Over the years, we’ve come to know many professional contractors. Most have been successful and happy.

Here are some tips for a successful career in contracting:

• Always keep your recruitment agency up to date with your current assignment, availability, new projects and skills.
• Think ahead. What do you want to be able to do with what you learn on your next project?
• Know your strengths. Be able to tell people quickly what you have accomplished and what you are good at. But don’t go on and on about it!
• Keep a cash float. Don’t get so tight on cash that you feel pressured to accept a job that’s not right for you.
• On the other hand, it’s better to work 12 weeks at $75 per hour than 8 weeks at $80 per hour and spend 4 weeks twiddling your thumbs! Be realistic about the returns on your time.
• Appreciate and be responsive to each client’s individual preferences and ways of working; adapt to fit into their organisation.
• Make friends! The public sector community is a very close knit place. If you get offside with someone, you never know when you’ll be paid back in kind.
• Go the extra mile. You will get out of your work only what you put into it.
• Get your time sheet in on time! And let us know at once if you have any problems with obtaining the client’s sign off on it.
• Don’t put off dealing with problems: talk to us before things get serious.

One final tip:

Don’t sign anything you don’t understand. Contracts are legally binding and you should know what your commitments are.