"Funny thing about weekends when you're unemployed -- they don't mean quite so much, 'cept you get to hang out with your workin' friends." --Les Claypool
I effectively lost my job about 3 weeks ago. As of today, however I am now officially in the same category as about 6% of our nation's population. What's different about my situation, however, is that it's on purpose. I'm planning to NOT get another job.
Instead, I'm planning to work for myself. As a result of a long period of employment (about 16 years at this point), I've decided the incentive structure of full-time employment doesn't match with my long-term goals.
I'm not planning to run a game company, because I've decided that's way too much risk. It has become very rare for a start-up game company to become a profitable venture. Besides, I'm really only good at a small portion of what might make a game company successful. That means I still need to do my job for another company.
I'm not planning to become a contractor, however, because that term doesn't match what I have in mind. Companies tend to think of contractors as a sub-optimal stand-in for employees. Their contract terms are generally in the 6-24 month range, and companies often think of this as a loss of investment.
I'm planning to become something closer to a mercenary. I'm planning to offer services in the 1-8 week range instead. I'm expecting it to work out like this: companies will have a short-term problem, contact me, we'll work out terms and scheduling, and then I'll drop by and fix their problem. Then I'll move on. I think this will be a good fit between my skill set, my goals, and the needs of companies in the market.
We'll see how it works out.
