Contractors must deliver more than just their technical skills to win and stay in the best contracts. This is according to IT contractor Darren Houldcroft, who advises: “Avoid being a generalist – find a product and specialise. Then build a basket of technical, business and soft skills around that core offering.”
After six years of contracting through turbulent economic times, and 16 years as the UK’s IT industry has gone through unprecedented technological development, Houldcroft notes that clients are increasingly seeking contractors with a range of business and ‘soft skills’, in addition to their core technical expertise.
But skills are still key. So Houldcroft believes that to ensure existing skills are being maintained and new skills are learned, contractors should always work slightly out of their comfort zone and volunteer for the more challenging tasks on each assignment.
There are many routes into the IT industry...
In many respects Houldcroft has enjoyed a classic IT contracting career, but with one or two slightly more unusual elements. “I was cutting code at age nine after my parents bought me an Amiga 500, and as soon as I could get a job – as a kitchen porter as it happens - I started saving for my first proper Pentium PC.”
But rather than take the A-Level and degree route, Houldcroft was keen to put his well developed IT skills to use as soon as possible, and opted for a modern apprenticeship with a local IT firm. Although not a popular choice among his contemporaries at the time, it turned out to be a programming learning opportunity that money just couldn’t buy.
“The firm that took me on was a specialist in 3D applications, so not only was I working on real projects for clients from day one, but I was also given the opportunity to learn all the theory behind what I was doing. That’s when I began to recognise the importance of focusing on a core product or application, and the essential business and ‘soft’ skills you need to implement successful development projects.
...and there are many routes into contracting
Houldcroft’s next, and last, permanent role was with a global IT giant. He was responsible for major migration and development projects, as well as the creation of new offshore support and development teams. As part of this process, he spent time in Bangalore, India, personally building and training teams.
“I worked alongside a huge number of IT contractors and started to realise that there was little difference between what I did and what they did – except for the money,” says Houldcroft. “I even had to apply for and interview for each new assignment with my employer, which was then treated as a discrete project with specific outcomes.”
When you go contracting, you should always be slightly outside of your comfort zone, otherwise you are not learning anything or developing your skills
Darren Houldcroft
It was via the firm relationships he built with the contractors at that time that Houldcroft secured his first contract: “During my career with my last employer, I’d become expert in Remedy and a raft of skills and services, such as training and mentoring, around the system.
“As the final project I was working on started winding down, many of the contractors were leaving to join a major Remedy migration project at a global telecoms corporation. It was just down the road, and several people suggested I join them, as a contractor. True to their word, my former contractors secured me a telephone interview and the next thing I knew I was starting on site, as a new contractor myself!”
Focus on a product and stay out of your comfort zone to keep learning
According to Houldcroft, that first contract was a boon. “It lasted 12 months, which gave me plenty of time to settle into the contracting style of working. And I was in an incredibly supportive environment, where other contractors helped me to develop my contracting skills – things like how to run my limited company and ensure my skills were constantly being developed.”
The business and soft skills Houldcroft had learned when working as an employee rapidly came to the fore. “Clients are looking for much more than just technical skills from a contractor. We need to see the bigger business-picture and understand what the client is trying to achieve with a project, and the benefits the client’s organisation is expecting.
“And the soft skills, such as motivating teams, training and mentoring play a huge part, particularly in large project teams. I’ve come to understand that, when you go contracting, you should always be slightly outside of your comfort zone, otherwise you are not learning anything or developing your skills.”
Going the extra mile pays dividends, literally
Houldcroft is a firm believer in always volunteering for the most challenging tasks on a project: “In my early contracting days, there was a security element to a project and we had no security expert, so I volunteered. It was not in my contract, but I learned new skills and also developed incredible goodwill with the client and other contractors on the team.
“This approach has paid dividends many times over, when clients and contacts from years ago get back in touch because they have an assignment. What prompted them to make contact was because they remembered how I put in that extra effort to get the job done.”
As proof of that, Houldcroft is currently contracting for his second employer, for which he set up offshore teams in India, as a contractor to work on a major change consulting programme. “I secured my latest contract because a former client had changed jobs and remembered me from a past contract. And six years on, the developers in Bangalore still remember me from the training and mentoring I delivered!”
