7 replies to this topic

[Madam A. D-tor]

Dear all,

I am searching for a new job in the Southern of the Netherlands (Noord-Brabant, Zeeland, Zuidelijke deel van Zuid-Holland en Zuidelijke deel van Utrecht).
There are no career oppurtunities in my current position.
If anyone knows about a vacant job, please inform me.

I am also interested in starting a business for my self as QA consultant and/or freelance food safety auditor. If anyone can help me to gain relevant information or give me advise on this subject, it will be very much appreciated.

[Simon]

Hello Madam A. D-tor,

I think it's that time of year when people feel like a change. Of course you are always better to work for yourself if possible, but it's difficult to make the transition, usually because of finance.

I know you are very knowledgeable about food safety and standards, is this what you would like to get into - systems development, training etc.?

Regards,
Simon

[GMO]

I don't have any contacts out that way but if you do want to set up a consultancy, have you thought of starting a blog? Also not sure if it's running in your part of the world and how popular it is over there but Linkedin is a constant stream of potential job offers for me and would be useful when I (eventually) get to the point in my life where I could also do some consultancy.

[Madam A. D-tor]

@ Simon,

I would like to do consultancy on food safety and quality (if related to food organisations) and be a freelance auditor.
But to be honoust, I do not dare to take the first step and indeed this is because of the financial reliability of a payed job.
I hoped someone here could give me some good information about where to look and what is needed (local) to start such a thing. Maybe some experiences of orher people: failures and succes stories to help me to make the discission.

@GMO

Linkedin is also here very populair.
I do not like to have my name and profile on internet, but the Linkedin is one that I have been doubting about.
Auditors are googled a lot.
Thanks for the tip, anyway. I will take it into consideration.

Edited by Madam A. D-tor, 12 February 2012 - 07:21 PM.

[monkeyman]

Sent you a PM, hope this helps

[Ing. Jeroen Voortman]

Dear Madam A. D-tor,

I am curious for your progress in your search for a new job. I have experienced that using LinkedIn actively can help you a lot!

This year I started my own business as a freelance consultant and interim manager. Although the financial uncertainty is something I still have to get used to sometimes, I'm still happy I made this hugh step, it's liberating!

It's easier if you have a partner with a steady income (which isn't the case for me unfortunately.... the income I mean ;-)

By head I know one or two persons in your area who are also active in your field. If you like, we could connect on LinkedIn and I could introduce you to them. Here is the link to my profile:

Best regards,
Jeroen

Edited by Charles.C, 29 March 2012 - 07:13 PM.
link, signature deleted

[GMO]

I think if you're going to be a consultant you have to have your name on the internet. I've googled myself before and come up with things (including photos) I'd not posted on any website (the first one was from my PhD). You can always keep parts of your online life separate if you like and still post on places like here anonymously (although that might not be helpful as this could be a source of work too.)

I think inevitably you have to compromise on some part of your private life if you're setting up your own business.

[gloriaeho]

Hi Madam A. D-Tor,

I've been a consultant since 1995 and can say with some experience that is hard work . . but very rewarding! Hard work because you need to get business and hard work because you need to complete work after getting the business!

You definitely need to be very disciplined because you'll be working from home or alone a lot of the time . . and long long hours too!

Make yourself a list of your skills, experience and knowledge . . then make a list of all the types/sizes of businesses that would be your client base . . this will give you some idea of the potential customer base for your services.

When I made the decision to become a consultant, I was in the same position as yourself . . a good steady job with good salary and other benefits (car, pension, expenses, etc), so as a part of my decision making I had to deal with issues like providing myself with sufficient income, providing a car, sorting out a private pension etc. I decided to save up the equivalent of 6 months worth of salary after tax to make sure I could pay the mortgage and bills for the 1st 6 months of working for myself . . and to be honest I blew through this in around 4 months! Luckily I had secured sufficient business to make sure that this wasn't a problem.

There have been periods in the last 17 years where I've not had work . . but usually only for a month or two . . I always made sure I had 3 months income saved away in case!

I have been very lucky, I got to travel all over the world as a consultant and work in various areas of public health (food safety, quality control, communicable diseases, water supply/quality, environmental protection, port health, health and safety) and I can certainly say that I have quite a few stories to tell over dinner!

So . . if you do decide to go "private", the possibilities are really only limited by your own experience and imagination . . Oh! . . and don't forget life . . life has a funny habit (or not so funny habit) of throwing you a curved ball every now and then, so you need to be flexible enough to factor these in when they do happen!

I wish you all the best in your decision making.

Regards

Gloria

Edited by gloriaeho, 30 March 2012 - 02:52 PM.