I have been thinking a lot lately about both the joys and pains of being an independent contractor. I have opted to take on this role to allow me to fulfill some personal goals. As a contractor I am able to continue to work for the same company that I have for the past four years but live halfway across the country. As a contractor I can sleep until 8:55 in the morning and still be in the office by 9:00 for that conference call. As a contractor I can walk upstairs and talk to my wife when I need to or take a break to enjoy some playtime with my son. As a contractor there are many things that are beneficial to me, but there is one thing that I lack.
I have found the thing that distresses me most in my position is the lack of opportunity for professional growth. Sure I could go to more conferences, take some courses at the local college or on line, spend hours and hours reading volume upon volume about best practices and architecture, but then I would be giving up all the benefits of family time that I have bought myself with this position. Besides, I never learned much this way. I have always benefited from close personal interaction in the workplace. From mentoring relationships where I have not only been mentored by developers who were better than myself, but where I was able to pass that knowledge on to someone else. I think that is where I have learned the most. When I'm teaching a concept to someone else, my understanding of the issue generally grows exponentially.
So here I am trying to figure out how to keep myself from slipping back to the level of code monkey and continue to grow when my best friend and mentor Jay has begun to realize my predicament. He is going to help me by mentoring me once again. That just leaves the issue of me being able to teach these concepts to others to help cement them in my own understanding. I am going to begin to use this blog to express my understanding of these issues and hopefully it will be useful to someone else as well. I also welcome any comments to help steer and correct me when my conclusions are in error or do not reflect “best practices.” I believe that as a contractor this is the only way I will move from the level I'm at to the level I want to be.