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Subject:Re: Finding Off-Site Work From:Win Day <winday -at- IDIRECT -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 5 Nov 1997 13:06:01 -0500
At 10:00 AM 11/5/97 EST, Melissa Hunter-Kilmer wrote:
>Bill Brucksch <bbruck -at- HALCYON -dot- COM> wrote:
>
>> One tip that I saw in the archives recently involved the following:
>> Read through the paper and find companies that are hiring
>> programmers. About two weeks after the ads appear, write the
>> companies and tell them that you understand they're ramping up to
>> create new software and that you'd like to help with the
>> documentation of the software.
>
>I have seen this tip before, and it sounds as if it should work, but I
>have never heard of anybody who tried it. I would be very interested
>to hear first-hand accounts of how well the tip actually works in the
>marketplace.
>
I do something similar, but not for the software industry. I look for small
engineering firms or manufacturers who are actively recruiting engineers and
designers. Then I offer my services to write hardware specifications,
operating manuals, proposals, engineering reports, that sort of thing.
I've had mixed success. I found this ploy worked better when I lived in
Alberta (Canada), where contracting is widely accepted. Here in Ontario,
the trend is more towards full-time permanent employment, and this method
doesn't work as well.
But I did find my bread-and-butter client this way. They keep me busy 20-30
hours per week.
What I'd love to find now is small projects to fill in the gaps. The
agencies I'm listed with tend to offer short-term, full-time contract work,
when what I'd prefer is mid- to long-term part-time contracts.
Win
-------------------
Win Day
Freelance Technical Writer/Editor
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada mailto:winday -at- idirect -dot- com
