Finding work

So yesterday was my first day as a contractor. Well, actually, it was my first day as an unemployed individual. The contract I was supposed to start on has gotten stalled in some "red-tape" and its uncertain whether this will be solved to everyone's satisfaction. Scary, to be sure. But this is one of the possibilities I planned for when deciding to go independent. Many W2 employees have a false sense of "security" when it comes to their jobs. You should always plan for the possibility of being out of work tomorrow!

I'm definitely not out in the cold. I've got a few contacts and was even billable for a few hours yesterday on some small projects. But as I look for more work and do more research I'm wondering if anyone has had success with some of the Social Networking Services (SNS) out there. In particular, I've heard some good things about both LinkedIn and ZeroDegrees. Both are free services and work on the concept that everyone in the world may be no more than six people away from anyone else. I plan on joining both and see how they work out. Please post a comment if you've had success (or failure!) using any of these types of services.

3 Comments

  • false sense of security is better than no security at all

  • My best advice for finding work would be to hook up with firms who provide custom development or staff augmentation; such firms have a tough time deciding to hire an FTE when they max out their resources and are very willing to bring in solid outside help when their needs require it. More than a third of my work in 4 years has come via this medium - while you make more with a direct client relationship, making agreements to subcontract in this style can help soften the down times a bit.

  • The first thing would be to post some details about yourself... where are you located in the world... what are you experties etc...

Comments have been disabled for this content.