Finding work as a contractor

Finding new work

If you’re new to contracting, it can be a bit daunting finding work for the first time as there are so many different ways in which you can reach out to potential clients.

Here are a few different ideas of how to go about finding work:

Recruitment agencies
Searching through jobs on recruitment sites and signing up for their job alerts can be really useful for finding contract work.

Depending on the type of work you’re looking for, there may be recruitment agencies that specialise in your field too.

Networking
It’s most certainly worth signing up to LinkedIn so that you can network with those in your industry who may either be hiring or know of any jobs going.

As well as networking online, it’s important to build your contacts as you go along and keep in touch with anyone you have worked with or met through others, who may be handy to know when it comes to finding work.

Create your own website
Having your own website is a great way to reach your audience and show off your skills.

Think about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to ensure you rank higher on Google, keep the design simple and easy to use and make sure you only include relevant content.

Treat your website like a portfolio, showing what you can do with examples and images (depending on the type of work you do of course).

Rates of pay

Before you start trying to find work, you’ll need to think about your rates of pay.

It can be helpful to have an annual amount you think you should be earning and then divide it to get to an hourly or daily rate (taking weekends/holidays/bank holidays into account), and then apply this method to fixed rate projects when you’ve worked out how long it’ll take you to complete the project.

A lot of contractors can find this part quite difficult; it’s not easy working out what you and your skills are worth, but it can be helpful to find out what other self-employed professionals in your position are charging.

Take a look at our Contractor take home pay calculator to get an idea of how much you could take home either working through a limited company or under an umbrella.

If you’d like to sign up or need any further information, please give us a call on 01442 795 100 or you can email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com. There’s also the option to contact us via live chat.