Either here or on reddit I've seen plenty of people mention the option of working as a contractor as a viable option.
I have been working as a developer for 12 years. For the first six years of my career I wrote C++ / Python for a finance-adjacent firm.
The second half of my career has been the typical full-stack developer stuff. Django / Pyramid / SQLAlchemy backend and several different front-end frameworks like Vue and React.
It's enough to say that I'm a generalist and a decent enough programmer.
I'd love the ability to work a contract for 6 months to a year and then take a few months off between gigs. But when I search for contract opportunities they seem somewhat rare. Additionally, the contract gigs I find seem to be seeking people who would prefer full-time employment but would settle for the contract as a sort of 'probationary' measure. I never seem to find opportunities where it is seen by all parties as a temporary placement.
Am I looking in the wrong place? Are there certain employment agencies that I am not aware of that have these in abundance? Am I lacking in experience? If so, what do I need to do?
I live in NYC. I would think that would be helpful but I'm not sure.
I have been working as a developer for 12 years. For the first six years of my career I wrote C++ / Python for a finance-adjacent firm.
The second half of my career has been the typical full-stack developer stuff. Django / Pyramid / SQLAlchemy backend and several different front-end frameworks like Vue and React.
It's enough to say that I'm a generalist and a decent enough programmer.
I'd love the ability to work a contract for 6 months to a year and then take a few months off between gigs. But when I search for contract opportunities they seem somewhat rare. Additionally, the contract gigs I find seem to be seeking people who would prefer full-time employment but would settle for the contract as a sort of 'probationary' measure. I never seem to find opportunities where it is seen by all parties as a temporary placement.
Am I looking in the wrong place? Are there certain employment agencies that I am not aware of that have these in abundance? Am I lacking in experience? If so, what do I need to do?
I live in NYC. I would think that would be helpful but I'm not sure.