The cynics guide to IT contracting

Merrion

Advice for folk considering taking the plunge and becoming an IT contractor:

• Don’t limit yourself to one agency. They have absolutely no loyalty to you and you should reciprocate in kind. Agencies play the numbers game and so should you.
  
• It’s all about quantity. When searching for roles apply for every role that even broadly matches your skill set. Most of these applications will be overlooked anyway as the majority of recruiters have only a passing knowledge of the area they are recruiting for. You sometimes see the most ridiculous statements in adverts that demonstrate this (Ask Mitch) This may mean sending hundreds of CVs in a day. The objective is to get that phone to ring, then it’s up to you to convince the recruiter he/she can make money from you. Remember that’s all he/she is interested in.
  
  
• If you attend an interview and do not hear anything from the recruiter then you were not successful. Very few contact unsuccessful candidates so don't waste your time chasing them for feedback. If you secure an offer they WILL contact you believe me.
  
  
• If you secure an offer from the client you are in a strong position. When negotiating a rate, you are actually negotiating with the agent and NOT the client. The agent will have agreed a rate already and will try to push you as low as he/she can to maximise their margin. RESIST!. You are cash on legs to them if you have secured an offer so push as hard as you can.
  
  
• Make sure you sort yourself out with a good accountant before setting off. You don’t want to get to your year-end and have no accounts prepared, or worse no money to pay the tax bill.

SouperComputer

can you reccomend some resources to start looking for such work?

Im busy enough, but its always good to expand!

damien

http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=46079