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Help with some career direction?

forkvoid

Ever since going self-employed, I've been at a loss for my career direction, and I'm hoping to get some input from you guys.

Currently, I'm working 20 hours a week as an employee for a place doing network overhaul projects. The work will run out in 4-6 months and I'll be left with only support. Outside those 20 hours, I chase short-term gigs. Couple hours of work, up to a few days. That sort of thing. I'm hesitant to go FTE anywhere, because the freedom of schedule is really, really great. Some weeks I only work the 20 PTE hours, by choice, and it's wonderful.

What I'm best at is macro-level work. I'm not a detail man. In several of my past jobs (and the one current), I've done small to mid level architect-type work and I seriously love it. Working on large networks at a high level excites me, but break-fix bores me to death. I would love to be an architect for a global company.

I've worked for a consulting company in the past, and I really hated the long hours(I'm not opposed to a long day here and there, but consistent 60hrs+/wk is too much) and constant travel, but the way I see it, the only way I'll get the work I enjoy is to be a staff consultant for a firm, which will necessitate travel.

So, all that said, I'm feeling very lost and unsure of what to do. I could take a stable, 9-5 FTE position somewhere, or I could enter the staff consultant world again, or I could stay self-employed. All have their upsides and downsides.

Thoughts?

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Comments

Everyone

Sounds like you need to start hiring people to work for you. Do the work you enjoy, then have your employee (or sub-contractor) take care of the other stuff.

N2IT

Everyone wrote: »

Sounds like you need to start hiring people to work for you. Do the work you enjoy, then have your employee (or sub-contractor) take care of the other stuff.

+1

If you like to stay high level, why not build into your operation model the cost of another employee or two. When offering the proposals to these companies you are consulting for add the fixed cost or build out an activity based cost model. Just make sure the financials make sense and that you can recover after the transition has gone to operation or when the project comes out of critical phase.

Essendon

Excellent advice by Everyone and N2. and +1 to keep the financials in order. Ensure you have a billing cycle that suits you, you need to pay the guys that would work for you!