We all know how tough it is for some contractors right now. One of the hardest-hit sectors is probably IT contracting in the financial sector. I can relate closely to their plight as that’s how I first cut my teeth in contracting – as an IT contractor working for the banks. Having contracted through a recession, I know how hard it can be. But it doesn’t have to be that way...
Last week I met one of my long-time contractor friends who used to be a permanent employee at the same IT consultancy I first worked in. He’s someone I have known for over 14 years now and who decided, like me, to cut out the middleman by going contracting. He not only wanted to earn more, but also fancied the flexibility of working only when he wants to.
With 14 years of contracting experience behind him as a specialist project manager in investment banking, what he does now as a contractor is, in his own words, ”money for old rope”. And it’s a significant amount of money at that.
The extra cash he earns as a contractor has enabled him to take a lot of time off, by choice, to indulge in his passions. One such spell has just come to an end. “I’ve been doing more fishing and snowboarding than you can shake a stick at in the last three months,” he told me, “and I’ve got a bit bored.”
Yet he managed to walk into a new contract, without even so much as sending out a CV, and despite the contract being in a sector currently shedding employees and cutting back on contractors. So how did he do that?
The truth is, he did nothing but answer the phone. One of his old contacts gave him a call and offered him the contract. Needing an excuse to get up off the sofa, my friend accepted there and then.
No contract search. No job boards. No agencies. No interviews. Just one call, which he didn’t even make, and he’s back to earning six figures again. So, what are the lessons to be learned?
Well, to start with, there is no substitute for the hard slog of contract searching, job boards, CV preparation, agencies, interviews and hard contract-searching work, especially when you start out in contracting.
But as you go along, learn some lessons from my friend. He says the golden rules for successful contractors to be where he is are to:
- Make friends on every job, stay in touch with them, and meet up whenever you can (and if you can’t make friends, at least make acquaintances and always be sure to get the first round in!)
- Keep clients happy; very happy
- Don’t burn any bridges
- Live life like a cliché.
What does he mean by the last point? He listed a couple of clichéd phrases often bandied about but rarely truly acted on:
- Be nice to people on your way up, as you will meet them on the way down, and they might just be able to put the brakes on for you
- It pays to stay in touch.
Contractors who have lived according to something resembling these rules, and basically networked like mad, are the ones with the plum contracts now.
And those of you who want to get there, don’t yet have a network and need practical advice and the inside track, then there’s always the Contractors’ Handbook. It’s full of insider’s tips and tricks. Read it. Then you won’t weep.