Re: Making the leap to contracting

[Sella Rush <SellaR -at- APPTECHSYS -dot- COM>]

        >Its much more important to know how to get up to speed quickly,
how to
        >organize a project, and how to get information from SMEs -
things you already
        >know if you're a successful captive writer.

It is exactly these skills that I see as essential for the contractor.
In the past we've discussed what makes a contractor good or bad, and I
guess I see these skills as the crux, far more than tools knowledge.  I
learned how to do online help from books (and from paying attention on
various listservs), but what my current job is teaching me is how to
plan a project accurately and implement it in a real-world
situation--without help, without someone orchestrating my day.

But I think this concept of apprenticeship may be highly individual.  I
personally don't need help learning technical concepts, mastering tools,
and researching.  I need to hone my organizational skills (partly
because I think that they are what set apart *great* contractors).
Other people have been organized since preschool--I haven't!

In a private post, it occured to me that what is really needed to
contract is an awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses and the
willingness to always be improving on those weaknesses.  (While at the
same time recognizing when those weaknesses make a certain job
inadvisable.)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sella Rush
mailto:sellar -at- apptechsys -dot- com
Applied Technical Systems, Inc. (ATS)
Bremerton, Washington USA
Developers of the CCM Database