RE: Making the Switch from Full Time to Freelance/Contract - Looking for Advice

[David Hailey <david -dot- hailey -at- usu -dot- edu>]

Don't forget the STC's local chapters. Attend meetings if they aren't too far. Some chapters are very active and offer great networking opportunities.  Networking is valuable for contractors.  And if you don't mind relocating to do a job, many of the chapters have their own job listings as well. I did a study of the chapter in Berkley, and found that about half the jobs being listed were contract positions, but very few were open to telecommuting.

David E. Hailey, Jr., Ph.D.
Associate Professor -- Professional and Technical Writing
Utah State University
dhailey -at- english -dot- usu -dot- edu


Well, I'd get registered on Dice.com, Careerbuilder.com, and wherever else people recommend. There are positions posted at the STC (STC.org) website, with members getting first dibs. There are gigs posted on Craigslist, too.
Get your profile up on LinkedIn and complete it to the best of your ability; get endorsements.

I've not had any success (yet) going directly to companies. Rather, everything in the past eight years has come through agencies. It'll take you a while, I think, to learn which are the good ones (there are an awful lot of "awful lots"). I would think you'd get scooped up right away with DITA and XML being hot buttons in today's market.

Jagdriver


On 5/6/08, Louise Kasemeier <louisekasemeier -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
>
> I've finally decided to take the plunge and make the switch from full
> time writing posiitons to freelance or contract positions and I'm
> looking for any advice or wisdom from people who have already done it.
> I've been a full time technical writer for ten years, here in the
> Atlanta area and previously in th UK. I've worked in the software
> industry for most of that time writing user documentation and
> internal/systems stuff, API references etc. In the past 2 years or so
> I've also been doing a lot of work with DITA and XML, both as a content writer and on the technical implementation side of things.
>
> I'm really looking for advice on the best way to find contracts and to
> get my name out there. Should I use an agency or contact potential
> employers myself? Are there any good web sites or other resources out
> there that I should be looking at? Anything really that you think a
> newbie freelancer should be aware of.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Louise
>
>
>
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