I mostly used agencies. Look up headhunters that deal in your profession - in my case it would be software contracting agencies or tech staffing agencies. Contact them with your resume and tell them you’re looking, and they will meet with you about your background, your main skill areas, how far you are willing to commute (or if you just want to work from home), and the types of environments you prefer. For example, I told them I wasn’t interested in places such as banks that required wearing a suit.
If the agency currently has gigs where you seem like a good fit, they will send you there for an interview with people at the company, who make the actual decision. Or they’ll keep your information on file and call you when something comes up. I worked with 8 or 10 agencies altogether, and they didn’t mind me moving around. They know they can’t always keep you busy continually. My experience was that most agencies hired me as an agency employee for the length of that one job, but some might still be deal with you as a self-employed person, I dunno anymore. In most cases their healthcare benefits were a joke - I physically laughed out loud at one, the annual benefit cap was $7000 LOL - but I’ve heard they are better now.
My jobs typically lasted 3 months to a year. Taking planned time off during contracts is generally not a problem as long as it doesn’t conflict with crucial dates for the project. Just mention it to them in the client interview. I mostly took a few weeks off between contracts, but sometimes during. Unless you’re really gung-ho about working you’ll probably have more time off than on a regular job. Whether you get paid for sick days and holidays depends on the agency - they’re the ones paying you, not the client.
How does one go about switching to contract jobs?
I mostly used agencies. Look up headhunters that deal in your profession - in my case it would be software contracting agencies or tech staffing agencies. Contact them with your resume and tell them you’re looking, and they will meet with you about your background, your main skill areas, how far you are willing to commute (or if you just want to work from home), and the types of environments you prefer. For example, I told them I wasn’t interested in places such as banks that required wearing a suit.
If the agency currently has gigs where you seem like a good fit, they will send you there for an interview with people at the company, who make the actual decision. Or they’ll keep your information on file and call you when something comes up. I worked with 8 or 10 agencies altogether, and they didn’t mind me moving around. They know they can’t always keep you busy continually. My experience was that most agencies hired me as an agency employee for the length of that one job, but some might still be deal with you as a self-employed person, I dunno anymore. In most cases their healthcare benefits were a joke - I physically laughed out loud at one, the annual benefit cap was $7000 LOL - but I’ve heard they are better now.
My jobs typically lasted 3 months to a year. Taking planned time off during contracts is generally not a problem as long as it doesn’t conflict with crucial dates for the project. Just mention it to them in the client interview. I mostly took a few weeks off between contracts, but sometimes during. Unless you’re really gung-ho about working you’ll probably have more time off than on a regular job. Whether you get paid for sick days and holidays depends on the agency - they’re the ones paying you, not the client.
Hope that info helps, and good luck!