Contracting is a great middle path between 9-5 salaried employment and full-on freelancing.
You can get paid a lot more than regular employment, but you have to take into account that you don't get any benefits. How much that affects your quality of life depends on your location. For example, I live in the UK and have worked as a contractor on and off over the last 12 years. We have free healthcare so it's been easy. I don't care about other employee perks and in fact, even after paying out of pocket, it's still a lot more lucrative considering the work-life balance.
Freelancing sounds very attractive but what most developers don't realise is that you have to do sales from day one. And we all know how good we are at sales. It's too big a leap for most.
Contracting, on the other hand, is a lot easier to get started with because you can find contract work through the same channels as you'd find regular jobs.
In addition to the mainstream job sites (LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.), there are a ton of smaller niche sites where you can find contract work.
Once you get some experience working as a contractor, it's a smaller leap into proper freelancing. Plus, you can build your online profile, network and most importantly, confidence along the way.
I know in the big tech companies in the US, there's a bit of a stigma around contractors. So I'd avoid those and instead focus on the many other remote work opportunities available now.
I covered a lot of the why, what and how of starting as a contractor in these free videos -
You can get paid a lot more than regular employment, but you have to take into account that you don't get any benefits. How much that affects your quality of life depends on your location. For example, I live in the UK and have worked as a contractor on and off over the last 12 years. We have free healthcare so it's been easy. I don't care about other employee perks and in fact, even after paying out of pocket, it's still a lot more lucrative considering the work-life balance.
Freelancing sounds very attractive but what most developers don't realise is that you have to do sales from day one. And we all know how good we are at sales. It's too big a leap for most.
Contracting, on the other hand, is a lot easier to get started with because you can find contract work through the same channels as you'd find regular jobs.
In addition to the mainstream job sites (LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.), there are a ton of smaller niche sites where you can find contract work.
Once you get some experience working as a contractor, it's a smaller leap into proper freelancing. Plus, you can build your online profile, network and most importantly, confidence along the way.
I know in the big tech companies in the US, there's a bit of a stigma around contractors. So I'd avoid those and instead focus on the many other remote work opportunities available now.
I covered a lot of the why, what and how of starting as a contractor in these free videos -
1. Why you might want to become a contractor - https://learnetto.com/tutorials/why-should-you-become-a-cont...
2. How to look for contract work - https://learnetto.com/tutorials/how-to-look-for-contract-wor...
3. How to apply for and get contract work - https://learnetto.com/tutorials/how-to-get-contract-work
Having helped a bunch of people get into contracting recently, I know a lot of the struggles are mindset related.
If you need any help, feel free to get in touch. My email's in my profile.