Going 1099 is a book that teaches you how to become a solo federal sub-contractor and gain control of your working life, earn more money and unlock more free time. I wrote it because quite a few people have asked me how they can become a 1099. I figured it was best to write a single book that I can send them and that I can share with others who are interested. This newsletter goes out Monday - Friday and covers topics that will help you succeed in starting and maintaining successful 1099 career.
Conservative security clearance management
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There are a lot of perceived "rules" with security clearances that are actually more like rules of thumb. For example, people are worried about leaving their cleared role and not finding another one for more than two years. In truth this is more of a soft guideline than anything else. I've seen folks become re-adjudicated after more than two years without a new investigation. I've also seen things take longer than it should. For example, I had a several month delay switching contracts at the same agency, when I already had a badge and account access! So generally speaking, if a security clearance is valuable to you in the 1099 market, I would just generally be more conservative than not, but also not waste brain cycles on being out of a gig for 2 years and 1 month. Being conservative means:
So don't worry about ultra specific "rules" you've heard from the clearance rumor mill, but do be diligent and proactive about maintaining your clearance. Otherwise, you maybe unpleasantly surprised when a random security bureaucrat decides your case needs extra attention... If you're interested in learning how to get your first solo 1099 federal sub-contract, check out my book: |
I'm Dale, the author of Going 1099
Going 1099 is a book that teaches you how to become a solo federal sub-contractor and gain control of your working life, earn more money and unlock more free time. I wrote it because quite a few people have asked me how they can become a 1099. I figured it was best to write a single book that I can send them and that I can share with others who are interested. This newsletter goes out Monday - Friday and covers topics that will help you succeed in starting and maintaining successful 1099 career.
You have more time for this as a 1099Source I've worked for myself as a 1099 both before I had kids and after I had kids, so I feel qualified to describe some of the tradeoffs of having kids as a 1099. Advantages: You have more autonomy and control of your schedule. This comes in really handy when you need to come home because your kid is sick or when random stuff pops up. You generally earn more so you can spend some of that money outsourcing things that take time away from your kids...
Move faster than this to impress your clientSource The government is slow. Like real slow. Its employees are slow, and so are a lot of contractors. If you can just be a little faster, you'll look impressive. For example, I just started onboarding onto a new project and the account set up process has many steps requiring annoying phone calls to the help desk and submitting various forms. A normal pace for a contractor is to stretch this out over a week. I did most of this in a day. The client...
I maybe wouldn't gift a sweater at your next meetingSource One of the unintended benefits of writing my book is that it gives me a fun talking point when I'm networking for my business. For example, I met with a couple yesterday who run a small contracting business and I gave them a copy of my book as a small gift, which led to an interesting discussion about why and how they started their own business. I'm opposed to spending too much time on formal marketing activities when you're trying to...