I totally agree. The easiest way I found to get into this was to first do an incredible job as an employee at every company I worked for. This builds up your reputation. I tended to jump around to different jobs a bit. Usually, when I got bored, I'd move on...but I always made it a point to leave a job with nothing but a positive effect (i.e. they were sad to see me go). After some number of years, other people from those companies may have moved on as well. Keep in touch with all of them (e.g. linkedin). This is how I got my first consulting contract. All my business has been via word of mouth, but I built that network while I was working full-time for various companies. Keep that network growing -- and always do an incredible job, and you should have a good time of it.
Comments
I totally agree. The easiest way I found to get into this was to first do an incredible job as an employee at every company I worked for. This builds up your reputation. I tended to jump around to different jobs a bit. Usually, when I got bored, I'd move on...but I always made it a point to leave a job with nothing but a positive effect (i.e. they were sad to see me go). After some number of years, other people from those companies may have moved on as well. Keep in touch with all of them (e.g. linkedin). This is how I got my first consulting contract. All my business has been via word of mouth, but I built that network while I was working full-time for various companies. Keep that network growing -- and always do an incredible job, and you should have a good time of it.