Finding your first contract can be a daunting task.  Unless you are well qualified or have an excellent network of contacts that can tell you about available work you are probably going to have to deal with recruiters. Recruiters, are they all scumbags? Contrary to popular belief most recruiters are not scumbags.  This perception is [...]

One of the toughest things new contractors encounter is deciding on an hourly rate.  They don’t want to aim too high and miss out on jobs, and they don’t want to go too low and end up worse off than the permanent job they just left. The rate formula My advice is to apply a [...]

First let me say that I am not an accountant, nor am I giving anyone advice here to go in a particular direction setting themselves up for contracting.  In fact, the best advice I can give you is to speak to your own accountant to discuss how best to set yourself up for contracting.  I [...]

At some stage during the career of most IT pros the opportunity comes along to spend some time as a contractor.  The lure of high rates, fixed hours, frequent new challenges, and the idea of “working for yourself” are what draws most people towards contracting.  Each of those carries with it some truths and some [...]