I have a career that's filled with many contract and/or part-time jobs. I started out with two part time developer jobs in college. Since then, it's been mostly contract jobs.<p>Most of my contracts aren't the kind that pay you well for some highly specialized knowledge. They're the kind of contracts that pay low because the companies don't want to pay employer taxes, or they simply don't have available work to justify a FT hire. Being hired as a contractor, I'm not expected to grow within the company, and these are small companies so it's difficult to build a good network. I don't stay longer than 18 months at any given place.<p>My last four years were also fully remote jobs. On one hand, it feels better to have companies trust you well enough with more autonomy. But being less visible also lessens the chance for promotions, contacts, or career growth.<p>My network isn't really that great, and I have a small circle of friends, none whom can provide good leads in the industry I work in.<p>Recruiters contact me a lot about FT jobs but any interviews I get through them never turn into offers. All my jobs offers have started out with cold applying, shotgunning resumes. All these rejections for FT jobs make me feel uneasy, and I'm tired of the rat race. I have a non-STEM degree and don't know if it also matters or not.<p>So I am at a standstill on how to build up my reputation after wasting so much time not building it.<p>I've set aside these two options:<p>1. Return to college to properly get a related degree, leverage that channel to get an internship and/or a full time non-contractor position upon graduation.<p>2. Keep applying to larger companies for FT jobs, and interview prep. I don't know of any good reliable sources for interview practice, but I did have one good mock interview with a local developer. He's just too busy to follow up with.<p>I am open to other options, if you have any suggestions on my first course of action.
On your resume, list your time as a contractor as a single position (“software developer, contract” or better, “software developer and principal, $my_llc_name”). Then describe it the way you would a full-time employee position. Just list your big-name contract employers as clients in a single bullet point. It won’t help build your network but will make you look a bit less like a job hopper on your resume.
I have two columns on my resume. One for f/t employee jobs and one for freelance/contract jobs. I even call it "Select freelance/contract jobs". It gives me the freedom to list the gigs where I did something worth showing off and/or where the contact would make a good reference. It illustrates that I'm a contract worker, and I've never had anyone ask me "why do your contracts turn over so fast?" It's the nature of the work.
1. Pick a very narrow topic that will let you get mastery quickly but is impressive to potential coworkers<p>2. Do it in public (start by speaking about it at meetups and lightning talks)<p>3. Use the people you impress to help you get jobs (rather than going through HR)
Job hopping every few months as a contractor doesn't seem to be an issue. At least it isn't for me - recruiters and clients reach out to me despite that and nobody ever questioned it.<p>> I am at a standstill on how to build up my reputation after wasting so much time not building it.<p>Not sure about <i>reputation</i>, but you can at least build a decent network on LinkedIn to guarantee a steady supply of contracts by engaging with recruiters.