consultant businesses
Comments for Rising from the Ashes: Life as a Security Consultant
This blog is about me and my life as an IT Security Consultant. It's not easy, it's not always fun, but these are the wonderous days of my life.
- Comment by budugu on The Soul forge
I don't think any boss or manager can afford to be a crooked all the time as we percieve. Majority of the times they are controlled in turn by their boss or manager which loops all the way to the top management and lastly to company policies. An occasional praise or a pat on the shoulder is the easily affordable thing that a manager can do. Being harsh or rude to someone in the team will be eventually detrimental to the manager too. Existing and new employees would not be willing to report to h - Comment by Wraith on Joining the company: The Blind scrabblings in a the dark Part 1
It is good.
Got the idea from a rather brutal Film called Threads.
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Click here to go to this entry !***! - Comment by Locutus on Joining the company: The Blind scrabblings in a the dark Part 1
I like the web analogy.!***!
Click here to go to this entry !***! - Comment by Tim Kuehn on The ashes have been spread and the Phoenix awakens
Congratulations on getting a "real" job. :)!***!
Click here to go to this entry !***! - Comment by Locutus on The ashes have been spread and the Phoenix awakens
Glad you could rise again. I sort of wondered where the Wraith went and though maybe you had evaporated. Anyhoo congrats on the new gig.!***!
Click here to go to this entry !***! - Comment by Petey on Job Hunting
This post is SOO dead on it's scary. I just finished the job search brouhaha dance and everything you've said happened one way or another. I've used a recruitment agency myself, and I have a mixed bag of results. Some things which I've learned:
1. Like the man said, THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU. They may seem friendly, may even take you out to lunch/pub, but in the end they want to make money out of you. This affects their every move.
2. They interview you to see how they can market y - Comment by piroufreek on Rising from the Ashes: The hotting up
Okay, post more. I'm enjoying the running commentary. I'm in the US and have considered consulting work for a while. I'd like more info from people who are actively consulting/contracting now.!***!
Click here to go to this entry !***! - Comment by timk on Rising from the Ashes: The hotting up
I know in Canada and the US, you don't need a business account to invoice people and get paid - you can invoice under your name, and get paid the same way. !***!
Click here to go to this entry !***! - Comment by timk on New Beginnings: Contracting
@ locutus: You can't have too much fuel in the tank or money in the bank.
I'm thinking that for a new guy starting out, who's by himself and only selling his services, his fixed expenses shouldn't be too high. It'll take a while to save 6 months of funds up, but my experience since 1986 has been that most of my dry spells were 3-4 months or so, and I could extend things out by doing little jobs here and there to reduce the negative cash flow an so increase my "glide time."
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That's very good advice timk but I personally think that six months is a little short. I would recommend at least one years worth. Most businesses fail within the first five years. Mostly because they don't build up enough of a buffer to last through the dry spells.!***!
Click here to go to this entry !***! - Comment by timk on New Beginnings: Contracting
Congratulations on taking the plunge into the world of self-employement!
As a new business, among the first things I'd advise you to do would be to squirrel away enough cash that you can go w/out work for 6 months or so. This'll put a crimp on your initial revenues until you build up this buffer, but over the long run it'll also carry you over the inevitable dry spells that come with the business, and make it easier to decide which gigs to take.!***!
Comment by Wraith on New Beginnings: Contracting
yes i use linked in
Tis good.
Thanks for all this its much appreciated. I just got some new materials for my new blog so ill post an update asap.
Ill keep in touch my friend and thank you for the tips. ehhehehe its good to get some feedback!***!
Click here to go to this entry !***! - Comment by iphigenie on New Beginnings: Contracting
I really try to get an idea of the timescales involved from them, extract a date out of the consultant. Most good ones will have a set of milestones planned with the customer if the project is mature. I ask what the client's schedule is, when do they think they are meeting with the client to discuss the "candidates", when do they expect to know who the client wants to meet, when can I expect an update. If I don't hear from them by that afternoon I send a quick email to "touch base". If I don't g - Comment by iphigenie on New Beginnings: Contracting
I did find some of the information on that site useful when i started
http://www.contractoruk.com/ - average rates, summary of laws etc. and some industry news
http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/index.php I am not a member and if someone out there has some experience with them I'd be curious to get info. Their PDF "getting started" guides are a pretty nice summary of what I'd wished I'd received all in one place when i needed it.
http://www.fsb.org.uk/ - can help with legitimacy espe - Comment by Wraith on New Beginnings: Contracting
Thank you this is all very good information.
When chasing contracts how long do you wait before calling them for an update or do you tend to let them come to you?!***!
Click here to go to this entry !***!