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Working as a self-employed engineer

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EEVblog:

--- Quote from: pidcon on July 03, 2020, 05:10:08 am ---I am interested to know how many of you are working as a self-employed engineer? Do you run your own company or work on a contract job from time to time? If you could share your experiences on how you got started and how you kept going, that would be great. Thanks.
--- End quote ---

Majority of people would start by doing odd jobs on the side to their day job, the so called "midnight engineer". When the jobs get too much then you quit your day job and transition to full time contracting/consultancy.

basinstreetdesign:

--- Quote from: EEVblog on July 10, 2020, 11:25:38 am ---
--- Quote from: pidcon on July 03, 2020, 05:10:08 am ---I am interested to know how many of you are working as a self-employed engineer? Do you run your own company or work on a contract job from time to time? If you could share your experiences on how you got started and how you kept going, that would be great. Thanks.
--- End quote ---

Majority of people would start by doing odd jobs on the side to their day job, the so called "midnight engineer". When the jobs get too much then you quit your day job and transition to full time contracting/consultancy.

--- End quote ---

Yes, back in the heyday of free-lancers that was the way things went.  Not so much anymore.
In 1982 - 1986 that's what was happening to me.  At the time I was working for a company operated by a couple of shysters who had a hard time keeping their business going in a straight line but I had a hot project during off hours.  So I tried to quit my day job to concentrate on what seemed to matter more.  When I told my boss that I was quitting, he said "OK, but we want to keep you available so we will still pay you 50% of your salary and you must come in for the odd meeting but otherwise you are free to go!"  This surreal arrangement lasted 6 months and I eventually re-joined them for a while.  Freelancing was easy to maintain, spread by word-of-mouth only and paid good money.

Later I created and ran a consulting design and manufacturing house with a forte' in broadcast video with two partners.  We grew it from zero to $3M/yr and it lasted 12 years until 2002.  By that time the industry was trending in a different direction.  We found that clients were getting less patient with the R&D side of making money with products.  More and more they just wanted to contract with someone to build a bunch of gizmos; that someone would share in the volume profit but also had to finance the R&D up front.  The client just didn't want to bother with the NRE part.

Those engineers that still wanted to live the lone-wolf lifestyle found that the hourly rate for such work just wasn't increasing anymore year over year and eventually stalled at about $65/hr (2007) not the $150 - $300/hr the professional associations were suggesting in my province.

So you can still make a living as a freelancer, even raise a family if you are frugal, but don't expect to do much better than a carpenter in Canada.

Personally, I am retired and "working for the government".  My lifestyle is the best I have ever had since I have low expenses, my health (generally speaking) and still have my hobby.

VK3DRB:

--- Quote from: EEVblog on July 10, 2020, 11:25:38 am ---
--- Quote from: pidcon on July 03, 2020, 05:10:08 am ---I am interested to know how many of you are working as a self-employed engineer? Do you run your own company or work on a contract job from time to time? If you could share your experiences on how you got started and how you kept going, that would be great. Thanks.
--- End quote ---

Majority of people would start by doing odd jobs on the side to their day job, the so called "midnight engineer". When the jobs get too much then you quit your day job and transition to full time contracting/consultancy.

--- End quote ---

We call that moonlighting in Victoria.

You cannot do that where there is conflict of interest. Working for IBM, I had to get permission to fix VCR's on the side because they contained microprocessors. They read the riot act to two IBM engineers in Perth for designing on the side a modem for the Commodore Vic 20 in the early 1980's. There are heaps of other examples from this authoritarian company that beggars belief. Another example... in 1987, I wanted to buy shares in Microsoft soon not long after they floated. I was told by IBM if I or my immediate family members bought shares in Microsoft and they found out, I would be subject to disciplinary action. It turns out IBM were big hypocrites. In hindsight, I wish I had told them where to go.

More recently, a Japanese automotive electronics company I worked with owned ALL intellectual property you designed in your own time whilst employed there. Even if you wrote Harry Potter - they owned it. You could not join the company unless you signed a contract stating the company owned all intellectual property you developed whist employed there - during working hours or out of working hours.

One should be very careful if considering moonlighting. Taking on board common sense, I would say you can do stuff on the side providing:

- It is not related to you employment.
- It is not related to the products you work on at your employment.
- It does not impact you employment in any way (interruptions, phone calls, tired and worn out doing two jobs etc).
- You are not using company resources (oscilloscopes etc).

Working for your self creates a sense of freedom to do you want, but some companions deny you the right to engage in similar work to theirs for a period a one or two years afterwards, as per your employment contract.

thm_w:

--- Quote from: VK3DRB on July 11, 2020, 04:17:19 am ---Working for your self creates a sense of freedom to do you want, but some companions deny you the right to engage in similar work to theirs for a period a one or two years afterwards, as per your employment contract.

--- End quote ---

Not generally enforceable here unless you are feeding them proprietary information from your previous job, or stole clients for your own business. Unless they want to pay you during that one or two year period. AUS seems to be similar.

Companies will tell you many things you are not allowed to do that are legal.

nctnico:

--- Quote from: thm_w on July 14, 2020, 06:23:59 pm ---
--- Quote from: VK3DRB on July 11, 2020, 04:17:19 am ---Working for your self creates a sense of freedom to do you want, but some companions deny you the right to engage in similar work to theirs for a period a one or two years afterwards, as per your employment contract.

--- End quote ---

Not generally enforceable here unless you are feeding them proprietary information from your previous job, or stole clients for your own business. Unless they want to pay you during that one or two year period. AUS seems to be similar.

Companies will tell you many things you are not allowed to do that are legal.

--- End quote ---
True. But it depends on the laws in your country. It is definitely something to research thouroughly before leaving.

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