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Working from home
Date: 26 August 96, 19:03 EDT From: Daniela BirkelbachI have been an independent consultant for a little over three months now, and am able to work at home, and meet with my client once every other week or so. I will have this project completed by the end of the year, and was wondering if independent consulting is generally done at home, or am I the exception? I am paid by the hour, and I guess, I am being paid more or less on an honour system. (Of course I do have to show results...) Is working at home something I can look forward to again in my next job?
Date: 26 August 96, 22:33 EDT From: David Little Email: dlittle@communique.netI have been working at home for 6 or 7 years. I, too, charge by the hour, but have some customers that prefer a fixed price, with "way-points", much like a building contractor does. If you wind up with a contract from the Defense Department, they generally like to see you everyday, but they will let you work at home if you can show sufficient progress. David
Date: 3 September 96, 1:31 EDT From: Johnny Pierce Email: johnnyp@sierra.netI work mostly at home but all my work comes from the local market (reference my company bio @ www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/1583). I develop custom apps for primarily small companies who wouldn't even consider me being on-site to do development. But those who hire programmers to do a specific job all want me to be at their location. Since I live in a remote location, it is not profitable (or desirable) for me to commute. I have tried and tried to get telecommuting positions, but keep coming up dry, even my skill is in high demand (Visual Basic) and are well developed, no one is interested in a telecommuter-programmer. How does one get a telecommuter position?
Date: 4 September 96, 22:51 EDT From: Norm Byers Email: nbyers@intxxnet.comFor those who fear free-lance contract programming and consulting. Don't. Working as a consultant provides the only true job security available. Your job is solving problems. Finding contracts is only another problem. I've been working from home for all but about 3 years of the last 16, even from the Bahamas for few years for clients thousands of miles away. It all takes self confidence, good people skills, and extremely current and broad programming skills. Work a few contracts through agents to get a start. Cultivate contacts, work hard. Incidently - I just found this site. Its great !
Date: 29 November 96, 11:30 EDT From: Don Metzler Email: 71174.2675@compuserve.comI have been a consultant for about five years now. Some of my work has been on-site, but most has been from my home office. The work is out there for telecommuting, just a matter of networking and making contacts with people. I am usually most comfortable with several projects going at once. That provides more security that relying on a single contract that may end at any time.
Date: 29 November 96, 19:20 EDT From: Steve LeeI'm enjoying contract work, and would like to work on multiple projects. However, it seems not always possible to do so, because this means I have to deal with more than one company and work part-time on each project. Are there many companies that are willing to hire part-time contractors(and allowing flexible working hours)? Or what can I do to successfully land contract like that? I usually work on the kind of contract work, that require me on-site and pay me by hour. Thanks.
Date: 10 December 96, 14:29 EDT From: Wayne Welker Email: waynew@inetworld.netI've been contracting for over a year now. My first contract lasted eight months, with most of my work being done at home. I find working at home to be extremely productive. On the other hand, working on-site offers more opportunities to network with other Engineers. A mix of on-site and at-home would be the ideal situation for me.
Date: 23 December 96, 11:31 EDT From: Stuart Mitchell Email: mitch@cynergy.com.auI have been programming at home for 12 months now and its great. The only problem is that when deadlines get close I find I have to work at night and sleep during the day other wise my 2 and 4yo girls don't allow me to get anything done. I think the most valuable thing I can add is to honestly do your best for the customer. Every one of my customers has come back more than once. Also, if you always work at home, make sure you visit with some programming friends regularly and keep up with what's going on. I found out the hard way when a potential customer asked me about a new technology I hadn't heard of. You can lose track very quickly.
Date: 28 December 96, 1:33 EDT From: Mark Collette Email: hyperbyte@geocities.comI'm interested in finding out how other programmers would react/respond to the idea of a 16 year old starting a software developement business. How about employers and clients?
Date: 6 January 97, 21:58 EDT From: Ken Washington Email: washngtn@msn.comI am a 30 yr old C++ engineer, currently working close to home. I have just under 10 years experience in the Industry. I formed my business (Associated Computer Experts) six years ago, but didn't know enough back then to do much. Now that I know a little more, I have put about half of my business plan on paper, and have communicated the vision to several 'Associates'. Most of us buy off on the idea that given the current and future demand for our skills, we should be able to live anywhere in the world, and earn quite a bit more than we are earning now. Personally, I Intend to continue working at least part time at the client site to keep abreast of industry trends, but most of my Associates would rather live in Vail or Bermuda, and telecommute only enough to pay the bills or to enjoy some extra intellectual stimulation. I/we would very much appreciate any telecommuting leads or links that you may know about. I've found about 6 so far, but it's so hard to get on line these days...The previous message requested comments on the feasibility of a 16 yr old starting a software development business. It's been my experience that most clients won't take you seriously at age 16. On the other hand, the demand for high quality leading edge software engineering skills is increasing far faster than the supply. With the Internet community now reaching 'critical mass', combined with the advent of Java and related technologies, your success is only limited by your own creativity or lack thereof.
Date: 8 January 97, 6:36 EDT From: Tetali Sree Chella Reddy Email: tscreddy@hotmail.comI've been contracting for over a year now. I find working at home to be extremely productive. On the other hand, working on-site offers more opportunities to network with other Engineers. A mix of on-site and at-home would be the ideal situation for me. I, too, charge by the hour. For those who fear free-lance contract programming and consulting. Don't. Working as a consultant provides the only true job security available. Your job is solving problems. Finding contracts is only another problem. I've been working from home for all but about 12 months, for clients thousands of miles away. It all takes self confidence, good people skills, and extremely current and broad programming skills. Work a few contracts through agents to get a start. Cultivate contacts, work hard. Incidently - I just found this site. Its great !
Date: 21 January 97, 2:57 EDT From: Moazzem Hossain Email: moazzemh@cyberstate.infi.netI work in a software company but always wanted to work from home. This month I have my first opportunity to get a contract to work from home part time. I am excited but don't know all the skills to excel in this adventure. Specially I need to know how to find the contract and client. But as I see it, working from home is rewarding, no hassle, no pressure, no tie and dress code. This is a good site I discovered. Will visit every day to read all these good peoples experience.
Date: 22 January 97, 18:10 EDT From: Peter Ellison Email: pwelliso@iaxs.netI started consulting in a medium pressure large company, then moved to a smaller company that has a much faster turn around on projects (read higher pressure). For the first month or so I'll be at home, so far I prefer working in a company hive as opposed to home. The main reason is that work never goes away. Every time I pass the computer I think ... "Hmm I could be working ...", then feel guilty for a while (the longer I'm working at home the less guilty I feel.) The other problem I have with it is that if you get stuck on a simple bug/error there is no one around to say, "Hey I added this block of code, what the deal ...". There are very few distractions working at home, but that is not allways good, for example, if your having a bad day, there is no one around to take your mind off of it. When you finally figure out something that has been a pain (like the tabbed dialog entity) there is no one around to share the news with. Over all, the highs of programming are lower, and the lowes are lower. This might be different if you have some one other than yourself living at home :-)
Date: 22 January 97, 21:45 EDT From: Jim McCreary Email: jimmc@net1.netI have been doing independent consulting for about 3 years now, mostly MFC, Visual C++, but also some Fortran. Yes Virginia there is still a Fortran. I find my business growing from former clients suggesting me to friends. Part of my work has been on site, but more and more at home because I don't have to spend the time commutint and once the client trusts me they let me have their way. In the last year I had a contract out of Multa (Island in the Meditranian) and Aberdeen. In neather case did I ever have a face to face. All internet, fax, and voice phone.
Date: 6 February 97, 23:22 EDT From: John Barratt Email: jjb@griller.ecom.unimelb.edu.auI have been working from home for over two years now doing contract work in Visual C++. I have found that while it is nice to be able to work when you want, it is also very easy to not work enough or work too much. You have to be very self disciplined to work effectively, and contrary to a previous post I believe there can be more or as many distractions at home. The clients I currently have are not large enough to support me on site, so I have to work elsewhere, which means home. I do have a good office at home that is separate (whole top floor) from the rest of the house. This I would say is a minimum required to work from home, a completely independent room for working so you can get away from it when requried. I started out working in a 'shared' space, which I found to be not very good, as it made it hard to remove yourself from work, it was like you were in the office any time you were at home. If I continue working on off-site contracts I hope to get a small office somewhere to work, away from home. Although if I worked a few days a week on site, I would continue working from home for the rest of the week.
Date: 15 February 97, 11:28 EDT From: Dave Wasilew Email: dwasilew@empire.netI've been a contractor for 5 years and typically average 50% of my time working "offsite". I've done a couple contracts which were 99% offsite. Prior to consulting I had lots of management experience, and managed large contract programming staffs, mostly offsite. First, you have to be VERY disciplined to work offsite. Second, you must understand that the whole way you work and communicate must change, for both you and your "manager". I've had managers who try to manage offsite just as if it was onsite, and this doesn't work. Carefully qualify any job and keep in close contact. I've noticed that very few brokers like you to do offsite work, even though the client may allow it, and I'm not really sure why this is.
Date: 15 March 97, 16:09 EDT From: Tom Allen Email: tallen@localnet.comI tend to agree with most of the advice here. I've been consulting for several months now, and work primarily from my home office. The rewards are tremendous - independence, control over one's own destiny, and especially the flexibility. I can't imagine going back to "punching the clock". Sometimes I just wake up at 5am and pursue a brainstorm - you can't do that often in the traditional corporate environment. You do have to deal with the uncertainty of where the next assignment is coming from, but perserverence and a good reputation will overcome that quickly. Above all, maintain a high degree of integrity, and NEVER leave a client hanging: I've heard so many horror stories from my clients about consultants that discontinued service for a sweeter deal or permanent opportunity with another company. And it is critical to create a work area that is completely separate from the rest of your living space. Essentials include a good answering machine/voice mail system, a fax machine (forget PC fax software unless you have a scanner too), a separate voice phone line, and a data line. Great forum, by the way - should prove helpful to many.
Date: 25 March 97, 12:38 EDT From: Samy Mesbah Email: samy@interlog.comI've been a consultant for over a year now (completely independent). I have a couple of contracts with large companies doing very niche hardware/software/research work. I am getting far more offers for new projects than I can possibly handle. If you do a good job you don't have to worry about finding work. If you do a good job for a small part of a large company, other parts of that large company will be knocking on your door. This has been my experience. I do mangage to work at home sometimes and I do charge by the hour. As with many others, it is an honor system but I have never been questioned since the progress of the work is proof enough of the time spent. If you're a good programmer, and if you develop some other niche skills (I am actually an Electrical Engineer, my software comptetence did not come from formal education , it came from writing in assembly language at the age of 12) you should have no trouble finding work as an independent consultant. Most large corporations are getting more virtual by the dya - they are offloading a lot of this type of work to consultants. The key is to get your foot in the door - if you start at a reasonable rate and prove your true value you will have no trouble in making a lot of money and getting to pick and choose what you want ot work on. Regards, Sam
Date: 1 June 97, 12:13 EDT From: Jogn West Email: Heretic@nwlink.comWorking at home is certainly great. For the past two years, I've been consulting with most work done at the client site and about 10% from home. Recently, (about four months ago) I excepted a permenant position with a company where I was told I would be working at home most of the time. This hasn't been the reality and has in fact ment a tremendous commute. However, I think I'm getting somewhere in changing that. Working at home sounds great, to both an employer and to the programmer. Unfortunately, I think it makes employers very nervus. I've been working very hard to bring to light the benefits of having me work at home, ie, I am able to produce much better from home and reduce the cost to my employerfor having me on the payroll. I hope within the next year or so to work entirely from home, making only bi weekly or a weekly visit to my office. Telecommuting is becomming more and more popular each day. People don't want to deal with traffic, the stress an office can generate, and all the other negative items that go with working at your employer's site. Our industry has seemly overnight become a new fronteer, with endless possiblity for money and interesting projects. as another post said, it is limited only by your imagination and effort. I would further add it is probably also limited by your ability to effectively deal with other people ( or at leaste sway them). In closing, I think perhapse the best way we can all help to promote telecommuting and computer work from home is to make it more common and publisized. This page is an excellant example. I'm going to mention it to my boss. It shows that it's happening and does work.
Date: 3 June 97, 16:40 EDT From: Dan Sanderson Email: dan@livingsw.comI went "indepedent" about two years ago and really like it. I live about 45-60 minutes from my clients, and they have been (mostly) good about letting me work from home one or two days a week, which is just about right for my personality. What I really like is that I can basically work as many hours as I want (within reason). If I work only 30 hours one week, I don't have to tell my client why I only worked 30 hours. He's only paying for 30 hours, and I get more done in 30 hours than many regular employees get done in 60. I do wonder, tho', how much longer I can just "contract program". I'm getting anxious to develop my company into a software development entity, building products for the marketplace, not just doing custom software for individual clients. Maybe that's the subject of another thread...
Date: 6 July 97, 12:47 EDT From: Mark Richman Email: mrichman@li.netI am currently working as a programmer for a LARGE software company...maybe too large. I am constantly worried that I will get canned because they can replace me with someone who will work for less. I make $30,000/year with no extra pay for overtime. I've been working there for six months and I just graduated college. I'd prefer to work for myself and charge about $65/hour. Any input regarding my situation would be greatly appreciated by email. Thanks.
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