5 tips from our e-book: How to become a successful IT contractor

Many have a dream of becoming self-employed. Maybe you feel the same way? Perhaps you have gained strong competencies within a specific field and would like to use these skills in different projects? As a freelance IT contractor, you have the opportunity to work with companies that need your expertise. You will become your own boss, work flexibly and decide which projects are right for you and which are not.  This might sound like a dream job to many, but a lot of consideration is needed if you want to make a living as a self-employed IT contractor.

In our free e-book: “How to become a successful IT contractor” we provide you with do’s and don’ts that help you towards becoming a successful self-employed IT contractor. We advise you on several important elements from how to make your CV to how you will get bigger and better clients. The e-book is based upon several years of experience in the IT contracting industry, where we have matched IT contractors with all kinds of IT projects. In the e-book, we guide you through crucial steps you need to understand before you start up as a self-employed IT contractor.

5 tips to become a successful self-employed IT contractor

1. Be sure that this is what you want to do

Deciding to become a self-employed IT contractor is a big decision. Therefore, it is important that you consider if this is really the right thing for you – there are different things to consider before you know that this is really a wise decision: First of all, it is important that you ask yourself if you possess the necessary competences to be a self-employed contractor. As a self-employed contractor you must be extraordinary within your specified field, otherwise, you will not stand out from other IT contractors. Also, your clients will have higher expectations to you as a self-employed IT contractor, which means that you must distinguish yourself within your field and always be able to perform. Furthermore, you must examine if there is an actual demand for your exact competences. It is always positive to be good at what you are doing, but if there is no demand for it, you will have a hard time finding a job.

2. Perceive yourself as a company

If you could confirm question 1, then you have the most important basis for becoming a successful IT contractor but skills and demand alone is not sufficient. A self-employed IT contractor is his or her own boss. See yourself as a company, where you must put all your effort into the processes that makes it possible for you to be a self-employed IT contractor: you need to focus on the long-term perspective and e.g. use periods with no work to develop your skills, marketing your company and building your customer network. Also make sure to handle (boring) administrative tasks professionally, since it can affect your image and earnings negatively if you neglect this part. Needless to say that you need clients to make your business profitable. It is a good idea to focus on clients that need your help for long-term IT projects. In that way, you will cut expenses such as coordination, administration and negotiation, which can be costly and take time with short-term projects. You must also decide if you wish to work onsite – if you are willing to work onsite, you will have more projects to choose from and the competition will be less harsh. Also, onsite projects are often long-term projects. Therefore, it will always be an advantage for you if you can work onsite, compared to remote work, where you compete with IT contractors from the all around the world.

3. Create a CV that sells

Your CV is potentially the most important piece of paper as a self-employed IT contractor. It is with your CV that convince companies to choose you for a project. Most companies will barely read your CV, but just skim it to see if your profile fits a given project. Therefore, you must include a short and concrete description of yourself and your career. At the same time, you must include your competences in a simple and clear way, so that companies are left with no doubt about how you can contribute to a project. Remember to use a nice and simple template. You will find several great template providers online, such as Canva. Lastly, we recommend you to have a professional picture of yourself taken. Even though companies should judge you on your competences alone, you must never underestimate how a picture can influence the first impression and the amount of attention that your CV gets.

4. Be exceptional within your field of competence

Your chances of being hired to projects will obviously be higher, the more qualified you are. Make sure that you are always updated on the newest knowledge and trends within you field of competence. The best self-employed IT contractors always choose projects where they know that they can make a difference. Therefore, we recommend you to choose relevant and long-term projects, where you have the possibility to go into depth with your knowledge and also improve your competences.

As a self-employed contractor, you cannot always be sure that your order book is full. Make use of the time by educating yourself, take online certificates or read the newest scientific litterateur within your field.

5. Don’t be afraid to say no to a project

It might sound stupid, but it is important that you learn to say no to projects. It can have a negative effect on yourself and your career as a self-employed IT contractor if you say yes to a project that you cannot succeed with or that takes your profile in the wrong direction. Therefore, be very careful with saying yes to projects that are far away from you field of competence. Before saying yes to a project, it might be a good idea for you to ask questions such as:

• Do I have the skills required to complete the job?
• Am I compromising myself or my values in taking this job?
• Will this job challenge me, and help take me to where I want to go?

We recommend you to focus on projects where you know that you can contribute and turn down the rest of the projects in a polite and or professional way. Clients will appreciate when you say no to a project because it doesn’t match your qualifications spot on and help you build an image of trust and integrity.

Up for more tips? Download our e-book to read how you:

• Take the leap from permanent employee to self-employed IT contractor
• Sell yourself and your competences
• Always perform at the interview
• Acces enterprise customers

Who are we?

At Right People Group we have long experience with self-employed contractors. Our business model is based on matching IT contractors with companies that need specified competences for all kinds of IT projects. Over the years, we have built experience and knowledge about the characteristics of good self-employed IT contractors. We see it as a great responsibility to advise and help present and future IT contractors with taking the next career step. That is also one of the reasons why we have launched our e-book for self-employed IT contractors, which you can download for free.