With 10 months of leadtime, the number one thing I would recommend is getting to know people and companies in your area who do what you do, or who are in complimentary positions. The old adage is "it's not what you know it's who you know" and it's very very true.
You have 10 months to get out there and meet people. Go to local User Group meetings. Not just CF meetings, but designer meetups, Flash meetups, tweetups, whatever. Get to know people and make sure they remember who you are too. But you aren't just meeting them so you can ask them for a job. Get to know what they are about, what their company is about, and let them know what you are about. Don't tell them you may be looking for work in 10 months, just let them know what you do and if you do it right they will come looking for you if they need you. And - this isn't just something you should do for the next 10 months. I would VERY MUCH suggest doing this on an ongoing basis for your entire career. You never know when someone you know might come across just the right opportunity for you. Just make sure they know what you are good at, and make a good impression. They will come to you if you keep in touch and they find something that's a fit. Fishing around sites like eLance or oDesk is probably just going to de-motivate you. I would get out there and get known. Who knows, maybe you will keep your job in 10 months and then 5 months later the opportunity of a lifetime will get dropped right in your lap. -Cameron On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 7:02 PM, James McDougal <[email protected]> wrote: > Without going into too much detail, here's my situation. There is a chance > that my company will be making some personnel cuts in the next 10 months or > so (pending some state funding decisions). If we cut from the technology > department my job will probably be on the chopping block as I'm the most > junior tech. Knowing this this far in advance is giving me a chance to look > at various options. One of the options I'm considering should my job be cut > is freelancing. > > My question is this: on average, what kind of annual income can a freelance > CF dev expect to bring in? I know that it varies quite a bit, but I'm just > wanting to get a general idea to see if I'd be able to bring in a comparable > income to what I have now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:307590 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
