12 Hours a Week

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BigTuna

Original Poster:

1,138 posts

228 months

Wednesday 13th November
quotequote all
Since early 2020 I've been billing around 12 hours of my week to a single customer, this has allowed me to drop to a 4 day work week, and means one less day commuting and the freedom of being able to choose when to pick those 12 hours up over a week (one full day plus evenings/weekend).

Unfortunately, this work is going away at the end of the year.

I'm in a comfortable enough position (right now) to not have to seek an immediate return to work for an additional day, and can give myself 6 to 12 months to find replacement freelance type work, or build a business to replace the money from my previous gig.

My background is IT, currently my 12 hours a week are used for developing Microsoft desktop applications to aid motorsport ECU calibration. I have an interest in motorsport/automotive electronics, and the sole reason I picked up this work was a genuine passion for the products I would be working with.

I feel like my situation is a little unusual, and as I've never had to look for this sort of work (current opportunity presented its self via a friend), I'm a little lost with it all.

Do you think a sideways move (picking up 12 hours from somewhere else, not necessarily motorsport based, but that would be nice) is a possibility, and if so, where is the best place to look for suitable opportunities?

Failing the above, any other ideas?

Thanks



Greenmantle

1,459 posts

115 months

Wednesday 13th November
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During economic times of high demand these sort of gigs do pop up.
Spring last year I picked up something which I am still running with which is 1 day a month.
Pays really well and is interesting.

Since July the economy has tanked and the reflection in the job market has been devasting. Where I would expect a couple of matching roles per week there has been zero. 90% of the roles in my field are linked to the public sector which to me speaks volumes.

We are now in a period of predatory behaviour from corporations. Rates are being screwed down since they are getting too many applicants for the role. Those public sector roles have too many middle men taking their cut. The key thing in all this is that the client and the agency do not have the ability to sort the wheat from the chaff so good technical people are overlooked.

The main thing with these sort of roles is to keep looking and strike quickly. Good Luck