How to deal with my current job?

intparent
Sun, 05 Sep 2010 22:49:54 +0000

Anon, I am not a CPA, I am a project manager, which makes my situation a bit different from yours. I made the transition about 10 years ago. I was a hiring manager in an IT department (after several years with a large consulting firm), and was interviewing project managers for contract positions. I kept seeing resumes that weren’t as good as mine, and we were paying a LOT of money for these people. Ended up engaging a woman for a contract who was part of a 2 person firm, and became friends with her. When I made a decision to leave my employer, she encouraged me to try independent contracting. I had good benefits through my H, so decided it was worth trying. I called a previous boss, who immediately hired me for a contract. I formed an S-corp, found an accountant and an attorney though other contractors I knew, and haven’t looked back. I have an extensive network of contacts due to my prior consulting experience, which has been a big asset in finding clients and assignments.

I also make extensive use of LinkedIn for professional networking with people I meet at every assignment I have, and keeping in touch with previous clients and associates (LinkedIn is a HUGE asset, as it keeps you in touch with people even as they move around to other jobs and companies). If you haven’t joined LinkedIn yet, you should do so and send invitations to connect to everyone you work with or have worked with in the past that you can find. Then when you are job hunting you can send the ones you want to work with private messages letting them know you are looking (you can post it for everyone to see, but you run the risk of someone in your current position seeing it if you are connected to any of them).

If you had asked me even a year before that if I would ever be in business on my own, I would have been terrified at the thought. Looking back, I can’t believe I waited so long.