[englishrookie]

You might consider hiring yourself out as a contractor. This is especially interesting if you're specialized in some vertical where you can bring consultancy skills to the table. Be the guy who's brought in when there's a problem, replace some proverbial screw, and then charge a week's salary for it. Because nobody else knew exactly which screw to replace.

Also, this path allows you to delegate work to other contractors that you have vetted. After all, your clients care about the results, not who does the actual job.

[6gvONxR4sf7o]

The thing I can't figure out is how to get a good pipeline of screws that need replacing. All of my previous roles have been full-time salaried staff, and my network is all people like that. Getting a new job of that type is the infamous hurdle of interview panels, which would mean getting the contract takes more time than executing it, if the model I knew applied.

So what model does apply? How do you find enough work efficiently enough with that kind of model? How do you make it sustainable and not run out of the screws that your professional network needs replacing?

[kmoser]

Multi-decade permanent contractor here (software developer). Some of it is luck. Some of it depends on the nature of your industry. Also, OP seems to enjoy learning new tech stacks, which makes them attractive to more owners of screws that need replacing, thus increasing their marketability.

It doesn't hurt to occasionally beat the bushes and ask your friends if they need screws replaced, or if they know anybody who does.

Short answer: if you replace screws efficiently and communicate well, you will become the go-to person for replacing screws.

[whatshisface]

I can't speak for SWE, but in other industries a consultant is brought in with little formal process, as a one-time expense usually approved by somebody they knew already.

[coffeebeqn]

There are also brokers/agencies that match contractors with projects/jobs and take a percentage cut. Not ideal but better than nothing if you’re hopeless at networking like me