I think Guy McDowell is absolutely right! I'll be the first to share in recommending a few things I've learned in my research of how consultants function. These may sound simple to some of you, and for those of you experienced Gurus out there, feel free to chime in and correct me if you feel I've over-stepped my bounds. As I said, I'm in the research stage (6 years of solid web development experience, and business analysis & design focus), and am excited about charting a smart path to launching an independent consulting career. * Always get a signed contract (word of mouth does not hold up in court) * For those of you concerned about health insurance as an independent, I've found some good rates at http://www.ehealthinsurance.com * When beginning a contract with a client, do your best to gain some sort of monetary compensation up front; whether it be hourly pay for your initial analysis, or 33/50% before beginning main project design/build. * Build project in phases, and bill client accordingly upon successful reviews at pre-determined, signed, milestones. * Quicken Family Lawyer software has some useful "boiler plate" contracts, and other helpful advice for independent consultants. * Excellent legal resource website for independent consultants: http://www.nolopress.com/category/ic_home.html?t=0030LFNAV03202000 Cheers! Scott Webb ----- Original Message ----- From: "Guy J. McDowell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Jobs" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, March 23, 2001 7:16 AM Subject: RE: PLEASE STOP THIS CONVERSATION: Consulting sucks > Jobs....CF-Jobs....let me wax poetically about that term and what it > might mean as a definition of a list serve. > A third of our lives are spent in sweet slumber. (Okay we're > developers so maybe that's more like a quarter.) Another third of our > lives is spent in leisure, family and community pursuits. And finally > a third of our lives is invested in our occupations. Well perhaps more > like 3/4, but you get the idea. > > Jobs. There is much more to them than simply finding them and keeping > them. They are integral to our lives and affect us in many weird and > wonderful ways. So, much like anything of that magnitude there are > many facets to be discussed. If we were to simply post job openings, > would we learn anything from this list? Not really. > > So let us talk about things such as consulting, how to negotiate a > raise, what technologies will enhance our careers, how to deal with > unruly bosses/clients, should coffee be free in the lunchroom, > benefits of hammock rooms....okay now I'm just daydreaming. > > How sad to see a beautiful chance to make us all more productive and > happy people, simply to limit this list to, "Wanted: Developer - Apply > here". > > So I have to disagree with you Jennifer, this list is so much more > than an avenue for the posting of opportunities. I like it that way. > > Guy > www.guymcdowell.com > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To Unsubscribe visit http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists&body=lists/cf_jobs or send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with 'unsubscribe' in the body.
