contractor

All posts tagged contractor

Rethinking Hiring Habits and Norms

There was a time when college credentials held more weight in hiring than they do today. Fresh from commencement, graduates would often have more chances of obtaining a job than someone with commensurate experience. But today, particularly in the field of information technology – and especially in the private sector – skills are beginning to outweigh education. Companies are rethinking hiring habits and how they evaluate and hire employees.

Historically, degrees had been a proxy for certain capabilities. In the rapidly changing tech industry, however, companies are taking a closer look at candidates who have deep practical experience even if they don’t have a degree. For example, a prospect with four years of real-world software-development or system-administration experience might find it easier to compete for a position than a candidate who has a four-year degree and no experience.

In rethinking their hiring habits, recruiters must also consider how an employee will fit within a company’s corporate culture. An IT professional with experience is likely to need less support from their peers to be brought up to speed than a new college graduate. This makes for a smoother transition and onboarding experience, and less strain on the company’s workforce.

The technology sector, in particular, has a high rate of turnover, as professionals are often engaged through finite-duration contract jobs, and employers are constantly competing for skilled workers. From the standpoint of both return on investment and productivity, it’s critical to minimize the time it takes to onboard, train, and offboard an employee.

As recruiters and human resources professionals strive to make the hiring process more efficient and cost-effective, many are relying on artificial intelligence to take a first look at incoming resumes. AI models can pick up skill-specific keywords, which makes recruitment more effective. College degrees become almost irrelevant – or are at least weighted differently. Relevant skills diminish the importance of a degree as a singular criteria.

While some industries will benefit from requiring a four-year (or longer) degree, others – such as information technology – are attuned to demonstrated, relevant skills. On the bleeding edge of technology, time is of the essence, skills are quickly rendered obsolete and workers have to keep their skills sharp with real-life experience. A worker who has shown they can do the job right now brings special value to the table.

Employers and their recruiters should re-evaluate their own hiring protocols, deciding whether skills or schooling should be weighted more heavily during recruitment. The decision might mean the difference between a costly and inefficient hire who is saddled with increasingly exorbitant student-loan debt and an easily onboarded and valuable employee who doesn’t need the additional compensation to service their debt.

Rethinking your hiring habits? You might want to consider contingent labor. Contact us to find out how PeopleCaddie can help.

Rethinking Workplace Norms to Combat Labor Shortage

Companies across the country are contending with persistent labor shortages, and customers are feeling their pain. To combat this ongoing labor shortage there are potential solutions rooted in flexibility and a willingness to consider rethinking workplace norms.

Recent figures from Goldman Sachs indicate there is a shortage of 4.6 million workers in the current labor market. Reasons for the shortfall range from candidates and employees being sidelined by post-Covid health issues to a reticence to return to the office and leave a more flexible and family-friendly work-from-home environment. Some of these issues figure to affect labor numbers for years to come.

Many companies are adjusting to the new reality by branching out from a traditional permanent workforce model and embracing a contingent labor force made up of freelancers and contract employees – and with good reason. Organizations that hire only full-time employees can restrict themselves and create a situation where they may not have the resources they need. More and more, companies are turning to freelancers and contractors to solve staffing issues.

There are a few adjustments employers can make to fulfill their staffing needs, while retaining existing employees.

Redefine the concept of an employee. A growing number of workers are joining the gig economy, and to remain agile and well-staffed, companies are embracing this change. Additionally, companies are also leveraging part-time resources. That might mean allocating two part-time contractors to one FTE position, or outsourcing specific projects to contractors or freelancers.

Offer flexibility. The pandemic reshaped the way workers think of and approach their workdays. For example, a former 9-to-5, in-office employee may now have a healthier work-life balance after working from home much of the past two years. For some families, school and daycare situations have changed completely, and many are not willing to go back to the office full time. Employers can potentially engage this workforce by allowing employees to work remotely or work a designated number of days from home on a hybrid basis. Happy employees are productive employees, and rethinking workplace norms by accommodating the childcare flexibility needs of a working parent could be the difference between having a productive employee or an empty box on your org chart.

Make the process easy. There is a lot of competition for labor these days. At the same time, many independent contractors struggle with juggling clients, billing cycles and collections. Streamlining all of it through a talent cloud service such as PeopleCaddie can make an employer more attractive to highly sought after independent contractors. Enjoying the flexibility of being a freelancer, while being paid like an employee can be a potent recruitment tool for companies.

Create a community. It’s important that once a company begins to utilize contingent labor that contractors are held accountable for the quality of their work, while also affording them opportunities to learn and grow by collaborating with in-house employees.

In the coming years, flexibility will be key for companies seeking to remain fully staffed and minimize turnover. Changing the way we look at employees is the first step. Embracing a contract or freelance model of employment for some, or even all, of their workforce will put organizations at the top of the list when it comes to competing for talent.

Want to explore the benefits of a contract labor force? Contact PeopleCaddie here.

Contractor Relations: How to Maintain A Relationship

One of the major adjustments employers have had to make in the aftermath of the pandemic is handling their contractor relations with hybrid and remote contractors. Work gets completed, deadlines are met – but are their contractors happy? Do they feel included as part of the team? Do they have the optimal amount of information and feedback to complete tasks effectively? How does the relationship get maintained after the contract ends?

Working at home can be a lonely endeavor for employees. While their in-office counterparts can collaborate in person, contractors sometimes feel they’re getting bits and pieces of information, mostly as an aside during a conversation with an in-office employee. The feeling of being on an island, waving a flag for help, can be isolating and isn’t conducive to a productive relationship between employer and contractor.

Still, there are a number of ways to stay connected, and to encourage collaboration and teamwork, with off-site personnel – improving contract relations overall. Here are four best practices an organization can employ:

All-hands staff meetings. Invaluable information is relayed at all-hands meetings, and management would do well to ensure that the off-site, contingent-employee workforce is included in these settings. Whether talking about projects, wins, pain points or the cleaning schedule for the kitchen fridge, it’s important that all staff members – including those at home – hear and participate in discussions at these meetings. Creating an atmosphere of equality across the full-time and freelance workforce has as much value as the practical benefits of keeping contractors up to speed.

Supervisor meetings. Although contractors work at least somewhat independently, it’s a good idea to schedule a weekly meeting with their clients. It allows the opportunity for a contractor to speak up about problems or issues, ask questions and generally feel connected to a client. Having a standing meeting scheduled can also help remote contractors structure their work weeks and stay organized.

Meetings with colleagues. Any type of collaborative project requires teams to communicate often. Remote contractors should be encouraged to meet with their peers, either in person or via video conferencing, as frequently as needed. These face-to-face interactions help replace traditional water cooler conversations, during which employees can exchange ideas and move forward on project objectives while neutralizing any of those feelings of contractor isolation.

Video conferencing. For both work-at-home and hybrid employees, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet should be used liberally. These apps carve out the necessary FaceTime for employees to complete tasks together, collaborate on project objectives and bring remote employees off the island. Using video conferencing for one-on-one meetings, or larger meetings, helps contractors feel connected to the office.

The common thread across these best practices: maintaining, and in some cases increasing, communication with remote employees or contractors. Building connections to the office for contractors is essential, and goes a long way toward maintaining stronger relationships between employer and employees. Whether in person, by phone or online, any type of collaboration that furthers work objectives and fosters creative collaboration should be wholeheartedly embraced.

Need help managing your contingent labor force? Contact us here to find out how PeopleCaddie can help

Breaking Through the Zoom Ceiling

Gaining a foothold on the professional ladder is a difficult enough task under the best circumstances. Making the right impression with management during a pandemic, when a company’s employees are forced to shelter at home? Virtually impossible. At least the playing field was leveled when everyone was stuck working remotely. But as businesses began to open their doors again and workers gradually trickled back into their cubicles, a difficult choice was forced on those still working from home: Get back in the office or risk falling behind. And that is the prevailing sentiment when it comes to remote work. After all, how can an employee expect to move ahead at the office when they aren’t … in the office? “Unfortunately, remote workers face many obstacles when trying to climb the career ladder,” Dr. Elora Voyles, an industrial-organizational psychologist at TINYpulse, recently told Forbes. Voyles calls this phenomenon the Zoom Ceiling: “Proximity and recency bias are playing a major role in who is getting promoted when it comes to an in-person versus remote employee.”

Still, remote workers don’t have to settle for a professional life of perpetuity in their current roles. For employees determined to break through the Zoom ceiling, here are a few tips to consider:

Regular contact. One of the beauties of working remotely is being spared the office “drive-by” – unplanned pop-ins that many supervisors make to confer with or just check on employees. As distracting and rhythm-breaking as those conversations can be, however, they amount to valuable facetime with a colleague who has influence over an employee’s future with the company. Emailing or calling a supervisor shows initiative and an understanding that communication in the workplace matters. And it isn’t just for show: Routine contact helps a remote worker clarify assignments, keep abreast of key developments in the office and stay on the radar of management.

Request feedback. Annual and quarterly reviews may feel like a nuisance – or even anxiety-inducing. But would you rather know where you stand with a boss or work hard all year only to find out that you’re viewed as a poor performer? There’s more risk of being misevaluated when working from home – sometimes out of sight is out of mind – but a remote employee can head off the issue by requesting regular performance check-ins. Asking for a short, informal monthly conversation with a supervisor shows (here it is again) initiative. It also ensures that a remote worker can quickly address shortfalls or make needed adjustments – an important consideration when they aren’t in the office to pick up on certain face-to-face feedback cues.

Make an appearance. Email, IMs, Slack, phone calls – they’re all useful inter-office communication tools. But to many bosses, nothing says “I’m part of the team” quite like being there. Even a monthly trip to the office can be a symbolic olive branch that signals commitment and engagement to management, and it doubles as practical collaborative time with colleagues.

With all that said, workers aren’t the only ones with a dog in this hunt. Companies that hold tight to antiquated ideas about remote work risk chasing off some of the best talent, while at the same time potentially contributing to burnout and dissatisfaction among the workforce left behind.

What’s the best way for organizations to embrace hybrid work? Establish clear, transparent guidelines for working from home. Train leadership to understand the value of remote work for employees – and the company. Regularly assess productivity benchmarks and satisfaction levels on both sides. Some industries and offices may need a bit more face time from workers. But all can benefit from building a flexible workplace environment that meets the varied needs of its employees.

Are you a remote contractor looking to break through the Zoom Ceiling? Check out our blog for more tips and tricks.

Independent Contractors: Waiting Months for Your Invoice?

Freelance work comes with its own set of unique challenges. Onboarding quickly, fitting into a company culture, juggling projects, finding the next gig – they are all occupational hazards of independent contractors. But there may be no aspect of freelancing that is as difficult or unpredictable as getting paid for your work.

Imagine doing a job you love, in an industry that gets you excited, enjoying a flexible schedule – and then you send an invoice to your client. You wait. Then you wait some more. You gently remind your client that it’s time to pay, only for them to sit on your invoice a bit longer. The work is done. You’ve fulfilled your end of the deal. Yet you’re left to worry about covering that car payment or house note because, months later, you haven’t been paid for services rendered.

Although it seems straightforward, particularly when a contract is involved, taking action when an invoice remains unpaid tends to be complicated and expensive. A contractor begins to weigh being compensated less on a regular basis versus continuing to live with an unpredictable income. Worse, many freelancers can’t even afford to offload a client that pays eventually – even if they’re routinely late. It’s enough to drive a freelancer back to the traditional labor force.

In a perfect world, independent contractors would be paid every two weeks, just like their full-time counterparts. They would enjoy access to health insurance but be able to retain the freedom and flexibility of a freelance lifestyle.

Guess what? It’s possible. Today.

Through PeopleCaddie, contractors are paid every two weeks, and they have access to high-quality health insurance. As a freelancer, you don’t have to wait months to be paid anymore. Work for who you want, when you want. Get paid on time. Visit your doctor for regular checkups!

It’s this progressive model that has earned PeopleCaddie attention for helping companies adapt to a changing workforce. It goes without saying that an independent contractor who isn’t worried about paying their bills from month to month is a happier, more focused, more productive team member. Ditto for insurance coverage, which also attracts a higher quality of contractor.

For independent contractors who work through PeopleCaddie, getting paid is as easy as tracking and entering their time on our app, which ensures payment via direct deposit every two weeks. No more spending time off the clock tracking hours and creating detailed invoices, only for them to gather dust on a client’s desk for weeks or months.

Nobody starts freelancing to spend time fighting and haggling over getting paid. Why not work in a more synergistic manner, where discussions can center around the work at hand, rather than overdue payments? PeopleCaddie combines the best of both traditional and independent work models to maintain a top-tier talent cloud that benefits both member companies and contractors.

Get paid every two weeks by PeopleCaddie by joining our talent cloud. Contact us to get onboarded immediately.

Unretired? Try Contract Work

At the end of the 2022 NFL season, after 22 seasons in the league and seven Super Bowl wins, Tom Brady – at age 44 – finally left it all on the field, hanging up his cleats and riding off into retirement. Then, just 40 days later, he was back – unretired. He had his reasons.

“These last two months, I’ve realized that my place is still on the field,” Brady announced via his social media accounts, “not in the stands.”

Research indicates that the future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback won’t be the only retiree who opts to return to work in the months, and perhaps years, ahead. A number of factors are building behind the wave of retired workers expected to return to the labor force, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Historically, in times of a job surplus, more retirees have returned to the office. However, in 2022, with 5,000,000 more jobs than workers, the picture may look different than it has in the past.

Many companies that went to a remote work model at the outset of the pandemic have been reluctant to shift back or may be compromising with hybrid models, citing workers’ resistance to returning to the office. Retirees with grandchildren and travel plans, who have had their fill of the daily commute and 9-to-5, may be less likely than ever to compromise at a moment when workers have a leg up.

Freelancing and contract work are fast-growing segments of the labor pool. For the unretired, they represent an opportunity to get out of the stands and onto the field – but not at the cost of a flexible schedule. With gas prices on the rise and inflation at record levels in the U.S., contract work offers retirees the ultimate peace of mind: the ability to supplement a nest egg that may now seem too small for the long haul, while allowing them to avoid a full return to the working world.

For example, consider an accountant who has hung up her spreadsheets after saving for a comfortable retirement. Suddenly, the rising cost of goods and services threatens that plan. Despite making appropriate retirement plans, she begins to question whether she’ll have enough money set aside for that summer home, the luxury car, or even a rainy-day fund in case of emergency. Independent contracting could offer a happy medium. Our accountant can now work a limited number of hours as a freelancer, keeping busy only with work that she chooses, while padding her savings and continuing to enjoy a desirable lifestyle.

Those who come out of retirement in the current market should be met by companies offering a flexible work culture. Work-life balance is made easier by tools in the marketplace such as PeopleCaddie, an online talent cloud that can help the unretired to search and apply for open freelance positions, receive communications of employer needs and even handle invoicing. The ease of use, flexibility and availability of information detailing needs from various employers can ease the transition back to work for retirees and improve the likelihood that they’ll embrace a return to the workplace under the contractor model.

With the unique combination of employer needs and increasingly flexible contractor opportunities, the unretired will find no shortage of work – which can be done on their terms.

Thinking about unretiring? PeopleCaddie provides the perfect place to reenter the workforce. Check out how our talent cloud works.

Contractor Playbook: How Is It Integrated Into the Larger Business?

Business owners and human resources managers can tell you: Without the right approach, hiring temporary and contract employees can be a crapshoot. In every industry, horror stories abound of companies swinging and missing on freelancers who quickly prove to be high-maintenance and low on professionalism. You need a contractor playbook.

So often, however, these miscalculations are due to a lack of communication about expectations between employers and employees, as well as under-developed contingent labor programs on the part of the hiring organization. At PeopleCaddie, our Contractor Playbook addresses these issues – and more – making hiring an independent contractor a less risky, more rewarding experience.

The Contractor Playbook is more than just a traditional employee manual. It sets expectations about all aspects of contract work between a contractor and a hiring organization. It informs the policies and procedures that lay the groundwork for a symbiotic relationship between a business and its contractors, dramatically increasing the probability of positive outcomes.

With the Contractor Playbook and the PeopleCaddie application’s contractor feedback system, businesses can “hack” the contingent labor equation, resulting in happier clients. It simplifies invoicing and payment, and removes the submission of disparate payment requests across the contingent workforce. With this information, businesses can evaluate each temporary employment or contractor engagement to determine if the return on investment into temporary or contract labor is being maximized, or if adjustments have to be made.

For example, a freelance CPA can download and install the PeopleCaddie application, then select and apply for a particular position at a financial firm. When the application comes in, the firm can evaluate the feedback from the freelancer’s prior engagements and make a hiring call based on the information at hand.

Once on board, the CPA begins work, standing firmly on the foundation created by the Contractor Playbook and the relationship between PeopleCaddie, the hiring organization and the contractor. Clear expectations for the employee are more likely to be delivered on. The hiring organization has wasted no time with a freelancer who doesn’t fit or a disjointed process that isn’t reflective of the factors that go into onboarding a freelancer. The contractor is supported by PeopleCaddie and their recruiter throughout the process. From the time they apply to the time they are engaged with the business – whether it’s invoicing, updating benefits or something else – the Playbook ensures that the relationship between client and contractor is transparent and beneficial to both sides.

PeopleCaddie takes a holistic approach to managing the hiring organization’s contingent labor force, ensuring that a client’s employee culture, hiring process, workload, feedback and accounts receivable process are all supported by the application and the contractor’s dedicated PeopleCaddie recruiter. This all but guarantees a more mutually beneficial relationship between employer and employee – and a greater, more predictable return on investment.

If PeopleCaddie can help you manage your contingent workforce, contact us.

A Game-Changer for Contractors: The PeopleCaddie App

For freelancers, it sometimes feels like finding work has more to do with luck than skill and experience. Whether it’s jockeying with countless other contractors in responding to a “web developer needed” post or getting in the good graces of the right recruiter, hunting for freelance work can feel like pulling the handle of a slot machine.

It doesn’t have to be that way, of course. In fact, with its updated app and more reliable, merit-based job search strategy, PeopleCaddie is changing how independent contractors interact with preferred employers. By allowing freelancers to spend more time working and less time juggling job postings, recruiters and invoicing, the new PeopleCaddie app is revolutionizing how business gets done in the gig economy.

At a time when we can conduct banking, order groceries to our door or even find companionship directly from our smartphone, why shouldn’t we also be able to easily find professional contract job opportunities, and connect directly to the client searching for a resource? No more “spraying and praying” or talking to countless staffing firms only to have your resume lost in their database.

PeopleCaddie’s latest mobile app has supercharged your job search. Instead of a contractor having to spend countless hours scouring job boards, it uses notifications to let users know that a new job meets their requirements, or when an employer indicates interest in their work. The app also handles the bane of every freelancer’s existence: getting paid for their work.

Taking on a new client has long meant listening to a gut feeling, crossing fingers and hoping to have your invoices paid in full in a timely manner. With PeopleCaddie, contractors are paid biweekly, and they can focus on delivering quality work and building meaningful relationships with employers rather than sending invoices and often, becoming your own personal collections department.

And in addition to modernizing the search for contract work, the application update provides users enhanced security, geographic searches, room for more references and customizable notifications. It’s the bigger, better toolbox freelancers never knew they needed.

And as always with PeopleCaddie, independent contractors can build out their profiles with skills and experience, becoming more visible and, ultimately, more sought after. Employers can leave reviews and feedback, making it easier for other potential employers to find proven gig workers.

Let’s face it: The contract work search as we once knew it was a pain. Few things were more frustrating for a freelancer than handling admin duties when they should be earning or endlessly checking for responses from headhunters and HR personnel. But just as technology has improved our lives in so many other ways, it’s now helping freelancers do business better. The PeopleCaddie app update has changed the game for contract workers.

Gig Economy Misconceptions

A number of myths about contract work and the freelance lifestyle that have existed for decades somehow persist today. Most of them are outdated – ancient, really – and likely failed to reflect a more nuanced reality of independent contracting even at a time when there was more truth to them. These gig economy misconceptions have cast doubt and held back some workers who might otherwise be interested in exploring a world of freelance opportunities.

So in an effort to ease their minds, we’ll identify a few of the tallest tales told about contract work and explain why they simply don’t hold up against the light of (to)day:

Myth No. 1: Freelancing is for workers who can’t land a perm job

Was it ever true? Probably not. But among the primary gig economy misconceptions is that workers have no choice but to freelance today. It could not be more wrong. A recent survey of gig workers found that 94 percent consider themselves to be forever freelancers, and only 4 percent view contract work as part-time employment until they find full-time employment. Some people simply prefer the flexibility of the freelance lifestyle over an office environment and daily commute.

Myth No. 2: Contract work is mostly for the semi-retired

More outdated bunk. Although the aforementioned survey found that 29 percent of employed Baby Boomers (ages 55 and up) do work as freelancers, it also suggests that the younger the worker, the more likely they are to engage in the gig economy. In fact, more than half of Gen Z workers (ages 18-22) are freelancers. Contract work can make for the perfect transition for late-career professionals to ease out of a staff gig and into retirement. But with so many opportunities available and the benefits of freelancing being more apparent than ever, contract work is only growing in popularity with every passing generation.

Myth No. 3: It’s impossible to make a stable living as a freelancer

A significant portion of freelancers are located in foreign countries with lower market-based wages. That’s why the most common hourly rate among freelancers, according to Bonsai, is $20 or less. But focus for a moment on the second- and third-highest rates: No. 2 is $60-80 per hour. Sound tempting? Wait until you hear No. 3: $120-140. Not every contract worker makes this kind of dough, of course, but these numbers demonstrate that striking a healthy life/work balance and making a comfortable living isn’t just a pipe dream.

Myth No. 4.: Freelance work isn’t sustainable over a career

Some workers who are curious about freelancing fear fluctuations in the marketplace. They worry about potential gaps between projects and the stress of chasing gigs in between. It could be that contract work isn’t for them. But for anyone who doesn’t like to get bogged down, who enjoys new challenges and learning new competencies, contracting is a viable path – and now more than ever. Andre Lee, co-founder of Noumena Partners, a social-finance platform for freelancers to grow their business and level up their finances, writes in Entrepreneur that independent contractors must use this unique moment “to organize themselves as a business and utilize all of the tools and partnerships available” in order to strengthen their freelance business for leaner times. But by building your network, filling your toolbox and providing quality work on a consistent basis, there’s no reason you can’t make the gig economy work for you as long as you’d like.

Interested in joining the gig economy? Be part of PeopleCaddie’s talent cloud by contacting us.

Contractor Journey: What to Consider on the Path

Just as an early-career professional will have different strengths, advantages and priorities than another staffer with 30 years in the business, considerations for a freelancer will look very different depending on where they are in the contractor journey.

Experience matters, but success for an independent contractor has more to do with how that individual has spent their time in an industry, rather than just a simple measure of years logged. What are your most marketable skills? How do you know what to charge or when to increase your rates? To identify next steps, it helps to think about which stage of freelancing you’ve entered. Here’s a short overview that can help you plot that journey:

Perspective contractor: Never freelanced before? Considering a change? Now might be the perfect time to start your contractor journey. The job market has shifted dramatically in just the past year or two, and contractors are finding more and better opportunities than ever before. Maybe you’re early in your career and just gaining a foothold in an industry. If you’re reluctant to dive head-first, dip your toes instead: take on a small project or light part-time work to see how it suits you. You may find that more flexibility and the ability to work on more of your own terms fits you better than full-time work and office life. By taking on outside jobs here and there, you can begin broadening your network and building out your contractor profile, giving yourself the runway to make the jump from traditional employment to freelance if and when the time comes.

First-time contractor: Once you’ve committed yourself to contract work, you’ll want to continue to establish new relationships, keep up with the old ones, turn in quality work, hit your deadlines and keep your calendar full – without, of course, taking on more than you can handle. Sound like a lot? It can be. But freelancing doesn’t have to be a constant grind, depending on your situation. Contract work could be the perfect elixir for the semi-retired worker or someone looking to ease out of the daily 9-to-5. Instead of the all-or-nothing proposition of a staff job, freelancing allows someone in the later stages of their career to stay in the game while enjoying a lighter schedule and taking on new projects if and when it suits them.

Full-fledged contractor: There’s no rigid timetable for these things, but as a rule of thumb, a year of contract work should be enough to gauge whether the lifestyle and commitments of a freelancer are right for you. If you’ve been able to build on your relationships, secure an anchor client or two and generate recurring business – and if it hasn’t sent you running back to the office or a staff position – contract work could be a sustainable fixture in your life. Full-time freelancing can be a godsend for, say, a working mom who can build her schedule around childcare, rather than the other way around. Cut out the commute. Save on daycare. Spend that quality time with the kiddos. That’s the contract-work sweet spot.

Seasonal contractor: Let’s say your work is in public accounting – a highly seasonal profession. The name of the game is to land and expand: secure work with a firm, build your relationship, get something on the books for next year as soon as possible and keep working to grow your scope of work. As you prove your chops in different areas of the business, the more valuable you become to a firm. Once that happens, you can start to count on bigger chunks of work at regular intervals each year, and soon (gloriously) you can begin raising your rates.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or prospect of the contract space, PeopleCaddie can help identify the best opportunities for you. Click here to contact us.