10 things you need to know before starting as a worldwide IT contractor
- You are a resource. You must expect you will be given specific tasks, with specific deadlines. Be ready to excel at every task, on time, otherwise your contract will end very soon, sooner than you expect.
- Be “Plug & Play”. You were hired for your knowledge. If it happens you are not up to the expectations your contract will end very soon, sooner than you expect.
- Learn. As a contractor you must learn everyday new things. Nobody spends (nor will spend) a cent to train a contractor. Therefor be ready to do this yourself otherwise in 4-5 years you will be out of the market having obsolete skills. But if your ears and eyes are wide open you will have the opportunity to learn a lot from every contract.
- Expect overtimes. Expect overtimes that sometimes are not paid. This is life, get used with it. On the other hand, as a compensation, there will be days when you will not get so many tasks so you will have more time for yourself to learn new things.
- First fix your accommodation & transportation. Make sure both are arranged, at least for the first week, before you start any contract. You will get busy from day one and have no time to deal with logistics. After a week you will get a clear picture about what is expected from you so you will have time to look for a longtime accommodation according to your contract.
- Share knowledge. People will come to you and ask questions; help them as much as you can. One day you may need their help, too.
- Never say “I don’t know”. If you feel uncomfortable with a topic read about it as much as you can. Whenever you don’t know the answer to a question just say: ”Let me write it down and I’ll come back later to you with the answer”. Make sure you actually do come back with an answer otherwise nobody will take you seriously next time.
- Work with passion: It’s your duty anyway; It’s not for others, it’s for your own knowledge. Beside this, there’s always somebody that will notice this.
- Knowledge vs Money: Keep in mind this: knowledge comes first, money will follow after this. It’s never the other way around. Therefore make sure you have enough knowledge in your area of expertise else stay away from contracting.
- Challenge: There’s no ideal contract. At times there’s something that is NOK on a contract: a challenging country, a challenging boss, the amount of work is too high, you are not getting well with one colleague, the daily rate does not match your experience, accommodation is crap, you feel you don’t have the right skills etc. It’s up to you what’s the reason why you don’t want to extend your contract. But as long as you stay make sure you do your job well.