[convolvatron]

how is that? i find that chaos and bad leadership still has a huge impact on my perception of my job and my ability to make progress as a contractor.

its just alot easier to shrug and cash the check. and spend as much of the rest of your time doing things you think are worthwhile.

ideally as a contractor i could choose to apply myself at places which were better organized and more engaging, its just they aren't as interested in contractors and its hard enough keeping yourself in jobs without firing all* the lousy customers.

[twfarland]

For me, contracting works because you can go in, provide value, get paid, and get out, before getting too involved in some inevitably quixotic adventure. Of course, you have to pick your clients/jobs. It's more pleasant to work on greenfield stuff or for clients where one of the founders is technical. And define clear end-points up-front. Otherwise, it will be a pain. Pickiness is a privilege that should be used to the max.

[theparanoid]

For me, the key is to "get out". Avoid personal investment. It's an exchange of time for money. Nothing more.

[michaeltoth]

A bit off topic, but I'm curious - how did you get started in contracting and how do you go about finding clients? Is it through people you've worked with in the past, or do you somehow advertise yourself? This is something I've considered moving toward but I don't know where to begin. Thanks!

[convolvatron]

its pretty hard. alot of reaching out. contracts dry up for a wide variety of reasons. so you have to keep the pipe full.

body shops will reach out to you - thats usually suboptimal for alot of reasons, but its work

sadly, alot of my contracts come from interviews for full time positions where the customer is hiring for some special skill, but its clear there isn't a long term role for me there. that can lead to work

old contacts are the best way, but you have to stay on people's radar.

sofar I've found gig sites to be pretty useless. the site wants to constrain communication so that you cant have the normal design discussion up front - they just say 'microcontroller work <$250', bid yes or no

my impression is that the mvp webapp space is still pretty easy to make money in. not really in systems - decent employers know that its hard to make a contract work well and would rather have you as a resource ongoing. and everyone is just doing staple jobs these days, so 'kernel' and 'test' and 'embedded', and all the old specialties dont get you anywhere.

i would try to leverage someone you've worked with before who is now in a position to influence a contract decision. someone with whom you have a level of mutual respect. once you have something ongoing, always spend time trying to open up new opportunities.

the thing that i find hard is that as a hired gun, you can present your opinion for consideration - once. its not your role to pursue and agenda, you're there to provide hourly services at the discretion of the customer and you need to demonstrate concrete value.

to circle around, its this carefully negotiated per-task relationship that both removes the pain of trying to work around useless colleagues and eliminates any reward you might feel for shaping a product. this is not your party, you're just serving canapes.

[lloeki]

> this is not your party, you're just serving canapes

Nailed it. This is the key difference, and matters a lot psychologically: you're not just acting as a waiter during the show, once the party is over you can't stick around you have to let go and move on to serve at the next party.

Comparatively, letting go on an ongoing product in a burnout inducing situation feels like you've given up while sticking to your guns feels like fighting windmills, either of which is just soul destroying in its own perverted way.

[jgamman]

There is also, if you're lucky, an increased sense of agency ie, direct feedback between your work and the value your customer places on it. Large corp can put you many layers away from that feedback loop and that can increase your sense of powerlessness.

[michaeltoth]

Thanks for the detailed response. You point out some interesting challenges that I hadn't fully considered. Overall, do you still prefer to contracting process and role to a traditional position?

[convolvatron]

for me personally i dont really have a choice...to continue the analogy, its nice to have friends and go to parties. but instead of throwing hysterics when married lisa makes a drunken pass at married brad...i get to chide the bartender for overserving and wait until midnight.

[twfarland]

Specialisation helps. Look at what the market wants, is paying well for, and is underserved by. Then you can just look for advertised contract gigs. It's also nice to have one or two contacts who funnel you work, but not essential, if you have an in-demand specialty.