# Anybody out there Contracting... NOT JOB ADVERT...



## DonkeyOte (Jul 1, 2008)

Just curious as to whom out there in the Mr E universe makes a living being an Excel consultant / contractor (other than those working for Mr E.com obviously)... am toying with going down this path but wonder whether such people are commonplace in first instance...


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## SydneyGeek (Jul 1, 2008)

Yep. Been splitting my time between Excel and Access consulting, with some training thrown in, for 10 years now. 

You need to be flexible, it helps if you're knowledgeable (but you can pick that up along the way)  and you need to deliver. If you can do that, work will find you. 

Denis


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## Andrew Fergus (Jul 1, 2008)

I've been doing it full time now for a couple of years and agree 100% with Denis' comments.  It's all good!


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## DonkeyOte (Jul 1, 2008)

Andrew, you give me hope !!  

If I could emmigrate to NZ and find contract work there my wife would be VERY happy indeed !!

Thanks guys!


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## Andrew Fergus (Jul 1, 2008)

Go for it.  I just accepted a full time position at one of my clients so there is a general vacancy going! 

If you aren't sure where to start, talk to the temping agencies to get your foot in the door.  Plenty of clients need help with the annual budgeting / forecasting etc and the tool in most cases is Excel......it's a starting point.  One job usually leads to another and before you know it you are juggling jobs and clients.  Word gets around.

Andrew

P.S.  Is your wife a Kiwi?


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## DonkeyOte (Jul 1, 2008)

Ha, no, not a Kiwi... but last year we finally made it down to NZ for a holiday and she (and I) love the country and would in an ideal world like to settle there...that said she seems obsessed about living in either Franz Josef or Tekapo but I doubt there's much call for VBA,.NET, SQL programmers in those parts of the country...


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## Richard Schollar (Jul 1, 2008)

My wife and I were considering (long time away) a move to NZ after we have paid off our mortgage and saved a bit of cash.  Not sure if that will happen now, and it would be a bit of a wrench for the grandparents to see us go.

I briefly looked into taking a short term Excel contract back in Sept last year, but while the money was good they wanted me to start straight away, which wasnt possible.  Given the uncertain financial climate prevailing at the moment, I have stayed with my current company, albeit in a new role.  I would love to work for myself at some point though...


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## Andrew Fergus (Jul 1, 2008)

lasw10 said:


> that said she seems obsessed about living in either Franz Josef or Tekapo but I doubt there's much call for VBA,.NET, SQL programmers in those parts of the country...



I can vouch for that - and probably a 200 mile radius around those points too.  Living in a place is different to being a tourist.  For instance, if you currently lived in Franz Josef or Tekapo you'd think global warming was something that happened on the other side of the globe.....


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## DonkeyOte (Jul 1, 2008)

Andrew, I can imagine ... we were there last August and it was well, not exactly warm then... I was a little disconcerted when they gave me the chains at the car hire company!

Presumably the work is Auckland...maybe Christchurch ??

Richard, could I be so bold and ask with whom you looked into it with (though I appreciate we're not at the same level!) 

I just left my old place after an eight year stint and am desperate to do something different, new, challenging...

And I agree Richard - leaving family is a big issue as it's pretty much a one-way ticket...


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## Richard Schollar (Jul 1, 2008)

It was a contract at a mobile phone company in Hampshire - good daily rate and it was for a projected 3 or 6 months (can't remember which) with possibility to extend. I can't remember the details (I think it may have involved forecasting). Sounded really good, but I have a 3 month notice period so it made it really hard - places want contractors yesterday, not 3 months down the line. I'm the only wage earner in the family (supporting the 3 kids and a bloody big mortgage) so I wasnt really in a position to hand my notice in and wait for something to come along. 

When i was talking to recruiters, I did find it useful to demonstrate my Excel competence by pointing them to this site


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## DiscoPistol (Jul 1, 2008)

I'm currently in my 3rd Contract as a 'Data Analyst' (read Excel AND SQL Developer). I was lucky with the 1st two as they were pretty much on my doorstep but the latest one is in Gaydon in Warwickshire (I live in Devon) so I'm away all week.

I agree with Richard on 2 points though, you have to be prepared to look for jobs the week before you want to start them and it always helps to send examples off.

Also you need to remember that in one job you might be King but in the next you’re just a Pauper.

I initially got into Contracting because I saw it as an accelerated way to learn and I can honestly say that after each Contract I’ve left I’ve been twice the Developer I started as.

Dave


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## Richard Schollar (Jul 1, 2008)

DiscoPistol said:


> I can honestly say that after each Contract I’ve left I’ve been twice the Developer I started as.


 
Dave, that would have nothing to do with all the doughnuts consumed on the job then?


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## DiscoPistol (Jul 1, 2008)

RichardSchollar said:


> Dave, that would have nothing to do with all the doughnuts consumed on the job then?



I just feel obliged to spend the £35 a day I claim for food.....


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## DonkeyOte (Jul 1, 2008)

Yes, well I think I'd always try to ensure Aladin isn't working there


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## Stormseed (Jul 9, 2008)

Hi Luke

I have a friend who lives in UK, Northampton. He is my friend since our school days, almost 2 decades now. He works as a consultant on .Net. He says he earns a living (with luxury) just by working on contract basis in UK. He says it is more money working as a consultant than being an employee of a company. I can give you his contact details incase you wud like to catch up with him


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## PaddyD (Jul 10, 2008)

"...but last year we finally made it down to NZ for a holiday"

& you didn't come & say hello?  Tut tut...

& Wellington's a much better place to be than Auckland or Christchurch, imo.


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## DonkeyOte (Jul 10, 2008)

Ha!

Well we'll certainly be down again (my wife needs no encouragement when it comes to visiting NZ)... I'll be sure to create a thread nearer the time and we can have a Mr E social !!  

P.S. My understanding (limited) is that Wellington has SHOCKING weather...

And stormseed, thanks, you never know...


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## Stormseed (Jul 10, 2008)

Luke, can you tell us the secret behind, you putting up an avatar of an a*s as your profile pic ?


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## DonkeyOte (Jul 10, 2008)

It's been a while since I had updated my picture and suffice to say the years have not been kind to me.

Plus it's how most of the MVP's make me feel...


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## Stormseed (Jul 10, 2008)

> Plus it's how most of the MVP's make me feel


 
well, then where do I stand ? Do I upload a pic of an insect as my avatar ?


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## Expiry (Jul 10, 2008)

I've been thinking, for a while now of offering my services to the small business man and home users, I feel this could be a part-time start and a way in, without having to give up my full-time job. It's surprising how little basic knowledge people have.

I'm certainly not an Excel expert, but I seem to know more than most of my friends and colleagues. I find, though, that it's a way of thinking rather than actually knowing what Excel does that stops people using it properly. I doubt that I know 2% of what Excel can do, but when presented with a problem, I can often figure out pretty quickly whether or not this is something Excel should be able to solve, then I go and find the solution.


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## DiscoPistol (Jul 10, 2008)

Expiry said:


> I've been thinking, for a while now of offering my services to the small business man and home users, I feel this could be a part-time start and a way in, without having to give up my full-time job. It's surprising how little basic knowledge people have.



I've thought the same, and the one thing stopping me is that I'm an Analyst and not a Salesman. I like to be cooped up in a dark room with an intriguing problem, not designing Ads and selling the virtue of Array Formula to bosses who would rather spend 000's on a 'bespoke' application without looking at whats in front of them......*Vent Over*

Does anyone have any suggestions how one would you go about 'sharing your wares' with the rest of the free world (or in my case Devon)?

Thanks

Dave


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## schielrn (Jul 10, 2008)

Expiry said:


> I can often figure out pretty quickly whether or not this is something Excel should be able to solve, then I go and find the solution.


Can't Excel solve everything?


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## cornflakegirl (Jul 10, 2008)

DiscoPistol said:


> Does anyone have any suggestions how one would you go about 'sharing your wares' with the rest of the free world (or in my case Devon)?


 
Talk to Tracy?


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## DonkeyOte (Jul 10, 2008)

Expiry, I tend to err with you insofar as I'm not exactly gifted with the "patter" and/or soliciting my skills (not since Uni at any rate )...

My other concern about being an XL consultant is that as web app developer I'm a BIG believer that if you've got more than say 5000 rows of data in your spreadsheet or it's heading upwards of 5-10MB you should be using a database for storage and VBA for calcs ... and if you want really good security you should really use a webclient not XL (though XL is FAR better modelling tool...)... 

None of these beliefs in my experience tend to be readily accepted by the old school FD/CFO (pending their own inherent nerd rating obviously) ... I would find it difficult to build something I didn't think was the right solution to the problem... as an employee it's a bit easier to argue your case (and win) as you're there for the long haul to support your "vision" ... as a consultant I think you'd to simply have to swallow your pride and get on with it for the client, or am I wrong ?
(Please tell me I'm wrong...)

P.S. Who is Tracy ????


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## Greg Truby (Jul 10, 2008)

lasw10 said:


> P.S. Who is Tracy ????


a.k.a. starl, a.k.a. poolside goddess, Tracy Syrstad is Bill's right-hand woman; i.e. project manager. She rides herd over the consulting projects and (I think) book projects. She was co-author on their VBA book.


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## Stormseed (Jul 11, 2008)

Greg Truby said:


> a.k.a. poolside goddess


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## Expiry (Jul 11, 2008)

as an employee it's a bit easier to argue your case (and win) as you're there for the long haul to support your "vision" ... as a consultant I think you'd to simply have to swallow your pride and get on with it for the client, or am I wrong ?
(Please tell me I'm wrong...)

That is a very good point. I guess you're right, it's something I'd not considered. But this then brings up another problem in that, as a consultant, you would have to condition yourself to perhaps come up with a solution that may be best for the client, but not perhaps what you personally would want to do.


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## DiscoPistol (Jul 11, 2008)

> That is a very good point. I guess you're right, it's something I'd not considered. But this then brings up another problem in that, as a consultant, you would have to condition yourself to perhaps come up with a solution that may be best for the client, but not perhaps what you personally would want to do.



Another problem (I find as a Contractor) is that if your hired as an 'Excel expert' they don't want you going near anything else. Most of the data I manipulate is on SQL servers but, despite years of experience with SQL, am I allowed access to them? (thats a no in case your wondering)

Instead I have to import them into Access, where I do my queries in the SQL editor, and then link them to Excel.

Crazy


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## Andrew Fergus (Jul 11, 2008)

I agree - you have to swallow your pride and do what the client wants.  You may suggest an alternative approach and if they are reasonable they will listen, and will then usually explain why they would rather run with Excel (usually the staff aren't up to other applications and/or the client likes things in Excel).

Regarding being 'classified' as an Excel expert and only an Excel expert, I usually find a quick/informal chat to the IT Manager usually opens a door or two.  Once they are confident in your abilities (or self confidence) then the barriers are usually removed.  In so doing I almost always run things past the IT Manager to make sure I'm not stepping on any toes (and to make them feel like they are in charge).

Andrew


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## DiscoPistol (Jul 11, 2008)

Andrew Fergus said:


> Regarding being 'classified' as an Excel expert and only an Excel expert, I usually find a quick/informal chat to the IT Manager usually opens a door or two.  Once they are confident in your abilities (or self confidence) then the barriers are usually removed.  In so doing I almost always run things past the IT Manager to make sure I'm not stepping on any toes (and to make them feel like they are in charge).
> 
> Andrew



I agree that in a lot of smaller companies management are glad to utilise as many skills as you can offer. 

But the bigger the company, the harder it is to get anywhere near the IT Manager. In fact I'm not even allowed to talk to the Server guys as they employ a 'Liason' to handle communication. True Story.


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## Expiry (Jul 11, 2008)

the company I work for is a joint venture between two big companies. Company A has an IT department that designs some reports for us, based on similar ones they have.

This makes good business sense, until you have a query and then have to go to the communication manager because you're not allowed to talk to the programmer himself. It's crazy. Everything takes 3 times as long to sort out.


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## DonkeyOte (Jul 11, 2008)

This is all very true but of course if like me (or like me when I had a job ) you're in Finance it's quite easy to get through to the Server guys and anyone else for that matter because to all intents and purposes you control either directly or indirectly the payroll, commissions, expenses button(s)... and that pretty much makes YOU the daddy of all daddy's.


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