[BNM] Contract Work Advice

[Stewart Birch]

Thanks all, it really helps, hopefully see you at The Farm soon

Stew

On 3/14/07, Wayne Douglas <wayne at codingvista.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks for that Paul - there's a lot to think about there :)
>
> I might be popping along to one of your weds freelance meets soon to get a
> better feel for it all - for now I'm going to stick with the freelance gig
> in the evenings/weekends until I feel secure enough to take it on full
> time.
>
> W://
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bnmlist-bounces at brightonnewmedia.org
> [mailto:bnmlist-bounces at brightonnewmedia.org] On Behalf Of Paul Silver
> Sent: 14 March 2007 11:29
> To: Brighton New Media
> Subject: Re: [BNM] Contract Work Advice
>
> Very late reply to this, I'm still filtering through BNM messages that
> came in during my holiday...
>
> On Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:48:31 +0000, "Stewart Birch"
> <stewart.birch at gmail.com> said:
> > Well all advice
> [context edit: on contracting]
> >, experiences good and bad / brief or in-depth are
> > welcome.
> >
> > I know I should come along to the Farm meetings, just been a bit busy in
> > the evenings recently trying to lose the beer belly...
>
> Indeed you should! ;-)
>
> Although freelancing hasn't been mentioned I'll just point out that
> freelancing and contracting are different things (although a person may
> do both.)
>
> Contracting is fine - you tend to work on a particular project, often
> through to conclusion, which is very nice, and often work in other
> people's offices, so you make lots of contacts and have some fun and
> generally get to leave before the office politics gets too boring.
> Usually a recruitment agency finds the work for you, this can be a good
> and bad thing, depends on the agency.
>
> Advantages: generally better paid than working full time; probably more
> interesting projects than you'll get at most full time jobs; more
> variety.
>
> Disadvantages: difficult to get long-term relationships with other
> workers as you change companies often; some offices can be very
> difficult to work in due to politics; slightly less job security than
> being full-time [1]; can be isolating if living out of hotel rooms; can
> be a bit divorced from the payment procedure, which is a pain if the
> recruitment company placing you is crap.
>
> [1] Although people tell you there's less job security in contracting,
> it depends what you do and how good you are. If you're willing to be a
> bit flexible in travel or willing to live in a hotel and you're quite
> good at what you do, generally the market has to get pretty bad before
> you're out of work.
>
>
> Freelancing tends to be more like being a mini-company - you build up
> clients who you deal with direct (or through the odd web agency rather
> than recruitment agency), so you get more repeat work from them. You may
> work on one project at a time, or have several on the go at once. You
> tend to get on with the client companies more and build up a long term
> relationship (if you're lucky.) It often isn't quite as well paid as
> contracting. You usually get to work from your own office / home,
> although that depends on the work.
>
>
> Personally, I've done a bit of contracting but I prefer freelancing.
> This is probably because I like having a variety of projects on the go -
> some for clients, some my own - and because I lived out of a hotel in
> boring places when I've done bigger contracts.
>
> I've found the job security of contracting/freelancing better than being
> in full time work, although I did get one bad patch which I solved by
> taking a contract up in the Midlands (having a bit of flexibilty is key
> to contracting/freelancing.) This probably reflects the amount of
> networking / promotion that I do though, so your mileage may vary - if
> you're not willing to talk to people about what you do, then freelancing
> isn't for you, contracting might be, as you can generally deal with
> recruitment agencies who will do the promotion / work finding for you.
>
> Cheers
>
> Paul
> --
>   Paul Silver
>   Development work: http://www.paulsilver.co.uk
>   Search engine promotion work: http://webpositioningcentre.co.uk
>   Home: http://www.tenpastmidnight.com
>
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