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You can go about contract writing in two ways. You can go through a
headhunter or job shop; or you can use your wiles and your contacts and
market yourself. Here are a couple of points to consider:
1. Job shops do the leg work; all you have to do is show up for the
interview and dazzle prospective employers with your writing and
organizational abilities.
2. Job shops generally act as your employer. They withhold federal, state
taxes, social security, local unemployment, FICA etc. and provide
disability insurance. This allows you, if you have put enough hours, to
collect unemployment insurance at the end of a contract.
3. You make less when you work for a job shop. If you are paid $25/hour
as a j.s. employee, the job shop probably bills the client at close to
$35/hour for your services.
4. Part time jobs are difficult to come by under any circumstances. You
may be able to switch from full time to part time in several jobs -- AFTER
your employers realize that you're indispensable. ;-)
5. Work-at-home jobs are difficult to come by, unless you are a
self-employed contractor. Many companies are suspicious of people who
claim to be "working at home." If you do work at home (at a company where
most people work on site), BE CAREFUL ABOUT YOUR BILLING HOURS. When
working at home, I keep scrupulous track of hours, and document progress
daily. I also provide my employer (or manager) with a progress report a
couple of times per week.
6. If you decide to market yourself, you'll need to do lots of networking.
STC is a good source of contacts; also former employers can help.
Good luck,
Liz Bohn
Liz Bohn "Suddenly Christopher Robin began to tell Pooh
Lbohn -at- ucsd -dot- edu about... people called Kings and Queens and some-
thing called Factors, ... and how you make a
Suction Pump (if you want to)... And Pooh said
"Oh!" and "I didn't know," and thought how
wonderful it would be to have a Real Brain which
could tell you things."
