For the past 9 months, I've worked as an independent consultant on gigs that were mostly a few hours long to maybe a couple of weeks. Two months ago, I came across a client providing a service set to disrupt their industry. They were funded in excess of $100 Million.
Landing a stable gig is every independent consultant's dream!
Before I took the gig, the Head of Engineering emphasized two things:
You can work as much as you want. 50 hours, 100 hours, no problem! We have a lot of work.
We want you to know that if you would like to go full-time, the option is on the table.
This prospect was better than others I was about to land because it was a well-funded company with lots of work and going full-time was an option in case I wanted to explore that.
I thought to myself, 50 hours sounds great because I would like to clear some debt and fix some things around the house before our fourth baby arrives. In addition, I wouldn't have to keep looking for work at least for a few months. My family depended on the income from it.
After I signed my contract, I decided to reject a couple of standing offers for long-term gigs. My first week into this job, I was barely able to clock in ten hours of work. I thought maybe this was because both of us needed time to ramp up. The next week, it was ten hours again. Instead of letting that bother me, I decided to enjoy the reduced work hours.
Then, the following week, I barely got to 18 hours. I was told to start mocking up the UI and backend because the backend API's were not ready yet. I mentioned that I was a full-stack engineer and I could work the entire stack, but that was ignored for some reason. In addition, working on their other applications wasn't an option because they wanted me to focus on one.
I was working on a production app, mocking up functionality where parts of the data came in from the production backend and parts from the mock server. Updates were split similarly. This was one of the most convoluted React projects that I've worked on. It used a plethora of React/Redux plugins (very old versions of dependencies that couldn't be upgraded easily) which didn't improve productivity or add value.
All along I was thinking, does $100 million afford a company the ability to be careless with their project? Nothing the application did was groundbreaking. It was clear that the money was raised for marketing.
Somewhere along the line, they assigned a project lead who would ensure my plate was always full. Unfortunately, that person was bound by other constraints and was not able to accomplish that goal. We ended up doing a little bit of pair-programming once in a while which got me another ten hours.
Throughout the project, I was asked if I would like to go full-time. So, I finally had that conversation and during that time also mentioned that I was running out of work-items and I hadn't even crossed 20 hours a week.
Fast forward a week, I was sitting idle for a couple of days, so I decided that it was a good time to follow up on our conversation. I was told that there was no more work because the backend API's would not be ready for several weeks and that they wouldn't consider me for full-time work unless I relocated.
This was unexpected considering the initial conversation. Relocation during the middle of a school year is not an option, let alone with a baby on the way!
What I found really disturbing was the lack of empathy. For the past seven weeks, I mentioned I didn't have enough work and that my family depended on the income from that job, but nothing changed.
A contract doesn't guarantee full-time work!
Anyway, I'm glad that I was able to anticipate this scenario and proactively managed to schedule interviews with the Big Four and a handful of smaller companies. Even though I've been in the industry for so long, I still have to study before interviews, so I'm hoping to be interview ready in the next week.
Over the past two years, I traveled with my wife and three kids for a year through Asia and Europe while I worked on a startup and later worked as a CTO for a couple of companies before deciding to do independent consulting and teaching.
Having worked with close to 200 clients has given me such an incredible experience about the ups and downs of independent consulting. Nevertheless, I feel that I'm ready to go back to work at a stable company. This is something I took for granted and quit two dream jobs in the past.
Regardless of the sequence of events, I am glad that I've tried the things I've felt passionate about. It is evident that I couldn't do that without my wife who supported me in all my decisions.
I've tried to strike a balance between responsibility and following my dreams. Detaching yourself from elements you take for granted makes you appreciate them even more. Events like these are a good learning lesson in case you are complacent.
Oldest comments (33)
Thanks for sharing, Nick.
Thanks for sharing your story. I am in a similar boat. Good luck.
Thanks, @rattanakchea ! Good luck to as well.
Thank you, Nick.
I found this story valuable as someone who hasn't experienced consulting.
Wow, I cannot imagine the stress on that situation.
I've gone through quite a rollercoaster over the years, but my ability to stay calm has helped me. I've found that every time you get a kick in the back, you end up in a better place. The growing needs and responsibilities do make it stressful.
Ugh this was hard to read. I'm sorry. I hope all is good and you're on your feet now.
I find that companies that do this over the long run tend to pay the price. Time will tell.
Thanks, @spirodonfl ! Getting interviews isn't hard, but finding the right company is. I make it a point that I work on stuff that will elevate my career and add to my resume, but in cases like these, I need to stop being picky.
Well if you've done the CTO thing before, it's probably not hard for you to get interviews, no. How'd you get into that? I'm looking to dip into the CTO pool but I fear I may not have the chops for it.
I don't think there's a specific formula for this. It's hard to get into mid-to-large sized companies as their CTO/VP. I'm still working on that goal. On the other hand, it's much easier to join smaller companies (and sometimes mid-sized) in that capacity.
At the same time, you need to bring something valuable to the table. All your experiences, projects, and accomplishments add up. You need to stay up-to-date and be on the cutting edge.
I've moonlighted for the past 20 years on all sorts of projects and founded ~14 startups with one acquisition. I was the CTO for all of them (in reality, titles don't matter at smaller startups, but the experience and lessons do).
I've worked in several engineering roles at organizations of various types which has given me a diverse perspective. In addition, I've been fortunate to work for a very well-known high-profile influential alongside several highly accomplished individuals. Combined with my skills, this is probably one of the reasons I can get an interview anywhere.
Other than that, I've worked as the CTO of a couple of smaller companies. To get those roles, all of the above helped.
I would suggest that you work on building deep technical skills, work on software architecture, and soft skills. Focus on things that make you more marketable and competitive in this landscape. IMO, everything that you do should add to your resume in some form. Things add up over time, so don't shy away from engaging in random projects (work on a side project, volunteer on a presidential campaign, work with a non-profit, host tech meetups, teach people, etc.). At least stuff like this has helped me.
You could also choose to be a subject-matter expert instead of the above.
At the end of the day, this field is competitive so you need to ensure you do what you can to stand out from the rest (at least for the higher level positions). But, remember that these things take time.
I've been through a similar career "roller-coaster" lately. Once it is over, I will definitely write about it.
"I've tried to strike a balance between responsibility and following my dreams." - it is great to be able to do this, isn't it? Even if following your dreams, SOMETIMES, doesn't lead anywhere. It is the experience that we gain from it that is worth everything.
Good luck to you, Nick.
Thanks, very informative story, especially for those who consider switching to a consultant from full time.
Good insights. Maybe time to dream bigger, founder/co-founder perhaps. Cause working for a boss can suck. Or worse, create a new 100M product and simply pull salary, no rotalties (my fulltime situation).
I went from contracting for 10 years then chose stability (fulltime) during my son's early years. He graduates high school in less than 2 years so and I look forward to quitting the fulltime nonsense and focusing on my entrepreneur path again.
Guess my point is, corporate fulltime simply sucks. Keep consulting if you can.
I've always moonlighted and continue to do that. I have done ~14 startups and have one acquisition. Its hard to take chances with the need for insurance in the US, but I plan on some form of self-employment in the future. Thanks for your advice.
Thank you for sharing your post and first of all, good luck!
You have an impressive resume and I'm pretty sure you're way more experienced in negotiating as well than most of us. So, don't get me wrong. You mentioned the lack of empathy and that your family depended on that income. The first thing, I learnt about salary negotiation that don't even mention how much money you need, because nobody cares about it. The same goes here. Should you get more work just because you need more money? Should actually they care why you want to work more? Or have I misunderstood the reason why you brought up empathy in the first place?
Again, thanks for sharing and good luck. Your experience is impressive, I'm sure you'll have a job very soon for each of your fingers.
Thanks for the kind words, @sandordargo !
I have a feeling you misunderstood what I wrote. My comment about lack of empathy isn't about getting more work per se.
I didn't have any conversation around how much money I needed. Before our engagement, I was told that they have an endless amount of work and I could work way more than the average number of hours per week if I wanted to. However, the actual workload ended up being an average of 10 hours versus what was communicated initially. How can anyone pay their bills if they don't work at least an average workload?
Companies have to care about you regardless of if you are an employee, contractor, intern, or customer. People are what make the company and most of us work to make ends meet. I don't think it is an unreasonable ask to work ~40 hours given that I accepted the job based on our initial discussion and not any assumptions. Now, it is my fault that I didn't ask for it in writing about guaranteeing a minimum number of hours. I've never run into that issue before so it didn't strike me as something I should include in the contract.
It would be one thing if I was brought in as a filler (which I have done with other clients as per the agreement), but that wasn't their intention.
Thanks again!
Sounds familiar. I was on that roller coaster back in the dotcom boom/bust days of the late 1990's. They were exciting times where I made a whole lot of money. But, they didn't last and neither did investments I made.