Anybody out there Contracting... NOT JOB ADVERT...

[DonkeyOte]

Just curious as to whom out there in the Mr E universe makes a living being an Excel consultant / contractor (other than those working for Mr E.com obviously)... am toying with going down this path but wonder whether such people are commonplace in first instance...

 

[SydneyGeek]

Yep. Been splitting my time between Excel and Access consulting, with some training thrown in, for 10 years now.

You need to be flexible, it helps if you're knowledgeable (but you can pick that up along the way) and you need to deliver. If you can do that, work will find you.

Denis

 

[Andrew Fergus]

I've been doing it full time now for a couple of years and agree 100% with Denis' comments. It's all good!

 

[DonkeyOte]

Andrew, you give me hope !!

If I could emmigrate to NZ and find contract work there my wife would be VERY happy indeed !!

Thanks guys!

 

[Andrew Fergus]

Go for it. I just accepted a full time position at one of my clients so there is a general vacancy going!

If you aren't sure where to start, talk to the temping agencies to get your foot in the door. Plenty of clients need help with the annual budgeting / forecasting etc and the tool in most cases is Excel......it's a starting point. One job usually leads to another and before you know it you are juggling jobs and clients. Word gets around.

Andrew

P.S. Is your wife a Kiwi?

 

[DonkeyOte]

Ha, no, not a Kiwi... but last year we finally made it down to NZ for a holiday and she (and I) love the country and would in an ideal world like to settle there...that said she seems obsessed about living in either Franz Josef or Tekapo but I doubt there's much call for VBA,.NET, SQL programmers in those parts of the country...

 

[Richard Schollar]

My wife and I were considering (long time away) a move to NZ after we have paid off our mortgage and saved a bit of cash. Not sure if that will happen now, and it would be a bit of a wrench for the grandparents to see us go.

I briefly looked into taking a short term Excel contract back in Sept last year, but while the money was good they wanted me to start straight away, which wasnt possible. Given the uncertain financial climate prevailing at the moment, I have stayed with my current company, albeit in a new role. I would love to work for myself at some point though...

 

[Andrew Fergus]

that said she seems obsessed about living in either Franz Josef or Tekapo but I doubt there's much call for VBA,.NET, SQL programmers in those parts of the country...

I can vouch for that - and probably a 200 mile radius around those points too. Living in a place is different to being a tourist. For instance, if you currently lived in Franz Josef or Tekapo you'd think global warming was something that happened on the other side of the globe.....

 

[DonkeyOte]

Andrew, I can imagine ... we were there last August and it was well, not exactly warm then... I was a little disconcerted when they gave me the chains at the car hire company!

Presumably the work is Auckland...maybe Christchurch ??

Richard, could I be so bold and ask with whom you looked into it with (though I appreciate we're not at the same level!)

I just left my old place after an eight year stint and am desperate to do something different, new, challenging...

And I agree Richard - leaving family is a big issue as it's pretty much a one-way ticket...

 

[Richard Schollar]

It was a contract at a mobile phone company in Hampshire - good daily rate and it was for a projected 3 or 6 months (can't remember which) with possibility to extend. I can't remember the details (I think it may have involved forecasting). Sounded really good, but I have a 3 month notice period so it made it really hard - places want contractors yesterday, not 3 months down the line. I'm the only wage earner in the family (supporting the 3 kids and a bloody big mortgage) so I wasnt really in a position to hand my notice in and wait for something to come along.

When i was talking to recruiters, I did find it useful to demonstrate my Excel competence by pointing them to this site