Positive IT contractor traits

I’m talking to whoever you are

This blog is mainly for anyone new to IT contracting, as well as those who’ve not been at it that long. That includes me, by the way. I’ve been a contract digital content specialist since 2015. I realise how short a time that is when I speak to people who’ve been contracting for 20 years plus. Despite my relatively short time behind the contractor wheel, I’d argue that experience doesn’t purely come from duration – or length of exposure. For example, someone who takes on short-term projects (3 months or less) is necessarily able to concentrate the breadth of their learning into a shorter space of time. They are constantly painting themselves into different scenarios. I admire – and see the benefits – of this, and long to be in a position to challenge myself at that pace in future. I want my career to resemble a mosaic, not an undulating haze. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I’ve always felt a preference for contract-style working rhythms over permanent. I believe that my desire for contracting has been evolving some years before I turned it into a way of life.

Adapting to each new contract

You’ll be expected to expand and contract your sphere of expertise depending on a client’s requirements. These might change as the job progresses, but will generally stay consistent. As a quick analogy, let’s take the work of Francis the lumberjack. Francis has a number of skills. His talents go beyond being able to chop down trees in such a way that they fall in a safe and preordained direction. In fact, he’s pretty good at managing entire teams of other lumberjacks. Oh, and by the way, he didn’t start his life helping to fell vast concentrations of pine trees. He spent a good part of his 20s and 30s as a carpenter. For argument’s sake, let’s say that Francis is 45. The man’s got skills, and they might come in useful in a way that might not be obvious to, say, a tree. But not every job he takes on is going to demand all of what he can offer. Some jobs might simply require him to wield his chainsaw to positive effect. On such jobs, Francis might have a desire to show some other things he knows. His colleagues on that particular project might even ask to see a flavour of his other skills and experience. But don’t forget, on this one he’s being paid to decapitate trees.

A similar experience, but nothing to do with axes and trees, and stuff

I understand Francis’s dilemma. I once took a 2 week contract at a marketing agency. At the time, I’d worked as a content designer in the public and charity sectors for several years. My skills extended beyond the careful manipulation of words. I mean, if called upon, I can churn copy out, or move vast amounts of words from an old website to a new one (content migration). If these are the requirements, I switch my brain over to mechanical mode and get producing. Obviously I plan, structure, think, but only to a point where I feel these activities serve the needs of the job. On a side note, sometimes it’s best to produce something just to:

• find your way
• help you plan
• get feedback

At the start of the 2 week gig, I mentioned that I’d been working as a content designer for the last few years. I dropped some buzzwords: user needs, Agile, service design. I assumed that the content lead for the job knew what I was talking about. His response (‘that should come in really useful’) suggested he did. In reality, I was there to move words (wholesale and almost entirely unedited) from an ancient monstrosity of a website to a content management system for a new one. For anyone who has even the slightest idea of designing a good user experience, the approach I’ve just described is categorically not content design. It shouldn’t even be parked alongside a sentence with the word ‘design’ in it. But the requirement was clear. I was there to help a group of interested people drive towards an outcome. Despite the fact that I hadn’t sharpened any blades, they’d hired me to be an axeman.

Analyse your position in the world of work

As an IT contractor, you should practise getting the precise expectations of each new client clear in your head. Play to the desired outcome. This simple view does gain levels of complexity in the role of content design, and is a constant process of checks and balances. That’s partly why I love the job so much. It’s open, variable, changing, and to a great degree, mirrors the characteristics of contracting.

If you think you’ve been hired just for your technical expertise, then look a bit deeper. In many circumstances, a client will also bring you on because they see you as the glue between processes and people. These converging and contrasting elements of a project need to meld in order for delivery to happen. You’ll need to evolve beyond your specialism (which might be writing fantabulous sentences) if you land a project where the:

• team are newly formed or still forming
• ways of working are still being established
• precise scope of the work and your related involvement hasn’t been determined

Personally, I’m a big fan when things looks like this. All bags of newness and unchartered territory. But don’t forget, if you choose to take on a contract, then you also choose to play by its rules.