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I do plan onto pursue independent contracting in feature. I would love to hear the thoughts of the community on how to pursue independent consulting. For instance, how do you find clients, how do you pursue a niche and keep yourself updated as a contractor
Before COVID when I was more active I wrote a comprehensive free guide on this. It's titled for project managers but it really applies to a lot of independent consultants. Here's the link: https://iqoach.com/ultimate-guide-to-becoming-a-well-paid-in...
I tried to distill my experiences from myself and my clients, hope you find it useful.
Good luck!
Sidar
Has worked for me for the past seven years. The cost of putting your work out is basically zero these days - all you have to do it put the time in, which you have to do in one way or another anyway.
Not my field of expertise, but if I were a data science consultant I'd make sure I'm a top ten (%) kaggle person, and so on.
I was a hired it consultant, but have now been self-employed for four years, which has been truly great! I create a lot of content on the topics of freelance, self-employment and tech. I have also started a forum in which anyone can ask questions around these topics: https://annaleijon.discourse.group/
Best of luck!!
1. (for now) Ignore all the "read this, study that". If your goal is to be "independent", then I take that to mean you want to make money. "Reading this, study that" does not immediately make you money. It's important, but not THE most important thing right now.
2. Network with other independents and get on jobs they are on. Focus on getting paid and making money as quickly as possible so you can start to get a feel for how much you can charge and how steady an income you get.
3. Let go of your fear of putting yourself out there or getting a "no". Don't worry about telling "everyone" you are independent. Focus on telling people / circles / influencers who are most related to your client base.
Again, I'm not saying the "read this, study that" advice is not important. My advice is that there is a lot out there and your single most important focus should be on your goal: getting paid for your work.
Keep running experiments, different rates, different jobs, different emails, different job boards and get hired. See what works, get paid, rinse and repeat.
If you're just looking for a quick and dirty solution, find the full-time posting of the job you want to do, and apply to the job with your cover letter being honest about how you want to help and work with them, but ask if they are open to a freelancer. You'd be surprised how many people will kick those tires and get you off and running.
The most important thing in contracting is being reliable and showing up. So many contractors just don't show for work or leave before the signed end date so if you avoid that you're already ahead of the pack.