[Silhouette]

Weekly payments are certainly possible, but I challenge your claim that they are common, at least in software development. It's just a personal anecdote, but I have literally never seen it in my entire career, not in my own contract work, not when any client or employer I worked with brought on someone else, not even in a job ad on any serious contracting forum. Unless you're doing either a lot of very short-term or fixed-price jobs, I would think the overheads of sorting out invoices and tax records so often would make it too much hassle for a lot of contractors anyway, but maybe if you're used to it and have all the tools and shortcuts in place it's possible for some people.

Edit: Also, I'm talking about working directly with clients here. What goes on with agencies or other intermediaries involved might be a different question.

[ownagefool]

I tend to work with agents. It turns out a bit more expensive for the clients, but I'm garunteed to get paid, and it's often how I find out about the jobs.

Do you find direct clients from avenues other than word of mouth?

[Silhouette]

Fair enough, that probably explains our very different experiences then. As you suggested, we generally do find clients via networking and referrals one way or another.