IT contractors can maximise the time they spend in contract by building and managing a strong network, investing in cutting edge skills, creating a killer CV and delivering ‘value added’ services. These are the lessons veteran financial IT contractor Peter Pilgrim, Oracle Java champion, would pass on to budding contractors.
Well known in Java developer circles through his blog Xenonique, London-based Pilgrim had four years as a permanent system analyst at Deutsche Bank in the late nineties. After his role was made redundant, he took the leap into contracting, first landing a Java developer contract role at RBS.
“I went to my RBS interview thinking it was for another permanent role, but after three interviews the agency called me and said the client wanted me on a contract,” explains Pilgrim. “You could say I became a contractor by accident, and have been open ever since to whichever permanent or contract roles offer the most interesting possibilities.”
Networking is key – both online and ‘old fashioned’
Many of the assignments, and jobs, Pilgrim has landed over the past decade have been via his contact network, and he urges newcomers to the contract scene to start building and maintaining a relevant network from day one.
“Although the UK’s financial sector is a huge consumer of IT contractor services, it is still a tight-knit community. So contact networks can be a valuable source of new work,” continues Pilgrim.
I have always found that traditional networking by meeting your contacts face-to-face, perhaps over lunch, remains an essential tool
Peter Pilgrim, Oracle Java champion
“Online forums, blogging and LinkedIn are important routes to making contacts. But I have always found that traditional networking by meeting your contacts face-to-face, perhaps over lunch, remains an essential tool, particularly in London locations such as the City or Docklands, where financial IT contractors and our clients are highly concentrated.”
Another networking tool Pilgrim advocates is technical user groups: “I used to run a Java user group and my advice to contractors would be to use these networks and make contact with people who might be able to offer you positions in the future.”
Skills development generates contract opportunities
Pilgrim invests a good chunk of his spare time in developing his skills, and has attended and been invited as a speaker at conferences in the USA and Europe. As a result, he is at an intermediate and advanced level in multiple programming languages, including many emerging technologies. These include Scala for object-functional programming and AngularJS for modern HTML5 web development.
“I’m in the process of writing The Java EE 7 Developer Handbook, a Java EE 7 reference book for US publisher Packt, which is due to be published in September 2013,” says Pilgrim. “But knowledge of advanced applications can be a doubled-edged sword, as financial institutions tend to work on the principles of evolution rather than innovation.
“That’s great from a contracting perspective, because you get some stability, and there is an ongoing stream of system change because there are always migration, upgrade and transfer projects. There are also some great non-legacy support projects if, as a developer, you have the right knowledge and tools.”
Simple steps work, such as creating a strong CV
Despite the fact that typically over 85% of IT contracts in the UK come via agencies, Pilgrim has secured many contracts direct via his networks.
But he does not underestimate the value of an ‘onside agent’: “A really well written, maximum four-page CV that shouts about your skills and achievements can be of great help to a recruitment consultant sifting through hundreds of badly written and presented contract applications.”
Pilgrim has also found that technical user groups and blogs can also help to keep contractors visible to recruiters. And he acknowledges that LinkedIn has become an essential channel that enables recruiters to easily find him.
In many ways, his networking, blogging and other activities have created a personal brand that has become a powerful marketing tool, whether he is finding contracts direct with clients or via an agency.
Delivering ‘value added’ underpins a contractor’s reputation
Pilgrim’s personal brand is partly built on over-delivering on his contracts, by adding value to the agreed terms. “Value added means going the extra mile, staying late to meet deadlines, covering for a permanent or contracting colleague who’s sick and even taking on extra tasks that were not in the original contract to make sure the project runs smoothly.”
He has always traded via an umbrella company, so IR35 has never been an issue for him, but Pilgrim admits the value added strategy might not be strictly best practice for limited company contractors who need to stay outside IR35.
Although he believes there will always be a need for IT contractors with the right skills and experience, Pilgrim admits that he sees his contracting career ending within the next decade, but for all the right reasons.
“How do you manage career progression as a contractor? What would happen tomorrow if I no longer wanted to be a developer, but also have no interest in becoming a manager?” he speculates.
“I’d still continue contracting on a smaller scale to stay current, and I’d like to teach and write about what I love doing, software development and learning new skills, for the benefit of those who love it too.”