lucky enough to work in a job where I tend to jump from project to project picking up new skills on the way.

I'm not really looking to move to contracting just for the money, my main reasons are:
- I get bored after 1-2 years at the same company! Contracting allows me to move around often.
- I am finding that I have reached a point in my career where my employer is keen to push experienced developers into management roles. Hopefully in the long-term, contracting will offer me the money I would get from moving into management, but allow me to stay in a role I love.
- I like the idea of having my own company and being my own boss. I would consider myself to be good with money (and good at putting money aside!), so hopefully this will put me in good stead.
- Although I don't want to be out of work all the time , I like the idea of having breaks between work where I am able to consolidate my skills and learn new ones.

Get a good first gig, stay there long enough to build up a decent warchest and then you can look at taking (some) time off to skill up.

Find yourself a good accountant.

Just make sure you can stand out from the crowd skills wise. Before you take that leap, try and get as many courses off your permie company.

[meraff]

Before you take that leap, try and get as many courses off your permie company.

Lol, already on that. I've been pushing through as many exam vouchers as possible in order to beef up my CV.

[Gonzo]

Thanks for the replies. Thankfully I do have a supportive Mrs who is in a permanent role, and who can afford to cover the basic living costs if I am not working (i.e. mortgage, utils, food). I also have money set aside which would last for another 6 months if we were both out of work. Despite all of this, it certainly is hard to make the jump.

I believe I do have good skill base as a Microsoft orientated developer, with good experience considering my age (28) as I have been lucky enough to work in a job where I tend to jump from project to project picking up new skills on the way.

That is a good starting point.

I'm not really looking to move to contracting just for the money, my main reasons are:
- I get bored after 1-2 years at the same company! Contracting allows me to move around often.
- I am finding that I have reached a point in my career where my employer is keen to push experienced developers into management roles. Hopefully in the long-term, contracting will offer me the money I would get from moving into management, but allow me to stay in a role I love.
- I like the idea of having my own company and being my own boss. I would consider myself to be good with money (and good at putting money aside!), so hopefully this will put me in good stead.
- Although I don't want to be out of work all the time , I like the idea of having breaks between work where I am able to consolidate my skills and learn new ones.

These are all the right reasons for wanting to work on a contract basis.

So, to summarize, you are in a strong position to start contracting and your reasons for wanting to do so are sound.

There is just one last nagging doubt - if you aren't sure and you need to ask whether you should jump or not then are you sure you are up to it?

We've all been uncharacteristically nice to you on this thread, we must remember to have a post-mortem on that later, but the main point is that the real world is harsher, much harsher.

[HairyArsedBloke]

We've all been uncharacteristically nice to you on this thread, ....

Can I start to ask him, the questions now?