indepedent IT jobs

tahjzhuan

I'm getting out of the military and moving back to mississippi. They don't have a lot of IT jobs available so I was thinking, maybe I could go into business for myself until I move to Austin. If it's successful, I can keep on doing it I suppose. Anyway, does anyone have any advice for the soon to be unemployed?

Lexxdymondz

What branch of the military are you in? I got out about a year ago and felt it really hard to get a job but I didn't prepare as well as I should have. If you have ACAP (an army thing) that helps you find jobs and make resumes use it. Save money also, and put your resumes EVERYWHERE.

tahjzhuan

I'm air force. I have my resume posted several places online. I'm also in the hat for federal civilian jobs. I think what I'll end up doing is self studying.

tahjzhuan

I've done a couple of work orders for people at my dads church. There's a lot of small businesses and home users that can't afford a dedicated IT staff so, they end up calling people when they need help.

The last job I did was installing a modem. I know what you're all thinking, that's no big deal and to us, it's not a big deal. This lady had bought brand new modem at the advice of the manufacturers tech people when there was nothing wrong with her old one. I reinstalled the old modem with no problem as well as rid her machine of some spyware. i would have done it for free but she insisted on giving me $50 soooo...

The point is this. You can network in your local community and build up a customer base.

I'm going to order some free business cards from www.vistaprint.com and possibly place some ads in the paper once I get my MCSA. This is something I'm just going to try on the side.

just my thoughts

tremere

I'd like to chime in here on my personal experience in running a computer-servicing business from home. Keep in mind that this is my second go at it. The first time was between May 2003 and around October 2003. I'm just starting out again, this time a bit wiser.

The biggest shock in running your own business is not all the free time you have on your hands, but the fact that you have to drum up your own business. I thought, after getting my two year degree in Computer Information Technolgy, that all would be a piece of cake. Wrong.

It costs money to advertise, and if you're like me (sit inside all day long, just you and the computer), spreading word about your business isn't that easy to do. The local newspaper charges $90 per month for a four-line ad, which in my case was terrible. My business name was truncated to the second line of the ad, which meant that I could ill afford to say anything catchy. I was lucky to get two calls a week, with most of those potential clients trying to get me to do the work for free over the phone.

If you can avoid advertising in expensive mediums like newspapers and worthless mediums (based on my experience) like the free shoppers, please do so. That leaves finding places to stick your flyers, talking to friends (I'm a really kind person, just not a good converser) and otherwise going out in the community (i.e., local gym, not that any of you NERDS would step foot in one).

Selling yourself is tough to do. I guess I wasn't born with the gift of gab. I just like to get in, do my job while trying to explain stuff to the clients (which sometimes pisses them off, just because we are passionate about the subject doesn't mean they are), then get out. It's never-ending work...um, I mean fun!!!

Many clients will try and get you to do work for free, or will like you so much that they use up lots of time talking to you (which makes your dollar/hour ratio really drop). I've had ample exposure to both types. And, then there are clients who want your help, but don't utilize it. I'm thinking of AOL at this moment. If I have another customer with a screwed up machine with AOL on it, and a lost operating system disk and no drivers for the hardware attached to the computer, I'm going to scream.

So, in a nutshell, my first time around left me with this ammunition to work with this second time around:

* advertise w/out newspapers if possible
* find a niche (programming, maintaining computer hardware, web design) and stick to it. build your base from that, to stabalize revenue, then find a second niche and see if your existing clientele can fit into that niche.
* strongly urge customers to upgrade to DSL or Cable. it will make your job much easier in the longrun, and their Internet experience far more enjoyable.
* encourage customers to keep all of their software disks, and give serious consideration toward the thought of installing software on cutomers' computers illegally (especially when you might not be making much money from them anyway).
* try to set up an organized system of keeping track of customer information (their systems, services you have performed for them, invoices, receipts, inventory used)
* never be late for an appointment, but don't be suprised when they call in the middle of your appointments
* if you have a great week in terms of revenue, don't assume it will be that way the next month, because the irony of it is that if you're doing a great job (in maintaining their computer for example) they shouldn't be calling you for months. hopefully your business will spread by word of mouth, if it doesn't it will be a long time before you see your customers again (if you did a great job....which in some cases I don't feel that I did).

That's my 2cents :=)

Good luck and always love what you're doing and treating the income like a hobby.

JOblessELement

tremere wrote:

* if you have a great week in terms of revenue, don't assume it will be that way the next month, because the irony of it is that if you're doing a great job (in maintaining their computer for example) they shouldn't be calling you for months.

Do it the Microshaft way. Always make sure you're giving them a 'virtually' complete system. Just make sure it looks nice and pretty on the exterior ... why do you thinks Mac's actually sell? :P

But to be honest, considering most of these systems have Windows on 'em, needless to say, your customers should be back sooner or later

2lazybutsmart

JOblessELement wrote:

why do you thinks Mac's actually sell? :P

because people love apples

bellboy

make sure you charge for lost drivers. it could take you hours searching the internet for drivers. let them make up for it

tahjzhuan

Thanks everybody for all the info and various good points. It seems like word of mouth and personal networking is the direction I'm heading in. Again, this is going to start off as a part time experiment and not my main source of income.

janmike

Just want to say, best of luck to you, tahjzhuan.

JOblessELement

because people love apples

Really? I'm crazy about *melons*

2lazybutsmart

Dear me, then u should be gettin pleny

tahjzhuan

ok, I've got a position as a contractor for teksystems and I'm looking for something to do on the weekends

I've recently registered with www.computerrepair.com and put my profile out there

I'll still holding off on the business cards until I get a business name....

I could make a website myself or maybe link my computerrepair profile instead

any more advice on how I can get the ball rolling?

Zraxniah

Let us know how Teksystems treats you -- they looked quite promising (I applied there, never heard anything and accepted another job).

My personal advice (I've pondered starting a business, and know a guy that pays his rent this way) is to stay away from the consumers. You may have to start your business with them, but there is no future in repairing "your neighbor's friend's laptop infected with spyware but doesn't have the reload disks, and the space key doesnt work". He'll want to pay you either nothing, or 20$ -- when the job could be billed hourly to a business at 60$/hr -- giving you a bare minimum of 100$ out the door.

Getting a business to contact with YOU is difficult -- you typically have to know several people that have ties in various organizations. I'm starting the 18th for a small IT consulting firm, so I'll probably see firsthand exactly what the job is like.

Zrax

tahjzhuan

^^^no doubt

I was telling someone else that I interviewed with Teksystems around April and didn't get a call for a job until August. I was doing things in the between time so that was good. My advice is don't wait for them to call you but also, keep trying. I sent them updated copies of my resume so my name would stay on their minds when something did come up.

I'm going to call around tomorrow to look into obtaining a business license and business name to make it official.

also, I'm considering joing the www.icca.org

lazyart

I've done work with Teksystems before. Good company but it's been a while since they've sent work my way. You can get in touch with other agencies and see if you can get work with them. If you can buddy up with the recruiter it can help a lot.

skully93

IT is just tough right now. Hopefully it will go back up again soon with the economy slowly rising.

Almost nothing will guarantee you a good job at the moment, but experience, a degree, and some certs looks real nice on a resume.